#ambiguity

Doug explores the decline of ambiguity in society, driven by a desire for clarity and action. He highlights the concept of 'New Literalism', a cultural shift towards superficiality and disengagement from complex ideas, as exemplified by museums retreating from controversial topics. Doug argues that institutions should embrace ambiguity and foster media literacy to help communities navigate complex issues.

The note discusses a creative process flow (Preparation → Incubation → Insight → Evaluation → Elaboration → Sharing) and maps it onto the author's "continuum of ambiguity." The author created the space Substrate to focus more on preparation and incubation rather than evaluation and elaboration. They also question placing "share" at the end of

The note argues that the term "AI slop" is imprecise and unproductive, as it conflates distinct phenomena and shifts blame onto technology rather than the societal structures that enable low-quality content. It agrees with Manoel Horta Ribeiro that critiques should be more specific, noting that many pre-AI content forms already exhibited similar traits like superficial competence and mass producibility.