Harsh Browns

The Base Comes First

This week was good. Frankie joined us along with Jamie. We got the chance to hang out in a team day. We got a better understanding of what we’re doing. And some jigsaw pieces fell into place, making a route ahead clearer.

The thoughts preoccupying my mind this week have been all about strategy and execution (except all the worry about how reduced transport service might make everyone’s day crappy before the team day, but thankfully that didn’t transpire). There are some simple principles that can help direct and guide us in our work: in how we move, where we move to, and how we act along the way. Fast, light, on favourable terrain, and adaptable to the elements.

Those principles aren’t unfamiliar to people working in novel spaces, so I won’t write about those. What’s more important to talk about is how a succession of collective actions is the best way for the NHS to realise its ambitions with the app.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. Everyone seeks something akin to revolution because of stories we’ve been told, but what we think of as revolutions are just single moments in a series of actions. If the conditions for change are ripe, you can make that change happen in an instant. But conditions are rarely ripe, so you have to put some work into changing those conditions.

The conditions we need to affect, and how we need to adapt them, are such that no one person, idea, leader or team will be able to bring it all into being. And no one person’s got a plan. It’s too complex to figure out upfront – the way forward is emergent.

So we need to work together, with others. We seek a lot of information, and we need to share back what we learn. When someone aids ‘our’ aims¹, we need to support theirs. We need to share stories, and hear people’s views. We need to shape things and get feedback. If we get it right, other people will shape things on the same trajectory, and we’ll know we’re moving forward together.

The road ahead is beset with perils, perils it might seem an individual (or individuals) with the right qualities can overcome. But this is not a contest amongst wolves; success cannot come at the failure of others. There must be close dialectical unity between the individual and the mass, in which both are interrelated and, at the same time, in which the mass is an aggregate of individuals.

Nurturing these tissues of the community comes first, the social foundation that might or might not lead to a larger movement.

The base comes first.

A fo ben, bid bont.

Running

This week I started running again after injuring myself rather badly during the Manchester marathon. It was very hard to walk for a couple of weeks, but the tendons and ligaments in my feet and ankles have stopped swelling now. This week I ran over 19km pain free, which feels like a huge achievement.

It’s a massive relief too. Running’s part of how I process things, how I keep healthy and, also, how I push myself. Losing it for a few weeks felt like losing a support system.

It’s nice having it back.

Sampling, sequencing

A few weeks ago I bought a sampler. The last time I tried making music was in uni, and I learned I was shit at it. Despite that, I’m having another go.

In 2008 I had Logic Pro and an Akai MPD, a wealth of tools considering what you can do with Logic. It was too much. I’ve bought the EP-40 Riddim from Teenage Engineering, which introduces a few more constraints technically, plus a raft of enablers when you consider the samples loaded on the machine.

I’ve started by trying to make a jungle track, which hasn’t got far, but I’ve relearned some skills about sampling and drum loops. I’ve made another tune that’s 140BPM and swung, but it’s nothing like the songs I love from genres with those elements. It’s shit in comparison.

I’m having fun though, and it’s nice to have a creative-ish outlet that isn’t cooking or writing about work. It’s got me listening to tunes more closely again, like I used to when I DJ’d more frequently. It’s working my brain.

Here’s to being a shit at something. It’s a lot of fun.

Bookmarks

• No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious, 27 mins. Another banger from Ted Chiang of ‘applied statistics’ fame (and his short stories too, obvs). Here he argues that artificial intelligence like Claude is not conscious and cannot truly think or feel, despite what Anthropic says. Decent takedown of their entire argument too!
• AI as a Design Medium, 9 mins. Nice bit that Mike shared. Treating AI as a new design material helps explore ideas instead of just giving answers. This approach can lead to fresh ways of understanding and working with complex information.
• How much value is AI really creating?, 4 mins. AI tools have greatly increased the amount of work coders do, but this does not lead to a proportional rise in finished products or real value. Good analysis from the FT’s data journalism team.
• Middle(of no)ware, 3 mins
• Unreciprocated responsibility, 6 mins

Notes