WE ARE OBSESSED WITH DATA

Why are we so afraid of being forgotten? And why do we want to keep memories of the ones we love alive?

We seem to be perpetually living in the past or in the future, in small and large ways, that we forget who we are in the current moment.

As someone who has experienced ‘otherworldly’ or ‘supernatural’ experiences around death and grief, I believe that we never truly disappear; we are just fed back into the energy source. I also have my own personal beliefs about having someone or something looking out for me - it makes me feel at peace to think it’s my Grandpa pulling the strings to make sure I’m ok.

Of course, this belief could be completely incorrect, and there is a vast field of nothingness that carries on forever and ever and ever, so maybe my feelings are a placebo effect. Maybe I like to think I have some kind of woo-woo powers. I can’t really describe it, but every action I take involves my ‘gut instinct,’ and when I choose not to follow it… That’s when the ‘bad things’ start to happen.

But how does this all link back to data and storage?

We store people, memories, and ourselves in ‘things’, ‘objects’, and now code. We scratch our names into benches and trees, bury our dead, scatter ashes, name stars after people, and become patrons of charities.

It is built within us to endure… but how much do we really need to be remembered?

With these data centres being built, how much of that storage will be taken up with memes and screenshots of the things we never get around to looking at again?

Maybe this is where art and objects come in. It is a condensed, coded snippet of humanity; it becomes bigger than the artist who made it. It’s a statement of that time. Of all the artefacts that we dig up, we’re always thinking about the community around that object and little about the individual who made it - which I think is great. The individual becomes the beacon for the community and the culture.

So why are we asking AI for our meal prep and spiritual alignments (which, yes, I am guilty of, and it brings me clarity whilst navigating several allergies), and posting pictures online, and storing those screenshots? Maybe, just maybe, if we thought, “Do I really need it?”, it might save our world and community from rising energy bills, social distance, loneliness, and, of course, save the planet as an additional bonus.

I say all of this as a total hypocrite because I also love AI, Instagram, screenshotting information, recycling, natural products, medication, health and wellness.

I guess I’m just fascinated by why we do what we do, how we can do it in a better, more moral and efficient way, and maybe, just maybe, dare I say it, make the world a more positive, happy place in the process.

From a forever optimist and also a walking contradiction.