With regards to how skill is more important than technology in these other form of carrying:
A couple years ago I read Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee [0].
There are several discussions of a crooked knife and how it was the "multitool" of craftsman in the northern forests and was used for everything from making canoes to snowshoes.
One of the most interesting parts about this journey was reading the below quote:
"Skill allows you to do a lot with one tool whereas many tools can be used to replace skill".
e.g. it's hard to learn how to use a crooked knife but once you do learn, it's like having a plane, gouge and carving knife all in one hand.
This article feels very similar in that it probably takes more skill to use a soft bag or basket to carry loads instead of a modern backpack but also gives you a lot more options.
Here's a certified human written post from the one and only Yvon Chouinard about tumplines. Patagonia actually used to sell a tumpline compatible with some of their packs briefly in the 2010s!
Yes. I missed that specific bit, but, the more I read on, the less it felt like a nice in-flight magazine-tier diversion and the more it felt like I was reading the result of asking Claude to write an essay about the bearing of loads.
(Which makes me personally a lot less interested in reading it.)
Yeah the writing tastes like processed food. There’s no substance just “here’s some stuff people do” but nothing about why it works or where you could learn more.
Assuming it is AI-written, who cares? Would the article have been written if AI hadn't authored it? Did you derive less utility from the article than had it not been written at all?
Bunch of Veruca Salts here. I want ALL the entertainment/information, I want it NOW, I'll pirate it if I have to, and GOD FORBID IT USE AI.
The intent to communicate particular ideas is actually important to the writing. If you have a lot of well put together words with relatively low intentionality behind it, what you have is something that is very effective at wasting your time. If I want to waste my time I'd rather be playing videogames.
Indeed! And even subjectively, I find it difficult to believe that even if AI-written, the new information learned has negative marginal utility (or less marginal utility than had it been human-written). That is in fact the basis of the point I am making, though it is implied rather than stated.
I care. If the article was AI written, I'm massively less interested in writing it, and in fact I'll only do it if absolutely necessary, or if I'm getting paid.
That's just how it is for me. If you disagree: no problem! Some people are inclined to argue with people about their opinions, but I'm not one of them, at least not on this matter.
The messenger tells you a lot about the message with AI.
It being written by AI instead of a human is an indication the writer didn't care enough about the information being communicated to communicate it themselves and if they didn't care enough to put effort into writing it and making sure it is actually good why should I spend my time reading it?
It's also an early indication that the content won't be that good too so it's a convenient signal that reading it will likely be a waste of time. Just look at the article here. Lots of fluff and some completely vapid praise of some of the carry systems that put a significant load into the necks of the carrier. We know that's not good for you it's just convenient when you have low tech.
While I agree that the topic is actually pretty interesting and any decent info > no info, in more general terms we pay with the most important commodity we have - our free time.
So just because something is free doesn't mean people automatically flock in masses for it and have uncritical relationship with it.
> Freshly harvested birch is flexible, allowing it to be woven into complex forms. Once woven and shaped, those fibers create a rigid structure that resists sagging beneath heavy loads while remaining lightweight.
There are stories of Native Americans weaving baskets that were so precisely made that they could carry water.
Thanks for the essay Claude. It’s good info, just something feels off. It doesn’t feel like a person wrote this article… what are 10 options to fix this?
Over the decades, I have gotten many a weird look from family, friends and strangers when I use my head for assisting carrying things - but, it works, and often lets me use either one - or both hands to stabilize the "load", provides unobstructed view and far easier maneuverability (less walking backwards, easier to navigate corners, etc.).
It's a "no-brainer", "use-your-head" simple thing...
Replying to your comment about lack of content, which itself isn't commenting on the content, with my own comment which also is not a comment about the content. Contentedly.
A couple years ago I read Survival of the Bark Canoe by John McPhee [0].
There are several discussions of a crooked knife and how it was the "multitool" of craftsman in the northern forests and was used for everything from making canoes to snowshoes.
This led to me learning more about crooked knives and even starting https://crookedknives.com.
One of the most interesting parts about this journey was reading the below quote:
"Skill allows you to do a lot with one tool whereas many tools can be used to replace skill".
e.g. it's hard to learn how to use a crooked knife but once you do learn, it's like having a plane, gouge and carving knife all in one hand.
This article feels very similar in that it probably takes more skill to use a soft bag or basket to carry loads instead of a modern backpack but also gives you a lot more options.
0 - https://amzn.to/4cR46FW
But I don't know if I am imagining it; I'm starting to feel Claude's (AI) writing everywhere. Like this sentence for example:
> The genius of the gaucho’s system isn’t storage. It’s integration.
The x isn't y. Its z.
https://www.patagonia.com/stories/culture/design/on-tumpline...
(Which makes me personally a lot less interested in reading it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJh5D0FCZk
X isnt y it’s Z needs to die
Bunch of Veruca Salts here. I want ALL the entertainment/information, I want it NOW, I'll pirate it if I have to, and GOD FORBID IT USE AI.
At least in the economic sense of the word, utility is a measure of the subjective value that a person receives in exchange for something.
That's just how it is for me. If you disagree: no problem! Some people are inclined to argue with people about their opinions, but I'm not one of them, at least not on this matter.
It being written by AI instead of a human is an indication the writer didn't care enough about the information being communicated to communicate it themselves and if they didn't care enough to put effort into writing it and making sure it is actually good why should I spend my time reading it?
It's also an early indication that the content won't be that good too so it's a convenient signal that reading it will likely be a waste of time. Just look at the article here. Lots of fluff and some completely vapid praise of some of the carry systems that put a significant load into the necks of the carrier. We know that's not good for you it's just convenient when you have low tech.
Perhaps you are unable to tell the difference, but for others reading this sort of ersatz thought is like a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.
So just because something is free doesn't mean people automatically flock in masses for it and have uncritical relationship with it.
Literal Gandhi!
There are stories of Native Americans weaving baskets that were so precisely made that they could carry water.
https://youtu.be/BRnwg3dpboc?t=731
It's a "no-brainer", "use-your-head" simple thing...
The problem is not "AI written" it is that is is poorly written and wastes the reader's time