I too feel it strongly when I look at aerial footage of Stockholm or Copenhagen and then think of the frightful Russian way of warfare and how these cities may look in the event of a war. I feel a nostalgia for pre-war Europe.
This is very similar to something I've been feeling lately and you captured it very well. A few days from now I'm moving to Seattle from Sydney. It's a good change. It's a change I'm making for love. It also accompanies a massive work opportunity, a pay rise, and personal growth.
And yet. While I'm excited. I'm feeling prenostalgia for the life I've had up to now. It's been a good life. I love Australia.
The way I've been dealing with it is to focus intensely on the present. As Evelyn says in EEAAO "I will cherish these few specks of time". And I appreciate it more because it will be changing, so very soon.
Regarding AI I feel a similar way. I am an AI optimist. But it will be a revolution. The way the internet was a revolution. If it's not, I'll be surprised. But the acceleration seems to be coming. And life will get progressively strange. I think all we can do is relax into the trip.
I get this feeling very often and for a long time it would cause me to put off things like ending tv shows or finishing books. I've found it's one of those emotions you have to accept to move forward in anything. I think a lot of what makes the feeling so strong is the sense of "fate" attached. Whether good or bad, things end, and there's not really anything we can do to reverse a true ending.
This is so beautiful, and so relatable. I also sometimes feel future nostalgia which I think of as sadness that I’ll never get to know how the future all turns out.
Thank you! Future nostalgia... it could be framed as sadness for all the timelines that do not come to pass, too. Nostalgia is a surprisingly generative concept.
I've felt something similar several times in the past five years, with different intensity and context. It's like old eras were ending and there was a feeling that things would never be the same: relocating to another country, Covid, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and now the AI kerfuffle. There's an incredible amount of uncertainty, and it keeps piling up. Truly strange times.
I am having similar feelings about the end of this era... Reminds me of Basho’s haiku:
Even in Kyoto,
hearing the cuckoos cry,
I long for Kyoto
That is beautiful and sad.
I too feel it strongly when I look at aerial footage of Stockholm or Copenhagen and then think of the frightful Russian way of warfare and how these cities may look in the event of a war. I feel a nostalgia for pre-war Europe.
This is very similar to something I've been feeling lately and you captured it very well. A few days from now I'm moving to Seattle from Sydney. It's a good change. It's a change I'm making for love. It also accompanies a massive work opportunity, a pay rise, and personal growth.
And yet. While I'm excited. I'm feeling prenostalgia for the life I've had up to now. It's been a good life. I love Australia.
The way I've been dealing with it is to focus intensely on the present. As Evelyn says in EEAAO "I will cherish these few specks of time". And I appreciate it more because it will be changing, so very soon.
Regarding AI I feel a similar way. I am an AI optimist. But it will be a revolution. The way the internet was a revolution. If it's not, I'll be surprised. But the acceleration seems to be coming. And life will get progressively strange. I think all we can do is relax into the trip.
As David Bowie sang: "turn and face the strange".
I have one child who experiences this feeling very intensely,,, so good to read. Sending your post to her, we talked about it today
Thank God it’s changing. Ready for whatever is next. Past decade wasn’t the best. Let’s end the war on drugs while we’re at it.
I get this feeling very often and for a long time it would cause me to put off things like ending tv shows or finishing books. I've found it's one of those emotions you have to accept to move forward in anything. I think a lot of what makes the feeling so strong is the sense of "fate" attached. Whether good or bad, things end, and there's not really anything we can do to reverse a true ending.
Very true, I've definitely done this with books many times.
This is so beautiful, and so relatable. I also sometimes feel future nostalgia which I think of as sadness that I’ll never get to know how the future all turns out.
Thank you! Future nostalgia... it could be framed as sadness for all the timelines that do not come to pass, too. Nostalgia is a surprisingly generative concept.
I've felt something similar several times in the past five years, with different intensity and context. It's like old eras were ending and there was a feeling that things would never be the same: relocating to another country, Covid, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and now the AI kerfuffle. There's an incredible amount of uncertainty, and it keeps piling up. Truly strange times.
And yet it didn't really feel like massive change was coming, like, 5 years ago. Not like it does now, I think.
Somehow yes. Pre-nostalgia is a perfect term for that. I wonder how if it is relevant for people who don’t follow AI news specifically.
I know the feeling you speak of. Thank you for wording it so eloquently.