One of my goals this year is to figure out my taste. To learn about it, write about it, and start to cultivate mine. I think that “taste” is becoming relatively more important. I want to explore what that means.
What is taste?
Taste goes by many names: intuition, conviction, self-trust, aesthetics. Roughly, it is the ability to make judgements about aesthetic value; to be able to tell the difference between what is and is not beautiful to you. Jackie Zhao,Taste is a guide for what is worthwhile
Style or taste is knowing who you are and knowing what you like, and then being able to look outside of yourself, see the world around you, and then pick out the one thing from around you that does resonate with you, that makes you feel like you are who you are or that you can incorporate into your mindset and worldview. Kyle Chayka, via The Ezra Klein Show
Why do I want to figure out my taste? Mostly because of how AI is changing media and work.
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To know what is worth my time. There is already too much out there to ever read/watch/learn it all (see Thoughtfully manage your information ecosystem) With AI there is also an impending content flood — like probably orders of magnitude more of everything (When Content Creation Goes to Zero). How can I tell whether a given article, podcast, video, artwork, movie is worth it to me to consume?
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To know what I like. Many types of products are likely to become increasingly personalized — just like my TikTok feed is super personalized algorithmically right now, later it might be completely personalized generatively — with brand new content generated just for me / users of me type. How can I tell whether a generative product is selling me snake oil, or fish oil? Generating for me vs manipulating me?
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To know what is closer to complete. I think of GPT-4 as an intern in my pocket. The current AI tools are useful for many tasks; but, like managing someone, you need to know what to sharpen/edit/refine the output. How do I know what is work is almost complete, and what is not?
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To know what ideas are worth pursuing. Managing AI tools might let some people work on a lot more projects, and few people can manage that well. I’m finding myself having and trying a lot more ideas — I want to do more projects and learn to manage that, but there’s a glut of mediocrity in the world. How do I know what is worth building? How do I know when to start and when to stop?