I wish you the best in the Offline

As someone who finds the massive financial/technological/social revolution we're going through with AI extremely unsettling, I find the temptation to do this very strong.

So far, I'm still here. One of the main reasons is that even if I were to find some sort of way to make an offline living that provides good healthcare, that still isn't a complete escape to No AI Island. I will still be living in a world populated by people using AI, surrounded by companies using AI, paying taxes to a government deeply intertwined with AI. Even if I were to not own a car, it's not like I'm not still affected by parking lots, roads, smog, climate change, etc.

And if I'm going to be in a world deeply steeped in and affected by AI, I may as well understand it to some degree and use the technological skills that I have and that I enjoy using.

The Offline sounds more and more appealing with each passing day.

I'm well below traditional retirement age, but have been thinking about it a lot lately.

Personally, I have been increasingly offline for the last year plus, to the point that I am even neglecting smol online things like gopher and geminiprotocol. Things that I would have written a gemlog about are resting in my notebook. Things I think I still might publish one day get typed into my org-mode notes, but so far, I haven't gotten around to reworking any of them. Disappointingly, it's the bigger more satisfying online things that I've dropped, while some of the trivial stuff stays just because the investment of attention required is lower.

If I could retire today, I would. I've still got over ten years left on the traditional retirement path, though I think it's not likely to be there waiting for me when I get there.