In the Maintenance of Everything (1), Stewart Brand quotes Matthew Crawford on motorcycle repair,

“Any mechanic will tell you that it is invaluable to have other mechanics around to test your reasoning against, especially if they have a different intellectual disposition.” (Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft)

I've been sitting with this since I read it a couple weeks ago, with it sort of mulling around in the back of my head—unsure what, if anything to do with it. Then I recently saw a Guardian article mention that Gen Z will be the last generation to experience human-to-human intimacy exclusively, meaning from this point on human-to-AI relationships will become more common. In fact, as the article notes, the AI companion industry is set to reach $31B by 2032. Companions, therapists, thought partners, coworkers. AI is slowly taking over all these previously human-only spaces. It's gentrifying intimacy.

But coming back to Crawford's point, there is something irreplaceable about surrounding yourself with people engaged in the same craft as you. And what I have been stirring over and over about this is that it's fundamentally different than simply having someone to bounce ideas off of. How dismissive that would be of the other people, each of whom come into that space with their own problems, solutions, expertise, and opinions. The value of having them around is that they are wholly separate from you and can see things from perspectives that you cannot. They can—and should—and will—disagree with you. And we're all better for it.,

Hannah Arendt described the public realm as a table, that gathers yet separates us. A table is common, yet allows us to retain our individuality while we sit around it. The value of a healthy public life is that it brings together those who see and hear from different perspectives. The collapsing of this would be like reducing us to disconnected entities with a singular point of view. A good description, perhaps, of our present society.

Human connection is friction. It slows things down, requires making time and space for each other. It's also mutual, sharing and listening equally. And it changes us, challenging our self centred perspectives to see things from a different angle. The hard work is the point. It's messy, inconvenient, and it's an irreplaceable part of being human.