Bob Schwartz

Too much of nothing
Can make a man feel ill at ease
One man’s temper rises
While another man’s temper might freeze
Now it’s a day of confession
And we cannot mock a soul
Oh, when there’s too much of nothing
No one has control
Bob Dylan, Too Much of Nothing

Count the items in your day. What you encounter and engage with. Inside and outside. Things and thoughts. Incidentally or by choice. It’s a lot.

As you count, you might consider the character and value of those items. What is each one adding? What is each one subtracting? More to the point, what is each one adding to or subtracting from what you value?

AI is literally trained on items, ready to process and offer those items. And it is an item itself. So if the volume of items already exploded with the digital access of internet and devices, that is now exponentially larger.

It is certain that 2026 will be another “year of AI”, as will every year in the foreseeable future. More items for us to encounter and engage in, incidentally and by choice, added to the proliferation of items we are already experiencing.

It is also certain that we, as lovely as we are, are not yet equipped to handles all these items in ways that are good for us as individuals and as societies. If we work at it maybe someday, but not yet, though hopefully before it overtakes us and we drown.

Which is why counting and valuing items may be helpful. It is, if you like to think of it this way, just awareness and consciousness of the items, their value, and your values. Once you are aware, you choose.

One person’s drowning is another person’s swimming in a vast ocean. If you understand the ocean and you know how to swim.

© 2025 Bob Schwartz