Just occasionally, the real world intrudes into our model world.
This year seems to have been marked by the deaths of a few people in the modelling community who seem far too young, and others reporting on projects halted because of health issues.
I know some people like to maintain the fantasy that the sun always shines on our perfect miniature worlds, yet, oddly, some of the best modellers I know have been those who face up to the realities of life.
What got me thinking about this today is something that might seem trivial to you.
Our feral cat went missing over the BH weekend.
I have kept many animals over the years, and whilst holding one whilst watching it put to sleep is painful, it doesn't compare to the fear that one of them has died alone and in pain without having you there. We had reconciled ourselves to You* having been taken by a fox or killed by a car.
OK this story, like the time our other cat went missing for nine months, has a happy ending.
While walking the dogs past a house with a high, dense holly hedge, I heard a faint meowing. If you asked me to recognise a musical note, I would be lost, but I knew at once it was You.
Fortunately, the neighbour turned up at about the same time. A rescue mission was launched up to the eaves of his garage, and my daughter eventually prised You out of her predicament.
She is home now, still as feral as ever.
The cat that is, not the daughter.
But while the cat was missing, I lost all my modelling mojo.
The real world does intrude into our model world.
Later today I have a meeting to finalise an international standard about controlling Artificial Intelligence that "pretends" to be human. My big concerns in this area are around discrimination, honesty, and, most seriously, the possibility of an AI model encouraging harmful behaviour.
"Yes, you are right, your life doesn't sound worth living" is not an impossible response from some AI models.
I think many in our sometimes solitary world could fall victim to that sort of interaction.
On Friday I successfully pitched a conference session on why, in the workplace, we need to live an "examined life" because, to quote Socrates:
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
I think that applies to us all as modellers. Not only in terms of our modelling, but how our modelling relates back to the real world, where we find value, and how we relate to other people, as wella s ourselves.
I suspect I will return to this topic. Eventually.
