Nimhue's Root Connection

a blog about all things good and green, living with the land, & loving with the whole heart

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of Nimhue's Root Connection?

I live an active life- I am very involved in my local community, I have numerous hobbies and passions, and I go on lots of adventures.

It is enjoyable then to share these things with the world. I do it for myself, but I do hope my artwork, recipes, adventures, etc 

will instill wonder and joy in people! Also, many of the things that I do are to support myself in achieving my life goals, and so

this website serves as a place to promote and display my artwork and creations. 

 

Why don't you use social media platforms?

Actually- I do! You can find some of my work on Bluesky, such as "the earthing post." However, I've chosen not to maintain a profile

for myself as an individual for a variety of reasons, and I refuse to use Meta products such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok.

Like most people of my generation, I grew up having access to the internet early on. iPads were given to us in middle school, and we all

had social media accounts. And I believe this has caused lasting damage for my generation and the ones after me. Social media is designed

to be addicting, and too many people I know spend several hours a day online. This is the extinction of experience- if we are chronically 

online, we're not making time for real living, skill building, and community. I am only able to do all the things that I do because I gave up

social media. Social media also exposes us to lots of advertising, more than you would get just watching cable. This is brain clutter to me.

I don't like hearing ads repeated over and over again, and it is rather unsettling the way the algorithms advertise products to you. I like to

curate my own attention- meaning, I want my mind to be filled with artwork and stories and experiences, not slogans and jingles and products.

Another reason for my choice is the pressure. It is a lot of work just keeping up with my website and the few outlets I work through. But in

the past when I used Facebook and Instagram, I found the algortihm works against you. When I first started sharing my art online in the early

days of social media, my art could easily be found by anyone online. Now, you have to "boost" posts, use complex strings of tags and keywords,

avoid using words like "sale" and "commission," and play by an invisible rulebook. If you don't post often enough, or post too much, you

risk destroying your visibility. 

All of that being said, I find that my life has been richer without it. I'm reading about 25 books per year since my evenings are no longer 

dedicated to doomscrolling. I'm riding my bike, spending more time at the garden, and I feel less pressure for perfection since I'm not

exposed to the retouched and edited world online. My family has to actually call me, write, or visit to get an update as opposed to reading 

everything on my social media feed. I'm less judgemental because I have so many more in-person experiences with people. So, while I do

maintain a few accounts on select sites purely for business purposes, I am much happier not submitting myself to a "feed."

 

Why do you have a strong stance against AI (artificial intelligence)?

 AI, especially generative AI, in my honest opinion, is detrimental to the collective creative intelligence of humanity. It removes the need

and respect for skill, craftsmanship, artistry. Isn't it incredible that we have the ability to conceptualize and create images and artwork, 

with our own hands, using reference pulled from our organic brains and life's experience? Or to craft our many languages into works

that educate, captivate, and inspire? Isn't it also incredible the profound effect that these arts and words have on our cultures? If you

are a creator of any kind, then you know the power in the act, the satisfaction and healing you receive from making. Why then,

should we take this gift, and train something manmade, which cannot feel, cannot have wisdom, cannot experience the words or art

in the way we do, and give it a role, or even jobs, "creating" arts and writing? I know why. You know why. It is for the same reason that

life essentials, such as food or water and land, can be sold and exploited: money. Generative AI was not invented to benefit the 

average person- there was no shortage of art nor artist, no shortage of ways to learn the skill of writing. No, it is for companies- another

way in which they can cut labor and remove the human from the machine. And most terrifying of all, as I've witnessed firsthand many

times, many people can't seem to distinguish AI artwork or writing from human made work- despite oftentimes it being glaringly obvious.

This is DANGEROUS. Deepfakes and AI internet answers perhaps the most malicious of them all. While it is true that AI's answers come

from a glean of the web, we musn't be naiive of the fact that the people who design these models train them. And those people work for

companies, whose main mission is profit. Companies have done horrors and injustices to people historically for profit, what makes you

think they wouldn't tailor their AI model, which answers your questions and responds to you like a friend, to "speak" to their benefit?

To train you subconsciously the way that advertisements do to feel amiable towards a brand. Or political party. Or idea. I believe that AI

is a powerful and dangerous instrument that is going to begin to blur the line between what is real and what is not. And so, I have taken

my stance against it.