Perhaps the most motivating feeling in the world is to self-publish an ebook for the first time. For me to see my own work on Amazon available for sale is an incredible experience. Last week I self-published my short story, HUMAN, and of course I encourage everyone to read it.
A huge thanks to Ani Paoletti, who provided the cover art.
The story world of HUMAN is the result of my own reflections on our social experience in the last ten years (prior to COVID). Much of my incorporated ideas are expressed in further detail in my interview with fellow creative Andrew Hall.
HUMAN explores the emotional response to professional and social situations given technology’s presence. How do we feel when we can’t remember something specific or keep up with someone in a conversation? How do we feel when we can’t contribute to a conversation because we didn’t read the latest news story? How do we feel when we aren’t genuinely listened to?
These are questions I’ve been trying to understand since I graduated from college. I believe we all feel this way at some point in our lives. We’re in the middle of talking and the person we’re conversing with is looking elsewhere, or they pull out their phones or cut us off and attempt to finish our sentences. One thing I never understood was how someone could come to realize what I was going to say before I finished my thought, while at the same time being able to look beyond for the next thing. It suddenly hit me to think about it this way: what if we had some sort of SIM card that would make us think faster? If I could talk faster, I could finish my thought before someone cut me off. I could get my thoughts out there and contribute more to the conversation in less time, given the palpable decrease in one’s conversational patience.
[…] as an engineer – and other engineers can relate to this – we apply our problem solving and analytical skills to social situations, which isn’t the correct application of those skills, but it’s a natural thing to do. So when I observe conversations, I start to see listening – or lack of listening – patterns and understand why. I wrote HUMAN as a way to try and illustrate what I was feeling.
There will be more in the world of HUMAN in the future. Enjoy!