Art

Data Agriculture

DataAgriculture.ai seems like an interesting taxonomy-updating quest. It feels time for a team of hybrids to help us build through Big Tech’s early attraction-to-extraction narrative. This domain is now available to energize such a build. Why could this be massive?

The void that a term like “extraction” prompts sounds sharp, but it needed to be. The hollowness has been felt, but that’s when humans can remain enriched from digitized data that flows through more like an agricultural systems versus a mining expedition. Instead of a complete void, appreciating the access to an improved state of mediocrity, but also knowing that 100% HUMAN then becomes even more luxurious.

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Reading can led to compelling investments into fresh whims.

Helping to translate the cultural narrative by working through the abundance of data. All the data everyone talks about as AI gains vast awareness. This is a new, serious quest for a brand that curates human activity alongside AI allies. Humans remain remarkable. What products might benefit from leading such an industry quest and needs the URL to energize their exploration of this idea maze? The goal would be to transition away from “extraction” and through to the next phase: data agriculture

As society grapples through what started as an attraction phase, the sense of being a product is hindering the opportunity. Humans have a moment to reflect on the addiction of productivity. We can remain awesome, which machines want anyway. Keep the source code wild and machines will always wanna learn how we do it. It’s why 87. Incentivized Reality was such an important finishing riff for the Technology section, on PAGE 259 in the new book.

The point? 100% HUMAN becomes even more luxurious. Our premium human time that collides us is what offers a path to staying wild. It’s the random that makes life move forward. Life has always been wild, but the potential serendipity IRL invites, can not be replicated.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Gimmies

Golf is a walk in the park with a small objective. If gimmies are illegal, why are conceded putts common?

What’s the harm in an unquestioned finish? Does picking up that “unmissable” putt really save much time? There are unspoken social factors at play, but so few people are great at golf. Why not relish a satisfying sound of that golf ball dropping into the tiny cup?

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May your feet stay in the fairway.

There’s no harm in keeping things casual to share time however you want, but tacit assumptions do leave room for misunderstandings. The truth is we all give gimmies to be given a break on putts we might miss ourselves.

When we keep score, see how it feels to play without gimmies. Appreciate the missed putts and count those extra strokes. The unequivocal finish feels good and builds confidence for when gifts aren’t up for grabs.

Brewed From Within
#110 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

ArtOfficial

Art for art’s sake is vital to humanity and innovation.

We need fine artists and creatives who do not conform, who lead even when no one else follows. The calculated confusion we experience in contemporary, experimental, and abstract art pushes boundaries so that ideas, styles, and ways of thinking can emerge. Immersing ourselves in these misunderstood realms trains us to trust strangeness. What feels unfamiliar today often becomes inevitable tomorrow.

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This contribution was written by Siobhan Spain. Siobhan developed a new financially self-sustaining nonprofit model providing affordable creative workspace to over 200 artists of all disciplines in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. She now consults, podcasts about nonprofit ecosystems, and owns an arts licensing agency.

Practicing artists see potential before there’s proof. They have a high tolerance for risk and are willing to invest years of invisible labor while operating with restricted resources.

Artists and founders both shape how people think, feel, or behave. The divergence comes in their relationship to the market. Founders must satisfy a market need; ignoring users is fatal. Artists, meanwhile, can deliberately resist or ignore market signals. This alienation can become the feature rather than a flaw.

Then there’s the question of success and perceived impact. Founders are validated externally: users, revenue, growth. Artists answer to internal measures: mastery of a medium, conceptual rigor, or making work that holds personal meaning.

In the contemporary art world, a purist code of practice is common. “Selling out” is to be avoided at all costs, lest the merit of both artist and artwork be compromised. Selling out can mean creating work primarily for aesthetic beauty or mainstream appeal; heaven forbid it be mass-produced.

The commercialization of fine art often inverts traditional capitalist values, where financial success is viewed as a betrayal of artistic integrity. However, communities that prioritize robust creative ecosystems recognize artists and creatives as powerful drivers for economic development, cultural identity, innovation, and social cohesion.

They foster diverse economic and social opportunities in which titles, race, career, and socio-economic status dissolve into a culture of curiosity and inspiration that spark cross-disciplinary collaborations that benefit artists, companies, and civic entities alike.

As these sectors blend a financially sustainable infrastructure is now possible, motivating artists to lean into their creative visions with a sense of purpose.

Artists are critical thinkers who imagine what does not yet exist. They collaborate to form solutions before markets know to ask for them. They rehearse cultural shifts, test narratives, and expand our collective tolerance for the unknown.

Artists show us how to use emerging tools, including AI, with intention rather than conformity.

When artists stop being an afterthought and start being recognized as founders with foresight, viable economic pathways emerge, cultural relevance deepens, and irreplaceable talents can be engaged by all.

Brewed From Within
#37 📖 Leadership

By Ben McDougal, ago

Dollowers

Social media addicted the world to pops of dopamine that came in the form of a friend request or clickable reactions to content. With a single click, likes led to more followers, which added attention and became a metric to support an entire industry of online influencers. The temptation of fame for anyone had many doing whatever it took to keep engagement flowing and follower count growing, but the audience we often yearned for was never truly owned.

Followers are controlled by tech giants and guarded by unseen algorithms. They can vanish without notice. To play the game without being bamboozled, diversify your online presence and add layers of dollowers who pay to stay in tune.

Dollowers pay with their wallet, affiliation, and attention. As you grow an online audience, transition followers into dollowers with segmented email lists, a fleet of products, digital assets, speaking engagements, creator compensation programs, books, affiliate marketing, online courses, and a website to call home base. This gives true fans a sustaining way to show lasting support beyond today’s favorite fad.

Brewed From Within
#75 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago

Front & Center

Music massages the mind.
Live music brings the body in-tune.

As the mind and body respond to a beat, a pulsing pattern guides us to euphoria. In that state, we access elevated areas of the mind. Music anywhere can provide a version of this, but the loudest line is when we’re front and center.

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Listen to EDM when reading this. Visit the Museum on BenMcDougal.com to get a jump start from the author’s wild filmmaking.

Showing up for live music is half the battle. Once you’ve arrived, grab bottled water and float around the venue to expose a variety of views. This takes practice, as wading in a crowd is an art form. As we trap time with content, these pit stops are also a chance to capture angles that set the scene for storytelling later. Securing drinks at a busy bar, spotting an odd perspective, finding a way into VIP areas, and vibing with strangers is all part of the performance.

With the venue scouted, it may be time to push. Your destination is the madness that is front and center.

Find an entry point and wiggle in. There’s no rush. Be considerate, but you will need to get physical, so don’t be surprised when you’re thrown a frustrated look. Before anyone can get angry, dance with these strangers. Share space and give anyone a reason to smile with conspicuous kindness. With that position fully admired, keep moving.

As we maneuver toward front and center, the mob tightens. Once the main act arrives, it’ll be harder to achieve front and center. Time bravery wisely. Arriving early is easier, but you’ll have to survive longer. Wait if you want, but then the push will be harder. As we cut through the crowd, look for party people shorter than you, creases between groups, or wait until someone expires and then take their place.

When you’ve landed front and center, there’s no room to move within this nucleus of humanity, but there’s nowhere else we’d rather be! Stay strong. Feed into the flow that surrounds you, trap time with stable content, meditate for teleportation later, appreciate outlaw logic, and ride this euphoria to a full escape.

Push to feel the front gate if you must, and always stay here longer than you should. When you’ve sensed absolutely everything, begin your descent. Shimmy straight back to remain centered as you politely let others move forward.

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Music decorates time.

It’s impossible to sleep after experiencing front and center. At home, use the earned insomnia to stitch a story together. The faster you tell this story, the wider it will spread when everyone wakes up looking to relive their own euphoria. There’s nothing that compares to being the artist onstage, but this is a very active way to spectate. 

Extra gears and resources are required to arrive, find, and hold down the front and center, but that’s obvious. Two less apparent attributes help fans feel this dazzling splendor. First, a certainty in knowing you belong. This boldness may need to be faked at first, but with repetition, pure confidence comes from grasping the radical effort required to get here. Along with knowing we belong, honest self-awareness ensures we know our own limits. How wild can we live when it’s safe and so easy to conform? Push beyond your limits, but there’s no time for short-term mistakes that leave a long-term burden.

As we age, co-pilots are harder to find, so test yourself with solo missions. The lightness is liberating, but beware. When you consistently create content, you may land a media or even an onstage pass. If you manifest this heaven on Earth, poise is tested. Remain affable, make all feel appreciated, and know you are not the show. Be a daring shadow, embrace every single second, and ship the art to feel euphoria all over again.

Brewed From Within
#104 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago