Vonnegut's 'buying one envelope' quote goes viral in AI circles: 'we're dancing animals'
msfeldstein · x · 2026-11-10
The author shares that he's been walking out to buy a single envelope for the past couple weeks, quoting Kurt Vonnegut's classic bit: his wife asks why he doesn't just order a hundred envelopes online, but he goes out anyway — meeting people, admiring fire engines, asking about dogs. Vonnegut's punchline: "we're here on Earth to fart around, and computers will do us out of that... we're dancing animals." The quote is resonating anew in the AI acceleration era as a counterpoint to efficiency-obsessed culture.
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