phoenixvoice
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our cognitive infrastructure
It reminds me of some conversations with my ex during the last few years of the marriage. He had a habit of declaring to me what my own thoughts and feelings were. He was always completely wrong, but I found arguing with him to be a useless and unproductive exercise.
We must not allow the first amendment to be altered.
PCR – still 69% of Americans have no regrets being jabbed. So, what we have is a population, 69% of which is too stupid to be functional in a one person one vote Democracy. These fools can outvote the 33%
There is a problem with the math here.
Liberals and therapists
I would guess that many Christians seek out clergy, rather than therapists. Clergy advice can help in many of life’s quandaries…but not all. And, for those where clergy/doctrinal advice does not work well, the seeker may be more likely to abandon religion generally. Also, there are Christian-oriented places with therapists, and I wonder if this tendency is also true among the therapists who work there?
One interesting corollary: Elizabeth Smart. I was living in the Salt Lake area when she was abducted and when she returned to her family. I ran across her book last year and read it out of curiosity. After her return, she never went to a therapist. Instead, she folded back into the embrace of her family and Mormon culture and picked her life back up. I mused on that, and supposed that her Mormon upbringing adequately explained what had happened — essentially, an evil couple had abducted her, she was tried, (like Job), through no fault of her own, she relied upon God, connections with deceased ancestors (angels?), and her own grit, and was eventually delivered from her oppressors. She lived the hero’s journey. What did she need a therapist for?
Biden should resign the presidency or the 25th amendment should be followed. Unfortunately, that leaves Kamala Harris as president…which is a sad thing, as I would prefer that the first female US President be a noble, capable woman, that young women could aspire to emulate. Harris does not fit the bill. Bummer.
The New Republic cover, Trump
In The True Believer, Eric Hoffer suggests that all mass movements have similar beginning traits and that they progress to a “messy phase” and that they can go in directions that morality suggests are ultimately positive or negative. Due to this, it may be difficult to know at the dawn of a movement whether it will ultimately be mostly good or mostly bad.
The mass movement coalescing around Trump could go either way — it could be a new dawn for the US Constitution, a nationalistic movement that helps the nation find its footing as the empire fades. Or, it could be a nasty repression that lashes out at those currently in power and represses the minorities that have been out of the closet in the past few decades. Either way, it is not very likely that Trump could “become another Hitler/Stalin,” etc. He is, quite frankly, too old. Although Trump’s personality is a sun when contrasted with Biden’s “dwarf star” persona, Trump is less vibrant than he was 8 years ago. If the nationalistic movement doesn’t fizzle after the election, other leaders will start to gain prominence.
Hannah Arendt was studying totalitarianism specifically, rather than mass movements generally. Based on what we witnessed during Covid, the mass movement that is being stoked by the globalists already has clear hallmarks of totalitarianism as explored by Arendt.
I’m sure that from the globalists’ point of view, the Covid time was a mass movement that they could steer, while the nationalistic Trump movement is out of their control. Therefore, the Trump movement is “bad” and “like Hitler,” while they view their own movement as benign, beneficial and “progressive.”
@ DBS
Human learningI think that, very often, systems/products are designed deliberately to hide the control mechanisms so that humans — who *are* very good at learning, especially the young ones — don’t inadvertently run across them.
Very often, the older folks that I work with in my business express the belief that the young folks (40s and younger) can do wonders with smartphones and computers…and they *can* easily install apps and use them…but they often do not know:
– how to manually configure a network adapter, a router, an email client, etc.
– how to code a website..or anything else for that matter
– how to use Boolean search terms in a web search (have never heard of the term “Boolean”)
– to type in a full web address rather than a keyword search
– the file system structure outside of the user profile “libraries” and an attached thumb drive.
– how to use command prompt, the Windows Registry, group policy/local policy, local user accounts (rather than a Microsoft account,) terminal, Remote Desktop, VNC, SSH, etc. (I am not an expert in all of these things, but I know what they can do, and I look up what I don’t know. Most young folks don’t realize that these things EXIST.)
– that smartphones can be “rooted” or “jail-broken” and apps side-loaded…but they are familiar with installing BlueStacks and simulating an Android environment on a Windows PC to play a phone game on a PC!
Young people have been distracted into believing that computers, tablets, smartphones are merely toys, and that everything “under the hood” is akin to rocket science, too hard to understand, or that have inculcated anxiety about breaking it.
We could have been teaching young people how to master these systems/devices. Instead, they have been hoodwinked into being enslaved by them.
I’ve been vacationing this week, and much of the long drive yesterday and today has been filled with reading The True Believer, by Eric Hoffer (1951.). My spouse saw it referenced by Sailer in his recent interview with Tucker Carlson, and he ordered it so that I could read it (and share the best parts and the concepts with him, lol.). I recommend it. So very often many have asked the question, why is it that I could see through the Covid mess readily, or relatively quickly, when so many others were hoodwinked? Hoffer has some cogent ideas about why this is, written 70 years prior to Covid craziness.
The ready imitativeness of a unified following is both an advantage and a peril to a mass movement. The faithful are easily led and molded, but they are also particularly susceptible to foreign influences…. The preaching of all mass movements bristles with admonitions against copying foreign models and “doing after all their abominations.” The imitation of outsiders is branded as treason and apostasy…. Every device is used to cut off the faithful from intercourse with unbelievers.” (P. 103-4)
And that is an apt explanation for the broad invention of and obsession with dis-, mis-, and malinformation and opposition to free speech. Free speech is critical to liberty and to the unmasking of mass movements.
Aspnaz:
You actually believe that Biden is in control of his career?I suspect that the reason why those propping up Biden believed that they could continue *is* because of the level of success they have enjoyed thus far. Biden was not up to the task of being president 5 years ago, and yet they succeeded well enough that he was slipped into the presidential slot. The media is their echo chamber, and as long as the media continued to fall in line, as it had done for 5 years regarding JB, they believed that the charade could continue. It was all hubris.
I’m going to enjoy watching this play out…it is nice to see the curtain pulled back and “the Great OZ” revealed as a humbug.
Oroboros
Trump can be talked in and out of anything by the people he picks to surround him.*sigh*. Exactly. And a penchant for flourishes when firing does not prevent this problem.
I think that it is nice that aspnaz is here. Otherwise, it is easy to become complacent. There are always going to be humans with ideas that I believe are wrong-headed. The real challenge is how to have a reasonably harmonious society with “liberty and justice for all” — even those that I disagree with vehemently. Even my ex husband who has tried to destroy everything positive in my life, on multiple occasions. Life would be boring without some challenges along the way.
UK wants to obligate teen service…
I have three teens. They have grown up with the understanding that they are obligated to complete high school, and then their life choices are up to them. Dropping new, post secondary obligations upon them suddenly is not likely to inspire much more than rebellion.
The Supreme Court reveals bias by not adjudicating a case faster than most other cases?
Give me a break!
Courts and hospitals are the two slowest institutions that I have ever dealt with. They both have the ability to move fast when there is a true crisis, but the rest of the time they move at a snail’s pace.
Just because wokedom believes that preventing Trump from becoming president is a crisis situation doesn’t mean that the rest of the country — including Supreme Court justices — agrees. In fact, one of the purposes of the Supreme Court is to be able to “put the breaks” on runaway social memes that may sweep swathes of society.JB-HB
Technically, Karl Marx did not say that in socialism the government was to own the means of production, he said that the workers were to own the means of production. He also didn’t advocate for government control, in general, he said that for the revolution that he predicted that government would play a role. It was the Communist Party that decided to interpret “the workers” as “the government” or, more specifically, “the Communist Party” which usurped the role as the workers’ “trustee.” We all know how well *that* has worked out. (Hannah Arendt documented it well, calling it out as “totalitarian.”)
Sole proprietorships give one owner control over the business, and can work well. In a partnership, two or more owners run a business, and this can work well. Employees come on board, and now we have a two-tiered system under the sole proprietor or partnership, where one tier is isolated away from control over the business. An argument can be made that, initially, current business owners do not know whether or not a new employee will stay long or will be a good fit, and justifiably do not want to share power with a stranger. And, in some businesses, tiered models may be appropriate and simply work best. However, people like having control over their lives and often take greater pride when they own or share in ownership of something. At a certain point one has to ask: is the business structured so that ownership and control is in the hands of relatively few, rather than many because that is, ultimately, the best way to run that business? Or is it the best way for a small number to extract as much profit as possible from the business and into their own hands? This starts driving down to how do we empower individuals who are cooperating together so that they have freedom but still enjoy benefits of cooperation. Also, can we structure organizations (countries, cities, businesses, etc.,) in ways that promote individual autonomy and liberty while maintaining cohesive, strong organizations?
These are the questions that I look at when I examine the writings of Karl Marx. They are cogent questions and still relate to today, even though Marx was wrong about there being an impending proletariat revolution as he described.
LGBTQI, Africa, everywhere
There has got to be a “happy medium” where gay folks are safe from death penalties and prison terms, but at the same time there are no drag queen story hours for toddlers nor prepubescent kids being recruited to find their lgbtqi “flavor.” Let’s go back to: “oh, yeah, there is a gay couple on the street. They are good neighbors and congenial folks. Kind of odd, but—whatever floats your boat.”
I have always been anti-war…but with two sons in the 18-26 age range, my anti-war tendencies have increased.
“Why Nearly Half Of US Online Job Postings Are Fake
One of my 18-year-old sons is looking for a summer job — for the last 8 weeks, and hasn’t had any success. He is a bit demoralized. He doesn’t drive, and so started by limiting himself to places very close by, and now is branching out to places one bus ride away. I suggested to him that it is very possible that many places posting job openings in fact have no such openings — they are just always fielding applicants so that when they need a new employee they have a wide pool to pull from. Each application takes a fair amount of time for my son to complete…and yet some computer likely weeds out his application, with his minimal experience (he completed a 4 week part-time internship last summer, and has occasionally helped me in my technology business,) so that, in most cases, his application is never viewed by human eyes.
DBS
To this day (and I’ve made many attempts) I cannot yet fathom the mind of someone who would do such a thing under any circumstances, whatsoever. Could YOU burn to death a hundred thousand innocent children just to make a political statement? Well that’s precisely what THEY did, which shows pretty unmistakably the sort of people who run this country, and who aim to run this world.Amen!
Tesla model s
I think that it is good for these cars to be developed. Many people like them and want one.
I don’t want one.
Too computerized, too controlled by the manufacturer.
Replacing the battery costs an ungodly sum of money.
Not designed for owner repair.
No thanks.Kunstler “motor-voter”, etc.
Wait a minute: it can be helpful to think something through before discounting it out of hand.
I don’t think completely automated voting roles are a good idea, however, I have observed a couple AZ state government interactions that give the state citizen the option of registering to vote, and they both make sense, for very clear reasons. Voting registration (or updates) can be done concurrently when getting a drivers license or state ID or registering a vehicle; they can also be done when applying or updating information for SNAP, TANF, or Medicaid. Party affiliation on the registered voter can also be changed at these junctures. This makes sense because these agencies (the AZ MVD and Department of Economic Security) verify identity, using birth certificates, Social Security cards, etc., the same sorts of documents used to prove citizenship for voting, verify current address, and both agencies require those with drivers licenses and/or state assistance programs to update their home address with the agency in a timely fashion. These are the same data points required for voter rolls to be kept current.
Now, at least in AZ, none of this is “automatic.” There is a box to check when doing these things that initiates the voter registration process or updates. It should not be automatic because voter registration and updates to the rolls should be left in the hands of the individual voter and never left in the hands of a bureaucrat who pays the salary of the software programmer.
Paul Craig Roberts
. I learned about modern day usury in May when my credit card bill did not show up. Perhaps it went into the spam or junk folders or fell victim to a glitch, all possibilities being joys of the digital revolution.
Interesting. When my action depends upon receipt of something and the consequences for not acting are significant, I do not rely on email — I insist on a notice via USPS. My power, gas, and water bills all still come in paper form…although I know how to access them online. My father also taught me years ago that for credit card holders who typically pay on time, the fees for an occasional misstep in paying a credit card bill can be waived by calling customer service and complaining. I wonder whether or not that is still the case?
Hmm.
The local Walmart grocery store (NOT a “supercenter”) was renovated last month, and now the parking lot has 18 designated “pick-up” parking spaces. There are 4 handicapped parking slots. I have never seen more than 3 people actually using the pick-up stalls simultaneously. Did Walmart plan for a future pandemic? I have decided to simply park in the pick-up spots regularly, as a form of protest. I can tell that I am not the only person doing this — there are routinely a few cars parked in those stalls with no one inside of them.
There is a prima fascia reason for not taxing garage sales and the average person selling a few items on Craigslist: most of the time, people are selling used stuff that they themselves bought, and it is being resold for less than the original price paid. There is no profit.
Of course, with AI helpers, all transactions could be tracked and the AI could helpfully compute the depreciation on that $150 item resold for $35…and — just maybe — the AI could track the time the seller put into selling the item and determine whether or not the “profit” even recovers the time spent to sell it computed at minimum wage, etc. But is that the world we want to live in? Where everything we do it tracked and quantified by AI? Where we are hamsters in an AI cage?
Self-driving cars
…and then humans no longer learn to drive, don’t learn how to control their locomotion in that fashion.Evolved at the equator
Near the equator the temps don’t change much one way or the other, neither hot nor cold, staying near what is commonly referred to as “room temperature.” So, yeah, I’d say that suggests humans evolved at the equator, we tend to abhor large temperature swings.
Fish net master
This is the area where humanity shines — individuals who take the time to learn a craft or art or skill: visual artists, musicians, net throwers, actors, surgeons, teachers, etc., and through their diligence and dedication a beautiful synergy arises. The results are art and music and buildings, children taught and lives saved. We honor these people for their efforts and work, even when they have failings in their personal lives, because their social contributions are greater than their immediate social circle of family, close friends, neighbors, and coworkers.What happens when an AI produces visual “art” in seconds, commercial jingles and pop music, architectural plans, learning modules, and performs surgery? What is the point and purpose to learning to draw or paint or play piano if an AI can “do it better” or “do it for me?” Humanity will be tempted to take the route of the child of wealthy parents…who cannot give limits to the child because all limits are surmountable with money, and imposing a limit might be interpreted as withholding love. Hunter Biden who spends his life on hookers and blow and creating bad art because he never learned the value of persevering through adversity. It is in persevering through adversity and challenge that humanity becomes more than the sum of its parts.
My daughter is a visual artist. Like many of her friends, she has an instagram account. Apparently, Meta decided to use its users posts — including their original artwork — to train their AI models. https://mashable.com/article/meta-using-posts-train-ai-opt-out My daughter was telling me yesterday that, apparently, if an artist posts original work on Meta (FB, instagram, etc.,) all of their hard work put into developing their craft and style can be copied by AI, and used for AI to generate comparable art.
Ah, I get it.
The Dems say that if the Repubs discount Trump’s felony conviction then the repubs are destroying the country’s justice system. The pot calling the kettle black. Dems projecting their actions onto repubs. But not bothering to charge serial shoplifters — that preserves justice.I am reminded of a terrible argument with my ex years ago:
We were supposed to go to a small social event at a bar that we had organized. He was too drunk to get out of bed. I tried and tried to wake him, but he would not. So, I left him and the kids (with the ‘sitter,) and went on my own. He showed up about an hour later. I could tell that he was furious with me. Later, at home, he verbally let in on me, demanding to know how I could have been so irresponsible and inept as to not have successfully wakened him. I pointed out that he had been the one who had failed in the areas of responsibility and eptitude. He didn’t seem able to see my point. The argument dragged on and on until, exhausted, I decided to tap into my performance training and play the role of the “contrite wife” so that I would be left alone and have the opportunity to sleep.@ Thomas Kenney
Thanks for article yesterday on ai.
Essentially, the point is that instead of AI making it easier for humans to navigate the world as it is (which is difficult enough,) AI will increase complexity of laws and bureaucracy so that humans must use AI in order to navigate the world. It sounds like a world designed for AI, rather than a world designed for humans.@ dr d rich
A few weeks back I went to my daughter’s PCP practice to get a note that stated an obvious conclusion from her symptoms and positive-for-mono blood test results: her need for sleep may interfere with school. I brought the blood test results (test was ordered by an urgent care.). The doctor office wanted her to fill out questionnaires about depression and anxiety. I declined. (She had had a full physical two months prior and had discussed behavioral health specifics with a female doctor that I liked. This visit was with a newly-minted male NP. I wasn’t going to tolerate my daughter being grilled about depression and anxiety unnecessarily. Plus, due to her over-bearing father, my daughter tends to be uncomfortable around males, especially ones that she does not know.). They wanted me to write “declined” on the papers so that they could scan them in and prove that they had tried to get them filled out. I was incensed, but complied — I needed the note. The NP wanted the records from the urgent care and ER (she had gone for abdominal pain, spleen wasn’t enlarged enough to cause concern, just enlarged enough to hurt significantly.). I pointed out that I would need forms to fill out, as I had declined her data being put into the online health exchange. The MA got me the forms…pre-filled out to include every medical record under the sun and with no start or end dates. I was disgusted, and asked for blank forms, which I filled out in spartan-like fashion to include only the relevant data and I wrote in start/end dates. I asked, when are we going to get this note? Because I knew that getting medical records from the forms I filled out would take at least days, and I needed the note before the end of the school year so that her absences wouldn’t cause problems with the school. The NP did the exam, just at the end he stated that he needed to check one thing, moving her legs in a specific fashion, not telling us why, then telling us that it was to rule out appendicitis. But she/I has/have no appendix!, my daughter and I chorused — which showed that the NP hadnt looked too deeply at the medical record, because that had been reported in prior visits, under hospitalizations. The coup de grace was when the nurse came in with the coveted school note, (I *know* the NP didn’t view the records that I was required to request before writing the note,) giving us a lab req, pre-assigned lab appointment, and asking us to make a follow-up visit in 2 months. The NP had said nothing to us about follow-up labs nor a follow-up visit. I was disgusted that these steps would be taken without the provider bothering to speak with me about them. I made the appointment — with no intention of keeping it, knowing that I can easily cancel it online — went home, called the urgent care, (that also offers primary care one day per week,) and made an appointment for my daughter there, to initiate that office being PCP for my daughter.
I also now understand better what the online health exchanges mean — full access for *any* health care provider to the individual’s complete medical record with no start/end dates. I do not find that idea reassuring — I find it terrifying. The patient/individual cedes all control of their health data to the medical industry.
Thanks to Dr. John for the ethical skeptic articles yesterday.
UCLA medical students…perhaps by design? All they need to do is catalog symptoms and feed them into a computer which spits out diagnoses and treatments: this doesn’t take much.
(I saw this on display at my daughter’s most recent doctor visit…I’m finding her a new medical practice.)
that AI will be better than humans at everything,
No. AI is not biological, it doesn’t grow into awareness requiring nurture, it isn’t human.. It is a parody of humanity. And, as humanity’s golem, it can do a great deal of things. Some AI accomplishments, according to certain metrics, will be deemed as better than humans. But everything? I think not.
Woody Harrelson
To whom does he speak?
Yes, all economic classes buy a lot of toxic junk. This, often, could be easily stopped.
But not always.
Does he speak to those that have incomes above the median? If so, then yes, go for it: follow his suggestions.
But what about those of us with incomes below the median? Whose young children wear pajamas from Walmart or thrifted or hand-me-downs, that are impregnated with toxic chemicals to prevent the Jammies from burning? (WTF? Not a lot of open flames in our homes any more….) Not everyone can purchase Jammies of organic Cotten, carefully not marketed as pajamas so that they don’t have the toxic chemicals added as required by law. Sure, I can travel all the way to Whole Foods, purchase a bag of 10 organic corn tortillas without the junk and glyphosate, and fry them up for tostada night rather than purchase the ready-made tostada rounds from the Walmart a half-mile away, full of GMO corn — but the cost for the Whole Foods ones, per 6” tortilla, is about 10 times the cost of the ones from Walmart. Oh, and the Whole Foods tortillas must be refrigerated and used or frozen within about 4 days or they will mold — because they have no preservatives.
I hear this stuff and I hear, “Let them eat cake.”
Those who survive with incomes below the median can surely be smart, ignore the advertising, and reduce the toxins in their homes — and save money, too. But the idea that they can radically alter their purchases to influence the behavior of the large corporations is impractical on its face.
@ Red
I’m thinking the bar for the Turing test has been set pretty low as of late.Yes.
Another possibility is that humans have become so accustomed to the doublespeak that is encouraged by corporate America who gives no power to its employees actually working with customers that any computer who uses that style of speech is indistinguishable from a human doing the same.Related issue:
I get my federal tax refund in check form. I don’t deposit it in my personal bank account because there are judgments against me. (This fall I really need to declare bankruptcy and get this behind me.). I’d rather not lose a portion of the money to a check cashing place, so the past couple of years I signed the check over to my dad, he deposited it into his account, and once it funded he gave me the money. A few weeks back we went together to the local bank branch, and the bank manager told us that she has no idea why or when it started, but they cannot accept the deposit of a federal tax refund check into the account of someone not named on the check. Hunh? No recourse of action, the bank manager’s out was that “her hands were tied,” “she had no power,” she was, in essence, merely the errand-boy of a faceless bureaucracy.
My dad was displeased and called his broker (with the same bank) the next day. 2 weeks later we followed the broker’s advice: we traveled 2 miles down the road to a “premier branch” (which closes daily at 4 pm — convenient for retirees, inconvenient for the rabble,) and attempted the same procedure. The teller had no problem — did not have to call the bank manager over — and deposited the check. (I was reminded by the teller that once the check was deposited I’d have no access to the money. It’s alright, I said, I’ve known him a long time — I trust him. She’s my daughter, my dad added.)
On the way back to my house we discussed how the rules for the poor are much stricter than they are for those with money. Yet, those with money are the ones with the capacity to get the ears of elected lawmakers!
In the past week I also found out that Chase bank only allowed cash payments to credit cards from people named on the credit account and that ID must be provided to use cash to pay a credit card balance. All of this just makes me more determined than ever to continue using cash.
Labrador vs. border collie
It reminds me of how, sometimes, great intelligence is more of a hindrance than a help — the border collie just *knew* that he could cross without getting wet, but didn’t anticipate how great the challenge would be.My daughter has been sick with mono for six full weeks now, the extreme exhaustion stage has been for the last five weeks. She is in good spirits most of the time, but sleeps 11-15 hours per day. Needless to say, she is struggling to keep up with school. No clear end is in sight yet.
I can’t help but compare this to the ridiculous Covid scare. In my household, Covid as a “real” sickness, in the sense that we each got sick from it at least once and had symptoms that were undeniable, such as significant fever, temporary loss of taste/smell, etc. For my daughter, she had significant Covid symptoms that kept her out of school for two weeks…she finally was at my home, I gave her ivermectin when the Covid was lingering, and (wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles,) the remaining brain fog cleared up a few hours later.
This mono thing isn’t so scary — in the sense that it has been something with humanity for a long time, there is a fairly large body of human knowledge associated with it — but it is very significant and serious in a way that Covid was not. It can’t be shrugged off, cannot be ignored, and while it runs it’s course, mono is the most powerful contributing factor to her life. Everything else in her life right now has to be fit in around the biological imperative to sleep half of every day and the fact that even when doing so, she may still be sleepy during waking hours and find it hard to focus.
CO2/heat relationship
I was always aware of this. To me, the real question was: what happens globally if the CO2 goes up in a big way, but not following warming, rather from a different, (man-made,) source? No one knows the answer. Not knowing is uncomfortable.
Perhaps, the earth greens more, as plants have more abundant access to CO2. If that is the case, then it is a positive by-product in my book. The bigger concerns regarding fossil fuels have been various pollutions and toxicities that they contain or that occur in bringing them to the surface, as well as depletion over time and how our culture responds to that depletion.
