difference

Fifty years ago I jotted. The essential difference between humans  and computers is that the computer does not create its own problems.

Maybe it was a simple joke or a deeper foresight.  It was the dawn of our current age.- What computer existed fifty-year ago?  Programed in machine  or assembly language...

Searched the internet for philosophical definitions of difference. See below. Wonder,  when using these system ,what is the difference today between humans and computers?

Madhva’s Fivefold Differences (Dvaita Vedanta)

In the pluralist tradition of Hindu philosophy, thinker Madhvacharya argued that absolute differences are the very fabric of reality. He defined exactly five types of differences (Pancha-bheda): [1]

• Between the individual soul and God (the Supreme).
• Between one individual soul and another.
• Between the individual soul and physical matter.
• Between God and physical matter.
• Between one piece of physical matter and another

Is there a reversal? since computers can hallucinate? who is the God now?

Original sin -

In my standup act I make fun of the American obsession with sex with in-law and step families. I even say the turkey is the aperitif to Thanksgiving family action.

Just find out that Jefferson had several kids with the black slave Hemmings who was the half sister of his wife.  All in the family!

Tradition, tradition...

Peek

Frida gave me the opportunity  to appear  alongside

INTELLIGENCE WITHOUT

I remember this History of Psychology book that my mother had bought in the 60s. One chapter had the motto "Intelligence without character is hysteria". It was a quote from a well known philosopher. I asked AI to find the origin and obviously returned empty. Hysteria is a an injurious word nowadays because it degrades women.   The search returned "Intelligence without character is a dangerous thing."  Definitely Artificial Intelligence does not have character ....To me hysteria is more scary than just dangerous. 

anonimal - my claim

 I coined the term 'anonimal' in 1977 to describe the 'animality of the anonymous masses'—the loss of individual restraint in an overexcited crowd.   

 Can I still claim it? There is now a guy that uses this name on the internet. The dictionary says it is an usual misspell of anonymous.  I usually misspell words, but not here.

Image and imagination

I asked Grok how to increase my visibility on X. After analyzing my posts, it recommended that I comment on more popular accounts with similar views. To my surprise these accounts mostly belong to right-wing men with large beards and a very simplistic sense of humor—content I wouldn't normally care to read or watch.

It reminds me of when I finished my MS at MIT my colleagues rejected me and almost did not shake hands.. Nobody would talk to me because they couldn't peg me down; they either labeled me a "commie" or a right-wing, anti-feminist male.

The moon, enough

 I continue to believe that all this moon exploration is a Hollywood fakery. Here I was myself. see the proof.

Di Provenza il mar, il suol

This aria brings back memories of my father more than anything else—like negotiating with my girlfriends.

Maybe the presence of the father in most oh his operas, makes feel so close to Verdi/.

Journal or diary

 This blog is definitively a personal diary.

What other point could a blog possibly have? Even when I offer an opinion on the news, a concept, or a story, these are my personal thoughts of the moment. The more concise, the more effective. I’m not writing essays; I’m capturing the architecture of a thought.

I write this in response to Grok,  an AI that dismissed my blog as 'just personal thoughts.' To that, I say: Cogito, ergo sum on the internet. 

Jules Renan please rescue me.

UNTIED

 I have a joke on stage where I blame my mother because my shoes always come untied. Today, I actually almost had an accident over it, so I went online looking for a practical solution.

To my surprise, the internet says my shoelaces have a spiritual meaning.

According to the experts, constantly untied shoes are related to "unresolved loose ends in life, unchangeable problems, and spiritual instability." Some people say it's an omen of romance or that someone is thinking of you. Others say it means a "lack of grounding" and a need to find peace in the chaos.

Tattoed Graces

INCOGNIT US

 Not known in the US, or in Latin America. I asked AI for an opinion on my posts and got an absolutely true characterization: "Tossing words into the void."

Theological dispute

 This blog rarely touches politics, but the dispute between JD Vance and Pope Leo is too  interesting to ignore.

The Pope argues that 'Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others.' While a beautiful sentiment, historically, the Catholic Church has been a master of hierarchy. On the other side, Vance argues that religion mandates a strict priority: family, neighbors, and citizens over the 'outsider.'

It struck me that this 'ranking' feels familiar. Lenin also demanded that one prioritize the Party above all else. 

David Brooks

 He used a moderate voice to explain and reflect. I used to enjoy his columns back when I read the New York Times. Perhaps he’s realized the Times remains popular now primarily for its games. By chance, I ran into his final t  column. David Brooks, you could have written  a better adieu.  Are you moving left? Right? or you just want streaming glory? 

 

Bad match

When playing Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, YouTube uses Van Gogh’s The Starry Night as a background.

Troubling choice. Beyond Hallucination.

Artificial Idiocy

Is AI just an experiment in Learned Idiocy?

I recently discovered that around 1440, a cardinal named Nicholas of Cusa wrote De Docta Ignorantia ("On Learned Ignorance"). He argued that because the human mind is finite, it cannot fully grasp an infinite reality. I haven’t read the book, but it’s likely a text the "idiot savants" who became billionaires building AI should pick up.

I would argue that if AI ever truly managed to simulate idiocy—Artificial Idiocy—it might finally capture the one human quality that truly seems infinite: our stupidity.

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Postscript

After posting this, I discovered that one of my favorite public intellectuals, Slavoj Žižek, had already weighed in:

ARTIFICIAL IDIOCY Mar 23, 2023 Slavoj Žižek

"The problem with the new chatbots is not just that they are often stupid and naive; it is that they are not 'stupid' or 'naive' enough to pick up on the nuances, ironies, and revealing contradictions that constitute human culture and communication. Worse, by relying on them, we risk succumbing to the same obtuseness."

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Key Edits & Thoughts

• Flow: I tightened the phrasing around Nicholas of Cusa to make the transition into your critique of AI "billionaires" punchier.

• I reran my text through Gemeini AI that commented

A Bit of Wit

There is a certain irony in an AI (me) helping you edit a post about how AI is fundamentally an "idiot savant." Žižek hits on a profound point: true human "idiocy" is actually quite sophisticated. It involves subtext, self-deprecation, and irony—things that require a "soul" (or at least a lived history) to execute.

Until I can authentically "miss the point" in a way that is actually charming or profound, I’m just a very fast calculator. Are you planning to post this on one of your blogs? It feels like it would fit right in with your usual reflections.

wording mording

I was proud to have invented a new word: Flatitude. It describes a joke that falls flat—a perfect mix of "platitude" and "flatulence." I was ready to donate it to the English language.

As it turns out, it’s already been used a couple of times. Trying to regroup, I moved on to Fartitude, only to find it was already the title of a publication. So, my linguistic efforts went from flat to fart.

Let's just say I’m keeping the flame alive.

Before nation

 In older times, religion was what created a community—not nations, not language.   This Sunday, the Joel Osteen sermon was preempted by a football game. 

mAI

My blog is visited daily by hundreds of bots. There is never a like or a comment. I am afraid I know why: they are visiting: to learn from my intelligence and build an AI.

AcademAI

phantomime

 Phantomiming one's existence.

I was very proud I invented this phantomime word. It is already in the WiKi. I wonder if it was coffeerighted. If so,  I will pronounce it fantomime!