Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Christian nationalism’s opponents are getting organized. A good start is hearing that Jenna Ellis is charged with violating the Georgia RICO Act.

The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state.

Investigating the ‘spiritual healers’ sexually abusing women.

Why use a Prayer App when you can text Jesus Christ directly?

Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Barbie Worlds!

World of Woo:  The Healy wearable. Yes, its patented phototherapy might be designed to elevate a peptide known to enhance stem cell activity and its microcurrent frequencies might harmonize my bioenergetic field but does it really work?

Environment: El Niño Is Coming—and it’s going to be bad.

The dynamics of the association between science and nonreligious identities.

A teacher in Georgia is fired for having a book about gender identity in classroom. This is the site used by the far-right extremist organization, Moms for Liberty, to list banned books.

Earendel, the most distant star ever discovered.

How many constants define our Universe?

What is an embryo? Scientists say definition needs to change.

ChatGPT and other language AIs are nothing without humans.

Scientists outline a new strategy for understanding the origin of life. Even synthetic life forms with a tiny genome can evolve.

The Constitution bars Trump from holding public office ever again?

Fatal shootings increased as GOP abolished gun Safety Laws.

Why your mental map of the world is (probably) wrong.

Long Reads:  Christianity’s growing irrelevance. Journey to the Earth’s ‘doomsday glacier’. Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines. Moderating the avatars of misinformation. Evolution and extinction are bound together.

Sunday Book Club:  The Bee Sting.

Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Video:  Why are we here? Exploring the mystery of Existence. The full Russell-Copleston debate on the Existence of God (1948).

 

 

• This topic was modified 1 year ago by  Reg the Fronkey Farmer.
• This topic was modified 1 year ago by  Reg the Fronkey Farmer. Reason: Changed "Environment" link due to site being paywalled

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Have a great week everyone!

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Barbie Worlds!

This is just conjecture on my part, but I think Barbie is a quiet, unofficial, matter-of-fact Secular Libertarian.

My evidence? Well, according to the aspirational meme among Straight girls and LGBTQ:

I want to be Barbie! The bitch has everything!
https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2022/06/30/62be14c1382db89e8b9d8619/m_62be14f37ec30c7768ef181c.jpg
👱‍♀️😁😉

And since Barbie has everything, Barbie naturally wants her private property rights protected from the SJWs and Jackbooted Thugs in Cobra, G.I. Joe’s world domination-desiring archenemy.🧔 🐍

And this Barbie who has everything certainly has the option to have Polyamourous Swing parties with Ken, Christie, and Derek. And she has LGBTQ friends like Allen, Weird Barbie, and a Transgender Doctor Barbie. Thus, Barbie is definitely pro-social freedom and wants Equal Rights and Justice for her friends.

Most telling about Barbie’s Secularism: Although Mattel has a Barbie Wedding Chapel, it has no Crosses or other religious symbols! It could just as easily be a Unitarian-Univeralist Church, a Universal Life Church, a Satanic Temple, or even a Las Vegas Elvis Chapel!

All churches I’ve seen made for Barbie were Etsy projects of Barbie fans and not official Mattel merchandise.

There is a Muslim counterpart (and nemesis) to Barbie, but her name is Fulla.

When Barbie became Muslim
Fulla the “Muslim” Barbie doll is said to be a “role model” not only because she dresses “appropriately,” but she also comes along with a prayer mat. But Fulla has a big problem… she is still a Barbie! Although not blond, Fulla is still whiter and seems to have the same bodily-incorrect measures that would prevent Barbie from walking. There are no African, Asian or East Asian Fullas, which continues to perpetuate a certain racial standard.

When Barbie became Muslim

There are Hindu Barbies with the Hindi names Mystical Manipuri, Swapna Sundari, Sohni Punjab Di, and Roopvati Rajasthani. Alas, Ken didn’t go over well among Indian girls, who too often don’t have freedom to choose partners and mates.

Barbie’s Dressed for India

Barbie’s Dressed for India

And, in fact, Barbie is named after Barbara Handler, the daughter of Mattel founder Ruth Handler, who was Jewish. Hence, Barbie comes from a source of some of the world’s greatest Secular minds.

A nice Jewish doll: She goes by ‘Barbie’
The cultural icon immigrated from Europe, changed her name, and wove herself into the fabric of America
MAR 8, 2018, 12:51 PM
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-nice-jewish-doll-she-goes-by-barbie/

I can’t speak for anybody else here, but I say Barbie is a welcome addition to the Secular and Libertarian communities. You go, Freethinking Girlfriend!👍👍

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Correcting a link
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Correcting a link
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Addendum
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Addendums and corrections
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Spacing

[PopeBeanieModerator]

It seems at times that people misapply attributes to AI that are God-like, or possible someday. LOL, kinda like how early scripture writers assigned superhuman attributes to God(s).

So yeah, these designs and inventions came from mankind to start with, and LLM AI’s are not super “intelligent”, yet. It’s only applying algorithms to data originally shared, curated, and fed back into the LLM by humans, and in that sense it’s not super-human, yet.

But I still use ChatGPT to get answers to complex questions in one or a few sentences that would otherwise require a couple dozen google queries that return a large percent of dead ends. Giving ChatGPT a few, well worded queries returns one comprehensive answer, usually exactly what I was looking for in one page or just a few paragraphs.

ChatGPT can almost always understand what I’m actually looking for in detail, and answer me in detail. At the very least, I get good practice thinking out and writing well formed queries. Maybe I need that more than most people.

Tech-wise, whether an LLM database and interface should be considered truly intelligent or not, leads me to the question “Am I really intelligent or not!”, if ChatGPT is still giving me answers I have trouble finding elsewhere? E.g., to some extent, the LLM in my head is largely just data that I can access with my neurophysiological algorithms, which I know from personal experience is prone to mistakes.

So much of the ChatGPT discussion is hype. Still, I think this is very likely only the beginning of rapid AI evolution. What’s most important is to predict as well as we can its powers and pitfalls in the hands of bad actors. And good actors. And its potential to build cult followings.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

UGH!! The article on Hindu Barbie called me non-cognoscenti. Who should I call to see how outraged (or not) I should be?

[DavisModerator]

Off the top of my head, I imagine the real fear is that some parties unleash an AI with few restrictions or even an ability to reprogram themselves in some way, in a state in which we have become so dependent on AI that in order to stop it, we would have to effectively stop all AI and or shut off the internet. Basically when you ask a politician to do the right thing, hurting us deeply in the short term to avoid a long term horror, politicians very often don’t do the right thing. Just look at Rishi Sunak doing the right thing in London and the vicious political backlash against him per the driving charge in the horrifically polluted London or even things like climate change measures in most countries which have been half assed.

While I don’t see AI as setting off a nuclear war directly, I can imagine it being so disruptive it leads to pointless conflict, or accelerating the gap between haves and have nots when not regulated. Seeing as governments are terrified of regulating powerful players such as amazon, facebook and netflix…do you really see them regulating AI at the speed it is developing? It is not far fetched to see we will pay a price for governments lack of incentive to regulate it and just how disruptive it could potentially be.

And it IS our fault (not the “governments”) for not making enough of a stink about it. Not government will do anything unless they have an incentive to, and an apathetic populous doing nothing vs. lobbyists and party donators campaigning for no regulations will mean little effective regulation.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

The term AI is  a bit of a misnomer. It is not intelligent in the sense that a human is. It is not sentient, just a well programed language app.

[_Robert_Participant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

The term AI is a bit of a misnomer. It is not intelligent in the sense that a human is. It is not sentient, just a well programed language app.

Yep. Adaptive algorithms have been around since the dawn of the digital age. The only diff is that computers are just faster, and things appear to happen “real-time”.

[UnseenParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

The term AI is a bit of a misnomer. It is not intelligent in the sense that a human is. It is not sentient, just a well programed language app.

You can’t accuse AI of being nonsentient (lacking consciousness) until we know what consciousness is.

We know it’s a state, feature, or process of the brain but we have no idea at all how it works on the physical level to result in the mental show we call “being conscious.”

Additionally, we only know our own consciousness. As to the consciousness of others, we are forced into an argument by analogy based on our own.

What appear to be the conscious acts of others could simply be robotic responses and reactions by an entity with no consciousness whatsoever.

Unless, of course, such responses and reactions ARE consciousness. In that case, why can’t AI be conscious?

[StregaModerator]

Thanks, Reg!  Couldn’t log in yesterday – I blame Brexit

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

UGH!! The article on Hindu Barbie called me non-cognoscenti. Who should I call to see how outraged (or not) I should be?

Take it easy, Reg. 😁

The article from Hinduism Today was (presumably) addressing those in Hindu society who didn’t know of Barbie from the U.S. and the West, which is quite possible, given the poverty in India and Gurus keeping acolytes from familiarity with trends in the outside world.

Now, if Catholic Priests and Nuns in Ireland kept you from knowledge of Barbie and other great toys for kids, then they would be the ones to confront with outrage. Again, given the horrible record of the Church with children, I can also see this as quite possible.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Fellow Unbelievers,

AI and mega-scale mecha-electronic automation is precisely what is needed the most to end forever the horrors that are happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. These are the nations that provide the Lithium, Cobalt, anf other Heavy Metals used in the batteries we use in smart devices and the much vaunted so-called “Green” power storage for solar panels, windmills, and Electric Vehicles.

The Dark Side of Congo’s Cobalt Rush
Cell phones and electric cars rely on the mineral, causing a boom in demand. Locals are hunting for this buried treasure—but are getting almost none of the profit.
Bvey Nicolas Niarchos
May 24, 2021
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/the-dark-side-of-congos-cobalt-rush

With massive stip-mining machines guided by AI, mining companies could detect new veins of Elements while digging at the same time. AI could save the uñtold millions who are suffering slavery and dangerous working conditions of mining. Moreover, AI-controlled mining would help abolish slavery while still providing the Elements needed to run The Information Age.

Some people are concerned with slavery in 1619. My concern is with slavery at 16:19 hours somewhere in the world right now.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Removing misplaced text

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

@strega – Yep, Brexit has a lot to answer for.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Now, if Catholic Priests and Nuns in Ireland kept you from knowledge of Barbie and other great toys for kids, then they would be the ones to confront with outrage.

The last time Catholic priests and nuns in Ireland saw a Barbie or Ken was in a police station when they were being asked to point out “where did you touch the child”?

[_Robert_Participant]

Unseen wrote:

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

The term AI is a bit of a misnomer. It is not intelligent in the sense that a human is. It is not sentient, just a well programed language app.

You can’t accuse AI of being nonsentient (lacking consciousness) until we know what consciousness is. We know it’s a state, feature, or process of the brain but we have no idea at all how it works on the physical level to result in the mental show we call “being conscious.” Additionally, we only know our own consciousness. As to the consciousness of others, we are forced into an argument by analogy based on our own. What appear to be the conscious acts of others could simply be robotic responses and reactions by an entity with no consciousness whatsoever. Unless, of course, such responses and reactions ARE consciousness. In that case, why can’t AI be conscious?

We just need to determine the algorithm that each and every human brain uses, LOL. Think that’ll be easy, seeing how we all have different hardware?

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