Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I haven't read the encyclical letter yet. It's divided into five chapters plus a conclusion, so I don't expect it'll be a fast read. Vatican News posted an article about it today.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (An excerpt from a Vatican News article about the new encyclical letter, how I see the news, and what I expect to find after reading Magnifica Humanitas.)

Scenic, no. Good farmland, yes. Red River Valley, near the Goose River, looking south. Our second-oldest daughter and her husband live and run their businesses on the homestead where my mother grew up. Our oldest daughter moved there, some years back. That’s another story for another time. The oldest daughter and I enjoy a two hour (roughly) chat each evening: something that wouldn’t be possible without today’s information technology. Yet more topics. Since our conversations are in text format, we make what amounts to a transcript of what we’ve said. Plus, we can easily share material that we’ve read or written; provided it’s under the service’s character limit. Last Saturday, our oldest daughter shared part of a conversation she had with an AI. With her okay, I’m showing part of it here, and adding some of my thoughts. Our Oldest Daughter, Remembering a Life Transition Oldest Daughter's Input: Neuro Compass: Finding Patterns Respect (Neuro Compass, continued) Me: ...

San Francisco's BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system wasn't the world's first automated transit system, or even the first in this country. But it was among the first all-new American rapid transit systems designed in the 20th century. BART was also, I gather, among the first with trains that didn't need drivers. Or, rather, didn't need a human at the controls. An Automatic Train Control (ATC) system ran each train, and the network as a whole. 1 Today I'll be taking a quick look at how news media covered a BART accident that wasn't particularly serious, and talk about what happened when a train and its driver didn't communicate — plus whatever else comes to mind. The Fleetingly Famous Fremont Flyer ROBOT TRAIN RUNS AMOK! CHAOS RIDES THE RAILS! The Train That Left Its Human Behind Daft Kids and Open Doors WAIT FOR ME! Seriously? Humans: A Brief Meditation on Kids, Commuters, and Molten Ice Cream More at A Catholic Citizen in America ....

"It's fair to say that if news sites were people, most would be diagnosed as clinically depressed right now." ("I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product?", Amanda Ripley , Washington Post (July 8, 2022) via Wikiquote) A comic strip started me thinking about the news, fearmongering, viewpoints, and weird groupings from Google News. I'll be talking about that: along with rich folks, free speech, and whatever else comes to mind. Free Speech, a Slogan, Journalism, and a (Very) Little History "The Yellow Press", Mayor Gaynor's Letter, and Viewpoints: Including Mine Freedom of Speech, Lèse-Majesté, and "The Apotheosis of Washington" By the Pricking of my Thumbs, Something Freaky This Way Comes Google News and 'Physics' Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid! — — — or Not Wealth, Averages, and Attitudes "Moral Panic" and Making Sense "Today in the News....” Good Advice, Actually More...

There are times when I almost regret having successfully avoided a conventionally-successful career. Last weekend was not one of them. Partly because I saw what happens when an otherwise-smart person forgets to think. Big-Time Bungle: Bogus References Trust, Assumptions and ChatGPT Two Timelines, a Career and Experience A Little of This, a Little of That Using Our Brains: It’s an Option Common Sense and Other Alternatives A Skunk, a Wood Pile, Dynamite and the Sixties Changing Times, Human Nature THE ROBOTS ARE COMING! THE ROBOTS ARE COMING! More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Bogus research by a chatbot. Technology, common sense and human nature. Using our brains is an option. And a good idea.)

I'll be talking about ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, and why I don't think we're doomed. Search Engines, Iron Gall Ink and Me Prolonged Paragraphs, Abundant Adjectives: a Prolix Style From Another Age It's New, it's Scary and it's (Not) the End of Creative Writing ChatGPT and Three Fears 1. Loss of Economic Security (or Maybe a New Job) 2. Loss of Originality: Being Homogenized Diversity and a Discerning Chatbot 3. Loss of Creativity (Quoth the Chatbot: "Nevermore"?) Twitter Terror and the Chatbot of Doom Psst! Know Where a Buddy Can Get a Nuke? "It Can Only be Attributable to Human Error" From "I Read it in a Book" to "I Saw it Online" Nostalgia, Memory and Job Security More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Chatbots and three fears. ChaosGPT: Twitter terror and the chatbot of doom. Accepting change, and why I do not think creative writing is ...

Asteroid Dimorphos and comet-like dust trail, 28 hours after DART spacecraft impact on September 26, 2022. (Image taken October 8. 2022) Image from NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble, used w/o permission On September 26, 2022, the NASA/APL DART mission changed the orbit of an asteroid: Dimorphos, a satellite of 65803 Didymos.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(Mars 2020 getting ready for launch last year.) I'll be looking at NASA's Mars 2020 Ingenuity helicopter, the spacecraft, and an experimental oxygen generator. With a quick look at news of the mission's landing this afternoon. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Robots are starting to look and act a lot like humans. Wondering if robots can be people, or if humans are merely biological robots, involves assumptions about reality. I'll look at one of those assumptions in this post and why I believe there's more to me than chemicals. Whether a robot could be a person is more of a philosophical question than a legal issue. So far. The question would be particularly interesting if a robot asked to be recognized as a person. Or disturbing, depending on how you look at it. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Texas University robot football squad probably won't go pro, replacing the Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans. They're too small, for starters. But they're helping researchers develop robot office assistants. Smart ones. Maybe as effective as today's human office gofers. I'll be looking at robots, humanoid and otherwise; tech and attitudes; what I see coming, and why I think we'll deal with whatever happens. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .