occasional reflections on culture & politics
Sometimes, an emotional appeal may seem necessary. Human beings are emotional. There is plenty of suffering and plenty of pain in the world, and emotional reactions are to be expected. Nobody can hold in everything all the time, we are not all stoics, we cannot just be expected to endure suffering without reacting to it.… Continue reading #232: The Downside of the Emotional Appeal
In the recent months, we have seen a race to implement artificial intelligence systems seemingly everywhere. Suddenly, AI is everywhere, and so is the concern about its safety. Things are developing quickly, and even my own recent interaction with a previous version of ChatGPT may now already be outdated. This development has created a backlash… Continue reading #209: We Need to Control Artificial Intelligence
We keep hearing in the news frequently that most Russians support Putin’s war. This is highly misleading, and very probably wrong. There cannot be objective surveys in Russia. All independent journalistic institutions have either been closed or are about to close. Any independent thinking is being actively discouraged, and if discouragement does not work, it… Continue reading #183: What Are Russians Thinking?
I have never been a cultural pessimist, nor have I ever been a Luddite. As soon as I was able to, I learned to use a computer in the pre-internet age (I still remember 5 ¼ inch disks and even data tapes), and as soon as the internet became available for private citizens, not just… Continue reading #181: Are We too Stupid for the Internet?
President Putin portrays himself as a fighter against Nazis and Nationalists. At the same time, today, he just bombed the Babyn Yar memorial to the victims of National Socialist genocide of Jews in Kiev, while he is fighting a young democracy led by a Jewish Russian-Ukrainian president. Somehow, Putin has his definitions wrong. Fascism is… Continue reading #151: Putin Is a Fascist per Definition
After four years of news reporting that seemed more animated than ever, the change in the U.S. presidency carried one hope: a change of tone that would make it a bit easier to go through the our day-to-day lives. Sure, the pandemic still rages, but is politics not something now that has gotten much more… Continue reading #96: We Need Neutral News Media
My phone’s front camera is probably very confused. It has been severely underused. The back camera is not very happy either, but it gets used occasionally when I have forgotten to take my regular camera with me and need to take a picture. Very rarely does the front camera get to make a video call,… Continue reading #93: Don’t Picture This: The Trouble With Selfies
There used to be a magical time. You will remember it if you remember using MS Internet Explorer version 2 and above, Netscape Navigator 3 and the mighty Netscape 4 (Communicator). Search Engines (AltaVista, Lycos, Metacrawler, etc.) and Catalogues (Yahoo!) were two different things. Inktomi was not just an allusion to the Lakota spider-trickster (the… Continue reading #73: The Destruction of Creativity through “Social” Media
I. Introduction, because this is a Longer Text and it Needs Headings There appears to be a sense among many people that there is a problem with “the media.” Trust in media seems low, and there is a societal division with regards to which media is seen as reliable, which as misleading or fake. These… Continue reading #72: Can We Trust The Media?
The dividing line between a just society and barbarism is whether free speech is valued or not. With “free speech” I mean any speech, no matter how offensive. With protected, I mean that the only answer to speech you do not like shall be counter-speech. The truth will win out in an equal, peaceful, respectful… Continue reading #39: Free Speech is Absolute
The dissatisfaction with "established" news sources is real. There has been a worrying trend in media towards heavy editorializing, partisan bias, and selective reporting. All this is happening in newspapers and television news, also online. But the answer to that problem is not to gravitate to "alternative" news sources which would see all these problems… Continue reading #22: There Are No “Alternative” News Sources
Journalism is one of the most important activities in any country. Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech, both are cornerstones for any successful society, not just for democracies. Without a free press and free speech, no society will survive successfully for long. Dictatorships that disallow one or both those crucial components of public and… Continue reading #21: Media: Don’t Tell People What To Think
Erratic Attempts 