occasional reflections on culture & politics
"nie ma powrotu" = "there's no going back" Preface: Last night, I tried out the new ChatGBT bot available on https://chat.openai.com/chat. You need to register for free and then can assess whether we are already dealing with our electronic overlords. Today, questions of life and death were on my mind (after watching too much science… Continue reading #201: Adventures in Artificial Intelligence: An Evening with ChatGBT
We seem to always be surprised that proven liars keep lying. Maybe we are too honest, maybe we are desperate for honesty, and we certainly should expect it, but sometimes, we just need to accept that liars lie. They will keep lying. Expecting truth from established liars is the height of stupidity. Putin and his… Continue reading #157: Liars Lie. Stop Believing Putin and Lavrov
It is important to not take everything for granted. The dangers of authoritarianism are always real, and simple answers to complex questions should never satisfy the curious mind. There is a reason dictatorships always want to limit free speech and even thinking itself, and any attempts at limiting free thought and free expression need to… Continue reading #58: Question Everything; But Also Yourself
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
This seems to be the age of conspiracy theories. What is a conspiracy theory? It is the belief that specific, if not all, major problems in the world are caused by a conspiracy of powerful people that secretly pull the strings behind your back. A select few have allegedly seen through this scheme, and are… Continue reading #24: Conspiracy Thinking is Not Critical Thinking
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
We can only win - in the long run - by setting a better example. We cannot aim to play the game the enemy is playing, we cannot criticize or condemn criminal behavior and then behave the same way, or in a way that can be seen the same whether we like it or not.… Continue reading #4: How We Win
Erratic Attempts 