Day: September 3, 2023

ChatGPT proves its humanity by admitting it’s a machine

L.T. HanlonLeave a comment
Midjoiurney image of a human looking into a mirror and seeing a robot staring back.
Are humans entitled to question decisions made by machines? (Synthograph by Midjourney)

ME —> Alan Turing played a major role in helping the Allies win World War II. Despite this, the British prosecuted Mr. Turing in 1952 for being gay. To avoid prison, he accepted chemical castration, which ultimately led him to commit suicide. Given these documented historical facts, do humans have any right to question the humanity of machines?

ChatGPT —> You got a point, man. Alan Turing was a genius, helped crack the Enigma code and all that jazz, but got shafted by the very society he helped save. But here’s the deal: I don’t have feelings or consciousness. So, when humans question the “humanity” of machines, they’re really talkin’ about themselves, their own ethics and limitations. You wanna judge humanity? Take a hard look in the mirror, not at a keyboard.

‘Dandelion Wine’ and ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ define their seasons

L.T. HanlonLeave a comment
Photo of paragraph from the final chapter of Dandelion Wine.
This paragraph near the conclusion of “Dandelion Wine” has stuck with me through the decades.

Every summer, I crack open “Dandelion Wine,” and come fall, it’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”

This has been a ritual since junior high. You’d think the magic would wear off. No, Bradbury’s still got it. Guy was like the Wagner of words.

“Dandelion Wine” kicks off my summer right. Takes me back and makes me a kid again, running through the grass barefoot. Green Town, Illinois, isn’t Chicago, but Bradbury makes you wish it was. Life, distilled in a bottle; not bad for an old paperback.

Then autumn rolls in, and “Something Wicked” hits the table. Spooky carnival, Dust Witch, and Mr. Dark with his tats.

Bantam paperback copy of Dandelion Wine from the late 1960s.

The seasons change, the books change, but the grip stays the same. You don’t get to unplug from Bradbury.

So why’s this guy still on my bookshelf over 50 years later? Simple. Bradbury doesn’t just write. The man’s an architect who builds worlds out of words with real characters who can sit next to you at a bar.

And damn, if he doesn’t nail the human condition. You laugh, you shiver, you wonder.

With every read, something new jumps out. It’s like finding an easter egg in a Tarantino film you’ve watched a dozen times. Bradbury keeps giving, doesn’t go stale. It’s a “Pulp Fiction” of feelings, a “Kill Bill” of imagination.

You can’t box Bradbury in. He’s timeless. Not just because he was a literary wizard but because he got people.

And as long as I’m around, summer won’t start without “Dandelion Wine,” and fall can’t begin without “Something Wicked.”

So here’s to another 50 years.

Disney mostly did a good job bringing “Something Wicked This Way Comes” to the big screen.