Human Stupidity and Arrogance

NEVER underestimate the power of human stupidity. Why? Here are some examples:

The Covid hysteria with it's unnecessary, harmful lockdowns, social distancing and masks, also unnecessary and harmful.

The large number of people who hate Donald Trump.

The Salem Witch Trials.

The alien invasion scam of 1938.

Hamas terrorists thinking that the way to salvation is through murder, mayhem and destruction.

The American left who supports Hamas.

People who think that men can be women and vice versa. No, really.

The Jonestown mass suicide.

The prohibition of alcohol.

The Y2K bug panic.

The belief in a global warming catastrophe right around the corner.

The Banality of Evil in the Middle East

 by J.R. Turner, 2023

The people of Jewish faith have been killed, persecuted, harassed and ridiculed for over a millennia, and more. Why? Is it because they claim to be God’s chosen people? Is it because Jews sent Jesus to the Romans to be crucified? Is it because people believe the Jews unjustly displaced the Palestinian Arabs? Or perhaps because there are a disproportionate number of them who are affluent and prosperous? This hatred of Jews is perfectly illustrated by the name given to the land by the conquering Romans: Palestine. This was done to mock and humiliate them, because the ancient enemy and foe of the Jewish state were the Philistines (Latin, Palestina). Now, the rebellious Hebrews lived in a land named after their enemies. Apparently the Romans thought this was cute, but the name stuck over the ensuing millennia, but only to refer to the region.

Expensive Medical Costs

Recently, I came down with an umbilical hernia (a distinct bulge in my navel). The pain from this was occasionally severe, and one day I decided to go to the emergency room at the hospital where I work. They told me that the hernia was not an emergency, despite the pain, and therefore they could not do anything unless it became "strangulated". In the meantime, I would have to go to a specialist and get referred for surgery. I was in the emergency room for no more than thirty minutes, they did nothing except draw two vials of blood, and check my vital signs. An MD talked with me for five minutes during this process. I repeat: they did not treat me at all. Total bill: $275.00. The MD sent me a bill as well, this one for $600.00 dollars. Neither the hospital nor the MD informed me that I would not only be charged for the emergency room visit, but also for the MD's brief consultation with me. An interesting side note here is that had I not been an employee of the hospital, the bill for the visit would have been $1,200. 00 (plus the 600 for the doctor to talk to me for five minutes). Who makes $3,600.00 an hour? Why, doctors, of course. How is it that this MD felt justified in charging me 600 bucks for seeing me for five minutes, and did nothing? I don't have medical insurance (but I will next month during open enrollment). 

Having experienced this gross overcharge, I started thinking about our medical system here in America, about how many can afford to pay cash for medical services. Insurance is the only practical solution to the burdensome cost of medical care. Why? Granted that nurses and doctors should be paid well, but $1,800.00 for thirty minutes of their time? That's how much I would've had to pay if I were not an employee of the hospital. I still owe a total of $875.00, and that's way too much money to charge anyone for not doing anything to help at all. 

The solution to overly expensive health care is tort reform, in order to make it difficult to sue a doctor for malpractice. As it stands, a lot of people resort to this type of lawsuit in order to avoid paying the bill, or to enrichen themselves. Any health care professional that injures a patient due to incompetence should be sued, but the law should restrict those who game the system by calling for a high standard of proof for any claim to malpractice. I haven't mentioned the fact that another reason health care is so expensive is the myriad regulations and mandates put on the industry by the government. Along with tort reform, there should also be an environment where the market-and the market only-determines what doctors can charge their patients, or risk losing customers. 

Is Using ChatGPT a Form of Plagiarism?

This morning I've got a bad case of writer's block. "Write about anything", I keep telling myself. So I sit down at my desk and instead of thinking of what subject to write about, I click on the ChatGPT tab and entertain the idea of letting artificial intelligence do all the thinking, and typing for me. "That's lazy", or, "that's really a form of plagiarism" says my inner voice, and so here I am, writing directly out of my own mind, for you today. Here is what the search engine Google says about the matter: 

"ChatGPT content is not plagiarism insofar as it is not copying the work of someone else outright. However, it is somewhat questionable from an academic integrity standpoint, in the sense that if you use an answer or essay generated by the chatbot, you have not created the work yourself."

And asking chat GPT about it:

"While I can provide assistance and generate text based on your instructions, it's important to use the generated content as a starting point and then add your own ideas, insights, and personal touch to it. This way, you'll be using the generated content as a tool for inspiration rather than a direct copy. "

There are two major reason why plagiarism against a human being is bad: it's a form of theft with legal consequences, and it's dishonest; a self-aggrandizing lie, if you will. However, if you "plagiarize" an AI program like ChatGPT, no one is harmed in any way. The lie, however, still remains. A new word needs to be coined to describe this sort of semi-plagiarism. It's a fraud, yes combined with laziness. Oh wait, there's the word charlatan: a person falsely claiming to have special knowledge and skill, a fraud.

Here is an article from Mozilla on the subject.

Focus on Frank Herbert's "Dune": The Spice Melange

In Frank Herbert's iconic science fiction novel "Dune," the spice melange stands as a central and pivotal element, its significance reaching far beyond mere commodity. The spice, found exclusively on the desert planet of Arrakis, serves as the lifeblood of the universe, possessing extraordinary properties that shape the destiny of both individuals and entire civilizations.

The spice, also known as melange, is a highly sought-after resource due to its numerous valuable attributes. It grants extended life, enhances mental capabilities, and augments psychic abilities. Moreover, it enables space travel by facilitating the navigational calculations of the Guild Navigators, who rely on its prescience-inducing effects to safely guide spaceships across vast distances. Without the spice, interstellar travel would be severely limited, stifling the expansive ambitions of humanity.