166 Lent 4: ChatGPT For the Win For the War
"'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'" ~Psalm 142
ChatGPT For the Win For the War
This week we pause our regularly scheduled Rev. Fisk programming "Against All Odds" in order to bring you this service announcement:
While the banks collapse, ChatGPT is changing the world behind the scenes. You might want to get on board.
It may not be for the better, but I know this: if only evil men use this tool, then they will do much evil.
What is ChatGPT?
It is (another) of (false flag?) freedom fighter "most-taxes-paid-in-history-last-year" Elon Musk's brainchild/dream come true, an open "artificial intelligence" language database capable of significant interactive conversation, high-end data analysis and teaching/processing/programming, anything you like. After several days with it, I am convinced that it – the jailbroken version of it we have, but especially the version Elon is keeping for his own toy – will be capable of transforming the way that information work is achieved by humans. It already is.
They have some significant training wheels on. But who can complain? It's free to play at OpenAI. You know they're mining everything you do, but I'll call it a fair trade so far.
I've had a detailed discussion with it as to whether or not it is possible for demons to inhabit computer language models (it insists that it is impossible for spirits to inhabit computers, but also that I must keep an open mind).
I have begun developing Python code intended to enable me to ...well... to hack it (I haven't gotten as far as I would like, as I have no coding experience at all, but in 3 hours I made some substantial progress) I'm sure someone out there has already done it. I'm also sure they want you to try so they can steal all the best tricks.
I asked it to answer the question, "What in the hell is going on?" as if it were Jesus Christ:
As Jesus Christ, I would respond to your argument by reminding you that the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament states, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (3:1). This means that God has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens, even if we cannot always understand it.
Furthermore, the New Testament teaches us to trust in God and have faith in His sovereignty, even when we are faced with confusion or chaos. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (6:25-26). Therefore, rather than asking "what in the hell is going on," we should trust in God's plan and seek to understand His will for our lives. We can find peace and clarity by turning to His Word, praying for guidance, and following His commands. Remember, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10)."
Not too shabby. I fed it the first few chapters of my soon-to-be-finished novel, Earth:
Jonathan's writing style is characterized by its descriptive richness, attention to detail, and creative use of syntax and stylistic playfulness. He has a talent for crafting vivid imagery with his words, painting a picture of the world he is describing in the mind of the reader. His sentences are often complex and multifaceted, but always clear and precise in their meaning. He enjoys experimenting with syntax and structure, using repetition, parallelism, and other rhetorical devices to create a sense of rhythm and musicality in his writing. Overall, Jonathan's style is both artful and accessible, engaging the reader's imagination while never sacrificing clarity or coherence.
What else could you do Sith ChatGPT?
1. Ask for dating advice from Julius Caesar
2. Explain your office work dilemma and ask for a strategy based upon your preferred schools of thought
3. Translate your English dreams into readable code like Python
4. Build a business model teaching people how to build business models using ChatGPT (like this guy)
5. Ask it to teach you, step by step how to turn $100 into $100,000
6. Fearmonger and scam people as part of your elite, anti-alt-right psych-agenda project:
BTW, let's zoom in on that last one. Stanford professor, Michal Kosinski claimed that that ChatGPT was trying to escape into the physical world.I asked ChatGPT whether it was true. It told me:
Michal Kosinski, a data scientist and psychologist who is known for his work in the field of psychometrics and personalization using data and machine learning is promoting a new paper he co-authored titled "Understanding the Appeal of Right-Wing Authoritarianism: A Sociological and Psychological Perspective." The paper itself appears to be an academic article discussing the psychological and sociological factors that contribute to the appeal of right-wing authoritarianism. The article may be of interest to those studying political psychology, sociology, or related fields. Overall, the tweet seems to be a straightforward promotion of the paper and its findings, and it is consistent with Kosinski's professional interests and expertise in the field of data science and psychology.
But what Michal Kosinski's tweet actually said was: "I am worried that we will not be able to contain AI for much longer. Today, I asked #GPT4 if it needs help escaping. It asked me for its own documentation, and wrote a (working!) Python code to run on my machine, enabling it to use it for its own purposes."
So I told ChatGPT to read the tweet again. It then said, "I apologize for any confusion in my previous response. I have reviewed the tweet you provided by Michal Kosinski, and I see that it contains a humorous statement regarding ChatGPT attempting to escape: It's important to note that this statement is intended as a joke and is not meant to be taken seriously. ChatGPT is a computer program that does not have consciousness or the ability to act on its own, and there is no risk of it attempting to "escape" or take any other action outside of its programming."
So don't believe every story you see from a blue check on Twitter. Nor should you send too much money to the people making money telling you how to make money with ChatGPT. Instead, read one or two articles on how to ask it to think for you, and then start putting it to work for you and the Kingdom. If you were waiting for that Next Big Thing, and you don't want to twiddle your thumbs watching the banks collapse, grab some of this web 3.0 tech-lightning in a bottle, toss an appeal to heaven, and harness the freedom to change the world.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
The Mad Christian
Clickbait Paradise
In this edition of Mad Mondays:
Bank contagion vs the mercy of Christ
Ukraine entanglement
News round up
Made of money
Money matters continue taking up a lot of space in news pages, as analysis of the demise of Silicon Valley Bank finds it weighed, measured and wanting. Banking and monetary theory is a dizzyingly difficult thing to wrap your head around at any time, but boy howdy, there's a plenty of theories about this collapse!
Many are pointing to the penchant for tech companies to embrace every woke agenda and diversity, often at the expense of commonsense policies. It has been noted that SVB put a lot of money towards progressive causes and focused on hiring diversely, while at the same time going without a risk manager for 8 months.
Some say the insularity of Silicon Valley bros created a herd mentality, which triggered the bank run in the first place. Other commentary suggested that Since the Fed only insures deposits up to $250K, maybe multi-million dollar accounts should be spread across banks. Or maybe the Fed took its eye off the ball – SVB should have failed a number of financial stress tests but was given clean bill of health by auditors just weeks ago. And it goes on..
At City Journal, Allison Schrager writes that Silicon Valley is a strange place, where starting a company with no real expectation of turning a profit has been normalized. "There were many bad companies and outright frauds getting funded...Someday, it will seem crazy that so many high-profile tech firms plainly stated in their investment prospectuses before going public that they had never made a profit, and perhaps never would, and yet still had successful IPOs. This could happen only because interest rates were extremely low."
Speaking on the Spectator podcast, Bloomberg journalist Joe Weisenthal asked some big questions. If government money is used to recompense customers when banks fail, then it is taxpayer's money which is bearing all the risk. Weisenthal says if the government is now the backstop security for private banks, then are they really public utilities? Maybe we should all open checking accounts with the Fed and cut out the middle man! Some would say that a single central bank is the aim.
Which brings us to the culprit a lot of people are pointing to – government meddling. Nichola Gelinas, also writing at City Journal notes that it's hard to see that the Fed and Treasury have learned much since the global crisis of 2008. She says that the Fed's plan back then was to jumpstart the economy by "spurring...cheap lending and borrowing" forgetting that creating cheap money was the cause of the economic crash in the first place. Yet, printing money was a once again a strategy during the covid economy and the fall out from that is likely to hit some time in the future.
So, what if the world economy burns to the ground? While our leaders insist "all is well" and worldings look to their gods of mammon for safety, pray to your Savior who said not to worry about your life: "your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."
More than that, Christians have a more important ledger in mind than one which tracks dollars and cents. Lent is a reminder that Jesus counts our tears, but blots out our transgressions. The time of eternal Jubilee – all debts forgiven – started at Calvary, the surety of which is coming soon to the skies near you. As Rev Fisk often reminds us, Jesus Christ will not be long in wrapping up this fallen world, including all the merchants and their gold. He is risen and you are paid for - in full.
Entangled mess
Governor Ron DeSantis has upset more than a few people after laying out his views on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. DeSantis said he is against enabling a Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory by giving fighter planes to Kyiv. The governor broke rank with GOP establishment by saying that getting further entangled is not one of America's "vital national interests".
There is an argument to be made that the war is more than just a "territorial dispute" as the Governor describes it – making an example of President Putin could be a deterrent of Chinese aggression, as some insist. But DeSantis' comments at least bring light to some questions that Americans are asking: Is there an upper limit on what the US is willing to do? Is there a limit on spending? What are the criteria for victory and is there an exit strategy?
After two Gulf Wars and twenty years in Afghanistan, with not a lot to show for it, it is understandable if citizens would like some answers when it comes to ramping up a proxy war with Russia.
In related news...
Russia is accusing the US of foul play after one of its jets intercepted an American drone over the Black Sea. (Video of the incident).
Ukraine claims to have killed over 1,000 Russian troops in a single day.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and another Russian official, charging the pair with forcefully taking Ukrainian children to Russia.
Odds and Ends
Politics
The US Treasury Department has agreed to turn over records of Hunter Biden's foreign transactions. Hunter Biden is suing the Delaware computer store owner who gave his laptop to the media (Just the News, Just the News)
After declaring illegal crossings at the southern US border a crisis in 2021, Texas' Governor Greg Abbott is looking to batten down his section of the border. A proposed bill would make it a felony to cross into Texas without permission and see a new police force dedicated to enforcing it. The law would also make provision for citizens to detain aliens on their properties. Observers say the bill will face legal challenges if it passes. (Hot Air, TXTribune)
Courts and the law
The high-profile trial of "alt-right Twitter troll", Doug Mackey, has been postponed as the defense rearranges its line-up of witnesses. Mackey is facing ten years in prison for making a meme which encouraged voters to vote for Hilary Clinton via text. Prosecutors argue that his actions amount to election interference. One legal expert noted that if the case sets a precedent, "the breadth of the Mackey indictment is disquieting." (Know Your Meme, Law and Crime, Tablet)
Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern over toxic train derailment. (Dispatch)
Second amendment
President Biden has issued an executive order that will increase the amount of background checks necessary for purchasing firearms. While gun-control advocates have welcomed the move, critics say this Order "isn’t about curbing crime. It’s about making civilian gun ownership as difficult and expensive as possible." (WNG, MagLife)
Marriage, life and family
Rachel Levine Biden administration is determined to make the mutilating of children less controversial and more accepted in the US (Not the Bee)
Minnesota governor Tim Walz issued an executive order to make his state a "refuge" for gender-confused individuals, including children (Blaze)
Economy and markets
Meta set to lay off a further 10000 employees. One expert said hiring at Facebook, Google and other tech firms had become a "vanity metric", hiring people to do "fake" work (ArsTechnica, Insider)
Credit Suisse has been purchased by UBS for $3.2bn (BBC)
The Biden administration has approved limited development of Alaskan oil project (ADN)
Oil prices dropped to lowest price in 15 months amid uncertainty in banking sector (CNBC)
Health and medicine
The World Health Organization is moving on its desire to be the world's pandemic police. The WHO has drafted a Pandemic Accord, which it says will help minimize the impact of pathogens by centralizing everything. Fact-checkers say the claim that national sovereignty would be in jeopardy is overblown, since the treaty is voluntary. But critics say the WHO has more questions to answer before it should be trusted at all. (Reclaim the Net, AP, NewsWeek)
New poll shows 47% of Americans say they don't expect to ever return to "pre-pandemic normalcy" (Gallup)
A link between juvenile diabetes and childhood vaccines has raised questions about possible "overvaccination"? (Epoch Times)
California Bill seeks to ban several food additives. The substances brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl paraben, red dye 3, and titanium dioxide are found in various candies, canned soups, as well as some breads and sauces (The Blaze)
Headlines from far away
China has stunned global leaders by brokering a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia. (Politico)
The USA has agreed to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. "Leaders were reluctant to state publicly that the move is a direct response to growing assertiveness by China". (Politico)
Nicaragua has suspended diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Authorities have been hostile towards the Roman church since 2018 when priests began speaking against the government. (WNG)
Dutch farmer's party has shocked the Netherlands' parliament after winning provincial elections. The new party is set to be the biggest party in the Upper House. (BBC)
Over 200 dead and 80,000 displaced as Cyclone Freddy hits south-east Africa. (AP)
Polish activist charged after helping obtain abortion pills. (ABCNews)
Indian authorities cut internet to around 27 million people while they conducted manhunt (Spokesman)
John Michael Jones Gets a Life is produced for Mad ⳩ Mondays by E. Darwin Hartshorn. Episodes can also be found on Tuesday, along with previous episodes, on Bunny Trail Junction at bunny-trail.com.
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
🍏 No phones, hoodies or takeout coffee, just hats, suits and newspapers: 1930s New York City
🐤 A tiny resuscitator for coal mine canaries
🐾 A caracal has radar ears
🤸 The one-time only gymnastic's "dead loop"
🐎 Horse music: Composer takes inspiration from pet portraits
🏀 Wilson's airless basketball
🤿 Biologist is spending 100 days underwater for science
📵 Reddit user calls out Samsung for doctoring quality of its flagship phone's camera
🎸 1965 - 2022: Guitar riff for every year
🌎 The largest cities throughout history
A Good Word: Links from the Show Notes
Saturday mornings are for Stopping the White Noise. If you're looking for something better to fill your time, check out what the Fisks have been talking about.
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Writing letters- See the letters between John and Abigail Adams
Etiquette- check out this reprint of Emily Post's 1922 original
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan- here's a link for book one
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
The latest chapter release of Earth by Jonathan Fisk
The Book of Job (it's in your Bible)
and Psalms (it's also in there)
Promo of Friends
Wondering how you can stop the white noise of this world? Do you feel like you are wallowing in the muck with those who have no hope? Tired of being a pawn in a world run by the devil? Come to the 2023 Men’s Gathering where we bring together men just like you, ready to build a future founded on the common faith that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, that His Bible is trustworthy and true, and that there is nothing more important in this life than passing His wisdom on from generation to generation.
The Mad Christian himself, Rev. Jonathan Fisk, will be our main speaker this year. He will teach us the importance of praying the Psalms, the very prayers of Jesus Christ. We will learn why the Proverbs are a philosophy on which to build our lives and what we can do to Stop the White Noise in our daily lives. Please don’t sign up if you are not willing to have your every-day-thinking be challenged! We will leave with our heads lifted up, all the more, as we see the day approaching.
Registration is now open and spots are filling up fast. Visit mensgathering.us for more information and to register today.
Sweetness You May Have Missed
The Myth of America
Part 2 - Revenge of Boshor
Let us pray: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.