Where do your intelligence and consciousness lie? Do you know?
I believe one of the main current areas of interest is some small area between the two hemispheres of the brain. I forgot what it's called. At this point, intelligence and consciousness probably need to discussed separately, since they are not the same thing.
Thankfully, our Governor (R) is coming out against them in NH. I wish she had also pointed out that nobody knows what they are doing, as another good reason for opposing them.
In an interview for "CloseUp," Ayotte declared herself no big fan of building massive data centers in New Hampshire.
Ayotte cites energy costs in opposing massive data centers in New Hampshire
Going back almost a century, if not further, stories of dystopian society were warning of the dangers that could come. What astounds me is that so many are embracing AI with open arms while allowing lunatic tech firms to call the shots without any government regulation being put in place. It really astounds me.
Then this...
Pity the poor AI datacenters facing ‘discrimination’
“I do guess a lot of the world gets covered in datacenters over time,” [Sam] Altman said. “But I don’t know because maybe we put them in space … I wish I had, like, more concrete answers for you, but like, we’re stumbling through this.”
Really!? Covering the earth with datacenters posing a possible existential threat to humanity is something we're willing to "stumble through" and accept guesses as good enough!?!? How did we ever get to this point?
At least one potential data center developer has hinted that data centers should have legal personhood status. Fine, then when the "intelligent" center(s) cause death (as they already have), bring them to court for murder and shut them down for depraved indifference.
"Tech bros" should not be calling the shots, whether they are billionaires or not.
Some progress has been made. I made contact with my oldest sister just before Easter (ran into my brother-in-law in a convenience store near where they live). Sister and grandchildren came to Easter dinner with my brother-in-law. I told them I'd like to get in touch with my nephew (their son) to see if he and/or his wife would be willing to be Executor/Trustee/Attorney-in-Fact in some combination. So I'll be contacting him next week.
Last Tuesday I met with a place in WRJ, Vt. that offers Guardian, Executor, Administrator, Agent, Trustee, Consultant services. It was an interesting half-hour get-to-know-how-they-work interview (free) and I came home with their fee schedule. Apart from reservations about continuity (what happens if they place goes bankrupt after they've received a chunk of my money?), I feel comfortable that they would carry out my wishes as desired.
They have a flat reservation fee (for future services) of $1200. When the time comes that they need to act on my behalf, their hourly rate for $275 for the above mentioned services, and $150/hr or $175/hr for admin work.
If that's all there was to it, I'd be very inclined to sign with them. However, as of this year (2026) they will be billing an annual maintenance fee of $1000. If I knew I only had 10 years left (I hope not... I mean, I hope there's more!) I'd seriously consider it. But 20 years? 30 years? That adds up to a big chunk of change, for doing what every year? Being prepared? (On the other hand, the firm managing my retirement account gets paid more than that, albeit, they are growing, hopefully, my account.) Also, it's asking strangers to manage my personal affairs, so I expect to pay reasonably for that. I just don't know if it's too much?
So next step is talking with my nephew. Maybe they'll be happy to manage it all. If not, then maybe power-of-attorney. The responsibilities may get split.
I got a letter from the lawyer I met with last October to set up the trust asking me if I was still interested. Heehee. Yeah, it's already been 6 months! I told them yes and that I should have concrete plans reasonably soon.
Hate all this stuff.
Oh, the other thing I've been working on is a spreadsheet of all my possessions. It may become the basis for an auction after I've gone. Or before.
Sorry for your loss, wtg.
AI cannot form opinions. That tells us a lot. It is, as I have often said, a fancy pants data retrieval system. If you view data retrieval as intelligence, then you can call it intelligent. I don't. AI does not know when it is wrong (or right). It is oblivious to it's functioning. Years ago we could write SQL statements asking for information "LIKE" something and the database software would find occurrences that were similar to what we were searching for. Was it intelligent? No. It was rudimentary AI (as it's called), mere pattern matching with rules. It gave the appearance of intelligence without actually being intelligent. Like everything else that is artificial, it isn't the thing it simulates.
Questions to ask about AI': If it is intelligent, where does it's intelligence lie? If it is conscious, where does it's consciousness lie? In the data store? In the hardware that processes the code and data? In the software that controls it? In the human that programmed it? (In which case, we're talking about human intelligence, not machine intelligence.)
Why is the Democratic party still hiding its 2024 election autopsy?
Even Harris, who currently leads in the polls for 2028 (it's still way early) has indicated she's fine with releasing it.
If Democrats take at least some control back this fall, I believe it will be due to the activism of the base, not the so-called leadership of the party. This DNC is so out of touch with the party it's not even funny. If anything can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, I'm pretty much convinced it's the DNC.
Across the country, people who identify as Democrats are way ahead of the DNC. With top party leaders stuck in the past yet refusing to participate in openly assessing its lessons, real leadership needs to come from the grassroots.
It's a matter or corruption. Between lying to Congress to get voted in to taking undisclosed gifts of great value, to a lack of enforced ethical standards. And it's not just Thomas and Alito, even Roberts has shading goings on and at least a few of the others. Most corrupt court. It's also a lack of respect for precedent and over use of the shadow docket. Most corrupt.
What we do about it? The most obvious answer is vote in a Democratic House and Senate, then let impeachment proceedings begin. I'm open to term limits as well.
So does this mean @shirokuro will be house hunting near @bernard soon?
It would be so cool if we could all enroll in the same class! 
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” the writer Arthur C Clarke memorably said. And, yes, when they’re not hallucinating or telling you to eat rocks for dinner, AI chatbots can feel like magic. They can feel very human. But let’s go back to that idea of “stochastic parrots” from Gebru’s paper. “To parrot something is to repeat it without understanding,” says Gebru. This is essentially what LLMs are doing. “They have been taught to calculate how likely sequences of text are based on the data they were trained on.” Because they’ve been fed enormous quantities of data, these models are very sophisticated but that “doesn’t mean consciousness or understanding or anything like that”.
"Magic". Great analogy. A magician saws a person in half on stage--in front of our eyes. We saw it happen. But what didn't we see?
Good opinion piece: No, Richard Dawkins. AI is not conscious
I meant to ask you, is it expected that you’ll only work on one piece for the duration of the term (for the performance class)? How long is the term? If you wanted to, could you switch to a different piece after several weeks?
Yes, it's entirely up to us what we want to work on during the semester and how many weeks we want to work on it. We can also mix it up, bring the same piece in two or three weeks in a row then switch to a different piece then go back to the original piece and so on. The teacher will encourage further work on a piece if someone says they want to set it aside yet he feels they might be on the cusp of a breakthrough, but it's ultimately up to the student. This past semester I worked on 2 Nocturnes, half a semester each. The other student went back and forth between the 2 Debussy pieces.
The term is 10 weeks, I think. Didn't pay too much attention to that. The class is very affordable, coming to about $22 a class. Considering the teacher's CV, it's quite a bargain in my mind.
The school is not all that big. It started very humbly by one or two Vermonters who had a dream and a vision for a music school in the Upper Valley. When I got here thirteen years ago, it was cramped into a smallish place not far from its current location. But their enrollment kept growing and a year or so before COVID they purchased a mansion on the city common and are now expanding that. It continues to grow and they have lots of community outreach, and bring in some very good guest teachers and performers.
Here is their "about" page: UVMC
What an interesting model, esp. outside of a conservatory or similar setting.
It is at the music school where a number of students take one-on-one lessons. This class is meant to augment those lessons. In fact, the teacher mentioned that he thought it was time the school started thinking of implementing a comprehensive program starting from beginner level to diploma. It would be cool if that happens. They teach many instruments in many music styles, and have classes on theory and analysis.
I have been giving some thought to signing up for one-on-one lessons with the teacher but I've been told that he is fully booked and one may well end up on a waiting list. I'm not interested in lessons with any of the other teachers there.
New on the market... an automatic sour dough feeder.
Congratulations, SK!! Well done!
There’s a fabulous Stephen Hough master class on that piece on YouTube. Totally worth watching.
Thanks, jon-nyc. I will look it up.
I’m listening to the Debussy piece now, I think I’ve heard it before but it’s not a piece I know well. it’s lovely! Also sounds devilishly heard! Do you have a favorite recording?
I would say it has some difficult passages, but even though it is not 'easy' (is anything 'easy'?) it's a little more manageable than it sounds and looks, to me. My favorite recording (mind you, there are a lot of recordings I have not listened to) is Michaelangeli's:
Link to videoYes, the class is for performance practice. One needs to be able to play a piece as if it is ready for performance, and as I've learned, it's usually not ready. We are lucky that there are only 2 of us students this semester which means we each get half an hour at the piano. After we play through our piece as well as we can, what with nerves and all, the other student(s) and teacher point out areas they feel might be lacking. That could be anything from rhythmic issues to dynamics to rubato to clarity etc. etc. etc. The one thing that is not officially part of the class is technical how-to, however the teacher is generous in making suggestions if he feels some technical difficulty might benefit from his knowledge.
The other student is at a good level. She worked on the Prelude and Menuet from Debussy's Suite Bergamasque this semester.
Our final performance class for the spring. It went well. I played the last of the three op post Nocturnes by Chopin. I've learned a lot in this class and spent most of it outside of my comfort zone, for sure. I'm hoping to record myself playing all three Nocturnes in the not too distant future, either on one of the school grands or maybe my friend's Bosie.
I feel a mix of emotions tonight, from sad that the class is over, to relief that the class is over. LOL. Definitely going to miss it over the summer and hope to have something a bit bigger to work on in the fall.
There are a handful of possibilities at hand. I can probably get Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau" prepped in time. I'd love to be able to have Chopin's "Polonaise Fantaisie" ready, but that's a long shot for this fall. I could do another Chopin Nocturne; one that he published during his lifetime, or one of his waltzes. I will most probably start the fall with the first Polonaise, which I did play once in class last fall, and then move on to something else. All to look forward to.
In the meantime, it's spring! And then summer!
Is it worth it (doesn't seem terribly expensive)?
Another angle: Credentials can be over rated. The list of experts who are nothing short of whacko is extensive.
Ugly and confused on the outside. Borderline hideous.
Update. The good news is that the Rhododendron buds and flowers survived last night's freezing temps. I don't know about the Lilac because the buds are still quite small, only time will tell. Fingers crossed.
