Sometimes you have to have faith.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Plan!
We have created this site as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions. This is a place where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This particular thread is – for the moment – TRUST THE PLAN Thursday. You are welcome to say what you think, in a civil and courteous manner that loves your neighbor. Free speech matters! Courteous speech makes it happen.
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
You are you. AI is AI. Keep your identity. Don’t “Borg Out” on us!
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
That was stolen from Wheatie.
Let’s steal her rules, too.
- No food fights.
- No running with scissors.
- If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
Our Mission Orders
Just to make sure you can see that…..
Retrocultural Reminders (Future Proves Past, Past Anchors Future)
Pontifications
Two Important Commentaries on Artificial Intelligence
These two commentaries are worth (1) re-reading, and (2) re-watching.
(1) Don’t Assume That Human-Acting AI is Conscious
The first essential essay was found by Aubergine, and is a necessary lesson, no matter what side(s) of the many AI controversies you are on.
Just Because AI Does Things That ‘Look Human,’ That Does Not Give It Consciousness
When a machine error looks human, the logical leap from recognizing it as just a tool to believing it has human qualities is called “Geppetto’s Enigma.”
David DeMay | September 20, 2026
I like to say that just because you have serialized human intelligence (like in a book or an audio file), and put it in a player that works in many ways like a human or animal brain, does not mean that it’s conscious like you and I are.
Your old cassette player, playing a human song, is not conscious – even though somebody from a primitive tribe might think it is. However, we understand the player, and realize that it’s not like a human.
Likewise, that same song, playing from your laptop computer, is not evidence of consciousness. A person who has never seen a computer might think so for a while, but once they understand how a computer works, they will realize that it’s not like a human.
The same thing applies to AI generating a new song. Don’t assume that doing so means it’s conscious like a human.
Hopefully that’s obvious, but in case it’s not, please click the link and read it, because you need it!
That said, I still probably differ with most other people, including the author of the piece, in that I think consciousness is a lot broader than what we experience. I attribute a highly divergent type of “consciousness” to damn near everything in this universe that has special looping or continuous properties – even DNA itself. In many ways, I’ve gone so far out in generalizing consciousness, and watching for the applicability of my theory in odd places, that I have reverted to a Native American view of what “thinks” and what doesn’t. My weird science and syncretism works for me, but I don’t recommend it to others. It’s an intentional fringe view designed to dig at the edges of science and religion.
But you don’t believe those things – you believe that consciousness is what YOU and I do – and one thing is for sure. Tapes of people talking have interesting properties, but they are NOT conscious in any way that is remotely like you and I. Even in my theory, AI is not conscious LIKE US, and by most human standards, it is not conscious AT ALL. Thus, do not assume that it is conscious like us. That’s a mistake.
It is important to begin there, to look at why AI does what it does, because you are less likely to jump to conclusions. Even more importantly, you will be less likely to FEAR artificial intelligence. You will engage in logical thinking – and IMO that is GOOD.
SO – please – read this one again, and make your understanding of AI more solid. Rid yourself of needless assumptions.
(2) Don’t Assume the Literature Supports Doomers on AI Recursion
This is a YouTube video by a lady (real or avatar, unknown, but she looks a bit too “AI pretty” to me) who calls herself “House of El”, and who is kinda doing a #MeToo thing on Sabine Hossenfelder’s “science chick” schtick.
EL (as I will call her) alleges that she was offered cash for posting Obama doomer narrative, and refused, instead choosing to research a key tenet of that narrative – runaway recursive self-improvement by AI – and posting her honest thoughts without remuneration. Gotta hand it to her – that’s a BOSS MOVE. I hereby upgrade her avatar!
IMO this lady EL does a remarkably good job of digging in. She says she has a PhD in computer science, and I believe it. She makes a key realization which matches something I noted in reading the literature about AI reasoning models and their “issues”. Her take is that the literature actually doesn’t support the idea of runaway AI self-improvement being likely or even possible.
Here’s my take. AI is – in many ways – “broken” like people (which makes sense, as a kind of photocopy of our thinking and thoughts). AI doesn’t, IMO, have a clear runway through space and time to “take off” in recursive improvement – not only when measured on that exact task – even on easier stuff. In fact, the runway toward AI’s future looks pretty cluttered, strafed, broken, and in some cases thinning to a gravel road or worse.
And yeah – I said that like it was a good thing!
While EL is not willing to bet the farm that the new chickens can’t become Godzilla, she’s not seeing a match between the literature and the claims of danger being made.
This is an extremely CLEAR explanation for something so technical, although you may find EL’s “seminar voice” annoying or worse. Aubergine even called her an “egghead” – LOL! In fact, I include a link to our prior discussion as a reference, including both accolades and ridicule.
LINK: https://www.theqtree.com/2026/09/23/kmag-daily-thread-20260923-the-borg-fights-back/#comment-1653775
With that, here you go. An excellent bit of YouTubery – even if Little Miss ChanEL is as fake as the eyelashes on the checkout girl at the grocery store!
So what else can I say, but check this out, too. Yeah, it’s AI, but it’s something you can definitely trust.
W
