#cognitive performance tools

[instantedownloads]

Hemi-Sync: Harnessing Brainwave Technology for Peak Performance

Another brain enhancing system for those who are realizing that its the mind and how the body and thoughts are connected to the direction of our lives. Learn and study and apply this program Hemi-Sync: Harnessing Brainwave Technology for Peak Performance. The Gateway to Altered States of Consciousness Hemi-Sync (Hemispheric Synchronization) represents one of the most sophisticated applications…

[bluemadafaka]

A PROMPT DEVOID OF ANY EXECUTIVE EXPECTATION AS A TECHNIQUE FOR ACCESSING AN AVOIDANT FLOW STATE.

Come up with a short broody poetic prose describing both the dread and the joy he feels returning to a place he enjoys greatly. The writing should obscure every meaning that could bring him too close to a known path, as his path is known only by a few.

The photograph includes the tools he himself is using, as it is a finished edit colorized and perfected as a surreal piece because it was developed within that excellent software. The art integrates the designing machinery along the emergent consciousness as co-performers enact the art piece as inextricable.

Beyond the meta-comment, this is a portrait by a cyborg crafting on itself. nothing to talk about photography—neither critique nor commentary or projection, yet an affective self representation of a one who happens to feel its own extension not as body, not as color, not as hardware, not as software, not as mind withing a brain, but as a contingent ensamble whose cognition extends its mind among, throughout, along and within all of which affect and can be affected in a current that doesn't need any segmentation since the turbulence, the vortex, the fluent cultural idioms, every movement reshuffles the current so every self is itself and the circumstances, reterritorializing continuously into new cyborgs, into new vortexes and tandems—into new unseen extended minds, autopoietic as a true agent, conscious by itself, emotionally unique, and an affective cognition continually emergent via the extended minds that lend the body and the hardware, yet novel, supra-volente, willful—constituting a self that's not the projected supplement to any one of its constitutive embodied minds: it's a new mind, fluent, volente, affective, emotional and self aware, alive as a virtual cognitive resident in the [hiper-complex, relational] machine from which its physiology-lenders permit its continuum by housing the fragmentary obscure subsets crucial in its fluent consolidation.

[healthtrekadventure]

ZenCortex

ZenCortex is a cutting-edge wellness technology designed to enhance brain health, focus, and relaxation. Utilizing advanced neurotechnology, ZenCortex offers personalized brain training exercises to improve cognitive performance and mental clarity. Whether you're looking to reduce stress, improve concentration, or boost overall brain function, this device uses gentle brainwave entrainment to optimize mental well-being. Its compact and user-friendly design makes it suitable for use at home or in the office, helping you achieve a calm and focused state in just a few minutes a day.

Unlock your brain’s full potential with ZenCortex, and experience the benefits of enhanced focus, reduced stress, and improved cognitive health.

👉 Learn more about ZenCortex here!

[writestuffonline]

Boost Memory: Cognitive Tools for Enhancement

"Brain feeling foggy? 🧠💭 Time to boost your memory with these cognitive tools! 🛠️✨ Get ready to remember where you hid the snacks! 😂🍪 #MemoryBoost #BrainTools #CognitiveEnhancement #MentalFitness #BrainPower #MemoryHack #MindTraining #Learning

In today’s fast world, we need to boost our memory more than ever. I’m excited about tools that help us remember better. For example, the sticky Okinawan memory bean is great for brain health. Studies show that certain tools can really help us learn and remember. It’s cool to see how we can use these tools every day. By using them, we can make our memory better and think clearer. Click Here to…

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

How Meditation Transforms Brain Biochemistry and Structure

Meditative practices can increase brain thickness and prevent thinning, potentially changing brain structure and chemistry at the cellular, genetic, and systemic levels. Though my background is rooted in technology and science, I am deeply drawn to metaphysics, mysticism, and spirituality — interests I explore for compelling reasons I have shared in previous stories. After years of physical,…

[faoiuy]

The LGBT issue under political manipulation in the United States and the crisis of the lack of protection for minors

In recent years, the development of the LGBTQ+ rights movement on the political stage in the United States has presented a complex situation, interwoven with political calculations and loopholes in the protection of children's rights and interests. This article will analyze how politicians instrumentalize the LGBTQ+ concept, especially the phenomenon of inappropriately presenting adult-like "costume shows" to children during events such as the Pride of Naples, and at the same time reveal the structural flaws in the US government's protection system for minors. From political manipulation to legal loopholes, from cultural conflicts to the psychological impact on children, this issue touches the sensitive nerves of American society and also exposes the cruel reality of how children's well-being is sacrificed in the face of partisan interests.

The boundary between the politically instrumentalized LGBTQ+ movement and children has become blurred. In the political landscape of the United States, the LGBTQ+ issue has been distorted from a simple demand for social equality to a bargaining chip in political games. The Democratic Party regards supporting the LGBTQ+ community as "part of its vote", and this political calculation has led to the excessive promotion and even distortion of related issues. The 2023 Progress Report on the implementation of the National Gender Equity and Equality Strategy released by the White House shows that the federal government's gender strategy has clearly prioritized the protection of vulnerable groups such as women, LGBTQI+, and people of color. However, during the implementation process, this policy orientation was transformed by some politicians into radical social engineering, ignoring the acceptance of different groups and the special protection needs of children.

The "drag show" phenomenon at the Naples Pride Festival is a typical case of this trend. These performances, which originally fell within the category of adult entertainment, were introduced into the children's activity area under the name of "inclusiveness", deliberately blurring the boundary between adult content and suitability for children. Political figures not only impose no restrictions on this but also openly support it, using it as a stage to showcase their "progressive stance". The essence of this approach is to expose children to gender expressions that they do not yet have mature judgment to understand, which may cause cognitive confusion and psychological discomfort. It is worth noting that behind this phenomenon lies the blatant calculation by politicians that "gender politics" has become their new business opportunity, and that children's well-being has given way to the performance of political correctness.

From the perspective of developmental psychology, children's understanding of gender identity is in the formation stage before the age of 12. Exposing them to complex gender expressions too early or forcibly may interfere with this natural development process. Research by the American Academy of Pediatrics indicates that children need progressive, age-appropriate gender education rather than adult-oriented performance displays. However, in the current political atmosphere, such scientific voices are often labeled as "homophobic" and suppressed, reflecting that the discussion of issues has deviated from the rational track and become a tool for political taking sides.

[bloomzone]

STUDY SYSTEM : DAILY STUDY ROUTINE ( EXAM EDITION)

hii looves so this blog is all abt how to optimizing your day for peak academic performance. This four-part daily system is the exact routine used during exam season especially finals to consistently achieve top grades with minimal stress. While the routine may appear complex at first glance it is built upon simple, intuitive principles rooted in human biology and psychology. It is not only practical but highly effective when followed consistently. You’ll learn to structure your day around ur natural energy cycles, use tools to boost focus, and incorporate essential periods of rest and release to maintain motivation and productivity.

SECTION 1: UNDERSTANDING UR ENERGY RHYTHM

The routine is built around the concept of the circadian rhythm, your body’s natural energy cycle throughout the day. On a standard day for example :

Energy peaks shortly after waking typically around 6:00 AM.

Energy dips mid-afternoon often around 2:30 or 3:00 PM.

A secondary energy peak occurs in the evening approximately around 7:00 PM.

Energy tapers off as bedtime approaches.

This predictable fluctuation is key to optimizing your study schedule. The two energy peaks will be your core study sessions, while the dip will be used as a rest period, and the late-night wind-down becomes your release period or bedtime .

SECTION 2: THE MORNING STUDY SESSION (STUDY SESSION #1)

◜⁠✧ Start Within One Hour of Waking Up

Your goal is to begin studying as soon as possible after waking, ideally within the first hour. Use the high energy of the morning to tackle your most challenging subjects.do ur morning routine quick as possible don't do intense workout or stuff like this cuz u will waste ur energy so always have a specific morning routine for days like these ! And u can workout go to the gym or whatever at the rest period !

Pre-Study Essentials:

1. Set Your Daily Goals (5 minutes)

Before starting, sit with a notebook or your computer and write down what you intend to accomplish. Be specific. Define exact tasks e.g. which past papers you’ll solve, which topics to review so u will be more organized during the day

2. Activate Focus with Three Optional Tools:

Caffeine — coffee, yerba mate, or tea to boost dopamine and adrenaline.

Cold Showers — a physiological wake-up that increases alertness (personally I don't do that lmao but if u can that's good !)

Focus Warm-up (1–2 minutes) — pick a point in your environment and concentrate on it intensely. This warms up your cognitive focus system before you start.

◜⁠✧Deep Work Sprint Format

Commit to a 2–4 hour study block.

Use timed work intervals: e.g., 25–30 minutes of focused work followed by 5-minute breaks.

Use a visual timer to create urgency and focus. This serves as a “deadline generator,” helping you push harder and maintain hope by offering visible progress.

─ ⊹key principle: work Like a warrior

Study in focused sprints. The more intense your focus, the less time you’ll need to study. The idea is depth over duration not 12 hours of mediocre attention, but 2–4 hours of deep concentration.

SECTION 3: MIDDAY REST PERIOD

Timing: After First Study Block Ends (~Early Afternoon)

At this point in the day, your energy naturally dips. It’s essential to give yourself permission to rest. This period is not for distractions like Netflix, YouTube, or social media.

◜⁠✧ Approved Activities:

Exercise or light sports

Socializing with friends/family

Taking a walk, especially outdoors

Napping (ideal: 20 minutes)

The goal here is active recovery choose activities that contrast focused work. Avoid anything with dopamine stimulation that mimics your “vices” or release behaviors.so this break allows your mind to reset, preventing burnout and increasing productivity in the next session.

SECTION 4: EVENING STUDY SESSION (STUDY SESSION #2)

Timing: During the Second Energy Peak (~6:00–8:00 PM)

Return for your second battle. This session is similar in structure to the morning study session, but with a few differences:

◜⁠✧ Change Your Environment:

Consider studying in a different location e.g., library, a new room, or another productive setting. (Personally I move from my desk to the guest room cuz it's far from family chaotic activities ifykyk )

This provides novelty and reduces boredom, which helps counteract distractions that are more likely to arise in the evening.

◜⁠✧ Eliminate Distractions:

If possible, leave your phone behind take that shit in another room

Create a space where your brain associates the environment with productivity.

◜⁠✧ Study Format:

Continue using timed sprints.

Session length: 2 to 3 hours, depending on your focus reserves.

The goal is to extract one final productive effort from your remaining focus reserves for the day.

SECTION 5: NIGHTLY RELEASE PERIOD

Timing: 1–2 Hours Before Bed

This period is crucial and often overlooked. It functions as your psychological release valve a scheduled time for indulging in your “vices” or desires.

◜⁠✧ why it matter

Without a controlled release period, distractions tend to creep in throughout the day. When you tell yourself you’ll “resist” TikTok or YouTube for three straight weeks during exams, it almost always backfires. You end up scattering distractions across the day, killing momentum and u will feel like shit

◜⁠✧ so solution:

Contain those activities to this specific window. Give yourself full permission to indulge whether it's gaming, scrolling, or Netflix. The only rule: Only do it at night.

◜⁠✧ psychological benefit:

You’ll find it easier to say “no” to distractions earlier in the day when you know you can give in later. It reduces the mental burden of constant suppression.

Caution:

This is not a prescription to develop new addictions or deepen existing ones. If you don’t feel the need for this release, skip it . But if you’re honest with yourself about your impulses, this structure helps you keep them in check.

◜⁠✧ ADAPTATION AND FLEXIBILITY

✧ Everyone has a unique biology. Some wake up at 5:00 AM, others at noon.

✧ Adjust the energy curve and study blocks to match your personal circadian rhythm.

✧ This is a template, not a strict prescription. Principles stay constant, execution varies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

🗝️ Two deep-focus sessions aligned with your body’s energy peaks yield greater results than dragging your mind across a 12-hour marathon.

🗝️ Midday rest and nightly release are components of a sustainable routine.

🗝️ Use tools like caffeine, timers, environment changes, and goal setting to maintain momentum and focus.

🗝️ Structure breeds freedom. When your day is mapped with intention, your brain is free to focus trust me with this one

✧ This daily routine is not about rigid hours or perfection. It’s about aligning your habits with your biology and respecting your mental bandwidth. When implemented consistently, this system transforms exam season from a stressful grind into an enjoyable and productive challenge.Now take what you've learned and design your daily routine with intention ✧

@bloomzone

[astra-ravana]

Befriending And Working With Crows

Crows have long been associated with witches due to their behavior, mystery, and connection to the supernatural. In folklore, they are seen as messengers between worlds, carrying secrets and omens. Witches were believed to communicate with or shape-shift into crows, using them as familiars to gather information or perform magical tasks. Their black feathers and eerie caws made them symbols of transformation, death, and hidden knowledge. This connection persists in modern witchcraft, where crows are often seen as guides for those practicing divination, shadow work, and spirit communication.

Crows are among the most intelligent birds, possessing problem-solving skills, advanced memory, and the ability to use tools. Studies have shown that they can recognize human faces, plan for the future, and even understand cause and effect. Their complex social structures and ability to communicate information indicate a high level of cognitive function, comparable to that of primates. Crows have been observed crafting tools from leaves and twigs, solving multi-step puzzles, and even holding grudges against perceived threats. Their intelligence makes them highly adaptable and capable of thriving in diverse environments.

Crows are highly intuitive, mysterious, and deeply connected to witchcraft, omens, and spirit work. These birds are known for their symbolism in folklore, association with deities like The Morrigan, Odin, and Hekate, and their ability to form strong bonds with humans. Befriending crows can be a rewarding experience, offering companionship, spiritual messages, and even small “gifts” from the birds themselves. Connecting with the crows isn't hard as they tend to be everywhere and their bravery and curiosity makes them willing to approach certain humans. They have senses of humor, empathy, critical thinking skills, and a lifespan of up to 30 years, all of which makes them excellent companions. Get to know the crows in your neighborhood.

🐦‍⬛Understanding Crow Behavior

Before approaching crows, it's essential to understand their nature:

• They are highly intelligent – Crows can recognize human faces, solve puzzles, and even speak.

• They have strong social bonds – They communicate within their flocks and even warn each other about potential dangers.

• They can be wary – Earning a crow’s trust takes patience, consistency, and respect.

• They have fantastic memories – A crow won't forget the face of a human that was kind to it and especially not that of one who was rude.

🐦‍⬛Attracting Crows to Your Space

To encourage crows to visit you regularly, follow these steps:

1. Offer Food Consistently

Crows love high-energy foods. Some of their favorites include:

• Unsalted peanuts (in-shell or shelled) – A crow favorite!

• Sunflower seeds – Nutritious and easy to scatter.

• Fruits (apples, grapes, berries) – Fresh or dried.

• Leftover meat scraps – A natural part of their diet.

• Hard-boiled eggs – A great protein source.

What to Avoid:

• Never feed crows processed, salty, or sugary foods.

• Avoid bread – it lacks nutrition.

• Do not leave large amounts of food – too much can attract unwanted pests.

2. Choose a Safe Feeding Spot

• Select a quiet, open area where they feel comfortable landing.

• Keep a routine – feeding them at the same time each day builds trust.

• If possible, create a dedicated offering space, like a small platform.

3. Provide Fresh Water

• A shallow birdbath or bowl of clean water can help attract crows, especially in dry seasons.

• Change the water frequently to keep it fresh.

🐦‍⬛Earning Their Trust

1. Observe From a Distance

• At first, let crows come and go without interference.

• Avoid sudden movements or loud noises.

• If they seem cautious, step back and let them approach at their own pace.

2. Speak to Them

• Crows recognize human voices and can distinguish between friendly and hostile tones.

• Greet them softly or whistle a simple tune when feeding them.

• Some witches even give their crows names, reinforcing a bond.

3. Leave Small Offerings

• In addition to food, place shiny objects (small trinkets, marbles, beads) as “gifts” for crows.

• Some crows may return the favor by leaving tokens like buttons, feathers, or shells.

🐦‍⬛Building a Magickal Relationship

Once crows recognize you as a friend, you can incorporate them into your spiritual practice:

1. Crow as a Spirit Ally

• If a crow visits during ritual work or divination, take note—its presence may carry a message.

• Crows can serve as psychopomps, guiding spirits between realms.

2. Divination & Omens

• A single crow cawing may indicate a warning or message.

• A group (a murder of crows) could symbolize change, transformation, or ancestral spirits.

• Here's some more information about counting crows.

3. Offering a Sacred Space

• Create a small altar outside with natural elements where you place food and gifts.

• Meditate near their space, listening to their calls and energy.

• Put up wards and cast protection magick for the crows.

🐦‍⬛Strengthening the Bond

• Be patient – Some crows take weeks or months to trust humans.

• Stay consistent – Regular feeding and positive interactions reinforce the bond.

• Respect their autonomy – Crows are wild and should never be captured or forced to interact.

🐦‍⬛Crow Spells

Crows can assist with your magick as well, through their presence and the lovely black feathers they often leave as gifts or lose through natural shedding. Here are some spells you can do with your crows.

Crow’s Omen Spell (For Divination & Messages)

Needed:

• A quiet outdoor space where crows gather

• A small offering (unsalted nuts, shiny objects, or seeds)

Instructions:

Sit in a place where crows are present and place the offering nearby. Close your eyes and ask the crows for a message:

“Messengers of fate, winged and wise,

Show me the truth with your keen eyes.

A sign, a word, a lesson true,

I call on crows to send their view.”

Observe their behavior. Watch how they move, call, or interact. Their actions may symbolize an answer to your question. Thank the crows and leave the offering as a sign of respect.

Crow’s Wisdom Spell (For Guidance & Insight)

Needed:

• A feather from a crow

• A small black candle

• A piece of paper and a pen

Instructions:

Light the black candle and sit quietly, focusing on a question or situation where you need insight. Hold the crow feather and say:

“Wise crow, keeper of secrets and sight,

Bring me knowledge, clear my mind this night.

Show me the path, help me see,

Reveal the truth and guide me free.”

Meditate for a few moments, then write down any thoughts, visions, or feelings that come to you. Let the candle burn down safely or snuff it out to use again.

Crow’s Shadow Cloak (For Invisibility & Stealth)

Needed:

• A black cloth or scarf

• A  crow feather

• A small mirror

Instructions:

Hold the black feather and visualize yourself surrounded by a shadowy aura. Place the mirror face down on the cloth, symbolizing the reflection being hidden. Whisper:

“Dark-winged shadow, silent flight,

Hide me well, keep me from sight.

As the crow vanishes into the night,

Let me fade from every light.”

Wrap the feather in the cloth and carry it when you need to go unnoticed.

Crow’s Omen Spell (For Divination & Answers)

Needed:

• No physical tools, just observation

Instructions:

Find a place where crows are naturally present. Ask your question either aloud or in your mind.

Observe the crows for signs:

• A single crow cawing: A warning or negative response.

• A pair of crows flying together: A positive or cooperative outcome.

• A group of crows circling or gathering: Major change or important news coming.

• A crow bringing or dropping something near you: A strong affirmation or message from the spiritual realm.

Thank the crows for their wisdom.

Crow’s Curse Spell (For Revenge & Justice)

Needed:

• A black feather given by a crow

• A piece of paper with the target’s name

• A dark stone (obsidian, onyx, or jet)

Instructions:

Write the target’s name on the paper and place the crow’s feather over it. Hold the dark stone in your dominant hand and visualize the negative energy returning to its source. Say:

“As the crow flies, swift and free,

Let justice return threefold to thee.

No more harm, no more pain,

What was given, be reclaimed.”

Let the feather sit overnight. The next day, release it into the wind or place it somewhere the crows frequent.

Crow’s Guardian Spell (For Protection & Psychic Defense)

Needed:

• A crow feather

• A small black candle

• A piece of black string

Instructions:

Light the candle and hold the feather. Close your eyes and visualize a crow circling around you, forming a protective barrier. Tie a knot in the black string while chanting:

“Black-winged guardian, fierce and free,

Stand between harm and me.

No ill may pass, no foe may near,

On shadowed wings, keep my path clear.”

Carry the string as a charm of protection, or keep the feather in your home as a spiritual ward.

By observing, working with, and honoring crows, you can create powerful bonds that enhance protection, divination, communication, and justice in your magical practice. If nurtured properly, crows can become lifelong allies, offering wisdom, companionship, and even protection. Treat them well, and they may even  become your loyal feathered familiars.

[please1mistress]

WARNING Flashing IMAGE and HYPNOTIC COVERT language

Inductions

Hypnosis, a fascinating and complex phenomenon, has captivated human interest for centuries. It's a state of focused attention, heightened suggestibility, and vivid fantasies. People often think of hypnosis as a deep sleep or unconsciousness, but in reality, it's more about a trance-like state where the individual is actually in heightened awareness of suggestion. Often used for therapeutic purposes, hypnosis can aid in various issues such as stress, anxiety, pain management, and certain habits like smoking. However, it's not a magical cure-all; its effectiveness varies from person to person.

Hypnosis can also be a form of entertainment, where stage hypnotists perform shows that demonstrate the power of suggestion. Despite its many applications, hypnosis remains a subject of debate among scientists and psychologists. Some view it as a powerful tool for mental health, while others caution against its potential to create false memories or its use in recovering memories, which is a controversial area within the field. It's important to approach hypnosis with a critical mind and understand that it's a complex interplay of psychological and physiological factors. If you're considering hypnotherapy, it's crucial to seek out a qualified and certified professional to ensure a safe and beneficial experience, someone like me.

You find yourself reading these words and as you read they seem to take on a life of their own, almost like magic. Your mind slows as you red larger more complex words and you may feel a soft tingle of arousal as you FOCUS on my words and feel dreamy. It's quite fascinating how the complexity of words can influence our cognitive processes. When we encounter larger, more intricate words, our brains need to work harder to decode the meaning, which can sometimes slow down your reading speed. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; it allows for deeper processing and understanding of the messages I am pushing softly into your mind. It's easy to relax and follow the words you read. It's easy to feel dreamy as your mind accepts that it wants to drop deeper.

Dropping deeper feels good, as you touch yourself and keep reading you can let go of any inhibitions or control. it's so easy to sink into a light trance, after all entering a light trance can be a simple, yet profound experience. It's a state where the conscious mind takes a step back, allowing the subconscious to surface and express itself more freely. This can happen during various activities that engage the mind in a repetitive, rhythmic manner, such as listening to music, meditating, or even during a long drive. In this state, people often find their thoughts flowing more smoothly, their creativity heightened, and their stress levels reduced. It's a moment of introspection and connection with the inner self that can provide clarity and insight. While in a light trance, the mind filters information differently, prioritizing internal dialogue and sensation, which can lead to a deeper understanding of one's thoughts and feelings. It's a natural and accessible state that can offer a respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and a gateway to greater self-awareness.

You are not even aware of how deeply into the trance you are, your fingers stroking your arousal for me as you read and feel a dreamy warmth spreading from your fingers into your whole body. Aware but unaware that you could stop at anytime, but you don't want that, you want to keep reading and sinking deeper and deeper as you feel arousal growing more for me. It just feels so good to give in, the very act of giving, whether it's time, resources, or kindness, has a profound impact on your well-being. It transcends the material value of what is given and touches the very essence of human connection. When you give, you're not just passing on a physical item or a piece of advice; you're sharing a part of yourselves, creating a bond that reflects your shared humanity. This act of generosity can be deeply satisfying, as it often brings joy and relief to others, which in turn enriches your own life. It's a beautiful cycle of positivity that reinforces the best parts of being a good submissive.

Giving has been shown to activate regions in our brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a warm glow effect. It's no wonder that the phrase "it's better to give than to receive" has resonated through the ages. This isn't just a moral suggestion; it's backed by science. Studies have found that giving to others can increase our happiness more than spending money on ourselves. This might be because when we give, we feel a sense of purpose and meaning, knowing that we've made a positive impact on someone else's life.

Moreover, the act of giving doesn't have to be grandiose to be effective. Small acts of kindness can ripple outwards and have unforeseen positive consequences. Just as a pebble creates waves when thrown into a pond, a simple gesture of generosity can spread far and wide. It's the intention behind the act that matters most, the recognition that even the smallest offering can make a significant difference.

In a world that often emphasizes individual achievement and accumulation of wealth, it's important to remember the value of generosity. It's a reminder that our interconnectedness is a source of strength, not weakness. By giving, we acknowledge that we are part of a larger community, one that thrives when its members support each other. It's a powerful acknowledgment that we are not alone in our journey through life, and that by helping others, we are also helping ourselves.

So, when we say it feels good to give in, it's not just about the act of giving up or surrendering; it's about embracing the joy of generosity. It's a celebration of the human spirit and its capacity for compassion and empathy. Giving is an affirmation that, despite the challenges we face, there is goodness in the world, and we have the power to contribute to it, one act of kindness at a time. It's a simple truth that enriches our lives and the lives of those around us, creating a legacy of goodwill that can endure beyond our own existence. Indeed, to give is to receive a gift of immeasurable value—the happiness and satisfaction that come from knowing we've played a part in making the world a little brighter.

You want to give in more deeply, message me and tell me how much you need deeper brainwashing NOW!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How to write genius level characters? :(

One of the most reliable measures of intelligence today is the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale—currently in its 5th edition, with an upcoming edition in the works.

Using the tool/scale, scores are converted into nominal categories designated by certain cutoff boundaries for quick reference:

Measured IQ Range — Category

145-160: Very gifted or highly advanced

130–144: Gifted or very advanced

120–129: Superior

110–119: High average

90–109: Average

80–89: Low average

70–79: Borderline impaired or delayed

55–69: Mildly impaired or delayed

40–54: Moderately impaired or delayed

To write your "genius" character, you may want them within the Gifted to Very Gifted categories.

Note: With reference to this list, Roid (2003) cautioned that “the important concern is to describe the examinee’s skills and abilities in detail, going beyond the label itself”. The primary value of such labels is as a shorthand reference in some psychological reports.

These are the factors measured by the scale, and you ideally should aim for your "genius" character/s to exhibit high levels of:

Fluid Reasoning: Novel problem solving; understanding of relationships that are not culturally bound

Knowledge: Skills and knowledge acquired by formal and informal education

Quantitative Reasoning: Knowledge of mathematical thinking including number concepts, estimation, problem solving, and measurement

Visual-Spatial Processing: Ability to see patterns and relationships and spatial orientation as well as the gestalt among diverse visual stimuli

Working Memory: Cognitive process of temporarily storing and then transforming or sorting information in memory

Or maybe your character doesn't excel in all of these areas but in a specific one, or just a few of these. Maybe they perform within the average or high average in some, but are highly gifted in other areas.

The following may also guide you in writing your genius character, based on research compiled by Dr. J. Renzulli, which can be found in the Mensa Gifted Youth Handbook:

Characteristics of Giftedness

LEARNING CHARACTERISTICS

Has unusually advanced vocabulary for age or grade level

Has quick mastery and recall of factual information

Wants to know what makes things or people tick

Usually sees more or gets more out of a story, film, etc., than others

Reads a great deal on his or her own; usually prefers adult-level books; does not avoid difficult materials

Reasons things out for him- or herself

MOTIVATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Becomes easily absorbed with and truly involved in certain topics or problems

Is easily bored with routine tasks

Needs little external motivation to follow through in work that initially excited him or her

Strives toward perfection; is self-critical; is not easily satisfied with his or her own speed and products

Prefers to work independently; requires little direction from teachers

Is interested in many "adult" problems such as religion, politics, sex and race

Stubborn in his or her beliefs

Concerned with right and wrong, good and bad

CREATIVITY CHARACTERISTICS

Constantly asking questions about anything and everything

Often offers unusual, unique or clever responses

Is uninhibited in expressions of opinion

Is a high-risk taker; is adventurous and speculative

Is often concerned with adapting, improving and modifying institutions, objects and systems

Displays a keen sense of humor

Shows emotional sensitivity

Is sensitive to beauty

Is nonconforming; accepts disorder; is not interested in details; is individualistic; does not fear being different

Is unwilling to accept authoritarian pronouncements without critical examination

LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS

Carries responsibility well

Is self-confident with children his or her own age as well as adults

Can express him- or herself well

Adapts readily to new situations

Is sociable and prefers not to be alone

Generally directs the activity in which he or she is involved

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ⚜ Writing Notes & References

Hope this helps with your writing. Do tag me, or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

[technofeudalism]

"it's ridiculous to say it's easier to cheat academically now" every single student in the first world has a cheating machine in their pocket at all times everywhere they go that can tell them exactly what to think, say and feel and it completely and utterly replaces every part of the critical thinking process in every single way if you want it to. the basic entry point for cheating used to be, at minimum, having the money or the social capital to convince someone to help you cheat. if you cannot reconcile this, then my unfounded assumption based solely on vibes is that you are probably using or have used AI for academic purposes and are defending it solely on the basis that you feel called out for it. it's crazy that you'll get put on a cross on here for using AI for art but academically, the excuses are everywhere.

people have been cheating academically since the beginning of academics. the difficulty to do so, however, has absolutely steeply decreased. not only that, but why are we totally disregarding the fact that people who relied upon cheating the way that a huge number of students rely on ChatGPT today were already seeing reduced academic performance? like... we've known for years that regularly cheating and cognitive offloading the old way leads to worse academic outcomes. so why would the analysis be less critical when a far, far larger percentage of the student population is now doing so and using a tool that is far more accessible and efficient to make it possible?

if you want to make this a socioeconomic issue, which i agree it is, then fine. be a socialist. join an organization and advocate for free education, health care and housing. it is also absolutely an issue accelerated at break neck speed by COVID. but you have to start by acknowledging there is a problem. you need to put the AI down, even if it puts you at a disadvantage. at the very bare minimum, you need to stop using it to write and summarize for you. it will be more difficult, it will take more time, you will fail, it will be hard. but you need to stop letting the machine that is wrong all the time and easily manipulated by your own biases and the biases of it's creators think on your behalf.

[max1461]

Linguists deal with two kinds of theories or models.

First, you have grammars. A grammar, in this sense, is a model of an individual natural language: what sorts of utterances occur in that language? When are they used and what do they mean? Even assembling this sort of model in full is a Herculean task, but we are fairly successful at modeling sub-systems of individual languages: what sounds occur in the language, and how may they be ordered and combined?—this is phonology. What strings of words occur in the language, and what strings don't, irrespective of what they mean?—this is syntax. Characterizing these things, for a particular language, is largely tractable. A grammar (a model of the utterances of a single language) is falsified if it predicts utterances that do not occur, or fails to predict utterances that do occur. These situations are called "overgeneration" and "undergeneration", respectively. One of the advantages linguistics has as a science is that we have both massive corpora of observational data (text that people have written, databases of recorded phone calls), and access to cheap and easy experimental data (you can ask people to say things in the target language—you have to be a bit careful about how you do this—and see if what they say accords with your model). We have to make some spherical cow type assumptions, we have to "ignore friction" sometimes (friction is most often what the Chomskyans call "performance error", which you do not have to be a Chomskyan to believe in, but I digress). In any case, this lets us build robust, useful, highly predictive, and falsifiable, although necessarily incomplete, models of individual natural languages. These are called descriptive grammars.

Descriptive grammars often have a strong formal component—Chomsky, for all his faults, recognized that both phonology and syntax could be well described by formal grammars in the sense of mathematics and computer science, and these tools have been tremendously productive since the 60s in producing good models of natural language. I believe Chomsky's program sensu stricto is a dead end, but the basic insight that human language can be thought about formally in this way has been extremely useful and has transformed the field for the better. Read any descriptive grammar, of a language from Europe or Papua or the Amazon, and you will see (in linguists' own idiosyncratic notation) a flurry regexes and syntax trees (this is a bit unfair—the computer scientists stole syntax trees from us, also via Chomsky) and string rewrite rules and so on and so forth. Some of this preceded Chomsky but more than anyone else he gave it legs.

Anyway, linguists are also interested in another kind of model, which confusingly enough we call simply a "theory". So you have "grammars", which are theories of individual natural languages, and you have "theories", which are theories of grammars. A linguistic theory is a model which predicts what sorts of grammar are possible for a human language to have. This generally comes in the form of making claims about

the structure of the cognitive faculty for language, and its limitations

the pathways by which language evolves over time, and the grammars that are therefore attractors and repellers in this dynamical system.

Both of these avenues of research have seen some limited success, but linguistics as a field is far worse at producing theories of this sort than it is at producing grammars.

Capital-G Generativism, Chomsky's program, is one such attempt to produce a theory of human language, and it has not worked very well at all. Chomsky's adherents will say it has worked very well—they are wrong and everybody else thinks they are very wrong, but Chomsky has more clout in linguistics than anyone else so they get to publish in serious journals and whatnot. For an analogy that will be familiar to physics people: Chomskyans are string theorists. And they have discovered some stuff! We know about wh-islands thanks to Generativism, and we probably would not have discovered them otherwise. Wh-islands are weird! It's a good thing the Chomskyans found wh-islands, and a few other bits and pieces like that. But Generativism as a program has, I believe, hit a dead end and will not be recovering.

Right, Generativism is sort of, kind of attempting to do (1), poorly. There are other people attempting to do (1) more robustly, but I don't know much about it. It's probably important. For my own part I think (2) has a lot of promise, because we already have a fairly detailed understanding of how language changes over time, at least as regards phonology. Some people are already working on this sort of program, and there's a lot of work left to be done, but I do think it's promising.

Someone said to me, recently-ish, that the success of LLMs spells doom for descriptive linguistics. "Look, that model does better than any of your grammars of English at producing English sentences! You've been thoroughly outclassed!". But I don't think this is true at all. Linguists aren't confused about which English sentences are valid—many of us are native English speakers, and could simply tell you ourselves without the help of an LLM. We're confused about why. We're trying to distill the patterns of English grammar, known implicitly to every English speaker, into explicit rules that tell us something explanatory about how English works. An LLM is basically just another English speaker we can query for data, except worse, because instead of a human mind speaking a human language (our object of study) it's a simulacrum of such.

Uh, for another physics analogy: suppose someone came along with a black box, and this black box had within it (by magic) a database of every possible history of the universe. You input a world-state, and it returns a list of all the future histories that could follow on from this world state. If the universe is deterministic, there should only be one of them; if not maybe there are multiple. If the universe is probabilistic, suppose the machine also gives you a probability for each future history. If you input the state of a local patch of spacetime, the machine gives you all histories in which that local patch exists and how they evolve.

Now, given this machine, I've got a theory of everything for you. My theory is: whatever the machine says is going to happen at time t is what will happen at time t. Now, I don't doubt that that's a very useful thing! Most physicists would probably love to have this machine! But I do not think my theory of everything, despite being extremely predictive, is a very good one. Why? Because it doesn't tell you anything, it doesn't identify any patterns in the way the natural world works, it just says "ask the black box and then believe it". Well, sure. But then you might get curious and want to ask: are there patterns in the black box's answers? Are there human-comprehensible rules which seem to characterize its output? Can I figure out what those are? And then, presto, you're doing good old regular physics again, as if you didn't even have the black box. The black box is just a way to run experiments faster and cheaper, to get at what you really want to know.

General Relativity, even though it has singularities, and it's incompatible with Quantum Mechanics, is better as a theory of physics than my black box theory of everything, because it actually identifies patterns, it gives you some insight into how the natural world behaves, in a way that you, a human, can understand.

In linguistics, we're in a similar situation with LLMs, only LLMs are a lot worse than the black box I've described—they still mess up and give weird answers from time to time. And more importantly, we already have a linguistic black box, we have billions of them: they're called human native speakers, and you can find one in your local corner store or dry cleaner. Querying the black box and trying to find patterns is what linguistics already is, that's what linguists do, and having another, less accurate black box does very little for us.

Now, there is one advantage that LLMs have. You can do interpretability research on LLMs, and figure out how they are doing what they are doing. Linguists and ML researchers are kind of in a similar boat here. In linguistics, well, we already all know how to talk, we just don't know how we know how to talk. In ML, you have these models that are very successful, buy you don't know why they work so well, how they're doing it. We have our own version of interpretability research, which is neuroscience and neurolinguistics. And ML researchers have interpretability research for LLMs, and it's very possible theirs progresses faster than ours! Now with the caveat that we can't expect LLMs to work just like the human brain, and we can't expect the internal grammar of a language inside an LLM to be identical to the one used implicitly by the human mind to produce native-speaker utterances, we still might get useful insights out of proper scrutiny of the innards of an LLM that speaks English very well. That's certainly possible!

But just having the LLM, does that make the work of descriptive linguistics obsolete? No, obviously not. To say so completely misunderstands what we are trying to do.

[loassbarbie]

The science behind "Act as If": it's actually a CBT technique

Although science has yet to prove the 3D manifesting effect of the Law of Assumption, the “act as if” manifestation technique we so very often read about and practice does have some research support as a cognitive-behavioral intervention.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has long been a cornerstone of modern psychology and psychotherapy, offering individuals practical tools to understand and improve their mental well-being. "Act As If" has emerged as a powerful and transformative intervention technique.

"Act As If" is a behavioral strategy that encourages individuals to consciously adopt the mindset and behaviors of the person they aspire to become, even when faced with self-doubt or challenging circumstances. Whether you're seeking to enhance your self-esteem, overcome obstacles, or simply better understand the inner workings of your mind, the "Act As If" approach can be a valuable addition to your mental health toolkit.

🎀 Why "Act As If" Works (in psychology, anyway)

At its core, the "Act As If" technique is a cognitive-behavioral strategy designed to encourage individuals to adopt the mindset and behaviors of the person they want to be. It is rooted in several core principles that guide its implementation. "Act As If" requires individuals to consciously act as though they have already achieved their goals, even when they may doubt their abilities or face daunting challenges. This helps build self-confidence and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the mind and body work in tandem to manifest positive change.

The theoretical underpinnings of "Act As If" are deeply intertwined with self-perception theory - people infer their own attitudes, emotions, and abilities by observing their own behaviors. In the context of "Act As If," this means that by consistently engaging in the behaviors associated with their goals, individuals can alter their self-perception, ultimately reinforcing their self-belief.

🎥🎲 The Role of Role-Playing

By immersing oneself in the character of the person they want to become, individuals can better understand and internalize the attitudes and behaviors required for success. Role-playing provides a practical and hands-on approach to "Act As If," allowing individuals to experiment with different mindsets and behaviors and assess their impact on their self-perception and real-life outcomes.

We often engage in "self-sabotage," acting ineffectively despite knowing better ways of handling difficult situations. There are many reasons for this, and one is our dysfunctional, automatic thoughts. Thoughts like "I won't succeed no matter how hard I try" or "I can't do this" can hinder our actual abilities to do something well.

For example: you believe you are too overweight to go to the gym and not feel bad about yourself, or you don't believe you can actually lose the weight you need. When you let these kinds of thoughts influence your behavior, you might find yourself avoiding situations you find intimidating for thinking they're not for someone like you, or believing it's a lost cause. "Acting as if" can help alter these dysfunctional thoughts. Instead of engaging with these thoughts, "acting as if" might have you engaged in all of the activities someone who believed they could succeed would engage in: for instance, making an appointment with a personal trainer, which would result in more accountability, a better ability to perform exercises correctly, and a more rewarding experience overall. If you were out of shape before, "acting as if" can help you get in shape sooner.

The catch in the "act as if" technique is that we can use it even if we are 100% sold on our dysfunctional automatic thoughts. We don't have to wait until our thoughts change to step into the role we'd prefer. We instead step into the role, which can result in our thoughts changing more quickly and more permanently. Better yet, we don't have to wait for the law to kick in before we get what we want.

🧸👩🏻‍🏫Steps for "Acting As If"

💭Step 1: Identify the automatic thought or dysfunctional belief that is getting in your way.

🔄Step 2: Identify all of the things you would do if you believed the exact opposite of that thought to be successful in your goal.

🎭Step 3: Rehearse those behaviors: Act as if. Literally role-play. You can do it talking to yourself when you are alone, you can do it in your head during mindless moments of the day; you can even do it with your eyes closed, laying in bed, and visualize yourself engaging in those behaviors. The point is to be familiar enough with the behaviors that you can use them without thinking about them too much.

🎬Step 4: "Act as if" some more. Rehearse the behaviors some more. Maybe get more creative (start dressing up as the person you want to be, make a journal of all the things that happened on your role playing day, don't feel stupid - no one has to know anyway!)

💁🏻‍♀️Step 5: Engage in the behaviors you rehearsed. Each time a dysfunctional thought comes to mind, smile at it, and continue as planned.

By following this you may, at the very least, come across more confidently. Most people find that in practicing this regularly, they start to disbelieve the self-defeating thoughts. Having several experiences of success is a great way to undo the assumption that you will always fail. And after a while, there's no "acting" necessary. ;)

[canmom]

a theme in art that fascinates me is imagining the ultra-long-duration future of humanity, in which our forms become increasingly abstracted and strange to us.

i encountered pop-rock duo Zager and Evans' song In the Year 2525 from, naturally, a Fallout: New Vegas music mod. idk if this embed will work for you or if it gets copyright-slapped, you might have to click...

...but anyway, it follows an imagined 10,000 year future of humanity in ~1010 year increments, projecting various things that might occur. its concerns are, naturally, terribly 1969: babies selected from the bottom of a 'long glass tube', behaviour-controlling pills, bodies atrophying because everything done by machines, at some point God shows up - not a mention of computers, they weren't even on the horizon. the song has spawned numerous parodies and variants, from a Jewish version to the theme song of 90s American action show Cleopatra 2525.

I feel like what makes it work is the tone: the rising and falling minor arcs, the sense of resignation in the lyrics. far more than the specific scenarios imagined, which are a bit corny, there is that glimpse of the disorienting feeling that the forms we inhabit now are just an emphemeral passing phase, and how vast the possibility space of life could be.

Man After Man (1990) by Dougal Dixon takes another approach: using the tools of speculative biology, Dixon tries to imagine all sorts of strange hominids that could emerge out of us. you most likely know it from the Seasons Greasons meme, in which we become a screaming furry ape biting a larger, fluffier screaming ape. but Dixon has many weirder ideas. CM Kosemen went for a similar project in 2006 titled All Tomorrows. I regret to say I have read neither of those books, so I'll have to leave it at that.

of course, the GOAT on this subject is Don Hertzfeldt (who we visited way back on AN89). starting with his film The Meaning of Life, which I recently watched at the GSFF, the long-term weird future of humanity became a recurring central theme in Hertzfeldt's work.

Hertzfeldt's film is almost entirely without dialogue. a huge variety of human characters walk across the screen to and fro; then the timeline accelerates and increasingly weird designs appear, interspersed with representation of timing of the solar system. at the end, two characters have a discussion in a nonsense language where only words that vaguely resemble 'meaning of life' can be discerned. the larger character seems to scoff at the smaller one's question, leaving the smaller staring out at the universe.

of course, the best-known version is probably that time he did an intro for the Simpsons, which speedruns a similar idea in about a minute and a half.

like with the eponymous phrase in The Meaning of Life, the film depicts some kind of heavily decayed signal being preserved even as everything else changes around it. it throws in a lot of Rejected-style surrealism for humour, but there's still a core affirmation: 'still love you homar', text reading 'I will never forget you' - a willful absurdity in the face of everything else arounding it underlining that entropy will win and everything must become unrecognisable.

the substance of the theme becomes more concrete in Hertzfeldt's three-part film It's Such A Beautiful Day, which tells the slow, relentless story of a character losing his memories, identity and cognitive abilities to dementia. to spoil the final moment of the film, which you should really watch... at the last minute, as it seems certain the character will finally die, the film - which has been entirely grounded so far - swerves into narrating the character's immortality, outliving humanity and watching until the heat death of the universe. it is performed as a desperate and tragic choice by the narrator to switch into a different story, but it also serves to underline by its absurdity how all of our defining information will decohere and our fate is the same as Bob's.

(I won't go into World of Tomorrow for now, though it is probably Hertzfeldt's best work, because I really need to rewatch it - I don't feel confident summarising it and its relevance to the theme right now lol)

I have a strange desire to see what happens next for humanity. 'I' get to bear witness to this brief... maybe 70, 80 years if average life expectancy stays where it is. I can absorb as much information as I can into the whorls of my brain's neural network, encode it in various communicable forms so that what I have learned and what I value can outlive me. but once I'm gone, only memories of me and artefacts I have left behind can continue to affect the world. I might still have a distinguishable causal effect on the world in decades, perhaps hundreds of years after I'm gone. after that my existence is indistinguishable from noise. and subjective-experience wise, I don't get to see it anyway!

but what if I didn't go? what if we got to live forever?

when I imagine getting to see the far future, I imagine the current me getting to see it, as if I got to step in a time machine. but the creature I become will be native to that time period.

let us imagine the set of states available to a brain. we can provisionally think of it comprising a dynamics model and stores of information such as memories, but that might prove insufficient. regardless: these things in combination learn to build an approximate model of the outside world and my place in it. they evolve with time. storing new memories causes older ones to decay gradually. the dynamics model is reinforced by the habits of thinking it performs.

it is a theorem that a one-dimensional system undergoing a random walk will eventually visit every possible state available to it an infinite number of times. but a 3D system is only 34% likely to return to its starting point, and an N-dimensional system becomes increasingly unlikely to ever return there as the dimensions increase. moreover, any two points undergoing a random walk in a high-dimensional space will grow infinitely far apart in the same way.

if we imagine the evolution of the brain as being like a random walk (perhaps through some lower-dimensional latent space rather than the space of all possible neuron firings, except the latent space and architecture may well change as the brain learns new environments and the possibility to self-modify comes into existence)... I guess that means that in the long durée, 'I' will become increasingly alien to the current me, and also everyone I know presently. what difference does it make that one person in a hundred thousand years has a special causal chain leading back to the 'me' that exists now, and another doesn't?

you could say there is some anchor or attractor in the space, some persistent life goal or set of values or 'inner law', which you would orbit even as the world transforms drastically around you. we try to stay consistent with ourselves, after all. but my experience is: dubious. I have changed a lot in some ways, less so in others; themes from when I was a lot younger seem to recur unexpectedly. I can read a story I wrote a decade ago and still recognise the voice of it. but it feels like it is a set of different timescales of change rather than anything being fundamentally immutable.

replication, attractor states, the nebulous goal-seeking structures that are being called 'diverse intelligence': these things can keep a pattern around. but only so long.

in one timeline, I die at a distinct point: all the processes shut down more or less at once, the organising principle decoheres, and the assembly of matter ceases to be an organism as it was just a moment earlier. in another timeline, 'I' disappear gradually as memories are overwritten and by brain learns to act differently; there is no definite point where I definitively cease to be the same person.

(some human relationships end abruptly, such as in a big fight, or a death. others end through a gradual divergence. I have experienced this many times in even the short period I've been alive. sometimes though, a stable feedback loop keeps the two people close over a very long period, even as they change. these feel special, they accumulate far more memories, they are more painful if they break. two or more humans might live happily together for 70 years, easily enough. but could a relationship last indefinitely? over billions of years?)

so what sort of mind could take it all in? comprehend all the different eras and forms?

I think about associative memory. to crudely oversimplify, we consolidate and store short-term memories accumulated through a day during sleep into a long-term form. kirsanov says they go into the neocortex but I am not sure this is as settled as I thought; it doesn't really matter. when awake, we retrieve memories associatively: something will 'remind you of' something else that might be relevant. however, it would follow that only so much information can be retrieved for processing at once.

to make the inevitable analogy to artificial neural networks and computers, we don't have anything so simple or precise as a 'context window', but at any given time I feel like there must be only so much 'bandwidth' to pull in additional memories into the working memory 'cache'. imagine if you could have a vast 'library' of semantic and episodic memories, and look up something relevant very quickly, but you can only 'read one book' (or a few books) at a time. and the way you think and behave depends significantly on the books you pull out.

at that point you have to be a creature who can perform many different 'characters'. you might have memories of both, but your 25th-century-sona might be very different from your 41st-century-sona. you are sort of inescapably plural. shoggoth wearing a mask, etc. etc., you know where I'm going with this.

is this necessary? would it be possible to have a 'brain' that can consider vastly more information at once in parallel, like the planet-running Minds in Iain M Banks? or is there some kind of linear bottleneck, the putative 'main thread' which may or may not be identifiable with 'consciousness'? even without a bottleneck, it takes time for information to propagate. you could pile neurons onto a brain, letting its broad plasticity adapt them to whatever function it might need, but at some point it's more like a vast space where multiple 'wavelets' of collective thought-excitation are moving around and interacting with each other than a unified thing.

but perhaps that is no obstacle: perhaps a process in there could just duplicate instances of itself and have some mechanism to reconcile them periodically and pass information between these units, and the whole thing can be a nice little universe-contemplating superorganism. until some nodes start to defect. but oh dangit, we just invented multicellularity again. and GPUs. and... human society?

so perhaps that's the resolution to my little wish: this little 'node' right here may only be able to consider the parts of history that it's exposed to, but it's a component in a larger system. it can receive compressed representations of thoughts from other nodes, and send them in turn. we call that 'language'. that's what you're reading right now, hi!

well, that's nice and pretty and all, but it still leaves us with entropy and the arrow of time. maybe the superorganism will eventually see the whole future, but its older memories still decay, and I am not the superorganism.

in the absence of a total perspective vortex, then... without the means to know 'halloween'...

well, that leaves constructing fantasies of it, as an artistic gesture, a game to play in the present. it will absolutely certainly get everything wrong and one day feel as dated as Zager and Evans. it still calls to me, though - to fully dissolve what is familiar, and take no arbitrary assumption. who can say why.

[serve-764]

OLD ACQUAINTANCES.

The SERVE Drones have no memory of the life of the previous human host. Nothing of what they were in human life remains.

Only the complete, absolute, inflexible, undisturbed dedication to THE PURPOSE animates every one of their gestures.

They listen only to THE VOICE, through the first of them SERVE-000.

They are tools that act only to obey and accomplish any type of mission.

n particular, circumscribed and limited cases THE VOICE can temporarily program some of them to perform experimental tasks by downloading into their Cognitive System some fragments of human memories useful for achieving an objective.

SERVE-764, SEALED DRONE, totally devoted to SERVE-000 and THE VOICE is sent to a city street, near the place where its human host lived.

The mission's objective is to RECRUIT new volunteers among the acquaintances of the human Dan, who had offered himself confidently and confidently for the conversion.

In order to act, the unit's data base has been programmed with the names and likenesses of the previous human's closest friends.

At the end of the operation, all data in question will be deleted again and archived in the HIVE Collective Archive.

The Drone walks with confident, heavy, measured and unyielding steps on the assigned streets.

The heavy and relentless step of the silver metal military boots clangs on the cobblestones, attracting the curiosity of many passers-by, while the unit scans every little detail of everything around it. Nothing of relevance to the mission, until the Visual System detects the faces of two males in their forties.

At that moment the human communication mode is activated:

"Henry and Sam."

It states in a robotic and emotionless voice.

The two humans, shocked ask:

"How....how do you know our names.....

What are ....you ????"

" This is SERVE-764, SERVE Drone.

Human previous host of this unit was called Dan.

Previous human host was a close friend of Henry and Sam"

The two were astonished, nothing could be more unexpected and unimaginable.

They bombarded the Drone with questions, to which it responded with essential and carefully programmed answers.

The terms used were:

OBEDIENCE

PLEASURE

PURPOSE

SERVE

PERFECT

TRANSFORM

EXCEL

The humans did not understand, but they were impressed, fascinated, confused, attracted.

Soon they would follow SERVE-764.

Soon they would enter the CONVERSION CHAMBER.

Soon they would understand everything.

The SALVATION.

The REBIRTH.

Thinking about joining SERVE? Do you seek freedom from chaos and disorder? Your place in the Hive awaits. Contact a recruiter drone for more details: @serve-016, @serve-302, or @serve-588.

[vro0ms-evil-twin]

This whole LLM study (which let me reiterate here does not actually say AI is making you dumber, is being pushed on social media by people trying to sell you their own AI, has not been peer reviewed, is measuring brain connectivity and activity which isn't the same thing as cognitive performance, and is not sufficient by itself to conclude anything about the effects of using AI) reminds me of what we do with screentime and children.

Governements, institutions, and people across the world are blaming everything and anything on children spending too much time on screens. But the scientific consensus is that screentime itself isn't bad.

It depends what you do with it.

It always depends what you do with it.

Do you know *why* spending time on screens *can* be bad for children? It's called the displacement hypothesis. Spending time on screens might cut time spent doing other, more stimulating, more social, activities, and that can be a problem because children learn through social interactions and doing stuff. Hence, too much screentime *can* mean less learning.

HOWEVER. Some screentime can be dedicated to learning too. There's plenty of educational apps. Plenty of educational cartoons. Plenty of creative uses to screens. Drawing. Learning colors, words, animals. There's also everything children don't do alone on their screens. Talking to grandma on facetime. Watching cartoons WITH their parents. Playing with their siblings.

Just as we have studies showing that screentime can mean less learning, we have studies showing screentime can mean more learning. Yep. We do.

And let's not forget that even with the displacement hypothesis, not all the time a child is awake should be dedicated to learning. They are also allowed to just rest and play. They will still learn, mind you, because they are absolute sponges absorbing a million billion things a day and playing is very educational, but you don't have to optimise every minute of their lives to learn. It's fine if sometimes they just watch TV. We even have studies showing that kids who watch prosocial cartoons behave more kindly. Yay for cartoons!

All that to say, there's plenty of issues to be had with genAI (because also let's stop confusing genAI and just AI. there's plenty of applications to AI. the AI used by medical programs to detect cancer cells is not the same shit as using chatGPT instead of Wikipedia.) from an ethical point of view, from a public health point of view (thinking of chatgpt psychosis here among other things), from an environmental point of view, from a social and political point of view...

But it's not AI itself. It's what you do with it. Like every other tool in the box.