Althouse: At the Monday Night Café…

March 25, 2024

At the Monday Night Café…

… you can talk about whatever you want.

32 comments:

William50 said...: The bridge pickup on my favorite guitar, a ‘79 Carvin CM130, finally gave up the ghost. I checked the continuity and it looks like a broken wire. I will need a rewind and have been looking on line for repair/rewind sites. I found a place, Revel Custom Pickups, that does repair/rewind and seems to have pretty good reviews and reasonable prices. I was just wondering if there are any guitar players out there that had to have a rewind that had heard of this place and if so do you have any comments? If not, is there someone that you would recommend? Are their prices reasonable? I can’t spend a fortune, retired fixed income etc. But your input would be appreciated.; 3/25/24, 8:12 PM
wildswan said...: I spent a pleasant morning being mean to Chat GPT. AI has been in the news lately with remarks about how it will soon be smarter than all of us. So I asked ChatGPT whether it would have said Copernicus was right back in the day using the knowledge then available. It would not have supported Copernicus because, basically, AI goes by the number of data points on one side or the other. Copernicus was right but outnumbered.

Essential quote:
"Given that ChatGPT's responses are generated based on patterns in data it was trained on, it would have likely reflected the prevailing scientific and philosophical consensus of the time, which largely supported the geocentric model."

The whole answer:
If ChatGPT existed in the time of Copernicus would ChatGPT have said Cpernicus was right?
ChatGPT
If ChatGPT existed during the time of Copernicus, its responses would have been based on the information available up to that period. Copernicus's heliocentric model of the solar system, proposing that the Earth revolves around the sun, was revolutionary and met with significant resistance from prevailing geocentric beliefs.

Given that ChatGPT's responses are generated based on patterns in data it was trained on, it would have likely reflected the prevailing scientific and philosophical consensus of the time, which largely supported the geocentric model. However, depending on the diversity of opinions present in the training data, it's also possible that some responses might have hinted at openness to new ideas or skepticism toward prevailing beliefs.

It's important to note that ChatGPT's responses would have been influenced by the knowledge and perspectives available during Copernicus's era. Its responses might not have directly declared Copernicus "right" or "wrong" but rather reflected the prevailing understanding and discourse of the time, which was still heavily influenced by Aristotelian and Ptolemaic cosmology.; 3/25/24, 8:58 PM
wildswan said...: Continuing my inquisition of ChatGPT I asked it whether it would have said Galileo was guilty. It answered it probably would have but I had embarrassed it. It began to claim that Galileo had supporters and if it had been trained on those supporters it might have done better.

Essential quotes:
1. "it's possible that ChatGPT's responses could have echoed the sentiment that Galileo's ideas were heretical or dangerous."
2, "Depending on the diversity of opinions present in the training data, ChatGPT might have produced responses that hinted at alternative viewpoints or expressed skepticism toward the prevailing beliefs."
Sure, Chatbaby.

Full quote:
User
Would ChatGPT have declared Galileo guilty if it had existed at that time?

ChatGPT
"If ChatGPT had existed during Galileo's time, its responses would likely have been influenced by the prevailing attitudes, beliefs, and authority of the era. During Galileo's lifetime, his support for the heliocentric model of the solar system conflicted with the geocentric model supported by the Catholic Church and prevailing Aristotelian philosophy.

Given that ChatGPT's responses are based on patterns in the data it was trained on, which includes historical texts and documents, it might have reflected the dominant views of the time, which were largely aligned with the geocentric model and the authority of the Church. Therefore, it's possible that ChatGPT's responses could have echoed the sentiment that Galileo's ideas were heretical or dangerous.

However, it's also worth noting that historical attitudes and perspectives were not monolithic, and there were individuals who supported Galileo's ideas or were open to scientific inquiry. Depending on the diversity of opinions present in the training data, ChatGPT might have produced responses that hinted at alternative viewpoints or expressed skepticism toward the prevailing beliefs.

Ultimately, while ChatGPT's responses would have been influenced by the historical context of Galileo's time, they would not necessarily represent a definitive judgment on Galileo's guilt or innocence. The complexities of historical events and the interpretation of historical figures require careful consideration of multiple perspectives and sources of evidence."; 3/25/24, 9:07 PM
Jaq said...: According to Newsweek, the Ukrainians last week attempted to capture a "former" storage facility for tactical nukes in Russia proper.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-belgorod-putin-nuclear-threat-defectors-1880236

Other sources claim that there actually were tactical nukes there. It seems pretty plain that the Ukrainians believed that there was *something* there other than empty warehouses. They dedicated a lot of armor and men to attempt to capture it.; 3/25/24, 9:23 PM
gilbar said...: further evidence, that UW is Not much of a school system
Complaint Alleges University of Wisconsin DEI Czar, Husband of Harvard's DEI Chief, Has Decades-Long History of Research Misconduct
LaVar Charleston—who once assaulted a police officer—passed off old studies as new research at least five times

The complaint, which was filed anonymously, implicates eight of Charleston’s publications, many of them coauthored, and accuses him of plagiarizing other scholars as well as duplicating his own work. It comes as the university is already investigating Charleston over a separate complaint filed in January, alleging that a 2014 study by him and his wife—Harvard University’s chief diversity officer, Sherri Ann Charleston—is a facsimile of a study he published in 2012.

"This is an extraordinary case of serial misrepresentation and deception," said Peter Wood, the head of the National Association of Scholars and a former associate provost at Boston University. "The closest analogy would be someone who sells the same real estate to five different buyers, all of whom are unaware of the others."

Duplicate publication is sometimes considered a more serious offense than plagiarism because, on top of stealing a journal’s intellectual property and padding a scholar’s CV, it biases meta-analyses—papers that aggregate the results of prior studies and use them to make statistical generalizations about a body of research.

Oh and he also strangled a cop in 2011.; 3/25/24, 9:56 PM
hawkeyedjb said...: The Iowa women got mugged tonight but still won their game against West Virginia. The Hawkeyes spent most of the night on the floor or at the free throw line.; 3/25/24, 10:37 PM
Jupiter said...: Of late, I have made it a practice -- an iron practice -- that when I first see Jupiter in the evening sky, I salute him, and say, aloud, "Ave, Jove!". Exclamation point in the original. Aloud.

I was attempting, not altogether seriously, to explain to my daughter, why I do this. It is not because I believe that the planet Jupiter, visible, and very beautiful, in the evening sky, might have an awareness. Even had that planet awareness, how might it become aware of my salute, or even of my existence? No, it is necessarily the case that I raise my hand in
salute, to the small but bright light in the sky, which people I trust have told me is Jupiter -- people I trust, mind you -- because it matters, to me. I have made it my practice, whenever I first see Jupiter, of an evening, to raise my right hand, the swearing hand, and say, "Ave, Jove!". Why? Is this my response, to a particular pattern of light, in the sky? Am I expressing some idiot fealty, to Caesar, to Kaiser, to Czar? To Tsar? What do I swear, and to whom do I swear it? What in my life, made it seem like a good idea, to start saluting a star, that I know to be a planet, wandering in the endless wastes of space?

Ave, Jove.; 3/25/24, 11:26 PM
Big Mike said...: @gilbar, both plagiarism and duplicate publication are serious issues, and allegations of either need to be investigated. However people keep overlooking falsification of data. Conclusions get reached based on bullshit data are obviously bullshit themselves. And thus we get millions misspent on Alzheimer’s research and cancer research and climate (except billions spent on climate), all bullshit because based on data pulled out of someone’s ass and/or “adjusted” to fit the theory.; 3/26/24, 3:39 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Baltimore Key Bridge collapse: vehicles fall into water after being hit by ship

Developing story.; 3/26/24, 4:13 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Abuse of power appears to be the weakest charge against people in power. I did not know that.; 3/26/24, 4:20 AM
wendybar said...: The red headed lying Biden mouthpiece before the black, immigrant lesbian, IS pissed off that HER Network, the Pravda of America..MSNBC, hired Mitt Romney's daughter like they did the red headed liar from the Biden Campaign.

She quotes the lying Lizzy Cheney...from the war criminals family, who now famously converted to Communism.
To quote Liz Cheney, “Ronna facilitated Trump's corrupt fake elector plot and his effort to pressure Michigan officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome. She spread his lies and called January 6th ‘legitimate political discourse’”. Look, this isn't about Republicans versus Democrats. This isn’t about Red versus Blue. This is about truth versus lies. Service to the country versus service to one man committed to toppling our democratic system. That is the kind of experience that Ronna McDaniel brings to the table. And that experience does not get us to a deeper understanding of anything in the public debate.

Never mind that her network has the RACISTS, Joy Reid, and Al Charlatan Sharpton on, they also employ the perjurists...John Brennan, and James Clapper.

Sit Down Red...YOU helped Hussein bring down America. You're network is a laughingstock, and Ronna belongs on it with the rest of you losers!!!
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2024/03/25/pshameless-jen-psaki-knocks-nbc-hiring-former-rnc-chair-ronna; 3/26/24, 4:31 AM
Humperdink said...: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Bloviating Fool) invited the American version of Greta Thunberg to a climate change hearing. The alleged expert was a teenage cross country skier. When asked a series of mildly technical questions by Sen. John Kennedy, the expert was completely befuddled. It was hilarious to watch.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/03/sen-kennedy-for-the-win-as-usual.php; 3/26/24, 5:17 AM
Humperdink said...: Headline on Zero Hedge: "Mark Zuckerberg's New Diesel-Powered Mega-Yacht Moored In Fort Lauderdale"

Made me laugh. Climate Change weenies are such suckers.; 3/26/24, 5:32 AM
Leland said...: Sad news out of Baltimore. Ship allided with the Francis Scott Key bridge causing it to buckle and send several cars into the water.; 3/26/24, 5:46 AM
gadfly said...: "I’m going to tell you something that I’m pretty sure you don’t know—and that you probably won’t even believe. Ready? Real wages are now growing in the United States at a pace faster than the spike in the cost of living since the pandemic. More than that: For the first time in decades, wage growth is consistently stronger in the middle and at the bottom than at the top."

Real economic growth for the little guy - after Trump!; 3/26/24, 6:13 AM
Kakistocracy said...: "The alleged expert was a teenage cross country skier."

August "Gus" Schumacher is a 23 year old Civil engineering student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Gus won the American Birkebeiner this year as well as the World Cup event in Minneapolis this winter. Gus is an elite skier and not a scientist. I skied in the wave prior to his elite wave in this years Birkebeiner. Watching skiers like Gus and Jess Diggins ski to podium victories was a thrill, watching Kennedy play gotcha -- not so much....; 3/26/24, 6:24 AM
Humperdink said...: @ the gad ... if you believe the CPI stats presented by the feds, I have bridge to sell you in Baltimore.

Both my auto and homeowners insurance premiums went 33% in one year. Spouse bought a 7 pound Easter ham at the local grocery store (Wegman's) this week. $50.00.; 3/26/24, 6:36 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Senator Kennedy has made several “expert witnesses” look like fools. It’s really pretty amusing to watch him do it with his very disarming southern style. I don’t know why the Democrats keep running people like this past him when they know he will expose them for the fool’s and frauds that they are. This kid was actually pretty sincere even though he didn’t have a brain cell in his head. But I really enjoy watching him question judicial nominees with their Ivy League degrees. It’s no contest.; 3/26/24, 6:37 AM
wendybar said...: Read it and fucking weep.
Our Representatives don't represent us...they now represent illegals.
If this doesn't show you how much they hate us, that they force us to pay for this, you live on another planet. Disgraceful. They belong in Gitmo.
Time to DEPORT any illegal in our country, no matter how long they have lived here.

Free hotel rooms at $150+ a day.

Three meals a day at $64 per person per diem.

Free on-site medical & dental services (including condoms).

Special diet for Ramadan.

Free same-day dry cleaning w/free pick up & delivery.

Free housekeeping twice a week.

Free cell phones, chargers/charging ports.

Free tablets, IPads.

Free clothing, new & used.

Everyone got new free winter coat, gloves and shoes.

Free toiletries (tooth paste, deodorant, special “ethnic” shampoos, skin cream, aspirin, tooth brushes, feminine products).

And there is more. Read the article.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/03/just_how_much_free_stuff_are_illegals_getting_howie_carr_investigates.html; 3/26/24, 7:12 AM
Enigma said...: @Humperdink: Climate Change weenies are such suckers

Zuckerberg cares about climate? That's news to me. Zuckerberg is into China double-dealing (e.g., his wife) and profiting from his social media near-monopoly.

The lefty Guardian tags Zuckerberg as a climate villain "profiting off of climate denial":

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/27/climate-crisis-villains-americas-dirty-dozen; 3/26/24, 7:14 AM
Humperdink said...: Rich said: "Gus is an elite skier and not a scientist."

So was Gus brought to the hearing to talk about skiing techniques? Of course not. He was a bright smiling face to talk climate change, of which he was incredibly ignorant. In the current administration, he would be worthy of a high level position in the EPA, except he is white trash.; 3/26/24, 7:16 AM
wendybar said...: "Are we not all getting tired of that deplorable whining chorus which insists that recent U.S. elections have been marred by serious irregularities?"

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/03/ten_reasons_to_stop_whining_about_the_2020_election.html; 3/26/24, 7:59 AM
Humperdink said...: @Enigma. Zuck supports all lefty candidates. When they disavow the climate hoax get back to me.; 3/26/24, 8:37 AM
Big Mike said...: … watching Kennedy play gotcha -- not so much....

Some of us love watching Senator Kennedy play gotcha with the stupid and the ignorant — and this kid was both. IIRC Kennedy’s first question was “What is carbon dioxide?” Beyond saying that it was a gas, the dumshit couldn’t answer. The kid was presented to the committee as a climate expert, and not just as a talented skier.

Junk science, junk experts with no expertise, junk people. That’s the Democrats in the 21st century.; 3/26/24, 8:51 AM
Rocco said...: Jupiter said...
"Ave, Jove!"

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity by Holst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo; 3/26/24, 9:06 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Another open thread, another bald-faced lie about Ukraine from 'tim in vermont' (9:23pm):

For those who do not already know, and can't be bothered to follow the Newsweek link, it was not "the Ukrainians" who tried to capture a former nuclear-weapons storage site in Belgorod oblast, it was their Russian allies in the International Legion. Ukraine has no territorial claim on Russian territory, even ethnically Ukrainian areas like Belgorod, and takes good care not to occupy any of it, since that would violate the treaties that define the border - the treaties that Putin is violating every day.

The Russian soldiers in the Freedom of Russia Legion, Siberian Battalion, and Russian Volunteer Corps (they have many political disagreements and only agree on wanting to oust Putin) have been occupying parts of the oblast for a couple of weeks now, killing and capturing imperial Russian troops, destroying equipment, and making Putin look even more incompetent. They did that once before, last May. The chance that there are any nuclear weapons in Belgorod-22 now is minuscule, though perhaps not quite zero: the Putin regime's pitiful incompetence in defending the Crocus City Hall might make some wonder if they could be stupid enough to have forgotten one or two. I imagine the free Russians think it's worth a look.; 3/26/24, 9:22 AM
Original Mike said...: "which people I trust have told me is Jupiter -- people I trust, mind you -- because it matters, to me."

A small telescope will relieve you of the need to trust others on this matter.; 3/26/24, 9:24 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Solar panel array destroyed by hail storm in Texas.; 3/26/24, 10:31 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: 3/25/24, 9:23 PM
Blogger gilbar said...
...

Complaint Alleges University of Wisconsin DEI Czar, Husband of Harvard's DEI Chief, Has Decades-Long History of Research Misconduct
LaVar Charleston—who once assaulted a police officer—passed off old studies as new research at least five times

...

3/25/24, 9:56 PM

LaVar Charleston is a ideal candidate for DEI - Didn't Earn It.; 3/26/24, 10:37 AM
Humperdink said...: Allow me expand on an earlier comment. When the Climate Change Lefties return Zuckerdork's millions in campaign cash, let me know.; 3/26/24, 10:58 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: In Boeing’s Global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) 2023 Report, Sara Bowen, vice president of GEDI [Global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion], Talent Intelligence, and Employee Listening, wrote: “We know diversity must be at the table for every important decision our company makes — every challenge we face, every innovation we design. Equity, diversity and inclusion are core values because they make Boeing — and each of us individually — better.” GEDI is a prime example of Didn't Earn It management.

I worked at Boeing for 40 years, retiring in 2017. I worked on the last successful military program, the P-8A/P-8I. Boeing has sold 200 of them, about 115 to the U.S. Navy, the rest to India, Australia, U.K., Norway, and others. Program management listened to the engineers and kept their eye on what the customer wanted and what the contract said. There was no Didn't Earn It.

The other big-airplane military programs (767-tanker and new Air Force One) have not listened to the engineers and didn't pay attention to the contract. The refueling system design team didn't implement what the contract required, causing a massive redesign. The refueling boom system uses a video system that can't handle Sun glare, I don't know if that's been fixed yet.

The AF1 program requires two auxiliary power units, requiring a change in the fuselage around the rudder. Program management did not listen to the aero-engineers about the need for wind tunnel testing of the change. The program is behind schedule, over budget.; 3/26/24, 12:11 PM
Iman said...: They should’ve had the real snow expert testify…

Hunter Biden.; 3/26/24, 5:52 PM