Social Issues

Yukking It Up with Artificial Intelligence

Will artificial intelligence mimic a human's sense of humor? It seems that, all of a sudden, artificial intelligence is about to change life and humanity as we know it. Who is going to need writers, poets, artists, musicians, composers, philosophers, and even preachers when artificial intelligence is about to mine the best we have within us, including any thoughts and theories ever recorded or visuals created on canvasses and movie screens since the first stick figures were [...]

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Reaching Back in Time for Some Random Observations

I often look through past commentaries to make sure I’m not repeating myself— not just the topics but the wording as well. I’ll write something and it seems too familiar. Am I repeating myself? Lots of people repeat themselves in conversations— telling the same jokes, making the same points— so it’s logical that writers occasionally do the same thing. This time I thought I might purposely repeat myself, with random observations from columns and blogs written over the span [...]

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By |2023-02-02T13:52:14+00:00February 2, 2023|Aging, Opinions, Phrases, Respect, Social Issues, Words|

Common Sense Origins: Brain, Heart or Gut?

Why are pea-brained horses dubbed as creatures with common sense while more intelligent species are known for the silliness of monkey business and monkeying around? We hear a lot about common sense whenever disagreements occur nowadays. When someone is cornered to defend some position he or she takes, the source of this knowledge is often credited to common sense. I’ve explored this topic before, because common sense, judging by what we as individuals choose to believe, is [...]

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By |2022-08-29T13:23:55+00:00August 29, 2022|Common Sense, Intelligence, Language, Learning, Social Issues, Social Media|

Partisanship: And Never the Twain Shall Meet

Forget that "more perfect union" our founders called for. It's us-versus-them from hereon in. To me it’s a little scary that everyone is so locked into political party regardless of what is right or wrong, true or false and moral or immoral. Where have all the nuances gone on what constitutes a Democrat or Republican? I think of myself as being a moderate, whether as a Democrat or Republican (and I’ve been both), but I don’t know [...]

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You Can’t Escape Old Age, So Live with It

As is often the case with people of advanced age, with each departed birthday I find myself more frequently contemplating my mortality than when I was in my thirties, forties, fifties and even (gulp) sixties. When you have passed— make that surpassed— all of those milestone decades, you can’t help thinking about how much time you have left. …so go the days of our lives. Colorful and interesting people disguised in white hair and wrinkles have enriched [...]

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The Pros and Cons of Going to Extremes

Barry Goldwater, five-term senator and Republican Presidential nominee in 1964, isn’t remembered for much — even by members of his own party. He lost, and the youngest of the people who voted in that election are in their seventies now. When candidates from that party want to quote a President other than Lincoln, it’s usually Ronald Reagan, but Goldwater did say the following: “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let [...]

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By |2022-01-24T09:10:40+00:00October 13, 2015|Extremes, Politics, Religion, Social Issues, Terrorism|

Confessions of a Sleep Lover

I like sleeping. There, I admitted it. I’m tired of being ashamed of what is actually a noble pursuit and something at which I excel. It’s not that I sleep more than everyone else, but I do it so well and hate to give it up in the morning. One learned 17th Century author, Sir Thomas Browne, compared sleep to a death that we experience daily and, like death, it is something from which we may never emerge. You know [...]

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By |2022-01-24T09:10:40+00:00July 28, 2015|Aging, Baby Boomers, Extremes, Health, Marriage, Self-Control, Sleep, Social Issues, Willpower|
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