It's easy to fool people

[old man emu]

... there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies ... (2 Peter 2.1)

 

If a person develops a reputation for often making statements that are level-headed  and fact based, then people are likely to accept a howler that is delivered in a similar style. I was amazed that I was able to pull off such a stunt with a post in the thread "Robotics' on (Saturday  10:52 am) in which I said, " We don't know what is being carried on behind closed corporate doors."  Two people marked the post as "Informative", but must not have followed the link to discover the ruse.

 

 

I included a link to the source of the information about "Dr Susan Calvin". I wrote about Calvin partly as a bit of a joke, but also to illustrate that in the early 1940s people were seeing into the relatively near future (50 years), although through fogged glasses. "Dr Susan Calvin" is a character in "Liar!", a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the May 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.  Asimov's story contains the first recorded use of the word "robotics" according to the Oxford English Dictionary. "Liar" was Asimov's third published positronic robot story. "Positronic" is a word coined by Asimov for the type of "brain" installed in the anthropomorphic machines built by "US Robots and Mechanical Men". The "Positronic" brain is a topic of itself.

 

I hope that this litle bit of naughty fun hasn't destroyed my reputation. Or maybe I'll be required to include a warning to any posts of a similarle deceptive type.

[Jerry_Atrick]

3 minutes ago, old man emu said:

I hope that this litle bit of naughty fun hasn't destroyed my reputation

Nope.. but we'll pay more attention in future... 😉

(and it may have impaired a couple of others).

[old man emu]

1 minute ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Nope.. but we'll pay more attention in future... 😉

(and it may have impaired a couple of others).

Absolvo te.

[nomadpete]

You shouldn't have fessed up, OME.

[old man emu]

Confession is good for the soul.

 

And this Rsole needs confession.

[onetrack]

I'm never going to believe anything you write on here, ever again!

 

I must confess, I marked your post as informative, and didn't read your link straight up - but I had this sneaking suspicion something was a bit suss when you boomed up this "Susan Calvin", and outlined how she'd written a thesis at age 16 on robotics, and then gone on to become a robotics guru at a young age. I'd never heard of her, and I was going to do more research, when I had time.

Hardly anyone I've read about, has written major educational papers at such a tender age, although I guess there has been the odd youthful genius.

 

Just because I mark a post as "Informative" doesn't mean to say I believe everything in it, or agree with everything in it, the icon system on here is extremely limited in its expressiveness of response.

[facthunter]

People will often only read enough to think they know what you are up to, then they will stereotype you to one Box or another.. It's a corner cutting process and lazy.. IF you're subtle it's often lost. Same as if you are long winded. or too Off topic The attention wanes. Nev

[nomadpete]

Sorry Nev. Guilty as charged.

[nomadpete]

PS  As an Asimov fan, I was warned by key words in OME's problematic post.

[nomadpete]

29 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Confession is good for the soul.

 

And this Rsole needs confession.

You confessed to procrastination by diverting renovation energy into carseat philosophy. That's enough.

[facthunter]

Hey I'm not addressing anyone in particular. Nev..... Honest

[pmccarthy]

I knew immediately who Susan Calvin was. Which shows how much time I wasted as a teenager reading Asimov.

[old man emu]

22 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

I knew immediately who Susan Calvin was. Which shows how much time I wasted as a teenager reading Asimov.

No it doesn't. It shows that you spent time as a teenager exploring moral and ethical issues that Mankind could face as its societies evolved  and emmigrated from Earth. And if you proceeded with your education, I hope that your reading of "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" assisted you in preparing succinct arguments for projects yyou undertook.

[pmccarthy]

Yes, read it. But the most far-seeing story was not by Asimov but by Heinlein, “ The moon is a harsh mistress” which foretold computer intelligence and fake animated TV images, with fake news.

[Old Koreelah]

Her name rang a bell, but not loud enough for this dumb Asimov fan.

[red750]

All I can recall reading is James Bond novels.

[onetrack]

My youth was obviously wasted. I read Zane Grey novels. I did learn a lot about cowboys and the Wild West - plus the meaning of a lot of highly descriptive words, and what constitutes "florid writing".

 

Zane was alright in my books, he really disliked Mormons, too. "Riders of the Purple Sage" got me in, so I had to read "The Rainbow Trail" as well.

 

Well before the Zane Grey novels, when I was about 10, I read "White Fang", too. That sucked me right in, as well. Funnily enough, as an adult, I never read fiction - I reckon I get told enough fiction every day, by pollies and media.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by onetrack

[nomadpete]

12 hours ago, onetrack said:

Funnily enough, as an adult, I never read fiction - I reckon I get told enough fiction every day, by pollies and media.

My problem, too. And it sure limits my scope when I am looking for something to watch on TV

[facthunter]

Fiction is often done to replace fact and avoid defamation actions.   Nev

[Old Koreelah]

23 hours ago, onetrack said:

...when I was about 10, I read "White Fang", too. That sucked me right in...

Jack London, like Australia’s Henry Lawson and so many other great writers, only spent a season or so in the remote areas they wrote about for the rest if their lives.

 

The Yukon makes a huge impact on an impressionable young bloke:

 

[spacesailor]

FICTION

Is the invention of Future achievements .

Proven many times .

spacesailor

[Marty_d]

On 08/11/2022 at 10:10 PM, spacesailor said:

FICTION

Is the invention of Future achievements .

Proven many times .

spacesailor

Exactly.

 

And in a thread cross to OME's robotics reference, Isaac Asimov wrote about the 3 laws of robotics.  Now we're in a real life situation where ethics is a growing part of the discussion around AI, especially when in control of vehicles.

 

He was certainly ahead of his time.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Well, will someone *please* write a story about Russia's capitualtion to Ukraine!!!!

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Well, will someone *please* write a story about Russia's capitualtion to Ukraine!!!!

We are discussing fictional writing. Russia's capitulation is a fact waiting to happen.

 

After 105 years, is it a good time for the masses to revolt again?

[nomadpete]

Russia, ukraine, USA, Middle East, Asia  (nah, everywhere).

 

It is so sad to see that human behaviour has not matured much in the past couple of hundred thousand years.