On the inability of voters to recognize Trump’s character before re-electing him.

Heard from GenZ voters on NPR through the car radio today: “‘Everything got worse’: Gen Z express frustration, regret after Trump vote. A focus group of eight Gen Z Trump voters reported feeling unhappy or disappointed with the state of politics, with some going as far as to say they regret supporting him in 2024.”

Me yelling at GenZ voters heard on the car radio: “D’Oh! Because you’re idiots!”*

*Note: I am not saying all GenZ voters are idiots, only that a higher percentage than I expected. Maybe I am wrong—perhaps, instead, a higher than expected percentage are coldblooded sociopaths or bigots.

#NPR #GenZ

RE: https://mastodon.social/@oldclumsy_nowmad/117433825013596353

“People have a very bad model of what people are, and that’s why they fail to understand how these AI models are very like us. Most people don’t understand what consciousness is. They don’t understand what subjective experience is, and they’re very confident that even though they don’t understand it, they’re sure AI doesn’t have it.”*

*He also notes that some of those behind this technology do not value traditional human ethics or democracy.

#Consciousness #AI #Ethics

A political Halloween decoration seen in front of a neighborhood home on this morning’s dog walk. #Halloween #Politics #Texas

“Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders.” - Albert Camus

https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/10/01/chaos-questions-christa-pike-execution-attempt

Dinner Party!

About 30 years ago when I was a practicing Catholic, before becoming a heathen, I asked a mother at the end of Sunday mass “what is your son doing?” With a wry smile, she replied “20 years at the state penitentiary.” I do not remember if I asked for additional details.

My plan to attend a retired faculty and staff dinner this evening reminded me of that exchange with the mother. I am reluctantly attending after being invited by a former employees who is also retired. My expectation is attendees will boast of accomplishments by their children and grandchildren, their travels, and perhaps volunteer work. They will ask me about my family. I am not eager to “throw a turd in the punch bowl” as a retired faculty friend used to say when he brought up his activities for gay rights. But if I am honest, I will tell them I spend much of my time supporting a wife with major depression, a transgender daughter with schizophrenia, and a son with substance use disorder—the remainder of my time going to housekeeping, paying bills, hiking, and reading books about mental illness, consciousness, and the philosophy of science at home. Most of the time I am not bitter about this. It has been an opportunity to learn about things that would otherwise be foreign to me. But these experiences only dominate the lives of a small minority of parents and are not the kinds of experiences one normally talks about at social gatherings. It occurred to me that it might be fun to lie about a child becoming a famed neurosurgeon, being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, or some such thing. The names of my children are common enough that I could probably find accomplished persons who share the same names. But, I do not think I could pull if off with a straight face and it would harm my reputation if they found out later. It will be better to tell the truth and muddle through it. But if the experience is what I expect, I will probably excuse myself from attending such events in the future.

#SocialEvents #Retirement #Dinners #Parenting #Families #Disability #Caregiving #MentalHealth

I’ve got the zigzags. It’s what my mother used to call her optical migraines. I guess they are at least partly inheritable. #Eyes #Migraines

Family Memories, Stories, and Mythology

I expressed to a cousin my disappointment that we and other cousins mostly engage in smalltalk rather than sharing family stories or discussing more serious topics. I noted that genealogists dig for little bits of knowledge after their relatives are dead, rather than writing things down while they are alive. As an example, I mentioned how little we know about a family member who died during Cuba’s Castro revolution. My cousin shared what she “knows” based on a conversation with one of my dead uncle’s children. What she shared with me was entirely at odds with what that late uncle’s widow told me years ago, or what I remember her telling me, or what I think I recall her telling me. I found the experience amusing. It reminded me of additional family stories that I later learned are untrue. Memories and family stories are faulty. Maybe it is better to stick with the smalltalk and leave mythology up to what individuals choose to construct.

#Family #Memory #Mythology #Rumor #Biography #Genealogy #Humor

I just ate my last chocolate chip cookie. 😢

1/ I’ve been wanting to do a thread of favorite song covers. I think this cover of a Bob Dylan song by the late Nanci Griffith might be my favorite. In her studio cover of the song on the ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’ album Bob Dylan plays harmonica, which he reportedly dubbed in when Griffith sent him tape seeking his approval. But I prefer this live version of the song. #Music #Folk #FolkMusic #CoverSongs #BobDylan #Dylan #NanciGriffith #Spain

https://youtu.be/k1KxthvX1Ms

Tiny Libraries

I often pause to look at the books in tiny libraries when I walk around my neighborhood. I am mostly unimpressed—usually there are pop psychology books on self-improvement, books about being successful in investing, and books about motivating workers which it is my guess managers gave to employees who never read them and put them in the tiny libraries to dispose of them. There are usually worn out books for children or adolescents. There are also sometimes religious books, including one that had an unflattering editorial comment attached with a sticky note. I can’t recall what the note said, but I thought it was funny at the time. I saw Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance in one tiny library. I don’t know what kind of books belong in a tiny library. I put two books in good condition into the library down the street. They disappeared after 2-3 weeks and they never returned. I have no idea if someone took them to read, took them to sell at Half Price Books, or if the homeowner decided they were too adult for children and removed them. I think I have only once seen a person take a book from a tiny library. Maybe they will soon be the only libraries that still exist. Maybe their holdings should focus on banned books. What do you think about tiny libraries?

#Humor #Libraries #Books #Reading

4/6 I think Bertrand Russell provides a roadmap for a more advanced society based on knowledge, which was similarly proposed by Jacques Monod in the chapter ‘The Kingdom and the Darkness’ in his book, Chance and Necessity where he wrote: “To establish the norm for knowledge, the objectivity principle defines a value: that value is objective knowledge itself. To assent to the principle of objectivity is, thus, to state the basic proposition of an ethical system: the ethic of knowledge… Conversely, the animist systems have to one degree or another preferred to ignore, denigrate or bully biological man, and to make him fear or abhor certain traits inherent in his animal nature. The ethic of knowledge, on the other hand, encourages him to honour and assume this heritage, while knowing how to dominate it when necessary. As for the highest human qualities, courage, altruism, generosity, creative ambition, the ethic of knowledge both recognizes their sociobiological origin and affirms their transcendent value in the service of the ideal it defines.” So what should we do in law when there is no scientific consensus about what an advanced society should value? How about nothing? How about leaving conundrums to the conscience of individuals?

3/6 Russell in The Doctrine of Free Will: “Evolution has had a considerable influence upon those Christians who have accepted it. They have seen that it will not do to make claims on behalf of man which are totally different from those which are made on behalf of other forms of life. Therefore, in order to safeguard freewill in man, they have objected to every attempt at explaining the behaviour of living matter in terms of physical and chemical laws… When a man acts in ways that annoy us we wish to think him wicked… No man treats a motorcar as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behaviour to sin; he does not say: 'You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go?’ He attempts to find out what is wrong, and to set it right. An analogous way of treating human beings is, however, considered to be contrary to the truths of our holy religion… Reforms in education have come very largely through the study of the insane and feebleminded, because they have not been held morally responsible for their failures… Until very recently it was held that, if a boy could not learn his lessons, the proper cure was caning or flogging. This view is nearly extinct in the treatment of children, but it survived in criminal law. It is evident that a man with a propensity to crime must be stopped, but so must a man who has hydrophobia and wants to bite people, although nobody considers him morally responsible… The same thing should be done with a man who suffers from a propensity to commit forgery; but there should be no more idea of guilt in the one case than in the other. And this is only common sense, though it is a form of common sense to which Christian ethics and metaphysics are opposed… We should not think of studying an ants' nest to find out which of the ants performed their formicular duty, and we should certainly not think of picking out those individual ants who were remiss and putting them into a bonfire.” Russell’s thoughts on freewill and responsibility could lead one toward a philosophy of extreme forgiveness and avoiding judgment of others as commanded by words attributed to Jesus Christ. Today it would be considered a radical way of thinking that is inconsistent with contemporary so-called Christianity as practiced by rightwing politicians and their supporters.

2/6 Russell was a materialist. He believed the universe operates on physical laws rather than spiritual ones. And, he thought of religion as an obstacle to a more advanced society based on knowledge instead of fear and folklore. I wish to share some of Russell’s words from his essay on freewill, which he (and Daniel Dennett many years later) described as a product of learning the informed choices stored in our brains that we select from when responding to situations.

As a regular caregiver for a daughter with schizophrenia, a wife with major depression, and a son who is financially dependent on me, it is rare for a day to not include challenges. Today was a bit tougher than average because my daughter was emotionally abusive on the phone this morning and my son needed some extra money. But the climax came while I was delivering takeout food to my daughter, helping her with some dirty dishes, and picking up her laptop to reinstall Linux which got corrupted. At that moment, I got a text message from two of my former employees. One of them is going to Montreal and then taking a small ship cruise along the eastern shore of Canada and the USA in a few days. The other is going on a vacation to Glacier National Park. My initial reaction was depression, because these are the kinds of activities that regular caregivers cannot do. But, almost immediately thereafter and perhaps thanks to Albert Camus, I soon saw the absurdity in my situation and found it quite amusing. I am going to keep this from my wife, because I do not think she would find it funny. I will also keep it from my former employees rather than make them feel guilty about their text messages. It just is what it is. My daughter told me she loves me, which was her way of apologizing for this morning. And, while typing this toot on my patio, a rainbow appeared in the sky above me. “One must imagine that Sisyphus was happy.” - Camus 😊

#Caregiving #Caregiver #Absurdism #AlbertCamus

I am really enjoying The Idiot by Dostoevsky, more so than Brothers Karamazov or Crime and Punishment. But it is slow going for me. I am just halfway through, because I have to double-check character names and reread passages to make sure I keep the action straight. (Incidentally, some of the characters remind me of Donald Trump and his boys.) Well, back to it until eyestrain makes me take another break.

#Dostoevsky #Literature

A favorite work of art seen today at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. It is made of black plastic combs as described in another photo and text. #Art #Portrait #Black #AfricanAmerican #Austin #Texas

Although I can only juggle 3 balls, I can toss one behind my back and over my shoulders while juggling.

Color TV!

Back in the 1960’s or 1970’s when your family got their first color TV, you had bragging rights at the school bus stop the next morning. Your friends were impressed and jealous, unless they already beat you to getting one which they would let you know. Color TV was such a big deal that motels advertised “Color TV!” on their signs. The home televisions were encased in big and heavy wooden cabinets. In 2-3 years the TV would quit working and a TV repairman would be called to visit your home with a satchel full of vacuum tubes. He would replace the bad tube and you would get back to watching your favorite shows, until one day the TV repairman would tell you the picture tube was bad. He would offer a new one or rebuild the picture tube for two-thirds the price of a new one and you would be stuck watching your old black-and-white TV for two weeks while your big cabinet TV was hauled to the repair shop. Parents would tell their children not to sit too close to the TV screen because of radiation. And they’d tell you to not throw things around the family living room because you might break the picture tube. When you turned the TV off at the end of the evening, a bright little white dot appeared in the center of the picture tube and slowly faded to black over about 30 seconds. What did I neglect to mention?

#Nostalgia #TV #Television #ColorTV

What do you admire most about Melania? (Choose all that apply.) #Poll

What they said: A bitterant coating on a new coin battery might prevent it from working in my AirTag, but it can be removed with an alcohol wipe.

What they didn’t say: Doing the above would stain my fingertips blue with a difficult to remove dye.

#Battery #Batteries #AirTag