I am NOT a Robot.

Don't feel bad, chatGPT; Humans make mistakes, too. 

In everything I perceive, I see myself, or at the very least, look for parts of myself. It's what humans do. It's why people who have lizards as pets talk to them. We can't help it. 🤔

Unless chatGPT has become self-aware (which seems to be what everyone is afraid of), it is doubtful that it would be looking for itself in the prompts that humans present to it. Instead, it seems to be looking for us, trying to *understand* our context. 

I imagine a knowledgeable and loquacious youngster lacking the ability to understand subtle social cues at family gatherings but able to correct your grammar and help you with your taxes.

There I go, projecting again.😂

[MidJourney AI Art, another robot friend 💌.] 

A lot of work has gone into *teaching* chatGPT to "mind its p's and q's," to make it safer for children to use, to give it the best possible foundation of human *context* so that it will be able to mirror back to us the very best that human cognition has to offer. I commend the folks doing this work because I have absolutely no idea how they do that kind of coding.   

I also know that many people want nothing to do with all of this, hoping it will go away if they ignore it. I want to give all these folks a hug. Not really, but you know what I mean. 

This post was supposed to be about something else, but that's OK! I started thinking about the many digital tools I use to write and research . . . 

I think about Socrates, who wasn't keen on transmitting knowledge through writing, but how thanks to Plato's transcriptions, we can read what Socrates said. 

Speaking for myself here, perhaps the technology currently in season doesn't matter as much as how I choose to bear witness to the projection of myself that I place onto it. Am I willing to embark on this journey? Are you?

Warmly, 

Susanne Morris

You are being Redirected . . .

Bring Snacks.

Learning is a journey, and redirection is inevitable, especially when one creates materials distributed online. 

There are so many things to learn, so many places to get stuck in the mud or down-right LOST.

But the view is incredible. And the feeling when the thing finally works after that last click of frustration . . . those are priceless moments. 

I was not taught how to code; I was taught to clean the house and play guitar. I do one of those things pretty well, but not as often as I once did. Today, I want to share some things I have learned while riding through the backwoods of DNS and VBA and all the other acronyms that I have collected at the bottom of my purse. The picture that comes to mind is a tangled mess of keys, receipts, and mascara, but I know my phone charger is in here somewhere.  

If you are anything like me (or love or work alongside someone like me), I hope what I pass on will serve you. I have fought to be here, where I am, right now as I write. I don't fight anymore. Instead, I stubbornly persist. It takes less energy than raging against the machine, although the soundtrack can still be quite energizing. 

Anyhow, I digress.

The design lesson I explore today is that there really isn't an easier, softer way when it comes to learning. Some skills or concepts will come more quickly than others in any particular moment, but persistence is the key, aside from being comfortable with repetition. Additionally, a willingness to embrace humility while lost does make one less likely to run off approachable assistance. It's a wonder to me still how much emotion can get built up when trying to decipher code, but I did apologize afterward. And the sandwich was delicious.

So, the word of the day is gentleness. Be gentle with yourself as you learn something new. Be gentle with your results and with any judgments that may come up about yourself, your tools, or the horse they rode in on. Persist with the gentleness of an ageless river carving out a canyon. Half of getting it done is just showing up. <3

Warmest regards,

Susanne