Technologists Notes

Narcotics Anonymous has a pamphlet The Triangle of Self-Obsession which says, in part,

“We never seem to outgrow the self centeredness of the child. … We become self-obsessed; our wants and needs become demands. We reach a point where contentment and fulfillment are impossible. People, places, and things cannot possibly fill the emptiness inside of us, and we react to them with resentment, anger, and fear. Resentment, anger, and fear make up the triangle of self-obsession.” (more…)

A Mastodon thread initiated by Erik Uden today unleashed discussion of two seemingly separate controversies: the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian crisis and the massive proliferation of Large Language Models (LLM) aka Machine Learning aka Artificial Intelligence.
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“There never was another man who could
                       inspire more love or hate
  if you were in the park and it was 1968.”

“Daley’s Gone” – Steve Goodman (1977)

tl;dr “A movement animated by rage and fear isn’t ready to embrace life and love.”

I try to keep abreast of readings and videos across the political spectrum, only consciously avoiding those that go beyond protected speech, skimming maybe a thousand headlines/thumbnails daily and reading/watching quite a few. I try to pay particular attention to those who are likely to help me understand perspectives different from my own, particularly those that deviate from the stereotypes associated with their groupings.
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For decades while they were alive, my parents recounted story after story of their friend, mentor and “mission broker” Rev. Mel West, his wife Barbara, and their collaborative efforts to help “the least of these”. See Walking in John Wesley’s Footprints.

Mel is well known, and honored, for so much of his work engaging people to work together to help others. See Mel West’s honorary doctorate recognizes a lifetime of humanitarian service.
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Thanks to my parents, Rev. Mel West, my supervising professor and others, the second great commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” has been instilled in me as long as I can remember.

I was only vaguely aware of our neighbors in Nicaragua when my father, thanks to Mel’s suggestion, began donating to Rainbow Network in 1998. I began to become more aware in 2003 when Mel sent me a photo of homes under construction at Colonia La Paz, homes and land my father had funded.

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