Tag: facebook

Very good lecture. If you are interested – do not miss it

Do you remember that TV show where the elite, to bolster their own self-esteem, pulled people from the bottom of society, offering them a deadly contest (odds like 1:500) with a prize of becoming a respected and wealthy person, while generously paying for the funerals of the others?

When people say that history does not repeat itself, I remember Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro.

The Spanish conquistador Cortés arrived at the Aztecs in 1519, presented himself as an envoy of the Spanish king, demanded an audience with the local king Montezuma II, and immediately captured him. He then organized the local Indians and killed almost all the Aztecs, taking Tenochtitlan.

Ten years later, Francisco Pizarro, in South America among the Incas, also introduced himself as an envoy of the Spanish king, asked for an audience with the ruler of the Incas, Atahualpa, and captured him. Pizarro then quickly subdued the paralyzed empire with the help of local tribes.

Obviously, in the 16th century, there was no way for the Aztecs to send a message to the Incas. They didn’t even know about each other (well, you know, the internet back then was still slow, like on modems, 9600 baud).

Here’s where GPT-3.5 would be useful, that is, in searching through messenger and social media messages by meaning, not just by the presence of keywords. It would be a game changer.

After the author mentioned the city of Carthage for the fifth time, I suddenly realized from the context that it was Carthage.

Interestingly, the name of the guy who gave America its name is only used for a piece of rock in Antarctica. I’m sure you’ve never heard of Martin Waldseemüller, much like nearly everyone in America. Perhaps it’s because he later changed his mind, renaming the lands discovered by Amerigo Vespucci from America to “terra incognita”.

He’s a bore

Wonderful winter we’re having, I must say.

Very good!

Ninth attempt at oil painting

(Idea inspired by someone, can’t find the author)