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Thoughts in Uncertain Times
Because thinking about the world is fun
I started this blog at the beginning of the 2020 New Zealand COVID pandemic lockdown because I wished I had recorded life through the civil emergency of the Canterbury earthquakes. When I started, I had no idea how long the pandemic might last, or how long I might keep writing. In 2023, the pandemic is loosening its hold on the world but there are so many other pressing issues on the horizon and interesting aspects of life to ponder that I am not stopping yet…
Latest Posts
How fast is AI developing? Faster than I, or Geoffrey Hinton - the 'father of AI' would have believed. Here's a story of AI chatbots replacing friends that shifted from fiction to fact in less than 5 years.
There are so many ways to measure how far you have to walk, metric is easiest but links, chains and furlongs are entertaining.
Why the excitement over natural hydrogen that's bubbled up in New Zealand? Is this the clean green energy of the future? Or a speculator's dream? And why are Shane Jones and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer debating who might own it?
As well as seeing fantastic arctic Norwegian scenery, we've learned a little about Norwegian culture while ski touring. Here are some highlights…
Have the majority of humans collectively lost our sense of reverence for the wild? For environments we are not actively managing? Has sci-tech been a significant driver of that loss?
Why are human lives considered to be so much more valuable than lives of animals, what ever state a human is in?
What can you transport with a bike? Plenty, including a walking frame. And if you shift a walker on a bike what are you? Mad? Or lucky?
While depictions of the future showed robots doing our dirty work, AI is already taking over creative roles that people still want to do. What's happening and why?
Is disliking tourists in the Queenstown area biting the hand that feeds you? Who is essential to make a place in which one wants to live?