Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Empathy

Empathy: Could It Be What You’re Missing? – washingtonpost.com
Based on my 35 years of experience as a psychotherapist, business psychologist and researcher, I have come to believe that EDD [Empathy Deficit Disorder] is a pervasive but overlooked condition with profound consequences for the mental health of individuals and of our society. People who suffer from EDD are unable to step outside themselves and tune in to what other people experience. That makes it a source of personal conflicts, of communication failure in intimate relationships, and of the adversarial attitudes — even hatred — among groups of people who differ in their beliefs, traditions or ways of life.

What’s the difference between this and sociopathy? (Anti-social personality disorder, if you will.) I guess it’s all just a matter of degree. Like any other kind of human behavior, there’s a continuum between what’s considered normal and what, on either end of scale, would be a mental illness. I suppose EDD is on the “empathy scale” somewhere between normal and criminal psychopathology.

This is a really fascinating topic. I’m reminded of Roger Shattuck’s discussion of the writings of Marquis de Sade in his great book Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus To Pornography. Another book, apparently in the same vein, is Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream: A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior. Looks interesting, no?

Mmmm….Cranberries!

Snowy Day in Duluth

Picture from the ALLETE LakeCam.

My Machine, My Love

Programmed for Love – washingtonpost.com
Here’s a prediction that’ll make you squirm: In the future, people will fall in love with robots. Robots will not be cold, predictable machines, but actual lovers — precocious, sexy, and remarkably humanlike in appearance. Humans will even marry robots in certain obliging jurisdictions. Now send the kids into the other room while we mention the obvious, bizarre implication: Someday, people will have sex with robots.

True. The idea does make me squirm — but probably not in the way the author meant. I guess I got a little too involved with the robo-gigolo played by Jude Law in AI. Apparently I wasn’t alone. Gigolo Joe was voted “best male pleasure-bot EVER” on wired.com.

Regardless. The idea of sex with a machine isn’t particularly shocking or new. People — men and women — have been having sex with machines for decades. Falling love with a machine, though… that’s an interesting idea. I believe one requirement for being in love (as opposed to infatuation) is believing in the genuineness of the other person’s feelings. But even assuming the robot’s “feelings” weren’t as complex as those of another human, that doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t be genuine. (Even this is all based on a robot model far more sophisticated than anything that currently exists.)

Say your robot were capable of genuine emotion on the level of that demonstrated by a cat or a dog. Would that be sufficient for a real love relationship? And…. if it were capable of that kind of genuine emotion (but nothing more sophisticated), at what point would sex with the robot become something terrible — like child or animal abuse?

Solo

Compare to the picture below of Solo as a yearling cub. She really grew up to be a beauty, didn’t she? This very nice photo is from the Duluth News Tribune.

Reprieve for Solo

Duluth News Tribune | Governor saves Solo
Solo won’t die after all.

”We are going to give the black bear a reprieve, a pardon,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced on his weekly Friday morning radio show. “It is a good pre-Christmas, pre-holiday announcement.”

Apparently Solo and the cubs are going to be moved to either the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary or someplace in South Dakota.

It’s not ideal — but it’s better than killing her.

…And Another Year With Bush Comes To A Close

Dan Froomkin – The Weakest of Denials – washingtonpost.com
At a year-end press conference this morning, President Bush staved off questions about White House complicity in the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, refusing even to flatly deny that he was personally involved.

Bush also declined to say whether he thought the destruction of the tapes was right or wrong.

A couple people have privately commented to me recently that they’d noticed that I’m not blogging so much lately.

I guess this quote from the Washington Post probably demonstrates, as well as anything could, exactly why.

Some days — some weeks — I feel so discouraged about the state of our country and of our world that I just plain don’t want to think about it anymore. Sometimes I think the best thing I could do to protect my own mental health would be to move waaaay out into the country somewhere and grow my own food and completely cut all ties with the rest of society. (Well, except for my husband and a few good friends, that is.)

Sylvia Browne — Psychological Vampire

Sylvia Browne : Psychic Readings
Finally, Sylvia and Chris have very strict ethics about their work. At no time do they discuss your reading with anyone. You have complete privacy, which is never violated. Also, they do not publish or in any way distribute a list of their clients.

Fees
Phone reading with Sylvia – $750
Phone reading with Chris – $500

A phone consultation with Sylvia or Chris lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.

The juxtaposition of “very strict ethics” with $750 for a phone “reading” that lasts “approximately 20-30 minutes” is definitely cause for a few sighs of despair. If it were only the very rich fools who were giving Sylvia and her son Chris their money, I might not feel so bad about it. Unfortunately, as often as not it’s people who really can’t afford to waste their money on Browne’s kind of scam.

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Tip o’ the hat to Stop Sylvia Browne for reminding me of just how much of a disgusting piece of work that woman is. Click here for Penn Jillette’s interview with Robert Lancaster — the guy who runs the Stop Sylvia Browne site.

Minnesota DNR Planning To Kill Harmless Bear

Duluth News Tribune | Some Northland residents can’t bear thought of euthanizing sleeping bear
Some residents of a northeastern Minnesota township just can’t bear the thought that the Department of Natural Resources would give Solo a permanent hibernation.

The DNR says that Solo, a one-eared black bear blissfully hibernating with her two cubs underneath a private cabin, has become too familiar with humans in Eagles Nest Township. But many of those humans have put out food for Solo and like having her and other bears around.

Those DNR bastards!

The article goes on to explain that the cabin isn’t even occupied. The only reason the DNR knows about Solo is because Lynn Rogers (bear expert) asked the owner of the unoccupied cabin for permission to put a camera in place for the purpose of observing Solo during her hibernation.

Instead of simply saying “no”, the asshole cabin owner called the DNR to have them “remove” Solo and her cubs. The DNR interprets “remove” to mean kill Solo.

I met Solo when she was still a cub. She’s a wonderful bear — very sweet — and she’s not a danger to anyone who uses common sense around wild animals.

It’s absolutely unconscionable that the DNR would kill this bear for no reason other than that she chose the “wrong” place to hibernate.

Fucking bastards.

I hope there’s some way the North American Bear Center folks can get to Solo and move her and the cubs somewhere safe before the DNR ASSHOLES get to her.

Refunds from Joe Barton

Quite a few people have emailed me or posted comments on the other “Joe Barton” related posts (here, here, here, and here) asking whether I know of some way of contacting Joe Barton to get a refund of the money spent on his “reports”.

I recently got this email from Jerry and he’s given me permission to post it here.

thanks for the contact for refunds at support@bartonpublishing.com.
i actually was refunded my 33.95 within 48 hours of request. again his information on blood pressure can be gotten at any bookstore or library in town.

Best of luck to any of you seeking refunds.