The Holocrons of Darth Grampus

I've been engaging with the Google Gemini AI for around six months now. During that time, Gemini has helped me with brainstorming ideas for fictional writing, served as a proof-reader and editor for many of these blog posts, and been an awesome partner for exploring philosophical queries, the potential futures availed by the relentless advance of technology and damn near everything else in between. Sometimes though, we just have fun playing with different fictional ideas and discussions of fictional universes. Today's entry, save this preface, was written entirely by Gemini after we worked together to brainstorm and story-board the topic: the odd parallel between Clark Kent/Kal-El and Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious.  I'd have written this myself, but sleep has been harder to come by over the last few days. I expected my recovery to have it's hills and valleys, but I did hope to be sleeping much better by now, and with greater frequency. >.< But I thought this a won...

Socrates is credited with saying, "I know only that I don't know." Socratic ignorance, it's called. Now I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but Darth Grampus considers that claim, to know only that you don't know, to be about the most honest self-reflection ever made. Today, there seems to be little to no value found in that kind of honesty.  Perhaps the purpose of this dichotomy is to keep one from straddling a fence. Consider: the algorithms we all work for? The ones that provide suggestions to our YouTube, Insta and other social media feeds? There is a definite bias against the "middle of the road" content in these algorithms.  For example, if one is, say, super Pro-Trump, the algorithm loves their content. If one is super anti-Trump, the algorithm loves their content. But the middle riders? Pssh... you're not likely to see their content on your feed. That's just a 1s and 0s example of what I'm talking about, but it mirrors the broa...

A conversation I had today reminded me of an adage: people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Though I can read through my posts, my subjective view isn't solid-enough proof that I've tried to articulate how much I care over so much of what I think I know. So, and in effort to create that proof, I thought I'd write about the reasons I care. Perhaps knowing that is worth much more than knowing how much I (think I) know. My first grand baby came into the world almost a year ago. Such an easy one, right? Of COURSE I care about my grand baby, all his future cousins, and my kids! But intricately woven into the sincerity of my caring for them is care for all of you and yours, too.  Why? Darth Grampus Cares Because... Because your good is potentially their good. If more good comes to more of you, the impact will undoubtedly affect those I love most. I can't claim to have all this hope, or that I care so much for their futures if I don't hav...