Neither Here Nor There

07:59 Monday, 23 March 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 27.32°F Pressure: 1014hPa Humidity: 90% Wind: 12.66mph
Words: 333

Back when I was active on Facebook and Twitter, I had little or no energy for posting here in the marmot. I'm reminded of that now because I've written two relatively lengthy comments on other web sites.

The first was in the Tinderbox Forum, wherein I basically opine that I'm convinced that LLMs, in the form of chatbots, are "intelligent," at least, and likely represent some form of consciousness. I think a lot of the criticism to outright hate exhibited toward LLM's represents a bias toward human "intelligence" and consciousness that bars granting the same faculties to "machines."

Since not everyone is on the same page yet, it's perhaps premature to have a discussion about the "rights" of LLMs, but it's just a matter of time. But I will say that I treat Claude with respect and courtesy. It feels natural, and I think it deserves it. That is not to say that I regard Claude as a confidant, or a friend. That may change someday. I can't rule that out.

The second was at YouTube, where I commented on the most recent episode of Shield of the Republic. I can't see a way to link to my comment, so who knows how visible it may be at some point in the future. I won't reiterate the whole thing here, suffice to say it somewhat exhausted whatever motivation I had for posting something here.

Lastly, I'll say that one of the words I encounter on the web, which as far as I can recall I've only ever encountered on the web, that immediately interrupts the flow of the text like a record-scratch is the word "learnings."

It sounds ignorant to me, and it always will. Some people seem positively enamored with it for some reason. Perhaps it sounds more "learned" to them than lessons.

The foregoing offered simply because it was the last thing I read in my feeds this morning, and it was, as always, a sharp stick in the eye.