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gothic

Let’s Make a JavaScript App with ChatGPT

April 3, 2023

You might remember a recent post on asking ChatGPT about the Gothic. I there mentioned how ChatGPT is a tool and, like every tool, its successful use depends on the user and scope. I also mentioned how, in my opinion, the most intriguing application of ChatGPT is as a programming helper. Well, that’s what I decided to try in this post: Let’s make a JavaScript app with ChatGPT!

Obviously, starting this mini project I had to establish certain methodological factors. That is, I had to decide on how to do certain things.

The main one was what the app would be about. For simplicity’s sake – both in terms of the confines of the post and the amount of effort I was willing to put in programmatically – I decided that the JavaScript app ChatGPT would make had to be a simple one. No need to create any full-fledged adventure game here.

I also had to decide whether I would only get help for this JavaScript app from ChatGPT, e.g. for certain functions, or I’d ask it to generate the code in its entirety. I quickly realized that, even if I’d have to do at least some of the mixing-and-matching, for the purposes of this experiment I should let ChatGPT to do most of the work.

As for what program to make, I thought the best idea would be to make something I’ve already made myself, for comparison. I opted for my Poem Shuffler. The results were very intriguing, to say the least!

JavaScript App ChatGPT — The image superimposed on the stock programming image represents a ZX Spectrum +2 – my very first computer. Younger audiences may not understand this is a computer, because of the tape recorder – hang on; do younger audiences know what **that** is? – which was used to read/write data. We’ve come a long, long way since 48k games.

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The Danger of Partial Knowledge: My ChatGPT Encounter

March 13, 2023

Philosophy, Society

ignorance, knowledge, programming, society, technology

The old piece of wisdom might be right: It’s better to know nothing about something, rather than know a little. Of course, referring to partial knowledge is a sort of misnomer. Philosophically speaking, virtually all knowledge is partial – cogito ergo sum and all that. But socially speaking, the gradations are more intriguing.

The reason? Because of our old friend, the Dunning-Kruger effect. When it comes to partial knowledge – knowing a little of something – there is a peculiar paradox at play: When we know a little, we think we know a lot; when we know more (the threshold is subjective), we know that we only know a little.

As I said above, though there are philosophical dimensions in this topic, the focus of this post will be on society. I have always been interested in ignorance and the illusion of knowledge (as long-term readers of the blog have realized), but recently I had an experience that intrigued me with its repercussions: I tried asking the famous ChatGPT AI model questions on a topic I know ~~very well~~ enough to know I don’t know anything: the Gothic. The responses I got were very intriguing for our context of partial knowledge.

Partial Knowledge - woman reading — The only way out of the darkness of ignorance is through personal, active effort, paired with humility: “I only know that I know nothing”

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The Devil and Femininity: the Promethean Liberation of (Wo)man

January 16, 2023

Criticism, Philosophy

ambiguity, criticism, defiance, duality, feminism, humanity, Igor Livramento, philosophy, sexuality

The title is a mouthful, I know. The Devil and Femininity might be the only two concepts that come across as clear. Ironically enough, that’s a problem. In this post, neither the Devil nor Femininity are what you think they are.

Though all this might sound overwhelming, the post is easy to follow. The reason? It’s based on an ongoing discussion I’m having with Igor da Silva Livramento, friend and fellow writer, academic, and creative-writing advisor. He’s also a composer, music theorist, and producer. You can find him on LinkedIn, and also take a look at his blog and his page on Bandcamp.

And so, in this discussion of ours, we’ve been talking about how the Devil and Femininity, when examined outside the usual conceptual chains imposed by sociocultural norms, allow us to see a different reality. A reality where the Femininity of the Devil holds the key to a better, more inclusive understanding of the human experience.

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