July 5 Safe Tech International News and Notes
Natural vs. Synthetic EMF, Flip Phones, Why Everything is Becoming a Game, 3Rs of Unmachining, July 9 FCC, BioInitiative Report
FEATURED:
The Beauty of Natural Electromagnetic Fields vs. The Harm of Synthetic EMFs KEITH CUTTER Understanding electromagnetic poisoning begins with recognizing that we face an enemy unilaterally altering Earth's electromagnetic environment to the detriment of life. Knowing yourself means realizing the need for a home environment free from this poison. Next, it is crucial to understand the distinction between two types of electromagnetic fields: beneficial natural EMFs and harmful synthetic EMFs. This paper focuses on the stark contrasts between life-supporting natural electromagnetic fields and harmful synthetic ones, illustrating why we concentrate our efforts on assessing and reducing personal and familial exposure to harmful synthetic EMFs. We should expect continued battles, but we need not fear once we understand these foundational principles. Universal avoidance of the synthetic and embracing the natural is necessary and sufficient to win the war today and tomorrow, no matter what.
AI Google's AI efforts take an environmental toll, and it's starting to show (msn.com)
AI: Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand Tech giant’s goal of reducing climate footprint at risk as it grows increasingly reliant on energy-hungry data centres Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand | Google | The Guardian
AI (Harpers): The Gods of Logic Before and after artificial intelligence by Benjamín Labatut (you can read 2 articles for free without subscribing) (Discussion of 1960’s Dune and AI) Raw and abstract power, AI lacks body, consciousness, or desire, and so, some might say, it is incapable of generating that primordial heat that the Vedas call tapas—the ardor of the mind, the fervor from which all existence emerges—and that still burns, however faintly, within each and every one of us. Should we trust the most optimistic voices coming from Silicon Valley, AI could be the vehicle we use to create boundless wealth, cure all ills, heal the planet, and move toward immortality, while the pessimists warn that it may be our downfall. Has our time come to join the gods eternal?. [] Hinton is widely considered the godfather of AI. He is perhaps the single person who has had the greatest influence on the field in the past several decades. In the Eighties, he championed an approach based on deep neural nets, mathematical abstractions of the brain in which neurons are represented with code; just by altering the strength of the connections between those neurons—changing the numbers used to represent them—the network could learn by itself. Before him, the dominant paradigm was quite different: most researchers believed that, for machines to think, they would have to mimic the way humans reason, by manipulating symbols (words or numbers, for example) following logical rules, which is what Boole himself believed. But his descendant disagreed: “Crows can solve puzzles,” he said in an interview with MIT Technology Review last year, “and they don’t have language. . . . They’re doing it by changing the strengths of connections between neurons in their brain. And so it has to be possible to learn complicated things by changing the strengths of connections in an artificial neural network.” [] For the longest time, Hinton’s neural networks could not come alive. There was simply not enough computing power or training data for them to exhibit intelligence. But then things changed, violently. Beginning in 2010, he saw his ideas bloom in ways he could never have imagined, and neural networks became the main focus of international research. “We ceased to be the lunatic fringe,” he said. “We’re now the lunatic core.” In the following years, absolutely stunning systems were developed: AlphaGo pummeled the world champion of Go, Lee Sedol; AlphaFold predicted the shape of virtually every known protein structure; and programs like DALL-E 2 gave us photorealistic images conjured from pure noise. And then came ChatGPT, an AI able to do so many things Hinton had thought were decades away that it put the fear of God in him. In spring 2023, Hinton quit his job as a vice president at Google to warn the world about the dangers of his brainchild. He feels, as he explained at an annual MIT conference, that AI is developing too fast [] Hinton is adamant that the dangers of thinking machines are real. And not just short-term effects like job replacement, disinformation, or autonomous lethal weapons, but an existential risk that some discount as fantasy: that our place in the world might be supplanted by AI. [] AI is here already, but what we choose to do with it and what limits we agree to place on its development remain decisions to be made. No matter how many billions of dollars are invested in the AI companies that promise to eliminate work, solve climate change, cure cancer, and rain down miracles unlike anything we have seen before, we can never fully give ourselves over to these mathematical creatures, these beings with no soul or sympathy, because they are neither alive nor conscious—at least not yet, and certainly not like us—so they do not share the contradictory nature of our minds. The Gods of Logic, by Benjamín Labatut (harpers.org)
BIG TECH POLITICS: If the Biden administration pours money into regional tech clusters, can it replicate the bustling success of North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, or Boston’s biotech hotspot, around the country? That’s the rationale behind Tech Hubs, a program brought to life by the CHIPS and Science Act. The idea is to invest billions of targeted dollars into different American cities and states to create jobs and companies around technologies of the future, like quantum, semiconductors and personalized medicine. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department announced a dozen winning proposals across 14 states — each securing between $19 million to $51 million. A policy to get more Silicon Valleys - POLITICO
CELLPHONES: Smack it closed or whip it open: Flip phone sales are surging again According to the latest statistics, the average person spends nearly five hours a day on their smartphone, which equals six days a month and a mind-boggling 12 years over a lifetime. Our human willpower and Band-Aid fixes like built-in social media app limits don’t help. “If you took an alcoholic who had a problem with alcohol and couldn't control that, then the best thing to do is get the alcohol out of the house, right? So that was sort of how I looked at it,” tech entrepreneur Wil Brawley, 49, said from his home office in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Some people credit Gen Z TikTok influencers like Sammy Palazzolo (@skzzolno), who garnered more than 17 million views in 2022 when as a college student she posted about why she only takes a flip phone when she goes out for the night. The gist? It keeps her and her friends more present, eliminates "drunk texts" and bad hookups, and “all of the bad things about college and all of the good things about a phone, which is connecting with people and taking photos and videos,” she wrote. Doomscrolling’s out, “dumbphones,” digital detoxes are in. The subreddit r/Dumbphones is in the top 2% of most engaged communities on the platform, with nearly 60,000 members. It’s hands-down the best place to research “dumbphones” online. The moderator, 28-year-old church pastor Jose Briones, took over that role in early 2020 after switching to a Lightphone − a simple E-ink screen phone to call and text − in 2019. Before that change, Briones logged “12 or 13 hours of screen time a day − just pretty much every waking hour I was just spending online,” he said. “And I didn't want to do that, you know. I didn’t want to change how I interact with the world, with all online (activity, and miss out on) so many more rich real-life experiences.” Briones also has created a helpful tool called the Dumbphone Finder to help people figure out how much they can − and cannot − live without. [] Bottom line? You don’t need to spend a big wad of cash to save you from yourself. One more perk of pairing down is that it saves money − about $3,000 over two years. Would you ditch your smartphone for a flip phone? (usatoday.com) (We can also comment on the planetary impact of less data, less data centers and less need for energy, water, and air conditioners; less underwater cables, less satellites, less towers and 5G - tech sobriety is building, and it will ignite further)
BIG TECH: GOOGLE RESEARCHERS PUBLISH PAPER ABOUT HOW AI IS RUINING THE INTERNET GOOGLE'S TRYING TO FIND THE GUY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS. Google researchers have come out with a new paper that warns that generative AI is ruining vast swaths of the internet with fake content — which is painfully ironic because Google has been hard at work pushing the same technology to its enormous user base. [] Missing from the paper, as far as we can tell? Any reference to Google's own embarrassing blunders using the tech — which, as one of the biggest companies on Earth, have sometimes been enormous in scale. Google Researchers Publish Paper About How AI Is Ruining the Internet (futurism.com)
BIG TECH COMMENTARY: Why Everything is Becoming a Game All the better to control you For years, some of the world’s sharpest minds have been quietly turning your life into a series of games. Not merely to amuse you, but because they realized that the easiest way to make you do what they want is to make it fun. To escape their control, you must understand the creeping phenomenon of gamification, and how it makes you act against your own interests. [] All the things a gamified world promises in the short term — pride, purpose, meaning, control, motivation, and happiness — it threatens in the long term. It has the power to detach people from life itself, rewriting their value systems so they favor the recreational over the real, and the next moment over the rest of their lives. So what’s the solution? As Liv Boeree said: “Intelligence is knowing how to win the game. Wisdom is knowing which game to play.” Not playing is not an option; if you don’t play your own games, you’ll inevitably play someone else’s. So how do you decide which games to play? The story of gamification offers five broad rules. First: choose long-term goals over short-term ones. Skinner’s pigeons only kept pecking the button because they were trapped in a cage — they had nothing else to do. But you are still free. Even in a world where everything is a game, you don’t have to play by other people’s rules; you have a wide open world to create your own. Your move. Why Everything is Becoming a Game - by Gurwinder
CHILDREN SCHOOLS (DIGITAL WITH DISCERNMENT): Meta's Quest Headsets Don't Belong in Our Kids' Schools We must not sanction Meta's disregard for our children’s well-being by welcoming their products into classrooms. Meta's Quest [] Headsets Don't Belong in Our Kids' Schools (substack.com)
CHILDREN PHONES: The Numbers Don't Lie. Get Off Your Phone | Opinion (Newsweek) Smartphone, welcome to politics. With anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues on the rise, especially among our youth, many U.S. policymakers are (rightly) blaming the addiction to iPhones and other devices. Jonathan Haidt's recent book, The Anxious Generation, unpacks the childhood mental health crisis and reaches the conclusion that parents must limit their kids' smartphone usage. Inspired by Haidt's research, Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill that would raise the age for social media use from 13 to 16 years old, while New York is moving to restrict certain social media algorithms like automated feeds and late-night notifications. Then there is Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who argued that social media should come with a warning label. And that's just the U.S. response. Over in France, President Emmanuel Macron has proposed a smartphone ban for children under 11 and a social media ban for those under 15. But this is not just some Boomer "hot take," and that is newsworthy. Even young Americans are concerned about technology's adverse effects, expressing skepticism that they can restrain themselves from the modern-day impulses to click, scroll, and swipe. Over three-quarters (76 percent) of young adults claim their generations are too dependent on technology. America's younger generations are now more likely to self-report a negative technological impact on mental health, with 60 percent of young adults wishing they spent less time using devices. [] What's also increasingly indisputable is that technology can hinder, rather than help, childhood development and even social interactions among adults. It is impossible to write off today's mental health crisis as a mere coincidence, as more research comes out. The polling doesn't lie, and Americans are deeply concerned. On smartphones, America needs serious action. From individual responsibility and parental oversight to federal legislation, all proposals should remain on the table. Inaction is inexcusable. Will Johnson is CEO of The Harris Poll, one of the world's leading public opinion, market research, and strategy firms. The Numbers Don't Lie. Get Off Your Phone | Opinion - Newsweek
CHILDREN UK: Smartphone Free Childhood is a parent-led movement on a mission to protect millions of children from the dangers of using smartphones too young. An accidental movement In February 2024, friends Daisy and Clare set up a WhatsApp group to support each other in the decision to hold off on buying their kids smartphones. To their amazement, within 24 hours, thousands of other parents had joined the group after an Instagram post by Daisy about it went viral. The initial group quickly maxed out at 1000 members, so they encouraged people to set up local groups to build the conversation in their areas. Within hours over 60 Smartphone Free Childhood WhatsApp groups had launched the length and breadth of Britain, kicking off a national conversation about the harms of smartphones for children. [] In a matter of weeks we've already amassed a 60,000-strong engaged community of parents on our WhatsApp and Instagram channels, appeared across the national and international news media and been invited by Number 10 to discuss our growing movement. Dr Jonathan Haidt - the world's leading voice in this space - has called Smartphone Free Childhood movement "the beginning of the global tipping point in the fight back against a phone-based childhood" https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk/
CHILDREN/YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA: Social Media Is Changing Young People’s Dating Behaviors: Research The traditional objective of dating, which is to create offspring, has been replaced by sexual satisfaction, leaving many people confused about their options. Dopamine-Driven Social Media Interactions According to Tom Kersting, a psychotherapist, author, and television contributor, the confusion and instability in relationships can be explained by the dopamine-driven effect of social media. [] A screen-based childhood, rather than a play-based childhood, does not foster social skill development, Ms. Cash, who is the co-founder of reSTART Life, a residential treatment for people addicted to the internet, told The Epoch Times. https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/social-media-is-changing-young-peoples-dating-behaviors-research-5679495
AND highly respected GenZ columnist GIRLS FREYA INDIA Love Is Worth Believing In, If you’re going to fall for anything in modern life it should be another person HERE (dopamine and dating)
CHILDREN’S HEALTH DEFENSE WEEKLY EMF NEWS UPDATES EMR News Update June 2024 Week 2 These days, does it seem like harmful technologies are lurking in every corner of the public and private domains? From sports stadiums to city sidewalks, home backyards and beyond, surveillance and radiation appear to be all but unavoidable. Watch this week’s ‘EMR News Update’ with CHD.TV’s Wes Walker to learn the details! 3 3/4 MINUTES RESOURCES Butler County Resident Fighting To Keep Verizon From Installing Cell Phone Tower Near Property Letter | Learn About Electromagnetic Pollution Police In US Cities That Ban Facial Recognition Asking Others To Do It For Them | Biometric Update MPs Urge Under-16s UK Smartphone Ban And Statutory Ban In Schools Facewatch, Met Police Face Lawsuits After Facial Recognition Misidentification Privacy International Warns That Biometrics At Sports Stadiums Infringe On Human Rights EMR News June 2024 Week 3 Smartphone bans, digital health passes, centralized 5G control, facial recognition malfunctions, credit cards in disadvantaged communities and more — all of this, and more, on this week’s CHD.TV ‘EMR News Update’ 3.45 MINUTES RESOURCES WTTC Calls For Renewed Effort On Digital Health Passes Through Who Network - Activist Post Campaigners ‘Thrilled’ As St Albans Aims To Be Smartphone-Free For Under-14s Outburst Of Discontent As State Seizes Control Of 5G Towers Malfunctioning Facial Recognition Technology May Put Innocent Individuals At Risk - Activist Post After Grilling An NIH Scientist Over COVID Emails, Congress Turns To Anthony Fauci + More Momentum Grows For Ban On Phones In Schools
CONSUMER PRODUCTS: An eerie ‘digital afterlife’ is no longer science fiction. So how do we navigate the risks? Imagine a future where your phone pings with a message that your dead father’s “digital immortal” bot is ready. This promise of chatting with a virtual version of your loved one – perhaps through a virtual reality (VR) headset – is like stepping into a sci-fi movie, both thrilling and a bit eerie. What is the digital afterlife industry? VR and AI technologies are making virtual reconstructions of our loved ones possible. Companies in this niche industry use data from social media posts, emails, text messages and voice recordings to create digital personas that can interact with the living. Although still niche, the number of players in the digital afterlife industry is growing. An eerie ‘digital afterlife’ is no longer science fiction. So how do we navigate the risks? (theconversation.com)
5G: INDUSTRY: Study: Global 5G Connections Reach Nearly Two Billion The 5G industry continues to see strong growth according to new data from 5G Americas and Omdia that shows 185 million 5G connections were added in Q1 2024, pushing the global total to nearly two billion. 5G Americas and Omdia project that 5G connections will hit 7.7 billion by 2028. The new data shows that North America leads the charge in 5G adoption, with 5G connections in the region comprising 32 percent of all wireless cellular connections. Notably, the region experienced healthy growth in the first quarter, adding 22 million new connections to operator networks. In the first quarter of 2024, North American 5G connections totaled 220 million. Study: Global 5G Connections Reach Nearly Two Billion | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
HEALTH: About 1 in 8 Americans has been diagnosed with chronic insomnia Men (13%) were slightly more likely than women (11%) to have been diagnosed with chronic insomnia. Meanwhile, millennials reported the highest rate of chronic insomnia diagnosis (15%). How debilitating can insomnia be? Symptoms associated with insomnia include daytime fatigue or sleepiness; feeling dissatisfied with sleep; having trouble concentrating; feeling depressed, anxious or irritable; and having low motivation or low energy. "Chronic insomnia impacts not just how a person sleeps at night, but also how they feel and function during the daytime," said AASM President Dr. Eric Olson. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-americans-chronic-insomnia.html
INDUSTRY POLITICS: Time to end America’s obsession with manufacturing The U.S. is currently involved in a bipartisan experiment to throw an extraordinary amount of subsidies at particular manufacturing sectors, including semiconductors and green energy. Estimates of the total subsidies reach as high as $1 trillion. Manufacturing subsidies are a way of being seen to be “doing something” in the economic realm and signal “standing up to China.” These efforts have coalesced into a new techno-nationalism that has increasing political appeal. Indeed, the Biden administration envisions undermining China in all “foundational technologies.” There has been little pushback from Republicans on this issue. [] This manufacturing subsidy war will be expensive and will support inefficient sectors, raising costs for households and firms. [] We need to end our obsession with manufacturing and focus on high value added wherever it is found. We also need to limit manufacturing subsides and allow them to be subject to WTO disciplines that the U.S. has developed and utilized intensively. Otherwise, long-run growth and prosperity will be diminished. Kenneth A. Reinert is Professor of Public Policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University HERE
INSPIRATION SCHOOL OF THE UNCONFORMED: The 3Rs of Unmachining: Guideposts for an Age of Technological Upheaval "The Look of Silence", a scandalous proposal, and a practical beginning Guidepost 1: Recognize Our inner cognitive structures—the emotional icons in our minds—which should have given us truth and stability are, instead, faded and distorted. We end up more uncertain about what to believe and who we are, more susceptible to emotional and even mental health struggles, and—at a society-wide level—more prone to division and conflict. Guidepost 2: Remove If we can remove or radically reduce digital technologies in the places where they shouldn’t be, then their destabilizing impact on our minds and relationships should, with time, diminish. Guidepost 3: Return …a resistance fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things. - Neil Postman Otherwise the war is over. - Rod Dreher adds. We started by asking where along the road of technology we took a wrong turn, and where we need to make a course correction. With the 3Rs of Umachining, what we have offered isn’t a comprehensive answer, but three guideposts that might help move us in the right direction. The turn on the road is not a turn backward, but away from the virtual and toward each other. The 3Rs of Unmachining: Guideposts for an Age of Technological Upheaval (substack.com) (this thoughtful post has many links do other’s efforts, includes some Catholicism/religious/faith orientation)
SURVEILLANCE UK: Drivers warned new AI cameras 'can spy inside' cars Drivers have been warned that new AI cameras, which are being trialled by a number of UK police forces, can 'spy inside' cars. The new cameras, which use artificial intelligence, are being used by ten police forces across the country and could be rolled out nationally if they prove successful. The technology will automatically be able to detect if motorists are using phones or not using seatbelts. The high-tech cameras can detect if you are breaking the law, and pass the images on to the police for action to be taken. Drivers can be fined up to £500 for not wearing a seatbelt in addition to penalty points, and using a mobile phone while driving can result in a fine of up to £1,000 and six penalty points. Drivers warned new AI cameras 'can spy inside' cars (yahoo.com)
TOWERS AND ANTENNAS: Environmental Health Trust Video Wireless Radiation Health Effects Compilation Cell Towers and Cell Phones and Wi Fi Hundreds of scientists, doctors and public health experts recommend the public reduce exposure to wireless radiation to mitigate risk due to the growing scientific evidence of harm. Wireless Radiation Health Effects Compilation Cell Towers and Cell Phones and Wi Fi (youtube.com) 1,290 views Mar 14, 2024 19 MINUTE VIDEO
EVENTS/DATES:
7/7 Here’s what’s in store for “60 MINUTES” on Sunday, July 7, 2024, featuring an additional hour of insightful reporting. 60 Minutes CBS “Targeting Americans, Kevin Hart, 3D Printing, Your Chatbot Will See You Now”Targeting Americans Scott Pelley investigates the mysterious Havana syndrome, exploring the case of an FBI official who claims to have been targeted within the U.S. New information from the Pentagon’s global investigation suggests potential involvement of a U.S. adversary. This double-length segment promises to unravel the complexities and implications of these incidents. Produced by Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados. 60 Minutes CBS “Targeting Americans, Kevin Hart, 3D Printing, Your Chatbot Will See You Now” (I do not own a tv and do not know if this is a ‘repeat broadcast’ but the havana issue is being politicized and militarized in the US election year.)
7/7 Josh Del Sol from the film Take Back Your Power has a special offer free until July 7 for his Law for Mankind offering which I know nothing about but FYI: [Gift] Law For Mankind: Module #1 (free until July 7) (takebackyourpower.net)
7/8 Children’s Health Defense Live Show The Radiation Dangers of Electric Cars July 8th at 10 am ET with host Kim Mack Rosenberg, GuestsPaul Harding and Keith Cutter CHD-TV | Childrens Health Defense (May be subject to change)
ACTION ITEM FCC July 9
Your U.S. Representative may be on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (see member list below) that will be holding a congressional hearing on Tuesday, July 9th, questioning the FCC. a. Please email your contact in that office tomorrow (Friday) and Monday morning and follow up each time by phone. b. If you do not yet have a contact, please ask for the telecom staffer’s name and email. To find your electeds, call 202-225-3121 Capitol switchboard or https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials?iframe=1&iframe=1&iframe=1&iframe=1 Please copy this text in your email and bcc us at hello@thenationalcall.org: I am a constituent. Your Subcommittee will be holding a hearing with the FCC on Tuesday, July 9th. Would the Representative please consider the below information and ask the FCC about the following: Please ask the FCC why it has ignored since 2021 the DC Circuit Court of Appeals remand order to re-evaluate its wireless radiation exposure guidelines based on their docket submission of 11,000 pages of scientific evidence of biological harm to humans? Americans might protest less against forced deployment of wireless antennas outside their bedrooms, offices, children's classrooms and local parks - if they knew the government no longer Mwas ignoring safety or shielding Telecom from liability based on remanded limits. The current wireless safety guidelines are based on 11 monkeys and 12 rats exposed for less than one hour in the 1980s. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 does not allow for legal remedies of harm so long as Telecom is operating within the FCC’s guidelines, even if the harm is severe or fatal. The Act shields Telecom from liability when Telecom should be competing on safety.
Please ask the FCC the following questions: What is the status of FCC’s compliance with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals remand order of 2021 for the FCC to review the up-to-date scientific evidence in its docket on harm, including long-term exposure and exposure to children? We’ve had constituents write in and say that the current wireless safety standards are based on 11 monkeys and 12 rats exposed for less than one hour in the 1980s. Why wouldn’t the FCC want to review the up-to-date evidence so that it can reassure the public that the technology is it is rolling out (e.g., 5G) is safe for children and families?
///// For your quick reference, here are the committee members: https://energycommerce.house.gov/committees/subcommittee/communications-technology
Republicans: Latta (OH) Bilirakis (FL) Carter (GA) Dunn (FL) Curtis (UT) Joyce (PA) Weber (TX) Allen (GA) Balderson (OH) Fulcher (ID) Pfluger (TX) Harshbarger (TN) Cammack (FL) Obernolte (CA) Rodgers (WA) Democrats: Matsui (CA) – Ranking Member Clarke (NY) Veasey (TX) Soto (FL) Eshoo (CA) Cardenas (CA) Craig (MN) Fletcher (TX) Dingell (MI) Kuster (NH)\ Kelly (IL) Pallone (NJ)
Sincerely, Odette Wilkens Chair Lisa Smith Co-Chair The National Call for Safe Technology
CONTRIBUTE YOUR STORY ABOUT LIVING DIFFERENTLY IN THE DIGITAL AGE:
SCHOOL OF THE UNCOMFORMED Living Unconformed Lives in the Digital Age: Share Your Story The ubiquity of digital tech has changed us, not for the better. As a reader here you are likely either concerned about this, are looking for better ways to navigate daily life in the digital world, or are already living a life counter to the current zeitgeist. Most of us are familiar with the evidence of the myriad negative impacts of phone-based lives, especially on children. Most of us have heard about practical ways to reduce our device use. But we need inspiration to move us into action. Just as Antoine de Saint Exupéry said we must long for the immensity of the sea in order to build a ship, we must learn to long for the immensity of life if we want to turn back to reality. So here is our invitation to you:
Send us your real life stories of how you live life differently in a digital age. Length: 500 to 2000 words
We are interested in sharing stories from people of all ages and walks of life: [] The submitted stories will be collected and published in a new section on School of the Unconformed that readers can freely access to gain encouragement and inspiration.
If you are looking for ideas to get started, see Simple Acts of Sanity: A Seed Catalogue, Fasting from the Virtual, Feasting on the Real, or Sacred Synchronies: How to Restore Rhythms that Make us Human.
How: Send your stories in the body of an e-mail to: schooloftheunconformed@proton.me Please note: No attachments will be opened.
FROM SUBSTACK NOTES:
I posted: ChatGPT only scrapes what has been digitized, omitting vast bodies of knowledge from - just for examples, women, and indigenous peoples. Vanessa Machado de Oliveira writes “Driven by expansion, colonialism, and resource extraction and propelled by neoliberalism and rabid consumption, our world is profoundly out of balance.” Until our innovation heals the past and moves us into right rhythm with Nature, we are deluding ourselves. Don’t miss: katiesinger.substack.com/p/archives Journals, letters, I’ve loved you: an accounting of archives, history and digitalization
Image courtesy Flo Freshman
Since we only test cellphone safety by taking the internal temperature of an adult-sized plastic head filled with the equivalent of Jello, we don’t have data to ‘scrape’ about the non-thermal effects of non-ionizing radiofrequency radiation. Or the effects on children. Or the impacts on Nature.
Kate commented …And ChatGPT can only “scrape” what can be reduced to data thus missing out on all the mysteries of life such as love, relationship, inter-being, miracle, intuition, beauty, forgiveness, grace etc. Furthermore ChatGPT only “scrapes” from the HUMAN world omitting a world full of worldviews from the rest of the animate world. We may not be able to stop GPT altogether, but at least we can try to balance its impact by leaning into those aspects of being alive that algorithms can never capture.
(Although I am grateful that Hinton is speaking to MIT colleagues about AI dangers, [see Harper’s AI article] I personally perceive that crows can and do talk to each other. And grateful that our animals aren’t becoming enamoured with cellphones and tech, unless they are subjected to unnatural manipulation, isolation, and horrific deprivation, via human hubris. Dowsers are speaking already of the necessary shift to scalar. Nature is already there, as are indigenous cultures.)
Chat GPT Goes Potentially Terribly- when we don’t know what we don’t know
If you are new to the wireless/EMF/5G aspects of tech concerns, please read Why We Care About Health Effects from EMF & RFR - BioInitiative Report 2012 and Evidence of Health Concerns with Wireless, EMF & RFR Exposure (bioinitiative.org)
