Author Archives: stephenschrum

The Aliens Say:

To Paraphrase the Alien in Plan Nine from Outer Space: “All you faculty are stupid!”  In American society, we often see a dichotomy between an upper and a lower class. And sometimes this division is false, but persists nonetheless. For example, on an academic campus, we may see a prejudice on the part of maintenanceContinue reading “The Aliens Say:”

Silver-where?

If you are ever confronted with a meal’s place setting that has more than four pieces of silverware—don’t panic! There are two brilliant pieces of advice to follow (that I didn’t invent but have followed successfully): 1) start from the outside and work your way inward, and 2) watch others to see which implement theyContinue reading “Silver-where?”

Not Now, Nor Ever Been

Years ago, the term “liberal” suddenly became a pejorative term; people began to use it to insult others. The complete breakdown in civil discourse that followed Trump‘s ascension, of course, led to the incitement of the word “libtard” and the development of further insults. Many of us rebranded ourselves as “progressive.” That seemed to dodgeContinue reading “Not Now, Nor Ever Been”

How Did I Get Here?

One night, in a moment of instrospection, I had this thought: Whoever thought that the child of a single mother raised on welfare would earn a doctorate and later travel around the  world? It probably happens more times than I’m aware. (I hope so.) But for me, it seems like an extraordinary thing. When IContinue reading “How Did I Get Here?”

Some Directors…

One of my favorite Berkeley directing stories concerns the professor whom I would later fire from being my dissertation advisor. He was directing a show and my good friend Mike Foster (whom I met as a student in a class I was TA for and who later became a close friend) asked a question ofContinue reading “Some Directors…”

God, Luck, and Planning

Often I hear people claim that, “God put me in the right place at the right time!” I have never heard anyone credit God for delivering them to the wrong place in their lives. Others of course attribute success to luck, which I guess is as mysterious a force as a deity.  And I rememberContinue reading “God, Luck, and Planning”

AI and Alignment 2

In my previous post, I mentioned inquiring about alignment as applied to both artificial intelligence and Dungeons & Dragons. I did a follow up regarding specific sci-fi literature. What follows is the AI’s response. Science fiction literature provides a rich catalog of artificial intelligences that match each D&D alignment: Lawful Good — R. Daneel OlivawContinue reading “AI and Alignment 2”

AI and Alignment

I saw the word “alignment” in a New York Times article dealing with artificial intelligence. I recall my days of playing Dungeons & Dragons, and wondered how we might apply that idea of alignment to AI. So I wrote a prompt asking about this, and popped it into Gemini. What follows is the AI response: Continue reading “AI and Alignment”

Too Hard—Or Not Hard Enough?

I received the following messages on Telegram, the second within minutes of the first, which prompts my question: are they trying too hard to recruit victims, or are they not trying hard enough, by not noticing duplicate messages? Or are they all AI bots and my question’s moot… In any case, for your entertainment: ByContinue reading “Too Hard—Or Not Hard Enough?”