ARTIFICIAL IS NOT INTELLIGENT

by Ray Jason

 

I have a very unusual perspective on Life. Perhaps this is the reason:

Ray lives in his sailboat.

His sailboat lives in the Ocean.

Therefore, Ray lives in the Ocean.

I have been alone at Sea for voyages that lasted as long as 30 days. During those times, my only companions lived in the Sea and the Sky. I was isolated from normal, human contact. There was no TV, no Internet, no texting.

But I did have abnormal human contact in the form of books. Great thinkers and writers were my crew-mates. Being far from the frenzy and low-grade lunacy of the Modern World, I could ponder their thinking, their eloquence, their wisdom.

One of the lessons that sang through many of their books was the danger of Humanity disconnecting itself from the Natural World. These wise men and women were warning us of this spiritual separation even a hundred years ago. Imagine how terrified they would be if they were alive today and witnessed how swiftly - and seemingly without question - we are replacing the Natural with the Artificial.

It was bad enough when real food began to give way to “artificial food products.” It was sad when real friends were replaced by “Facebook friends.” But, it is hideous when even the magnificent Human Brain is under attack from Ego-fevered scientists and New World Orderlies who are trying to impose Artificial Intelligence on the world!

THE SHADOW SAILOR GOES FULL ... RETREAT

  by Ray Jason

 This is fiction … or is it?

 

                                     *******

This time the Shadow Sailor found me.

Usually, I spot him hidden away in some rarely visited cove here in The Archipelago of Bliss. Although his modest 42-foot sailboat is over 30 years old, he keeps her in very good shape. Her only unusual features are a large array of solar panels and a satellite communications dome.

When I first met him, I asked him about these incongruities. Since he barely knew me, he told me that he was an avid “gamer” and was constantly competing via the Internet with opponents scattered all around the world.

Later, when I had earned his trust, he revealed the true reason for his over-sized communication package. He was dedicating himself to trying to unravel “How the world REALLY works.” The SatCom system allowed him to do his research via the World Wide Web from very remote anchorages and even from the middle of the ocean.

He is a man of no country, but he has visited many … more than many. He enters and departs quietly … and unofficially. He is a master at finding hidden spots where the authorities seldom visit. However, although he lives in the Shadows, his life is not gray and dreary and unhappy. He has managed to battle The System without letting the frustration of that combat poison him.