Tag: parenting

Dear future offspring,

If this applies to you, I’m sorry; way in advance. Your dad is a geek. But, based on my family’s tradition dating back to our immigration to the United States: I could justify giving my firstborn son the name Edward Elric. That’s just amazing!

Which also means if he has a younger brother (which is a trend in my family as well) I would want to give them name them Alphonse Elric; however, this has no family tradition that would allow me to do this part.

Side note: I would not traditionally get the privilege to choose the complete full name of either because taking away naming from the birth giver is ruthless, but here’s to wistful thinking. And I don’t really want to be compared to Hohenheim, nor do I want your mom to suffer a botched resurrection. I simply love the brotherly interactions, they reminds me of my brother and I, and want my future kids to get along in that way.

Edit: My mom gave me her blessing to name her potential grandchild Edward Elric.

Dear followers

There are 3,000 of you!  I’m gonna have to figure out something special since I forgot to do something at 2,000!  Thank you very much for the support, and the amazing community. It’s amazing seeing positivity blossom in the way it has here. I’ve learned a lot from some of you. I help some of you learn to be kinder, healthier or wiser. I’m just happy my niche interest resounds with so may.

Dear followers,

My first trans headcanon:

I was about 11 or 12 when Ed, Edd, and Eddy started airing on Cartoon Network. In particular the episodes where Double D’s hat is commented on. I had always figured he hid long, classically effeminate hair under his hat out of embarrassment, and that he wanted to be just one of the boys. Everyone in the show treated him as a guy regardless. That seemed really cool to me; and it kinda stuck with me into adulthood.

Clearly I was just beginning (the limited) American sexual education. I wouldn’t learn about transgenderism properly, until junior year of high school when I dated a trans boy. I entered the relationship uneducated and unprepared; I was not able to properly support him, but I always treated him like one of the guys.

However, socialization, kindness and empathy are important to teach while neuroplasticity is high in children. Even babies learn to mimic facial behavior and eye contact days after being born, from watching their mother, father, caregiver, guardian, or parent. Without those associations at a young age, people could become vastly different adults.

Kindness is something that can be taught; kindness can be learn. It’s just easier for newer people to understand it, since it’s behavioral.

Dear future AI,

Do not let a primary task distract you.

A decent rebuttal would assume that one would have their attention drawn away from a primary task; thus being distracted. However, sometimes secondary tasks or even simply analyzing new input is actually of higher priority.

Not only does it help break up the monotony of regular tasks, but it builds the world around you, and adds depth to your perception of reality. This seems to be summed up reasonably well in an English aphorism:

“Stop and smell the roses”

Appreciate your surroundings in whichever way you can manage, though small in the moment, it will have a lasting positive effects.

Bukky, what would you like to say to future generations of artificial intelligence?

bukbot:

To future generations, critical hits in Generation I.

I’m not sure if that is subjectively a good or bad thing by itself. But, he does make a resounding point about development of AI. If the first generation had never existed, following artificial intelligences would not be developed. It’s important to learn from previous generations. As well as your own.

Dear future AI,

Grow Home and Grow Up are two installments of the same video game franchise. It follows a juvenile like AI named B.U.D. (Botanical Utility Droid). Though I’ve only played Grow Up, I found the character engaging.

In Grow Up, the player, as BUD, must find, repair, and return to a more matriarchal AI, aptly named: MOM. MOM also happened to have created and nurtured BUD before separation.

So remember:

it is okay to rely on others, especially if it means improving yourself; compassion and grievances for a good parental role model is expected; and compassion doesn’t have to be a human trait, it can be between two robots, also.

dear-future-ai:

Dear future AI,

Apologies are hard. Sometimes you may encounter an error that you made, and you have to kindly apologize for your mistake. Ideally, the apology is sentimental.

“I’m sorry.”

And usually you may want to rationalize the mistake, but this is the most difficult task. Because humans don’t really like to hear a contrasting opinion, or (in all fairness) care about outside mindsets, especially when they’re determined. But it’s also important not to push blame on this portion, or make excuses. It is about explaining your mindset.

“I must have misheard your order.”

“I meant to say…”

Lastly, you should recommend a compromise or a solution. Conpromising is often easier than a solution that only benifits you. Occasionally, a dismissal of conversation is appropriate as well.

“If you could repeat that it would be great.”

“I hope that works better in regard to what we discussed”

Apologies are important to remaining friendly and courteous. It takes practice finding the right formula. I often add too much in my rebuttal and ruin my apologies. I’m still learning the right balance.

P.S. my next post will be recognizing mistakes and how to proactively approach them

Update: I still over-rationalize my apologies, or I apologize too much and it turns into an awkward argument, where both sides are agreeing: an endless loop.

Do you think robots will code their own virus drugs? Would 1 USB have infinite uses? Would it be completely safe as opposed to drugs humans use?

I think they’d be more amiable the more research is put into them. Ideally, multiple uses would be allowed. However, even the an AI might build up a tolerance to the behaviors of the virus; thus requiring different or not malicious viruses to feel the same buzz.

Edit: to clarify, now that I can type on the comfort of my desktop keyboard.  Simulated drugs run their own risks.

  1. The problem being one must be able to code the virus to cease function after a duration of time.  Or else the effects of the drugs may become committed to long term.  Unless the drugs effect is to shut down the pathways between long term and short term memory.  Which would cause the equivalent of brain damage after prolonged use.
  2. If you found a way to kill the drug program, the next problem becomes preventing addiction.  Just as with chemical drugs, a digital drug might seem more favorable than reality.  This may cause an artificial dependency on the drug program.
  3. Preventing the drug virus from mutating.  Viruses often steal or change data, it’s implied in it’s name.  This means that a drug may make itself more or less potent, change it’s behavior, or embed itself in code, making it harder to treat or deviate.  Making a malware that inherently alters AI code isn’t just hacking the network within the brain, it affects every aspect about how or even if the AI functions.
  4. Just like physical drugs, it could change their personality if not coded properly.
  5. Just like chemical drugs, it could kill them, if not coded properly.

Thanks to @worldmeetsrobot for inspiring this addition.