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#bookstr I finished reading “A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East” by László Krasznahorkai.

I really enjoyed it, but I caveat this by saying that the book is really challenging to read. The sentence structure, vocabulary and extreme detail really force the reader to pay close attention to the text. This reading style is very different from a typical novel and I can see how it can turn people off. I think this is an intentional choice by the author and lends to the overall vibe of the book. With all that being said, I would highly recommend.

The book is really hard to describe and summarize. It’s like if someone was trying to describe a landscape painting of a temple. But they didn’t want to just say what’s there, they also wanted to tell you in great detail what it would feel like to be there. Through painting this picture the author touches on tradition, humanity, and the incomprehensible vastness and complexity of nature. All the while there’s a small character-driven plot going on but it’s not really the point. If this sounds weird and crazy to you, it’s because it is!

I think a big part of this is that health care is tied to your employment, and when you do have health insurance, you never know if a visit to the doctors is going to end up costing you hundreds of dollars!

Even when you are trying to get help, you’re also stressed out about how much it’s going to cost. And then you gotta figure out how to get time off of work to even go. Fucking nightmare.

Me and Bruno just chillin #dogstr

If the jury can’t make a decision after a certain number of days (I don’t know how many exactly, I think it’s the judge’s call), then the judge declares a mistrial. A mistrial means they start over. The whole trial is done again with a new jury.

In my experience this plays out with you feeling the pressure of avoiding being the annoying person who is holding up this whole thing and wasting everyone’s time. So that aspects does motivate a jury to come to a unanimous decision. Jurors privately vote a couple times a day on what they think. In my case, the vote was almost unanimous for 2nd degree murder by the end of the first day, so it didn’t take too long to get it to 100%

The trial was way less dramatic then TV / movies. The lawyers make very detailed explanations and repeat arguments in different words to emphasize their points. All of this makes the moment to moment action pretty dull.

Btw do you mind me asking what country this witch doctor thing was in?

In the US, the jury is only responsible for rendering a verdict, so whether or not the defendant is guilty. It’s then the judge’s responsibility to determine the punishment. Obviously, certain charges demand some minimum punishments but it technically isn’t the jury’s call. When you do jury duty they inform of this separation but obviously it’s impossible not to have the potential punishment in mind when rendering a verdict.

Like any system, whether there is a jury or it’s just a judge, it’s never going to be perfect. I think jury’s play an important role in the judicial system.

I’ve served on a jury once before. The trial was for count of murder and assault with a deadly weapon (aka gun). This is in the US 🇺🇸 btw.

I found the experience mentally draining. Closely paying attention to lawyer’s arguments and witness testimony is very tiring. Then once both sides are done presenting their cases, the jury deliberates in private for as long as it takes the reach a unanimous verdict for each charge.

In my case, the jury was in deliberation for about three days which for the scope of the charges is actually relatively quick. We had to decide whether or not to convict someone of first or second degree murder and people took that decision very seriously. Deliberation was emotionally draining.

Cool! Do the wheels light up as they spin? Are they glow in the dark? 🧐

Fractals!!

Currently reading “A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East” by László Krasznahorkai. It is nuts! #bookstr

What are some funny accounts to follow on this thing? #plebchain

I’ve heard good things about this one but haven’t picked it up myself!

I finished reading “A Fine Balance” by Rohinton Mistry. It’s fantastic novel that’s really hard to neatly summarize.

I would describe it as character-driven drama in the classic structure where four characters from varied backgrounds come together to try to make the best of the shitty situations life has thrown at them. #books #bookstr

So just because this guy says bitcoin we should ignore all his bad takes? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/us/politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-twitter-2024.html?smid=url-share

Some thoughts on #chatgpt, LLMs and #AI generally.

ChatGPT, like any AI model, is an algorithm trained on data produced by people just like us. The outputs it produces are a reflection of that along with the input prompt or question that you provide.

It’s important to think critically about how and why AI models like ChatGPT produce its outputs. It’s important to recognize that it’s human nature to anthropomorphize everything and that will impact the way we interpret model outputs.

https://youtu.be/TJ7m0h1Ktbk #succession #tv

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/books/review/if-an-egyptian-cannot-speak-english-noor-naga.html good review of the #book #bookstr

I recently finished “If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga.

It’s the story of a young Egyptian-American woman and poor, local guy that meet and form a relationship when the woman moves to Cairo to connect with her roots.

Their ensuing romance is sometimes humorous, dark and creepy. It explores the power dynamics between rich and poor, local and foreign along with a lot of other heady topics.

The writing style is a little weird, using a lot of figurative language, and quickly switching between different first-person perspectives. This can make parts of the story feel a little vague, but I really enjoyed the style.

All in all this made for a very interesting page-turner that really surprised me. Check it out! #books #nostrbookclub

I recently finished “If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English” by Noor Naga. 📖 I really enjoyed it!

You’re welcome! I skimmed through the transcript and it is very similar to the section in the book about transhumanisn. If you found it intriguing then I think you may enjoy the book!