After the past couple weeks of news ingestion, my physical and mental symptomology reads like a list of potential side-effects described at the end of a prescription medication commercial. I was about a tenth of the way into the list — nausea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, dry mouth, constipation, insomnia, rash, itching, swelling, difficulty breathing, blurred vision, hearing loss, laptop-phobia, phone allergy, FOBI (Fear Of Being Informed), and a strange full body-covering orange-y jaundice — when my doctor interrupted to say it was time for him to see his next patient. Maybe I should have started with ChatGPT. Many of us have long been presenting our doctors with the results of a Google-powered self-diagnosis. But AI could take things to the next level. In a small, interesting study, ChatGPT actually outdid human doctors when it came to diagnosing illnesses, even when those doctors were armed with ChatGPT. Gina Kolata in the NYT(Gift Article): A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness. I tried to test AI with my own list of symptoms, but ChatGPT said it didn't have any available appointments until mid-February. 2Under the InfluenceWe're all living through the I'm doing my own research era. So where are people getting their information? When it comes to news, a lot of people are starting with news influencers, not journalists. "About 21% of U.S. adults are turning to news influencers for information, with most saying creators 'helped them better understand current events and civic issues,' according to the study. The number was higher among young adults, with 37% of people ages 18 to 29 saying they turn to influencers for news." 1 in 5 U.S. adults get their news from social media influencers. I'm both worried that people are getting their news from news influencers and that I might be one. 3Shock and Awful"We girls woke up to a country that would rather elect a man found liable for sexual abuse than a woman. Where the kind of man my mother instructs me to cross the street to avoid will be addressed as Mr. President. Where the body I haven’t fully grown into may no longer be under my control. The boys, it seemed to me, just woke up on a Wednesday." Naomi Beinart, a high school junior, on what it felt like on campus last week. NYT (Gift Article): I’m 16. On Nov. 6 the Girls Cried, and the Boys Played Minecraft. 4Street Cred"We see right through the unshowered soul living in a car by the beach, or by the Walmart, or by the side of the road. But he’s there, and he used to be somebody. He still is. A firsthand account of homelessness in America." Patrick Fealey in Esquireon his life as The Invisible Man. "People pull in to visit the lighthouse or the beach or wherever I am, see me, and immediately park somewhere else. All day long. They are so afraid. I know I look disheveled, but I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with me intellectually or spiritually. I know I could look better, but I just don’t see what the big deal is." 5Extra, ExtraGoing Out with a Bang: "The U.S. will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied longer-range weapons to conduct strikes inside Russian territory, a long-sought request by Kyiv." It's an obvious reaction to the results of the election and what they might mean for Ukraine. So is this. US to send military contractors to Ukraine. Yes, of course I’m on BlueSky! Follow me! I need, I need.
6Bottom of the NewsTons of hype. No substance. Left with a depressing feeling. The Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight was the perfect event for our moment in time. Or as Colin Jost put it on SNL: "Last night, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul teamed up to defeat everyone watching." Will Leitch in the NYT (Gift Article): Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Is the Absurd Spectacle We Deserve.
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