The morning after. Last evening & night, I smoked too much and I drank too much even though it was only two bottles that I drank.
Where was I drinking and smoking? Why was I drinking and smoking? I went to a Canadian friend’s place in the Xinwu district. His apartment used to be a brothel apparently. He was hosting a get together. My Kenyan colleague from school came; I invited him along. An Indian friend of my Canadian acquaintance also came, There was beer and my acquaintance fed me cigarettes
To get to the Xinwu district, I took Metro Line 1 and then transferred to Metro Line 3. I took my time, lingering at station platforms so as to not get to my friend’s apartment too early. I was reading James Joyce’s Ulysses on the phone. I got to the apartment on the dot, as far as the appointed time went.
I and the other Canuck went shopping for food & beer. His spoken Chinese is great and puts me to shame. His wife doesn’t speak English so he was forced to learn it. My wife speaks English and being a not very social type, I never practice it. Alas, my Chinese is minimal. Quelle domage!
The gist of the conversation among the four of us was AI. I can’t say for sure if the talk made me feel resentful or if my skepticism was genuine. How can A.I. ever be self aware if it is the product of algorithms? I asked. The responses to my question were not satisfactory. The optimism about A.I. seemed pure Scientism.
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