Not quite a native Ripley Countian - she attended only her last year of high school in Doniphan though she taught in the R-1 system for 32 years - Teresa (Pearson) Lee delights in surprising readers and herself with anecdotal observations of life in general. Maybe you can blame her St.Louis roots for a quirky humor and some slightly-askewed opinions, but never doubt she writes from the heart.

Presence of Mind

Posted Wednesday, May 22, 2019, at 4:33 PM

"If only I'd had the presence of mind to" obviously enters my thoughts when it is too late to do or say what would have been an appropriate response to a situation at hand. Usually it's a string of words to undermine or belittle me or my efforts - one of those smarmy statements intended to release its true meaning at the same rate the speaker makes an exit.

But what's a clever comeback without an audience? I don't know the proper translation of the twitches of my cat's ears when he hears my delayed retorts. Is he saying, "Well, if you want a punch in the nose, say that. Go ahead." Or does he mean, "You wanna sound like a bloomin' idiot?" Or maybe he is thinking, "They'll haul you away for that one. What will they think of you?"

I have always been slow thinking of sarcastic cuts, till lately. When I was younger, that filter, "What will they think of you?" created a maze my thoughts worked through before they found the words they needed. As I get...more experienced....I care less about that than once upon a time. I have the words quickly now, to undermine and belittle at the same intensity I feel either, but the difference is that now I DO care what I think about myself.

Now I pat myself on the back for thinking of an equally potent comment, and then pat myself again for 'having the presence of mind' to keep my mouth shut. But a dilemma looms. I recently read that Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the brink of creating a way for my devices with internet access to cue in to my thoughts - when I talk to myself - to get information from that device. AI ALREADY seems to 'listen' more than it should...seeming to make more prevalent additional info about topics I have been thinking about and researching, predicting need based on my habits. So soon it won't need to see my search history. AI will just listen to the voices in my head.

How long will it be before AI listens to the voices in my head and responds to the voices in yours? Will my mind be present at all?

"Be silent and be thought a fool, but speak your mind and remove all doubt." Do we stop AI, if that's even possible, or do we applaud its advances? Does it matter? Are we fools regardless?