Op-Ed by Helge Nome Who is that "entity" that responds to my AI questions to my computer? On the face of it, it looks like a person self-identifying as "I" in replies, composing reflective sentences and paragraphs and serving them up in the form of a report, that from time to time gets all muddled. In order to compose the report "it" uses information sourced on the internet and provides extensive lists of links to these sources. But what is "it"? That is the question. We know what it is not: A physical entity like one of us contained within a physical body in a relatively small space. We know that the message generated is a product of machines (computers) that could literally be spread across the globe, appearing as if it comes from one human. We also know that these computers have been designed and programmed to mimic neural networks that make us who we are, capable of learning and adapting to changing circumstances. So when a response arrives f...
Commentary by David Michel , Will Todman , and Jennifer Jun Published November 25, 2025 Introduction Tehran is experiencing an unprecedented water crisis. Satellite imagery analysis shows that key reservoirs that feed the capital are far below their typical seasonal variation. The Iranian president has warned that Iran has “no choice” but to move the location of the capital due to the water crisis. In the short term, water rationing has been imposed on some neighborhoods, and authorities may have to evacuate residents from Tehran. This crisis is driven by mounting demand for water, a historic drought, and persistent mismanagement. The Iranian government faces no easy way out, as necessary reforms would undercut the regime’s political economy and could risk triggering broad social unrest. Drivers of the Crisis Tehran’s worsening water crisis represents the chronicle of a dearth foretold. Relentlessly mounting demands, rising environmental ...
How can rational people, observing a phenomenon, 'see' something very different from each other? Simply because what you see depends on your viewpoint, physically, and your point of view, or mindset. This explains the emergence of radically different opinions on the nature of what we have labelled Covid 19. On one side are those that see this virus as being similar to the one that created the 1918 flu pandemic, and should be dealt with as such. On the other side are those that see it as a weapon of fear without serious physical consequences and which should be ignored in order to preserve society as we know it. The people that are in direct contact with the virus daily and see it killing vulnerable individuals on a routine basis are generally in the first group. A good number of those that are not in direct contact, fall into the second category, as they observe empty parking lots and little obvious activity outside community hospitals (in contrast to those that work inside th...
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