Something Else to Worry About

There is an article in the latest issue of National Geographic called "Dream Catchers". The page is not numbered, but I counted back from the next numbered page and it seems to be on pages 23 and 24. It says that Google has recently constructed a "network of artificial neurons" and it has dreams. I am not making this up! It says you can find more information at http://ngm.com/May2017 . I would look it up tonight, but it's too close to my bedtime and it might give me nightmares. That's the trouble with science, it's amoral. It invents things, not because it should, but because it can, leaving the moral implications to philosophers, theologians, and politicians. No good can come of that!

Old dog says that we don't need better people, just better leaders. Well most leaders started off as people, and most of their followers still are people. If we could make better people, the leadership problem would take care of itself.

Now when I say "make better people", I don't necessarily mean "make by manufacturing", I mean "cause to come into existence", by whatever method works best. By that definition, God did indeed make Jesus, but I understand Uncle Ken's confusion because the Bible says that Jesus was "begotten, not made". On the other hand, "begotten" is just an old fashioned word for producing a child the old fashioned way. People nowadays might say that a couple "made a baby", and it would mean exactly the same thing. Anyway, the idea of a divine being begetting a child with a mortal human did not originate with the story of Jesus. Pagan gods and goddesses did it lots of times. Their progeny usually stood a cut above the average human, but were not in a class with the gods and goddesses, which sometimes set them up for tribulations and tragedy later in their lives. Nevertheless, these hybrid creatures had the power to do much good in the world, or much harm, depending on their motivation. What the world needs now are people like that. It doesn't matter if they are biological, mechanical, or some combination of the two. What does matter is that they have the proper motivation to use their powers for good and not for evil. Seems like we could just implant a good guy chip in them. How hard cold that be?