Conversations with Mentor

Chapter 2:

Impressed as I was after meeting and talking with Joe, taking into consideration the views he expressed about human nature and the root relationship it has with digital technology and AI, I took a keener interest in my pupil’s characters and found in most instances their modus operandi to evaluate and understand applications was determined and governed intuitively, almost you might say without reason. And then it came as no surprise interest in fantasy, science fiction, and a range of psychic interests. Just one or two admitted to belief in the supernatural, or super-normal, as one put it.

Every now and then I would drop into the café where I had met Joe, even tried other cafés in the same area, but not once did I find him. as the weeks went by, I gave up hope of meeting him again. With school half term approaching a day trip to the continent was proposed by my wife and two sons and daughter. Accordingly, I went to the ferry port to book passage. Nearby was a picturesque pub steeped in maritime history, and I took the opportunity to stop for a late lunch. Entering the bar who should I see sitting in an alcove but Joe himself reading a paper.

“It’s Joe, isn’t it?” I said, approaching him. he looked searchingly at me, and then broke into smiles.

“John! Why what brings you here?”

I explained and further spoke about the understanding I had achieved following our previous conversation with my pupils. To which he nodded approval.

“And I must ask”, I added, “What brings you here?”

He turned round and pointed out of the window. “See that ship out there, the one to the right of that ferry. White upperworks and gantries forward and aft? That’s my current ship.”

I was stunned. Since meeting him, despite the informality of his dress, I had assumed he was a teacher or maybe a university don. But no, he’s a sailor!

“I see”, I said quietly, “What exactly do you do?”

“I’m the Bosun.” Adjudging my expression as one of surprise and bewilderment, he chuckled.

“I gather I’m not the person you thought I was.”

“My apologies”, I stammered. “Actually, I don’t know what a Bosun is.”

“I’m inclined to describe myself as a general factotum, but specifically as Bosun I’m in charge of the deck crew, loading, unloading, and mooring, but it goes further than that. I care for their welfare, listen to their troubles. Health and safety etcetera, etcetera.”

“Wow! I must say you do surprise me. Given our previous conversation I got the impression you were an academically educated person.”

Joe looked at me thoughtfully, pulled out a pipe from his jacket and began filling it with tobacco. “Get yourself something from the bar and meet me outside.”

Suitably armed with a pint and sandwich I joined him outside where we sat at a bench table. I waited while he lit the pipe and began smoking. My mind full of questions.

“Not educated as you imagine, though born to a middle-class family had every opportunity, but the pull of the sea had me on a sail training ship at 14. Oh, how I wish such ships as merchant carriers were still plying their trades! No, my formal education was quite limited. I’ve largely been educated by people and places, and being a curious fella and the world being what it is, able to educate myself from asking questions, books and the internet.”

“Are you married?”

“No. Given I’m something of a wayfarer, it wouldn’t be a fair thing to do, besides I’m at my happiest when at sea.”

“Even when it’s rough and dangerous?”

“It has a timeless quality and constantly reminds how small and insignificant you are. The seascape always keeps the ego in check and engenders humility when you truly respect it.”

“I remember you quoting T.S. Eliot concerning time. Does your experience bear out that meaning.”

“In every way. And more so, as present awareness unencumbered by needs of the past or hopes for the future expands consciousness and encourages tolerant practices. And life at sea does have the advantage of minimising the dysfunctional nature of the world we live in.”

“Does that mean turning a blind eye and ignoring events and actions you don’t wish to know about?”

“That’s a tolerance question, isn’t it? For me tolerance is a positive embracing attitude of mind, not only applicable to day-to-day experience of life, also at the highest possible level our consciousness can express itself. it doesn’t mean tolerating opinion or behaviour you agree or disagree with, whatever view is taken it expresses a moral bias. As related to measurement it defines itself as allowable. True tolerance positively develops open-mindedness, a liberality of expression which seeks to understand causal conditions and is averse to judgement. The geopolitical world we live in is divisively promoted by people of power and is tolerant only in the narrow-minded allowable sense when it suits their purposes. For example, the current conflict in the Middle East where in defence of its peoples and in response to attack from Gaza, Israel is killing and maiming thousands of women and children, not to mention innocent men who have never held a gun in anger, is an insoluble problem in the context of how it is promoted and how efforts are made to end it. If you look carefully at the causes, you can see self-interest is at the root of the conflict, not only the refusal of Israelites and Palestinians to understand the respective fundamental human rights of each other’s communities, but also the bias of other Arabic nations and power blocs in the Western World who for their self-interests back one side against the other. And the more you understand the apparent causes, the more aware you become of the history which stretches back in time, to the time of Abraham. Both Jews and Muslims revere Abraham as a messenger of God. Muslims believe Abraham’s first son Ismail, whose Egyptian mother Hagar was Sarah’s (Abraham’s wife’s) servant, gave birth to the community of those faithful to God. For Jews, Abraham’s is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel through Issac his second son born of Abraham and Sarah when he was old.

Both Islam and Judaism are monotheistic religions who have dogmatised differently the key tenets of their beliefs. Had true tolerance guided their founding fathers the conflict we see between Gaza and Israel would not have taken place. The resulting opposition between Jews and Muslims became even more difficult to reconcile with the rise of Christianity, as both Jews and Muslims regard Christianity as a polytheistic religion on account of its three in one Godhead: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And if you further add the schism of Shiite and Sunni Moslems and the Catholic and Protestant divisions in Christianity, who variously express different views, you can see why I’ve called this an insoluble problem.”

I was silent for a while considering Joe’s words, pondering over the insoluble nature of the problem.

“You would think, wouldn’t you that the causal nature of the Israel Gaza conflict would have been understood years ago?”

Joe looked at me with smiling eyes.

“Of course, and it has. There is nothing new in what I’ve said. Understanding the causal nature of a problem doesn’t automatically produce an acceptable solution. If give and take are not of equal measure and harmoniously agreed, resolution is not possible. The difficulty I’ve given example of arises from dysfunctionality, which in today’s world is even more of a problem because our societies are ethnically diverse.

Peoples who don’t appreciate the extreme dysfunctionality of their civilised societies behave like someone in an abusive marriage who hasn’t recognised there’s a problem, or of someone who has a violent and chaotic childhood but still thinks their home life is basically normal. Not only does like attract like to cause greater dysfunctional concentration, but it also directly affects their attitude toward others.

We are living in a profoundly sick dystopia that is built on a foundation of unnecessary conflict. Our news media are propaganda services, entertainment is brainwashing, political establishments are self-serving, and mainstream cultures are socially engineered, all built in the name of freedom and liberality, but the reality is entirely different, people’s BodyMind’s are shaped by mass-scale psychological manipulation, which restricts the ability to be positively tolerant.

Sure, there are people who’ve slipped outside the matrix of thought control and have gained the ability to positively harmonise, but their numbers are too small to have any political consequence, and if those numbers were to start getting too big for comfort, we would immediately see influences aimed at sowing division and confusion. It was ever thus as the saying goes.

The single biggest obstacle to our freedom is the widespread belief that we are individually able to manage our own space. Until the individual realises their BodyMind nature has been educated to conform within the society they inhabit they are unable to break free and realise the uniqueness of their creation.

Real freedom is outside the matrix of thought management. If you are aware of what I speak of, that is the first step toward freedom.”

Joe looked at his watch and rose from the sea, putting his pipe in his pocket. My mind was in a whirl. What is he proposing? Another type of world? And is he saying we’ve all got it wrong -not living as we should be to our own benefit and to others? Where did he learn all this stuff?

Concerned to think he was leaving because of my silence, I looked up and said, “I am interested in what you are saying, can I email you?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Phone number?”

He plunged his hands inside the pockets of his coat and then pulled them out to display open palms “Don’t have one”, He said with a laugh.

“That can’t be”, I said, “Everyone at least has a phone. Did you leave it aboard ship?”

“No. I don’t have a personal phone or an email, but for work I do -have to.”

“I’d like to talk with you again. How and when is that possible?”

“I’m here most afternoons around this time.” And with that he shook my hand, clapped me on the back. “You have an interesting mind.”

“Oh, how?”

“You ask the right questions.”

And whilst I was considering what he meant by that he sauntered off.

A Remarkable Man

I was as you proverbially say at a loose end, walking the high street, gazing absent mindedly into shop windows and people passing. Thinking, or rather over thinking my place in the world, questioning my purpose. The smell of coffee paused my stride and banished my thoughts. I entered the café. It was busy all tables occupied. Turning to go out I noticed one table only occupied by a big, bearded man who sat motionless with his eyes closed. The plate before him was empty.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” I asked, smiling to myself.

“Be my guest”, came the immediate reply.

Somewhat disconcerted, as he didn’t open his eyes to look at me, I sat down to await service expecting him to leave. He didn’t move or speak again. Eyes stayed closed. For all intents and purpose, I wasn’t there. He wore a fur lined jacket over a mottled coloured tea shirt and jeans. Hair and beard were well trimmed, suggesting a recent visit to a barber. Appearing not to breathe he sat motionless. As I began to be concerned some kind of health issue was in progress, the waitress tapped me on the shoulder.

“What would you like?”

“Latte please, and…. Would you like a drink?” I said loudly. The man opened his eyes and inclined his head and smiled. “Very kind of you -yes please I’ll have a Mocha”.

Surprisingly for a big man his voice was higher toned than expected. Feeling a bit sheepish, I placed the order. She smiled laughingly at me. “You’re the third one this afternoon.”

I wrinkled my brow, “What?”

She shrugged her shoulders and smiling walked away.

In askance I looked at him. “She’s referring to the man and woman who have shared their company with me.” He said.

“Oh… so you’ve been here a while then?”

“A couple of hours maybe… not in any hurry. And thank you again for the coffee, much appreciated.”

I looked at him with interest. Unlike many I know he clearly enunciated his words, and the deliberate way he spoke conveyed the impression of an intelligent educated person. I’d say he was in his sixties. His dark hair and beard were lined with grey, yet his face was strong, and he looked fit.

“Do you come here often?”

He chuckled. “First time for a long time. And yourself?”

“No. The other side of town is my usual stamping ground.

“So, what made you change your habits?”.

“Oh, I don’t know, change is as good as a rest.”

“At a loose end, are you?”

“Not exactly”, I lied

“Do you work?”

“I teach. Don’t have any classes this afternoon.”

“And what may I ask do you teach?”

“Digital and Social media courses.”

“Very much a modern man then… do you find that rewarding?”

I looked at him curiously, his question touched a soft spot. “Yes and no. I come from a computing background, so this is something like a second career. The digital world of today is outpacing me. I often find my pupils have an intuitive grasp of applications and with aspirations to engage with AI, which is not something I feel particularly comfortable about.”

“A subject of much debate from what I read, which I find amusing.”

“Amusing, how so?”

“It’s championed as new age invention, but in essence it’s as old as the hills”

“How do you make that out? Digital technology and AI is a modern invention.”

“In machine terms -yes, but what in essence does digital technology enable? It simulates human intelligence for the purposes of doing tasks and giving directions. Do you agree?”

“Simplistically speaking, yes, I can’t argue with that”.

“A task which say takes me one hour to complete, involving decision from a host of variables can be digitally programmed to achieve the same result in a matter of seconds. Even more AI can predict outcomes from inputs that would take you or me many exhausting hours to assess and produce the most advantageous results in real time. Would you say?

“Yes I would, and that gives rise to ethical outcomes as well, which is one reason why I think such development is problematical.”

“I guess concern or care depends on which side your bread is buttered on”, he said with a laugh. “For example, as no doubt you know, many investors who earn in the stock markets do so on trading platforms which use AI to determine the intrinsic value of stocks and currency and advise accordingly. If I were to use such earned money charitably, would you agree the use of AI is for the betterment of others?”

“I guess so.”

“And if only to line my own pockets?”

His line of questioning was making me think. Was he trying to catch me out?

At length I replied. “Obviously some people make money to personally advance themselves, but if the money earned was from ethically sourced shares, surely that is a more acceptable way of earning?”

He sighed and shook his head. “Money is an outcome which gets dressed up to suit the purpose of its use. When I said digital technology and AI is not new, I was referring to its function. The ways in which man’s mind works to increase fortune, care for and better themselves in today’s world is essentially no different to the man of the past. Now we program machines to think for us. Some do it to benefit others, and some do it to benefit themselves. Whether the purpose is laudable or not, someone loses what another gains.”

“True. But I don’t see how you contend that AI is not new. Surely you are not saying our ancestors exhibited a similar form of intelligence to AI?”

“Oh, but I am!”

At this point our coffee’s arrived and for a moment or two the conversation gave way to tasting our drinks. I took this opportunity to introduce myself and ask his name.

“When you must just call me Joe. Allow me to explain John. Digital technology and AI is all about making something happen quickly and by the same token being able to do many things at the same time. Ancient man’s psyche is no different from ours, he also wanted to do things quickly and get the best results. And strange as it may seem his method to get intelligence to direct and advise solutions advantageous to himself is a practise still prevalent today.

Having no idea what he could be referring to, I just stared.

He continued. “Do you know what a Jinn is?”

“Some kind of devil?”

“You can be forgiven for thinking that. There are views in the Islamic world which agree, however in pre-Islamic times the Arabians believed they were intelligent, morally responsible beings in the afterlife they were able to commune with. Throughout history in all parts of our world there have been beliefs and communication practises with the afterlife. In our present world where migrations of peoples have occurred on a large scale, you only need to look at this country to see the practise of many beliefs, and in respect of what I’m talking about those who accept an afterlife as a reality.

I can see by your expression you are wondering why on earth I am talking about spirits and people who commune with them. Let me continue before you make judgement. Man has often found himself in situations where he is at loss to understand what the outcome should be. That could be the need for a practical solution, or a requirement to solve a mental problem, and yet again it might be, more high-mindedly, the need to be guided on a moral or ethical issue.

The oracles in the Hellenic world were not only providers of spiritual guidance. People wanted to know outcomes which would support their ambitions, or cures for illness. The Shaman of Eurasia and those of South America, Medicine Men in the North and in Canada were not simply spiritual guides to their communities, they provided practical help on request. People of power often consulted such people. Saladin who is mostly remembered for his conquests to unite Muslim territories in the Middle East and the capture of Jerusalem in the 12^th century was first and foremost a religious man who took advice and guidance from Sufi exponents. And of course, not all guidance and predictions were heeded. A case in question is Saul, the first king of Israel. Despite his own edict to banish sorcerers from his kingdom, he consulted a woman of Endor on the eve of an important battle against the Philistines (disguised of course) and asked her to make contact with Samuel who informed him if he went into battle not only himself, but his three sons would die.

Whether Saul thought he was invincible, or didn’t believe what the woman had told him, we will never know. The outcome of course was as the woman predicted.”

I listened with interest. He spoke quietly with authority, but nonetheless I was not entirely convinced of the view he was projecting.”

“If I understand you right, you are saying some people, who I would call psychics, have the ability to forecast the future?”

“That depends on what you mean by future. I think the poet T.S. Eliot should be remembered for best saying this about that. “Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past.”

“So, are you saying psychics, or by whatever name they go by, don’t predict!”

“I waited while Joe savoured another draft of Mocha. Carefully replacing the cup back in its saucer, he looked me straight in they eye, and said. “Of course they do, though bear in mind some do by reading body language and the mental character of their clients. And Astrologers interpret the signs in the heavens. A few and only a few will hear from their jinn, their familiars, their afterlife inspirers.”

“I’m confused. If I’ve got this right you are, as you quote from Eliot, not believing in a future, yet you say psychics can predict it. I thought you were arguing the practise of consulting psychics is essentially no different to the functions of AI and digital technology in general.

“That’s right. Eliot goes on to say, ‘if all time is eternally present, all time is unredeemable. What might have been is an abstraction, remaining a perpetual possibility only in a world of speculation.’ If you look very carefully at what digital technology and its AI offspring is doing all outcomes are based on present knowledge. When it predicts a solution, which for arguments sake, is forward in time, it is conducting specific actions based entirely upon present knowledge. When you use that intelligence to action a need in time hence, you are doing so in present time.

A psychic able to channel higher frequency communications advising events does so in present time and the source of such communications are also present. Futures, as we conceive them, and as AI determines, are present minded speculations. When a program is written to perform certain functions accurately 100% of the time, as for example for computer hardware and their applications it can be said to function predictably, and that as I’m sure you can agree is a present process.”

Joe looked at his watch. “I have to be off John. It’s been a pleasure talking with you. I’ve no doubt we could have gone on talking for much longer. I can only hope something of what I’ve said has meaning to you. When you next order something on the internet, like me and everyone else, you’ll make decisions from the first page of suppliers shown you. And we are aided in making our decisions by the algorithmic functions which propose best buys -and it even accounts for where you live!

And before I could respond he stood up, shook my hand, and swiftly left the café.

What a remarkable man!