On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:06:09 -0800, Michael Sylvester wrote: >Now that some Catholic dioceses are allowing the faithful to confess their >sins >via the iPod,
Wrong. You can confess to your iPod/iPhone or a block of wood or a brick and it would be the same: they cannot provide you absolution of your sins. See: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2011/02/iphone-ipad-offers-confession-not-absolution.html Heretics, er, I mean, Protestants might argue that one does not have to confess to a human priest nor do they require absolution from a priest for their sins. Direct communication with Jesus Christ through prayer is sufficient as long as one is sincere and contrite about the sins they have committed. >I am curious if tipsters can foresee psychotherapy using this type >of media to help clients. Fans of old AI programs will remember the mainframe program ELIZA which simulates a Rogerian (nondirective) psychotherapist and, depending upon your perspective, showed how easy it was to deceive a person with a simple program or implied that there might be less to psychotherapy than meets the eye. Nonetheless, someone is porting ELIZA to the iPhone; see: http://www.cultofmac.com/analyze-this-eliza-artifical-intelligence-app-for-the-iphone/9088 ELIZA will do until the next AI psychotherapy program comes around. Maybe an app with Albert Ellis yelling about not shoulding on yourself. By the way, this past week's episode of NOVA was on the AI system "Watson" (not psychology's Watson but the one who built up IBM) where they show ELIZA in action (on an Apple notebook) and how it made to look ridiculous with the judicious use of words. For example, ELIZA asks how you feel and most people might respond sad, anxious, or some emotional state. But if you respond "I am dead", ELIZA fails to understand that it cannot be carrying on a conversation with a dead person, but continues to ask questions about being dead. Watson is supposed to handle these types of situations which is why it will be tested by playing Jeopardy against other humans. By the way, the episode makes a good argument that we depend upon Eleanor Rosch type prototype-average to develop knowledge in contrast to following explicit rules (which is how most of AI has been programmed). >Btw,I was texting my sins to a priest in the Orlando diocese but my device >crashed-too many sins. I am not surprised. You should look into becoming a Protestant. ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8722 or send a blank email to leave-8722-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
