Chamblee54

“Believe nothing you hear, and only one-half that you see.” These are words always true. Moving lips tell lies, and wiggling fingers type nonsense. This is the case no matter which medium you work in.
Mankind started with “stories” told from one person to another. Then we started to write down these tales. After a few millennia, some Germans invented a device to print “stuff.” Next, people turned these thoughts into digital scratches, and spread them on a computer. Today, we are moving on to artificial intelligence, to transmit the genuine stupidity of the ages.
@itsgivingkyle “A cautionary tale about trusting AI: I recently heard a quote from a Tiktok “Believe nothing you hear, and half of what you see” and wanted to investigate its origin. · From a Google search, I found that the quote is commonly referenced from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” · I asked @AnthropicAI’s Claude model to give me a synopsis. The story is about an unnamed narrator visiting a mental asylum after hearing about a new rehabilitation process called “the soothing cure” · Eventually the narrator would find out that the guests at the dinner were actually the patients, who had locked up the staff. I asked Claude “where in the story does the quote come up?” · It said, “The quote “Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see” is not actually used in Poe’s story … · Confused, I copy and pasted the passage used from @QuoteResearch and said “Is this not in the story”? · “Claude swiftly replies: “I deeply apologize for my significant error in my previous responses. You are absolutely correct, and I was mistaken. The quote is indeed in the story … by Edgar Allan Poe. · Ironically, the same “proverb” I was looking up applies directly to this story. It’s common to think that computers don’t make mistakes – but AI is not exactly a computer, and makes mistakes from time to time. · So I leave you with this message: do not believe anything you hear, and only half of what you read.”
I have not read the full text of TSODTAPF. A rule of quotations is that you should only comment on texts that you have read. However, with the questionable help of wikipedia, I can offer a summary. A young man is traveling in France. There are rumors of a new way to treat the mentally ill. …
“I had heard, at Paris, that the institution of Monsieur Maillard was managed upon what is vulgarly termed the “system of soothing” — that all punishments were avoided — that even confinement was seldom resorted to — that the patients, while secretly watched, were left much apparent liberty, and that most of them were permitted to roam about the house and grounds in the ordinary apparel of persons in right mind.” Soon, the young man meets M. Maillard. He does not like what he hears.
“And you have now changed all this—and you think for the better?” · “Decidedly. The system had its disadvantages, and even its dangers. It is now, happily, exploded throughout all the Maisons de Santé of France.” · “I am very much surprised,” I said, “at what you tell me; for I made sure that, at this moment, no other method of treatment for mania existed in any portion of the country.”
“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one-half that you see. Now about our Maisons de Santé, it is clear that some ignoramus has misled you. After dinner, however, when you have sufficiently recovered from the fatigue of your ride, I will be happy to take you over the house, and introduce to you a system which, in my opinion, and in that of every one who has witnessed its operation, is incomparably the most effectual as yet devised.”
It is possible that the “system of soothing” was working well, and M. Malliard was a bad actor who elbowed his way into a position of authority. Or maybe TSODTAPF is just a story from the overcooked imagination of Eddie Poe. M. Malliard is another talking bird saying nevermore.
Google … another institution with fading integrity … has some curious replies. A video that purports to show Barry Obama talking has this text superimposed: “Believe nothing you hear and only one half that you see” With the massive influx of AI and Deep Fakes, the above quote by Edgar Allan Poe is no longer valid. Crazy, isn’t it? The above video was created using argil.ai. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. We can be reasonably sure that these pictures are genuine.