Category: Uncategorized

Yesterday, I was working on my Ukrainian classics in translation project and decided to ask ChatGPT to review a few paragraphs and tell me if it’s any good.

I rarely ask the AI bot to actually write anything for me because I always end up rewriting it to my liking, and it just takes up too much time. The only reason I even started using it was because I was specifically instructed to do so at my old corporate job. Then it kinda stuck with me, but mainly using it as a silly assistant who needs to be corrected all the time.

So anyway, the chat gave me a detailed analysis of what I did right and wrong and then… decided to just go ahead and translate it for me.

Yesterday, there was a five-hour-long power outage on my street. Usually, they warn us about these things over text messages, and it rarely lasts more than an hour. The last repair only cut off power for two minutes – I barely even noticed it.

Yesterday was different, and I felt that difference.

I remember when I was still working as an English tutor, I once wrote a blog post about how to encourage children to learn the language. At the time, I thought I was so smart because I came up with this simple trick. Curiosity! Of course, if a child is curious about the world, they’ll go looking for information. And if not enough of it is available in their native tongue, surely that’ll encourage them to look up the topic in English. Right? Wrong!

At the moment of typing this, I have turned 36. I have a BA in Library Studies and an MA in Business Intelligence from a Ukrainian university (i.e. useless), and a Hubspot certificate in Content Marketing. If I had the money, I would’ve also had a few Coursera certificates to boast of, but I only ever did the auditing path.

Ever since graduating in 2013, I couldn’t help but feel that my education wasn’t enough. Partly, it’s due to having studied at a Ukrainian university and having to deal with corruption and indifference from my professors. I’ve seen many of my fellow students pursue a second Master’s — something that I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the money to actually do it.

If you’re here for the list of pseudo-intellectual books, jump straight ahead by clicking here. Or stay and read about my musings first. 🙂

The famous saying by Socrates goes “I know that I know nothing”.

Whenever I’m browsing the internet on the lookout for interesting blogs or book discussions, there is one thing that I notice.

It may be only endemic to my local inter-webs, but it seems that after decades of suppressing the natural evolution of thought, and basically skipping a generation due to repressions in the Soviet times, a new generation has surfaced of people suffering from the snobbish longing to be perceived as intellectuals.