As you may have noticed, the writing style of the last newsletter differs significantly. Throughout high school and university, I excelled in almost all subjects, except for language—both Chinese and English, which are my weaknesses. For the past 20 years, I’ve leaned on the voluntary editing support of a couple of students. I extend my gratitude to Marianne and Michael for their assistance.
In the past, the editing process involved lengthy email exchanges, taking months to refine a 30+ page study course. Recently, I experimented with using ChatGPT to edit my 25-page YouTube video script and this brief newsletter. I could instruct it to edit with different styles, like professional or casual tone, and it even provided multiple versions for me to choose from. One of its remarkable features is its ability to seamlessly translate and edit sentences in Chinese when I struggle to express myself in English. All of this is accomplished within a minute! However, it’s not flawless, and I still have to invest a lot of time in reediting the output.
As mentioned in the past newsletter about the 180 year cycle, we are on the brink of a significant technological revolution. Much like a double-edged sword, these emerging technologies carry both benefits and drawbacks. We can choose to resist them, fear them, embrace them, or gracefully engage with them like in Tai Chi Push Hand.
Many of us have a tendency to categorize things as either good or bad. Unfortunately, much of the turmoil in our world today arises from this dualistic way of thinking. Remember, everything is just like the Tai Chi symbol and what the Dao De Jing (chapter 42) says, there is always yin within yang, and yang within yin.
Reflecting on my initial reluctance towards social media, I now recognize their utility as invaluable tools for staying connected with students on a global scale. Consequently, I have taken a step forward by creating my first Twitter account. I perceive it as a superior tool for disseminating news compared to traditional newsletters, which occasionally find their way into spam/junk folders and are automatically deleted.
While I’ll continue sending newsletters in the conventional way, those concerned about missing updates due to spam filters can subscribe to our YouTube Channel or follow us on Twitter @QigongShibashi.