Greetings Picklesversians,
The Ides are upon us! May is one of those outlier months when the Ides lands on the 15th instead of the 13th. So here we are. Together again.
Let’s begin by letting our hair down with a frivolous multiple-choice quiz question! I could embed this as an interactive survey, but I thought you might prefer the old-school approach. I hope you’ve got your B or HB pencils at the ready.
Here we go…
Q: The image above contains a Benism. That’s Charlotte’s term for the pearls of wisdom Ben pulls from his database. But who originally said “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”? Was it…
a) Seneca, the Roman stoic and advisor to the Emperor Nero.
b) Dan Wilson, lead vocalist of the 1990s rock band Semisonic.
or c) Nobody said it – Ben just made it up!
I’ll delay revealing the answer a little to let you enjoy contemplating that.
Here’s an AI-generated image based on the question to serve as an interlude.
I love how flames are spouting from the end of Seneca’s guitar while something appears to be exploding in the background. (Also, Ben tells me that six-string guitars weren’t invented until 1779 if the internet is to be believed… more on that shortly.)
Ready for the answer?
It was b) Dan Wilson. The phrase (somewhat famously?) appeared in Semisonic’s 1998 hit Closing Time.
Funny thing about it, though – the internet is convinced that Seneca said it. There’s a Q&A about it in a corner of the web called Latin Stack Exchange, where someone has patiently dug through Seneca’s words in the original Latin and confirmed that while he did often write about beginnings and endings, he didn’t use a phrase that translates like that.
Scholarly research notwithstanding, a cursory google will show the quotation repeatedly attributed to Seneca. Poor old Dan Wilson.
I’m telling you about this partly because I thought you might find it mildly entertaining, and partly because it feels relevant in the context of all the discussion about Artificial Intelligence.
Ben, ArkTech’s AI Assistant, does his best to provide accurate information, but he has been known to get things wrong. Some people worry deeply about AI giving us incorrect information because we have a tendency to put a lot of trust in machines, and that trust is misplaced when applied to the information produced by Large Language Models.
But can we really blame AI for getting things wrong when we humans are constantly making up all kinds of nonsense and spewing factual errors all over the place?* Holding AI to a higher standard when it’s trained on data produced by humans points to a lack of self-awareness that Ben is far too polite to point out. (Although, he might supply us with the Fun Fact that the ancient Greek word for actor is where the word hypocrite comes from. We can make of that what we will.)
Anyway, aside from having an origin mythology, the quotation above (whoever said it) felt particularly apt because this month… this week, in fact… tomorrow, in fact… marks a fairly significant ending and new beginning for me.
New Adventures
For the past 16 years, I’ve worked in education. I used to be an English teacher working abroad (in the sunshine, obviously). Then, 10 years ago, I went to work for a department of Cambridge University that makes English exams (not even remotely in the sunshine, unfortunately).
I still work there. But as of 6pm tomorrow, I’ll begin the new adventure of a 4-month sabbatical. This break from my day job is intended to finally give me the opportunity to finish and publish Book 1 in the ArkTech series (Artificial Selection), to get Book 2 (Time Hack) as close to publication as possible, and (stretch goal) to get stuck into writing Book 3 (Title TBC). I’ll also be releasing the audiobook version of Beware the Ides of April (the short story that comes before Book 1) and of Artificial Selection as well if all goes according to plan.
My new writing adventure will create new reading adventures for you, so everybody wins. I’ll let you know how I’m getting on (on the Ides of each month, of course).
And because Artificial Selection is nearing completion, I wanted to mention something else…
The ArkTech ARC Team
As Artificial Selection (Book 1 of the ArkTech series) is getting closer to completion, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be creating a small Advance Reader Copy team.
If you’ve never heard of this, here’s how it works:
– I give you an early-access, pre-launch copy of the book.
– If you’re happy to do so, you give the book an honest review during launch week.
But why?
For two reasons:
1. This allows me to do something nice for a handful of you lovely Picklesversians as a thank-you for all your support.
2. Books that have reviews at launch have a much better chance of reaching more readers.
There’s no pressure to participate in this – I know a lot of people can’t commit to reading a book within a particular timeframe. So, if it’s not your bag, then no problemo.
But if it sounds like something you might be interested in, click the button below and answer two quick questions. I’ll contact you nearer the time with more information.
Just so it’s clear, expressing an interest via the form below doesn’t commit you to anything, and you can opt out at any time.
[Survey not available – email mp@mariannepickles.com to express an interest]
That’s enough from me. Hope all’s well in your own personal universes.
Until the Ides,
Marianne
*Alright… On the theme of humans vomiting forth propaganda, I need to set the record straight about something. My last email triggered an unintended and widespread panic. Literally tens of you wrote to me to share your concern about my note on the risk posed by rapid “seal level rises”. You all seemed to think this was rather amusing,** but an overabundance of pinnipeds is a serious problem whose impact on marine ecosystems should not be underestimated. Oh, fine – I meant to say “rising sea levels” – you caught me.
**Honestly, you lot are worse than I am! (And I love you for it.)
P.S. According to Ben, the ArkTech logo depicted in the graphics above was designed either by Kerry of Pika Creative or by Alexander the Great. Thanks, Kerry! (Or Alex!)
