11011000101👻111101010010 - English Addict 🔴LIVE stream - Episode 301 / Sun 21st JULY 2024

As the great Aristotle once said,

I think therefore,

What was the question again?

Here we are. It's a beautiful day.

It's ever so nice outside.

I can't begin to tell you how lovely the weather is.

We are really, really having a nice time with the weather.

It is English addict.

We are back together again.

It's so nice to be with you once more live on YouTube.

Coming to you from the birthplace of the English language.

You know where it is by now.

It is, of course, England. We.

We are back together again.

It's so nice to see you once more here on the internet.

That is where we are, by the way. Hi, everybody.

This is Mr. Duncan in England.

How are you today?

Are you okay? I hope so. Are you happy?

I hope you are feeling happy today because we are here together again.

I am an English addict.

I love the English language and I have a feeling

perhaps you are one of those as well.

In which case you will have definitely come to the right place.

I was thinking earlier

about flies and now I can't stop itching.

Have you ever noticed that whenever you think of something, especially something affecting you,

your body?

After a while, you start to imagine that that thing is happening to you.

So I was thinking of flies landing on my body.

This morning.

And ever since then, all I've done is feel as if

flies are landing on me, which is not a very nice feeling.

So we are back together again.

I was looking around my studio this morning.

I was moving some of my lovely equipment

and I found these really unusual

things very strange things.

Can you see them?

I'm not sure what they are.

So I found this

behind my computer

and I found this underneath my desk on the floor.

And I think these things have been here for quite a long time,

but I'm not actually sure what they are.

Does anyone know what these are?

And what do you use them for?

They're very unusual.

This one is very strange.

I have no idea what you might do with that.

And this?

This is a very strange device.

Something happens here at the end. But.

But I'm not sure what exactly you do with it.

Isn't it strange?

What a strange thing.

I think this probably should be in a museum.

Maybe

some people say the same thing about me.

It is so nice to see you here again.

It is very nice to have your company on this Sunday afternoon.

Today we are looking at something rather

deep, something with a lot of meaning.

Also something that I would say.

I think it is fair to say a lot of people are concerned about

reality,

metaphysics. Oh, Mr.

Duncan,

that is a big word for a Sunday afternoon.

I have to agree with you.

Metaphysics, the study of reality.

We often look at that particular subject

from a philosophical point of view.

It is often stated as the first philosophy,

the one that is the most important because it

is everything.

When you think about it, reality is everything.

Metaphysics is the study of what

we see as being real.

Real things, reality, the things that happen to you

and the things that happen to me as I always say, this is my own theory.

This is not something that has been written down

by any scientists or philosophers, but from my point of view,

I don't think there is one single reality.

I think there is.

There are actually many realities that we all experience individually,

so between one person and another person,

reality is slightly different, not much,

but from our own experiences

and the way we see the world around us as individual people,

reality is slightly different.

So may maybe your experiences of life,

maybe where you live, maybe your your whole situation in your life

might mean.

In fact, it does mean that your reality

is slightly different from someone else's.

So each individual person has a different reality,

even though overall reality is the same thing

we all eventually meet in the middle.

So the reality is the central part of it.

Mr. Duncan, I cannot believe

you have opened your live stream

with such a big topic, but it is one

that can be quite fascinating.

We are looking at technology the way in which technology is used,

the way it affects your life and also my life.

In fact, I would say

80%, 85% of this planet

is in some way affected by techno

in some way from the most basic tools that have been made

to to the most sophisticated electronic devices

that also exist in this present time.

So we are here today.

We also have Mr.

Steve here, bringing everything down to a certain level.

Mr.. Steve will be here later on.

I suppose I should give you the the warning that Mr.

Steve will be with us at around about 2:30.

So you can see from the clock it will be around

about 19 minutes from now.

Mr.. Steve will be with us on the live chat.

I wonder what Steve has been doing over the past few days.

I don't know.

Well, I do now, but I have to pretend

that I don't know, even though I do know exactly what Mr.

Steve has been doing, because I do share some of Mr.

Steve's reality. Not much of it.

By the way, I had a

strange dream last night, a really weird dream,

and this is something we will be talking about later on as well.

The the consciousness

of a human being and also the, the subconscious,

the things that go on in the background of our minds

during our day to day lives.

Sometimes when we sleep, that hidden part of our mind

might come alive and start to interact with the rest of the brain.

And that's what happened last night with me.

I had this really weird dream that I started working

at a funeral parlour,

which sounds rather depressing, but I know already.

I know from last night that particular dream was my subconscious

trying to make sense

of those things that are in the back of my mind.

And I do know, I do actually know

that something has been going on in my mind

over the past few weeks from from just before we went on holiday.

So before we went to Italy, Mr.

Steve and myself, this is something we haven't mentioned, but we decided to write our wills.

Not a very cheerful thing to do, but we did just in case

something happened whilst we were on holiday

and that started a little thing

going on in the back of my, my mind, in my subconscious.

And then of course, of course, I was thinking about my mother

and my own mortality and then my birthday

coming up in about three weeks from now.

The 12th of August, by the way, is my birthday.

For those who don't know what it is.

And of course, next year it is my big birthday.

If you

follow me, you will know exactly how old I am next year.

So all of these things have been going on in the back of my mind, in my subconscious.

So last night I had this very strange dream

where I was working for

a funeral director and I was just helping.

I wasn't doing anything gruesome.

I wasn't touching the bodies or anything like that.

I had nothing to do with that.

But but I was involved in some way,

and I think it is

part of my subconscious telling me or trying to make sense

of all of these things that have been worrying me over the past few weeks.

So not necessarily one thing in particular,

but a combination of things.

And I have to say, I have been very aware

of those feelings and thoughts, not directly.

They haven't affected my life in any way.

However, they have been going on

in the back of my mind, in my subconscious.

It has all been going on.

So I woke up this morning after having this really weird dream and I felt

quite well.

I felt quite almost relieved

of the burden.

Very strange.

So the mind, the human mind is quite a fascinating thing.

And yes, it is true.

There is so much we don't know about the human brain.

There are many things we have no idea of.

We don't.

We still don't understand how we can imagine

or remember things or relive things in our minds.

We still don't really understand how that works.

There are people, of course, who debate whether

or not consciousness is a real thing at all.

Well, maybe it is just part of the function of the brain.

It is a very interesting thing, and

I have to say, we will be talking about some of this today with Mr.

Steve as well.

Technology, the way in which technology

has changed our lives from the simple things to the very complicated things.

Of course, yesterday day a lot of people were talking about technology

because of the big problem with the internet.

Many internet services, many devices,

most of them relating to big companies.

So big companies that use certain types of software,

they were affected by one problem

that came from some security software.

And because of that slight problem,

many devices around the world were affected.

So it does show how much we rely

on modern technology these days.

It is incredible

how much technology affects my life.

Your life.

I would imagine this morning, at some point this morning,

you have used technology for something.

I know I have, in fact,

I'm using it right now.

I'm using some very sophisticated technology right now to do this for you.

So it is interesting and I think it is a very interesting subject,

especially when we talk about the the connection

between what we feel

and what machines can do.

Some people believe that there is or there will be at some point,

a connection between those two things.

Some people believe it's happened already.

Personally, I don't believe it.

I don't think it's happened just yet, but we are on the way

towards something changing anyway,

especially the way we learn things.

So I think the biggest thing that modern technology will change

is the way we learn and the way we process new information.

I think that will be the big change in the future.

Hello to the live chat.

I hope all of this talk, all of this deep

talk about metaphysics has not put you off.

In fact, it might be very interesting.

I have a feeling that a lot of people are interested in this type of subject.

I know I am.

I like reading stories, science fiction, stories

about the future, the way it could be, the way things might be.

Isaac Asimov, who we will be talking about later on.

By the way, a famous author wrote a lot about science fiction

and also robotics as well.

Hello to the live chat, Beatrice.

Oh, hello, Beatrice.

It's nice to see you here today.

Thank you very much for joining me.

And yes, you are first on today's live chat.

A round of applause for

Beatrice and a round of drinks for me.

Also, we have Vitesse.

Vitesse, you are second.

Once again, your finger is a little slow today.

Beatrice.

I think Beatrice has been practising

her finger clicking, I think so, we also have Valentine.

Hello, Valentine and Marut.

Marut is here as well.

Also Florence.

Hello. Only videos.

Hello only videos.

It's a very interesting name you have there.

Does that mean that you only watch videos?

Or maybe you only make videos?

Perhaps.

Hello also too.

Palmira is here as well.

Payam. Hello, Payam.

Nice to see you as well.

yes, he is here.

you know who I'm talking about?

Luis Mendez

is here today.

Hello, Louis.

Nice to see you here as well.

Very nice to see so many people here.

Vadim.

Hello, Vadim.

Who is watching in sunny Ukraine.

You have sunshine there as well.

I have to say, I am enjoying the weather again.

It has been a bit horrible to say the least.

But today at least it is nice.

We have some nice weather.

It's not warm, it's only around 18 Celsius

but outside the weather is rather nice.

There it is.

Now a lot of people ask Mr.

Duncan, is that really the live view from your window?

Yes it is.

That is the view from my window right now, looking out

towards the beautiful surroundings in which I live.

Mr. Steve is

eight minutes away from being with us.

Who else is here? Claudia. Hello, Claudia.

Can I say happy birthday for last Thursday?

I did see some of your posts on Facebook,

and all I can say is I think you had a rather exciting birthday.

I am so tired today.

I have been celebrating my birthday on Thursday and also yesterday as well.

It was a lot of work.

I hope you got lots of gifts.

I hope you received lots of presents as well G hero.

Hello hero, nice to see you here as well.

I wonder where you are watching.

Oh please tell me I really want to know because I'm.

Well, I'm quite nosy, to be honest with you.

Who else is here?

Marut SEO Iannucci is here as well.

Watching in

Italy,

a place we were at a few weeks ago.

Isn't it strange how fast time flies by?

It only seems like last week when we were in Italy,

but now it's it's almost a month ago.

Incredible.

I still can't believe it, to be honest.

In fact, I think it might be longer than a month.

Can you believe that?

I really can't.

Hello, Florence.

We have Florence here as well.

We have

Team New in who is here as well.

Hello. Do you remember Blue Thunder?

Yes, I do, I remember Blue Thunder.

What if my younger viewers who would often watch as well.

Are you Blue Thunder?

I wonder?

Maybe you are.

We also have. Who else is here?

Tom is here.

Hello to Tom Roberts.

Thank you very much for coming as well.

Hello, Rosa.

I was involved and I helped a homeless cat and it was so stressful.

The cat started to come here

and he eventually conquered my heart.

That is what they do.

That is what animals do.

They will slowly work their way into your heart.

Like.

Like some human beings do.

Have you noticed that people, animals,

they all have that magical power?

Well, some people do.

Not all people, but quite often with pets, especially pets,

certain animals such as cats and dogs.

There are a lot of people who cannot resist

if they see a cat walking around the street on its own,

they find it very hard not to take that cat in and look after it.

My sister, my younger sister

often does that and so does Mr.

Steve sister as well.

They will often take in stray animals that they find in the street.

I know what you're going to say, Mr.

Duncan.

What about you?

Have you ever taken in any stray animals?

Well, you might say that I am a stray animal that Mr.

Steve took in many, many years ago.

So the stray animal in my case is actually me.

It's true.

Steve will be here soon.

Now, can I just look at something very quickly?

I was going to do this later, but instead I'm going to do it right now.

Here's an interesting word that we often use in English.

The word is anticipation.

I am feeling that particular thing right now.

So at the moment I am feeling anticipation.

I am feeling excited

for something that is coming towards me.

Maybe a moment of time, maybe a certain activity,

something that I'm going to do or maybe a part of

time or

a moment of time that I'm I'm really looking forward to.

For example, you might say, I can't wait for.

I can't wait for something.

You are waiting for something, but you can't wait.

You are excited because it will happen eventually.

So quite often I can't wait for something.

Maybe you can't wait for something to happen.

Maybe you can't wait for something to arrive.

Maybe you.

You've ordered something

and it's going to be delivered to your house.

Maybe today or tomorrow.

Perhaps you are really excited about it.

You have anticipation.

You are waiting for it.

Anticipation can also be negative,

I suppose, so you can have anticipation.

Maybe you are slightly worried

about something that might happen, or you are.

You are excited about something that is going to happen.

I can't wait to

what?

I can't wait to see Mr.

Steve in a few moments from now, because Steve

will be with us in a few moments.

We will be taking a short break, but Steve will be here in the studio.

We are taking a look at technology, the way technology

affects our lives and the way it affects you and me.

And of course,

all of the possible causes and effects

that modern technology can have as well.

All of that coming up in a few moments from now,

a short break and then we are back with Mr.

Steve.

This is English Addict on Sunday afternoon.

Don't go away.

I'm a big boy now.

We are here together today.

I hope you are feeling good as well.

Please give me a like.

If you like this, then please give me one of these and I will be ever so pleased.

Thank you very much for joining me today. We have a lot to talk about.

We are going all metaphysical today.

Oh, Mr. Duncan,

what has happened to you, I wonder?

We are going to delve deep into a certain subject,

something that may or may not be interesting.

We will have to wait and see.

Talking of things that are deep

and interesting.

Here he comes, everyone.

He is back by popular demand from his parole officer.

Here he comes.

It is, of course, the one,

the only, Mr.

Steve.

Hello.

Hello, beautiful, wonderful viewers from across the globe.

I say that every week, but it's very true.

You're here once again.

We're all here once again for an exciting journey through the world of English.

And, how's it been going so far, Mr. Duncan?

I can see plenty of comments on the live chat.

I have to switch. As you know, I love to look at.

It has been a busy one today.

It's been very, very busy.

And yes, we are here together.

Just to prove it, there is Mr.

Steve in his cosy corner, looking very relaxed today.

Oh yes, I could fall asleep on this comfy sofa

that once belonged to my grand parents. So?

So a lot of people that realise that just just how comfortable that corner is.

In fact, I'm going to let you in on a secret.

Something that I've never told anyone before on the live chat

till after this live stream.

I will often go and sit in Mr.

Steve's chair where he's sitting there, because it is a very comfortable corner.

It is it is comfortable.

It is a nice place to sit and relax and unwind.

I thought it smelt a bit funny over here, Mr. Duncan.

I was wondering where the smell was coming from.

Now I know you've been sitting in my chair.

Okay, that's.

That's. I'm joking.

Of course.

Okay. Mr. Duncan is always very clean.

That's that's good to know. Yes.

thank you, sir.

That's completely thrown me.

By the way, this is a very strange thing to suddenly bring up, but there you go.

That's what it's all about. That's what this is.

If you are expecting something

that is dull and boring, then you are in the wrong place.

Because this is rather unusual, to say the least.

Talking about which Mr.

Steve is with us.

A lot of people today are busy on the live chat.

Mr.. Steve,

I see you've been talking about pets.

Well, it's interesting ownership.

It's interesting because it came up randomly.

In fact, I didn't even mention it.

I was talking about metaphysics.

And then and then suddenly the live chat moved

to another subject which was pets or

or should I say animals that people take in.

And I know I did mention this a few moments ago, but your sister,

your sister will often take in animals, stray animals.

Is that true?

No, no, no, my sister doesn't take in stray animals.

So your sister did know your sister has taken stray animals in now?

Really?

Now that she's got cats and two cats, where do the cats come from?

Then she buys them.

yes, she buys them. They're not.

They're not strays.

I always thought, well, it just goes to show, doesn't it?

Yeah, it just goes to show.

Yeah. It's my sister's watching. I know she can verify it.

Are you watching? I don't know, sister. Jesus.

Nobody.

Nobody we know in real life would ever dare watch this.

But no, she doesn't.

She buys them from a reputable pet stores or breeders.

I don't know where you buy cats from. No. Well, that's.

That's what I was thinking, because these days, a lot of people will not take in

animals that they've bought from an expensive place or a breeder.

They will go to maybe a dog's home

or maybe they will take in a stray animal that they found.

Or maybe sometimes what happens is they will come round your house and they will.

They will sort of walk around.

And then over a period of time you will develop

a connection with them.

Well, eventually they are they are.

What they're trying to do is get into the house.

Bye bye.

Does that. Well then you want one thing done.

They mean, let's face it, we were discussing pets.

I was at a party last night, and Mr.

Duncan, I feel a bit, worse for wear.

As we say, if you've had maybe a little too much alcohol.

Too much food.

You stay up late the next day, you might feel a bit worse for wear.

Is what we say.

Just feeling a bit tired a bit, you know, not hung over because I didn't have that much to drink.

But yeah, we were talking about pets and somebody made the comment about a cat,

that you never actually own a cat.

the cat owns you,

because the cat just wanders off when it feels like it comes back.

They're very independent creatures. Yes.

but do you remember that time

when we were friendly to a cat

that came round our house

when we were living in Wolverhampton, and we decided to be kind to this cat?

Oh, yes, I know what you're going to say. Yes.

And we took it home.

We'd feed it and eventually it would sit on us, sat on a little.

We had a like a two seater bed settee.

Okay.

And and then one day it just turned on us and scratched as both.

Yeah. Well, it actually scratched me.

I don't know if it was a, I think it was the neighbour's cat.

It was next door and it started coming round and it would, it would come into the house

when you weren't looking and then suddenly it would be there in the house.

we, lovely cat.

We were going, oh, yeah, lovely cat.

Have some food, take it in.

And then one day was sitting with us on the sofa. Yeah.

And it just suddenly lashed out at us. Me?

It scratched me, not scratched you.

I've still got the scars somewhere on my hand. Yes.

Really horrible.

And it really did scratch quite deeply into my hand. Yes.

Maybe it was just saying I don't like you.

And what did you do, Mr. Duncan?

What did I do? Yes.

When the cat scratched you, I didn't strangle the cat, I did.

I did throw it outside the mews.

You kicked it, didn't you?

You opened the front door and then booted it out of the house.

Yes, well, I was bleeding. I know.

And then, to add insult to injury.

Okay, that's a good phrase.

So something's happened to you.

Oh, and then something worse happens down the line.

Don't tell them about the fleas. Well, I'm about to.

We discovered that this cat was full of fleas, and it had infected.

It had left fleas and eggs all over the sofa,

and they all hatched out and leave it getting bitten everywhere.

And it must have gone upstairs because we found them in the bed. Yes.

These big fleas.

It was disgusting.

Took ages to get rid of them. We had to.

We literally we we took.

We threw the sofa out.

I could see them bouncing all over these giant fleas.

It was horrible experience.

So I'll never go.

I've never been near a cat ever since. So that it's.

But it's interesting, isn't it?

How how these things can can start off with one tiny event.

So the cat comes in and you feel, oh, look, it's a little cat.

And the next it's it's scratching, you're bleeding everywhere.

And your house is then full of fleas because the cat had fleas and the neighbours

obviously were not looking after the cat properly, which is why it was coming round to us.

Because yes, it felt safer.

It felt better with us, even though it didn't seem to like me very much.

We had to.

We had to, treat all the bedding and spray the furniture with

insecticide

to weeks to get rid of them, because the eggs kept hatching out.

Fortunately, it was many, many years ago,

so we don't as far as I know, I'm not.

I'm not quite sure, to be honest.

We don't have fleas anymore.

No we don't, although I was thinking of them earlier, I was thinking of flies

and things landing on me, and then suddenly I felt as if I was itching.

It's a sort of psychological thing.

If you think of things, sometimes you can actually start to feel

the the actual effect of the thing that you're thinking of.

So I was doing earlier, of course, if you're if you if you live in in countries

outside the UK, you're always going to be wary.

local people in other countries are always wary of rabies

and which we don't have in the UK we do rabies free.

We used to have cases.

I remember in the 1970s there were occasionally cases

of something called hydrophobia, which is rabies.

It's a horrible, horrible

illness that is passed on to through animal bites.

And and it's not very nice if you get it because it destroys your brain, though.

It's, it's it's sentence.

So you eventually lose control of all of your nerves.

And it's a very slow, horrible demise.

And British people, when they go on holiday,

see we're used to if you watch British people

when they see other people with their pets

or wild dog or a cat, they go, well, oh hello.

Nice Torquay, nice cat.

But always going over to them because we don't see the danger.

But if you do that in other countries

where they have rabies then you are taking a big risk. Yes.

Unless you've had a rabies inoculation.

Yeah.

then but, but yes, we're always very English people are always very over friendly with pets.

But I'm not anymore, because of that bad experience.

And I've had bad, bad experiences with cats when I was younger because I used to.

I used to take piano lessons.

My parents used to send me for piano lessons.

Very posh. We were.

And, the lady that, the teacher, I never I never liked her.

She was a retired concert pianist, and she was very strict.

Very strict. She used to.

If you didn't do it right, she used to slap your hands

if you didn't play the right notes.

And she was probably in her 70s, 80s.

And she had these cats.

And, you arrived waiting for your lesson,

and these cats would be stalking around, and they'd suddenly leap on you

from somewhere and scratch you, and

I'm sorry, cat lovers.

I'm sure that there are a lot of very nice cats out there.

Yeah, Tom has said that sometimes,

that that his cat is watching us while we're on the live stream.

As, So you have Cat watching us today,

and this is it sort of looking evilly at as.

Yeah, well, all you have to do is this

that's what people do when they see a cat.

Whenever you see a cat, I don't know why, but you always do this.

Because you're trying to attract the cat to you.

But I don't know what this is about.

I don't know why we do this, but we is. Do.

Yeah, yeah.

Thinks it's getting some food.

Anyway. People don't seem to be like is talking about cats are.

We've had a mood change into another subject I think really

that it's just that the viewers seem to be dropping rapidly

and I think they've come on, heard us talking about cats and they thought, we're off.

Well, they're up there are people who take it too far, though, aren't there, Steve?

There.

In fact, it it has become an insult,

a form of insult

to say that a person is a cat person or a cat lady,

and that's normally a person who lives alone

and their house is full of cats.

So not just 1 or 2 cats, but maybe eight,

10 or 12, or even 20 friends, all living in the house.

So imagine, well, first of all, imagine the state of the house, because cats

like scratching things and destroying things, but

also think of the smell as well.

Like, oh, stay with me.

But let's see. Oh, hello, Mauricio.

said my son Mauricio.

Mauricio, my son took a cat

from the street when he lived in another city.

and he returned to Rome.

And now the cat is with us.

She's a very nice tortoiseshell with long fur.

Well,

you got lucky, obviously.

It could have been a disaster.

It could have been full of fleas and might have scratched you.

But obviously that's a very nice cat.

As opposed to the cat that we took in,

which was not very nice at all.

but it can happen.

I think animals are temperamental.

if even dogs, dogs of course

can suddenly change their behaviour,

maybe if they feel threatened or maybe if they,

they are protecting their owner, they can also turn very quickly.

They can sense fear. Yeah.

So I think if a cat comes near me, it senses fear and it knows I doesn't.

I don't like it.

I'm very wary wondering what it's going to do.

So it senses that and and plays on that.

They, they sort of

they're quite sort of psychological aren't they.

Cats. They're sort of.

Yeah.

They're almost I think cats sometimes can be a bit, I'm going to, I'm going to,

offend people here, but they're a bit bit psychopathic.

I think cats are nice to you all animals are really aren't like

cat, cat, cat cats.

cats are unusual creatures because they

they kind of want to have the comfort of the house,

but also they want to be able to explore the outside as well.

So I think cats are slightly more they are more unpredictable than dogs,

which is probably why these days a lot of people prefer to have a dog,

even though dogs also can be a little,

cats are predators, says Palmira.

It's nature.

Nothing to do with it. Yeah, well that's true, they are.

They're predators.

and, obviously we we

we probably weren't going to have any birds that they kill every year.

We won't go into that. but,

Marico also has 20 fish.

there's cats, there's.

Doesn't a cat put its paw into the into the fish tank to try and get the fish out?

That that's not quite so bad though, because you can keep fish in one place.

And to be honest with you, if if I had a choice

between keeping a cat and keeping a fish,

I think I would prefer to have the fish

because all you have to do is feed it

now and again with a little bit of fish food,

and maybe sometimes you have to clean its little bowl or tank.

But, I suppose with 20 fish, I would imagine.

And this is something we, we, we used to do, by the way, at home with my family,

we used to keep tropical fish in a big tank.

So it's an amazing thing.

And they are they are the most gorgeous of creatures, tropical fish.

They take a lot of looking after.

You really do have to take care of them.

And of course, because they're tropical Steve, you have to keep the water at a certain temperature.

So everything has to be connected to these, to these small heaters

that go into the water and they keep everything at a certain temperature.

So, so tropical fish, they have to have a lot of maintenance

and they can be quite expensive as well.

So some of these tropical fish, they're beautiful.

There is a certain type of fish called an angel fish.

And they have the beautiful fins that go off as they as they swim around.

And they are the most gorgeous fish, but they can be expensive.

And of course, you can have the occasional disaster, Mr..

Steve, which we had when we woke up one morning,

we came downstairs and part of the fish tank had cracked

and all the water had leaked out from the fish tank

and the living room

was covered in water, and all the fish were at the bottom of the tank.

Of course.

They weren't very well.

But did they survive? They did not.

Oh dear.

Very nice. There is one thing that fish like.

They like to have water and a little bit of oxygen now and again.

So not too much oxygen.

So they basically all, I suppose you could say they,

they drowned in an air.

Well my, my, I used to work for a company and my boss had a huge,

fish tank full of, tropical fish.

By the way, Mariko, are they tropical fish or freshwater fish?

but my, my, my boss had my manager had these.

Really beautiful.

It was huge tank.

It must have been about that big, full of all these tropical fish.

And one day he went on holiday.

And while he was away, there'd been a power cut,

and all the fish were dead when he came back, because they went.

I think once the temperature drops. Yes.

they don't survive for very long.

He was they do. Was very upset about it.

I can, I can well imagine.

So even though they are lovely to look at and quite often you go into restaurants.

Thank you Steve.

And some of these restaurants they have, they have the fish tank

and it's built into the wall. Yes.

And they have hundreds of fish all swimming around.

And it always amazes me how they how they take care of all of those fish in that huge tank.

It must take a lot of of cleaning.

And but when you go to a restaurant, a fish restaurant

or a seafood restaurant. Yes.

it always puts me off a bit

because you go in and they've got all the big tanks, haven't they?

Yeah.

With the, with the lobster in and the crabs are all still alive.

And then you, you, you sort of point

to one and they take it out and cook it for you.

Yeah.

But I don't like sitting there at a table and I can see all these

sea creatures, you know,

like the, lobster all sort of

moving around in the tanks and, and knowing that someone's

going to pick one of those and that's going to be thrown into boiling water. Yes.

And killed I don't like I'm not a fan of seafood.

I don't mind fish.

It's like it's like going somewhere

and there's a cow and they kill the cow and get the beef.

Steve.

Yes. Fish also are killed.

Yes I know, yeah.

Yeah, I know they are. But you don't see it, do you?

So it's like you're not seeing them. You don't see a cow being killed.

So it's, it's a bit like going to a field and, and maybe you go to a steak house

and at the back they have a field with cows

and you can go into the field and choose the cow that you want.

can I have, can I have the leg of that, that cow over there?

That cow seems very, very muscly.

Can I have that one, please?

So, yes, I suppose it would be different if we could actually go

and choose the animals whilst they're still alive.

Maybe. Maybe everything wouldn't be.

It wouldn't be quite the same.

I know it's like lamb. Oh, yes. Can I have some.

Can I have lamb please?

Okay. Which one?

Which one do you want us to kill for? You.

And then.

Yeah, you know, wouldn't it wouldn't happen.

I mean, meat has to be sort of left hanging for a while, doesn't it?

For the blood to come out or something before you anyway. Eat it.

So. But.

Yeah, if we had to kill her.

I mean, I don't even like cutting it.

I had to cut up an onion today to put in our meal.

I don't even like cutting up an onion because,

you know, it's like you're killing the plant.

I mean, we'd you'd starve to death.

If you're worried about killing plants, even chopping up

sometimes, chopping up a carrot and I'm thinking, oh, I'm killing this carrot.

It's silly. Really. I think you will find that carrot. Might be.

It might already be, somewhat deceased, but it could if you, you know, you anyway.

Yes. Anyway, Steve, do know we're not vegetarians, actu.

We are not vegetarians. We are not.

But if you asked us to kill our own meat,

we probably would become vegetarians quite quickly.

my, my dad used to take me fishing

and, Do you like my action of fishing there?

That's very good.

And, I didn't like catching the fish

because they looked like they were suffering on the end of the hook.

Yes, well, I think it is a bit painful

because you have a you have a hook that goes through your face.

So imagine that if you got if you've got a giant sharp hook and then put it through your face

and then and then you were lifted up by it,

I would imagine it would be a little uncomfortable to say the least.

Just to answer Tom's question, yes,

when I'm in my performances,

plays, musicals, operettas, it's.

Yeah, I don't get I don't get paid.

No, we're an amateur group,

so amateurs normally don't get paid

unless you're particularly good and in demand.

That's quite rare.

So yeah, we're all a group of about 30 people,

and the only person that gets paid well, there's two people that get paid,

the musical director and the producer.

so all of the actors on the stage, you're all doing it.

You're doing it for free.

You're doing it because you love it.

It's like.

It's like a public service, really.

It's like charity.

Then we have this conversation last week, probably,

See, says I have a tropical aquarium, and it's maintenance is easy.

The problem is during summer when the temperature is.

Because the correct temperature should be 26 Celsius. Yes.

I suppose you could have the opposite problem, couldn't you, Steve?

Yeah.

Instead of the temperature dropping, you might have too much temperature or too high temperature.

And then the fish also won't survive

in that situation that that's happening in,

in some of the oceans, isn't it, where the,

the sea temperature is rising and certain types of plant life,

coral is not surviving.

And that's affecting all of the fish that that thrive on those certain types of plant.

And also coral.

So it is interesting.

So we always think of the temperature dropping.

But of course it can.

It can also be too hot.

So you might come back one day and find all of your fish have all been cooked.

So if it's 26, if it needs to be kept at 26 degrees

and the temperature in, Rome is, say, 40,

I'm presuming then you might have air conditioning in your house.

Yeah.

So that is what would keep the temperature down, I'm guessing.

But I would imagine.

no, Tom, we haven't got the performance on YouTube.

We weren't allowed to film it this time.

Apparently, I don't know why we asked for.

I don't know why

that matters.

I have this lovely phrase like, I can't remember where where it came from.

Amateurs.

So IT professionals know how to do something.

Amateurs think they know how to do something.

Where have you? Where did you get that definition from?

I don't know, it's I'm just trying to think, actually who who, who it came from.

Technically, the only difference between an amateur and a professional is

that one gets paid and the other one doesn't. Yeah.

I mean, wait, I've been in some

I've seen some amateur productions and they're better than some of the ones.

You see the West End.

And we've had people come up to us after some productions we've put on

and they've said, I've seen this same production in the West End, and yours was better.

and in fact, I've been in choir things

where the amateur crowds were better than the professional clubs.

Oh, by the way, I think it was Truman Capote

who said that.

Who said festivals now have to do something.

Amateurs think they know how to do something.

I'm sure it was Truman Capote.

Well, sometimes that is definitely true.

I mean, you get you get different with professional performances.

The the level, the the level of the performance is usually fairly good.

And at, you know, always consistently at a good level

because otherwise people wouldn't pay to go and see it.

With amateur performances, there is a big variance between

a good performance and a bad performance.

There's a very big, wide band there.

Oh, there's a there's a chasm.

Yeah, you can get very good ones and you can get really awful ones usually.

But like the one we went to see last week that was rather awful, wasn't it?

As I said, I won't go into that anyway.

Anyway, we are coming up to 3:00.

We have a big subject today, Mr.. Steve.

I'm not sure if your brain is ready for this, I doubt it.

You might have to give it a little shake to wake it up.

It's a bit like one of those snow globes,

but instead of snow floating around, it's a little brain.

So give it a little shake, Mr. Steve,

please don't storm off.

Don't leave me. Don't go away.

Today we are looking at metaphysics with metaphysics.

Metaphysics, the philosophical study

of reality, things to do with reality.

But in fact, most of that conversation will come from the main subject,

which is, of course, technology, which has been in the news.

I would say that over the past 4 or 5 years we have been talking about technology

quite a lot because it has become something that we all need and we all use every day.

Right now I'm standing here

using all sorts of different technology.

Mr. Steve is sitting over there.

He's in the corner of his comfy,

comfy corner, the very comfortable corner.

It's the most comfortable corner in the world.

And yet Mr.

Steve still has to use some technology

so he can read the live chat.

So it is true that quite often in life

technology does affect us quite a lot.

So we will be looking at that a little bit later on.

A lot of people were talking about the carols earlier,

so I thought we would have some more of the cows

and then we will talk about today's lovely topic.

Please don't go away.

For the first time

since we moved here, we have no cows at the back of the house.

It's very, very unusual.

I can't believe it.

It just seems strange, isn't it, Steve?

Yes. That's the sad part about that video is that

we don't have a repeat of the cows this year.

but, yeah, the,

the field at the back is very tall,

just long grass that's all flopped over.

It's while the rain is completely wild at the back of the house.

I've never, ever seen the field at the back of the house look anything like that?

It's just gone crazy.

In fact, everything has gone crazy this morning.

I looked out the window.

Steve, I noticed there are lots and lots of butterflies fluttering around already.

More than usual, and that they are all the little white ones.

So I would imagine in a couple of weeks we will get all of the other

varieties of butterfly eyes fluttering around.

So I think this year it's going to be a good year

for spotting butterflies.

I have a good feeling about it.

So if I get a if I get the chance, I'll do some filming.

We've got a small what you call a bird layer

or a butterfly tree or bush in our garden.

And, long sort of purple flowers

and, the butterflies love them.

And I've noticed quite a few butterflies on it this year.

It's a very popular common plant in the UK.

A lot of them grow wild, but they have lovely purple,

elongated flowers with lots of nectar

and hundreds and hundreds of little sort of flowers around each stalk.

Okay.

And the, and the, but layer by layer,

I think it's, I don't know how it's couldn't spell it to you.

but yes, there's lots of them growing wild in the UK.

We've got a, like a miniature one in our garden.

The butterflies love it. Yes, they do the butterflies.

I think there will be a lot, because this year the weather has been crazy.

It's been wet and then warm and then hot and then wet.

And now it's warm again.

The good news is, of course, I think might.

Hay fever is slowly vanishing over easing it.

It's easing, easing off.

So I'm quite pleased about that.

Isn't it nice to be here though I always it's very easy to forget

that were just standing here while I'm standing.

Mr. Steve is sitting and we can just.

We could just talk like this, and you can just tune in and watch us.

Even though we are hundreds and in some cases, thousands

of miles apart, technology

is amazing.

You don't need me to tell you that I.

I always get rather excited about technology.

However, some people, Mr.

Steve, some people are not excited about technology.

They don't like it.

In fact, some people are afraid of technology.

So I thought we would briefly go through this subject

and talk about technology, the effects of technology,

the reason why some people feel afraid, the effects it could have,

have, have on us, of me, on you, on everyone.

Maybe from the past, certain types of technology have affected us.

But of course, as we become more and more progressive

and more and more advanced with our technology,

you might find that those threats will become more common.

So that's what we're looking at today. Mr..

Steve, technology and I have gone to such a lot of trouble to make today's

captions.

And also can you see here, look at their work,

look at the workmanship that has gone into this.

No other English teacher will spend time and effort

designing all of this just for you,

so you can enjoy the the words that are coming up on the screen right now.

Did you employ the help of a I.

No, I did not.

Oh no.

All of this stuff is being designed from clips that already exist.

Nothing here has been designed.

Nothing.

None of it.

Not even Mr. Steve. Well, thank you.

Sorry.

That's all right.

I'm just saying. Carry on. Okay.

A lot of people say Mr.

Steve is AI, but he isn't. He's real.

He's a real human being.

Technology has always helped to advance human progress.

And I would imagine without even thinking now, not modern technology.

I'm not talking about just modern technology,

but think about 100 years ago, 200 years ago.

Technology has technically, as its name suggests,

been around for many, many years.

So it has always been there and it's always been there helping people.

So any device or machine used to make a task

easier is a form of technology.

Would you agree with that, Steve?

Yes I would, yes.

And of course, the industrial revolution kickstarted everything,

because we, people wanted ways of,

of making things that were quicker

and, didn't need so much

labour from human beings.

Because if you get rid of human beings in the production

line of something, that item becomes cheaper and you make more profit from,

and of course, that is what,

a lot of companies are getting very excited about AI.

Yes. Anyway, because they can employ less people.

We'll talk about that in a minute.

Steve, I was going to say is why, you know, this subject has, of course, has been prompted,

by a certain

event which happened the other day, which I'm sure you're going to mention.

I am going to mention it.

And of course, because of that event.

Okay.

So any device or machine used to make a test easier.

So even from the very simple tools

that have been used in the past for farming

or anything that can make a job easier, you can describe it as technology.

It is something that is being used like a contraption.

I love that word.

By the way. Contraption.

It's a very old fashioned word, but it is still used nowadays.

So a thing that is doing a job quite often,

something that has to be created through design. So.

So you might think, Steve, that a lot of technology would be designed

first of all and then made.

So any device or machine that is used to make a task

easier is a form of technology.

So I suppose in many instances or situations

you might talk about certain areas.

We can talk about mechanical machines

and electronic devices.

So there is a difference.

What do you think the main difference is, Steve, between those two things.

well, mechanical means sort of,

you know, metal things moving around like a combine harvester,

like the hardware, and,

electronic devices, electronic devices, aren't they?

They.

Yeah, that's sort of there's no real moving parts in them like computers.

So that is the big difference, the big difference between mechanical or machines.

So those two words are often used together a mechanical machine

a machine is something that is performing a task quite often

using parts, solid parts

and as Steve just said, metal parts, quite often

using some sort of force or friction as well.

So quite often we think of machinery as moving.

There might be some force being exerted

or maybe friction between certain things.

So machinery is something that is very physical.

Electronic devices, especially nowadays,

are less physical in that sense where you have moving parts.

So many electronic devices now don't have moving parts,

but it does depend on the type of function

that they are performing when you think about it.

But you're right, Steve. Yes, computers.

Computers have very few moving parts.

you can have an iPad.

So when you think about it, you pick up your iPad

or your iPhone or any other smart device,

and there's nothing there's nothing mechanical in there.

It's all completely

electronic.

It's all using electricity to to generate and work

and of course heat as well, which is the big,

the big enemy of computer devices.

So so Mr..

Steve, I would say nowadays Steve, you, you handle

more electronic devices in your day to day life than mechanical ones.

Well, I've got my car.

Obviously, I drive around in that, but yes, I mean, yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's a mixture really.

Yeah.

So I'm driving around in the car during the day.

I'm using electronic devices with customers.

So it's a mixture.

It's a mixture really.

It's difficult to quantify it, really.

I would say,

but an interesting point here

on the chat from Claudia or Claudia.

The world population in 1900 was 1.6 billion.

And now it's in the year 2000, it was 6.1 billion.

I think it's over 7 billion now.

Well I think it's over eight. yeah.

And that of course is largely due to techno

ology because, and largely due to, well two things really.

One is agriculture

being able to

make a lot more food, for people and of course technology

in, in helping, stopping is preventing us from dying from diseases.

Yes. We're actually going to look at this in a moment.

so definition areas where technology has been a positive thing,

but also areas where it might be a negative thing.

So a thing designed or a tool for work.

And as Steve just said, something that can make tasks

or things easier in certain areas.

Labour saving.

Now I remember when this word was always used.

My mother, my mother used to have to do all of the housework,

especially washing the clothes and things like that.

She had to do it all by hand and it used to take a long time.

And many, many housewives would spend

so much of their time in the kitchen

washing clothes, washing the dishes, cleaning everything.

It would take a long time because you had to do it all by hand.

But then in the 1950s, though, there were new devices, new types of technology

that came along, and they were described as labour saving,

labour saving devices.

Labour being, of course, the effort that you have to put in to do something.

If you're labouring, it means you're working physically at something.

You could be labouring in the fields, you could,

but if you're washing clothes by hand and putting them through a mangle.

when I grew up, my mother had,

automatic washing machines were only just beginning to come into

popularity in the 1970s.

But my mother had something in between

washing by hand and an automatic machine called a twin tub.

So she would put there was a there was one section of this machine.

It was quite big where

the clothes would get washed.

but then you had to take them out of there and spin them.

you had to physically take them out yourself

and put them in the spinner at the side.

they called it a twin tub.

But then, of course, those were replaced by fully automatic washing machines.

But it's interesting how even in the 1970s,

my mother was still having to do quite a lot of labour

when it came to washing clothes, because she had to.

When you took it out of where the clothes are being washed and put it into the spin a bit,

you had to put water in it, a spin it,

then put more water in it, spin it again and and then you had to.

It was such a physical task.

I would see my mother now puffy to pull out all these blankets

and sheets, all heavy with water, and put them into the spinner.

Yes, it is.

And that's even back then that was seen,

as a sort of labour saving device,

even though it wasn't really saving much labour, just some of it.

So Labour as well is effort.

But my mother told me, of course, about when she was young.

Her mother used to have she washed everything by hand and they had a

like a mangle, to get the water out of the clothes.

and now we just have automatic washing machines.

We just put it in and, but of course, the what we were promised

was that all these labour saving devices would give us more leisure time.

Yes, but have they.

Well, maybe some, but of course a lot of people's time now is now occupied

doing other things

like, you know, rubbish things probably.

and I don't know,

I don't know if I have any more spare time now than I used to and absolutely.

Well, mostly we'll move on to this a little bit later on,

because we are talking about the upsides and also the downsides as well.

So things that are labour saving.

It used to be a big buzz word in in the 1950s,

the 1960s and also into the 1970s.

We don't tend to use that phrase anymore.

Labour saving it sounds a little bit out of date, but but I, I think you can still

you can still refer to things as being labour saving,

definitely the most useful types of technology.

So this is posed as a question, the most useful types of technology.

Now Steve, you mentioned one of these just a few moments ago.

Agriculture. Yes.

I saw an interesting statistic the other day.

Nothing that I didn't know we were going to do this today.

I talking about the the number of people

that used to work on the land in agriculture

making, you know, wheat, whatever.

It used to be 50% of the population

before mechanical devices were invented to to plough the land

and sow the seeds and, and reap the corn, so to speak.

50% of all people used to work on the land, you know,

and that's probably only 150 years ago.

We're talking.

But, but now only 5%

of the people in industrialised countries,

like here and in the US, Europe, in the US,

it's only around 5% of people now work on the land

and produce about ten times as much food as we used to before.

With 50% of the population working on the land. Yeah.

So you might say that agriculture, the technology

and don't forget the technology behind

agriculture is not just 100 or 200 years ago.

We could go back maybe 800 years,

a thousand years, even as agriculture was.

It was at the McKnight's who who introduced

introduced the, the concept of harvesting and growing crops.

I think it was the and knights.

Thank you very much, Mr. and Mrs. McKnight.

The most useful types of technology, agriculture.

And as Steve rightly said, it used to be

the main, the main source of income.

But also, I suppose you had to do it as well

because you had to do it to survive.

And then of course, we have scientific technology,

which we will be coming to in a little while, because that is a subject

that that we're talking about generally around the world.

And of course, I suppose you could also say industrial technology,

industrial.

But but in what sense would you say, Mr.. Steve?

Because I think this is something you might be able to talk a lot about.

Industrial.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, a common one.

I mean, I like you talking about cars.

and of course, the big one of the big,

things that came in with car manufacturing was robot technology to make cars.

And I think it was in Italy, wasn't it?

Wasn't it fit that first introduced the first factory

that had robots making cars? Yes.

It was a huge event.

I remember I think it may have been the late

1970s, the very end of the 1970s, where

this idea of a robot, an arm,

it was very basic, but these things could,

could actually construct and put together a car.

And it was a huge thing at the time.

And, and even back then there were many people saying, well, it's great,

but what about all the people, all the, the manual workers?

What will happen to them?

Well, that is it.

You've touched on on an important point there, Mr.

Duncan, because always the fear of technology

is that it will take people's jobs.

And of course, it does take people's jobs.

I mean, with the agricultural revolution

in the way that we we make food, our

jobs were 50% of people were working on the land.

So and there's now a lot more people in the world because.

So where did those jobs go?

They had to, new jobs.

What technology does is that generally, and this is probably going to be the same with AI.

People are worrying about what jobs will be lost because of AI,

but when any new technology comes in, it creates other industries.

and so what you have to

what people have to do is that they have to think, well, what what's happening?

Everything's changing.

I need to have another skill and move into another area.

So when a new technology comes along, it invariably creates new jobs

in other new industries which nobody thought of would ever exist

before the new technology came along and is disruptive at the time. Yes.

And then actually,

there are two areas on the Steve that seem to have become

the focus of everything, and that is energy,

energy and energy, energy use and energy production.

And as, as you just said, your favourite subject, car manufacturing.

Because I suppose of all the things that we use and I,

I'm sure you can come up with some others as well out there in YouTube land.

But of all the things we use in our in our day to day life, I think

probably the one thing that has been the cause

of misery for humans, and probably nature, has to be the motor car.

Well, I think you're being a bit negative there, Mr.

Duncan.

because obviously the car

has caused a great deal of freedom for, for us.

So I think it's positive, so mean.

We can talk about the environmental impact, of course, of cars, which is bad,

as somebody has pointed out here, on, on the live stream as well.

But of course, there's a lot of pollution caused through all this technology

because we're not very good at businesses, want to make lots of profit.

Yeah.

And mining is could very polluting for these rare elements

that we need for various things is that Claudio says yes.

Claudio says the world is polluted due to man's comfort.

It is.

but of course, I mean, people do fear technology.

Just going back to what I was saying about technology taking people's jobs and,

and and I will take those repetitive jobs

because it'll be it's very good at that sort of replicating.

It's probably the area it's going to be best in

is doing things that are easily repeatable.

and so there are going to be lots of jobs that will go,

but they will be replaced by new jobs because, I mean, it's not like we have.

I mean, there's a lot more people in the world now, but employment is very high.

There aren't that many people who aren't working.

You look at the US, if you look at industrialised countries, Europe,

there are parts of Europe where unemployment is high,

but generally it's it's quite low.

So there must be jobs.

And of course, as we all become richer, then there's more service jobs.

I mean, there's coffee shops everywhere, restaurants everywhere, leisure facilities,

all employing people,

in the service that the service industry has grown massively.

Yeah.

So when we talk, when we talk about service, we are talking about shops,

maybe, maybe companies that provide

a certain type of service, maybe accounting or maybe,

advice for running a business, restaurants and yeah, that type of thing.

So all those sorts of things.

Yeah, I suppose you're all right, but I remember I suppose

technology has always been sold to us

as a concept, as a way of making your life

better and easier at the same time.

However, the truth,

the truth quite often is the opposite.

Quite often it makes life more difficult.

I mean, I mean, we don't need to go very far to see the effects because Mr.

Steve quite often complains about technology

the way it gets in the way, of his life when he's trying to do things.

But you mentioned cars, of course, Steve.

So even though cars have changed,

how that how they work underneath the metal, they work differently.

They use different types of energy.

That's still basically the same thing.

And they still have to be manufactured and made in the same way.

So very little has changed

when you think about cars, only the only thing that's really changed

is the way they're actually powered.

Yes. And, obviously new technologies have made cars more efficient.

If you think of the model T Ford, the first mass produced car, I think it was the first one.

And and if you look at a it's a modern Eevee.

I mean, they've got four wheels and a steering wheel,

but the, the efficiency, I mean, even if you just

talk about a car that's still powered by,

a combustion engine, the efficiencies are much greater. Now.

There's more technology in them, but essentially, as you say, it's the same thing.

it's a metal box for four wheels, a steering wheel, and seats for 4 or 5 people.

I suppose the biggest change that's come along with cars is the safety aspect as well.

Yes. I mean, cars are a lot heavier

because of safety regulations and cars are getting bigger because everyone's getting bigger.

So the cars are going to get bigger.

people want to carry a lot more stuff around with them.

but yeah, it's all about and as Lewis says, it's just put something.

And I was about to say, it's all about companies making money.

Companies invent things.

And that is the that is the, the drive, the spur for technology

is really

companies trying to outdo their competitors,

with something new that's better than the one before.

Yeah.

And because of competition, which is why if, if you

which is why America, Europe,

and industrial countries have done

so well, it's because when you allow competition to take place, it fosters,

and drives,

innovations in technology.

Yeah.

So without that competition, then you lose that spark,

of innovation and technology stagnates. Yes.

That's actually quite interesting because because you it's not just about competing

for for sales or profit.

It's also everyone trying to keep up with each other.

So every time that race goes forward,

one step, then everyone else also has to catch up.

Yeah.

So I think that's probably one of the reasons why things always seem to change nowadays.

Again, this is something I find quite annoying as well.

Mr. Steve hates it, but I also don't like it very much

when things keep being changed or updated.

And it does seem to happen more often.

And I think that really comes from companies

or technology manufacturers all trying to stay ahead of each other.

Yeah, that's it.

I mean, a car somebody will bring out, I mean, the somebody will bring a I mean,

if Ford I, if no other car companies have come into the,

were allowed to, to produce,

their own cars, Ford would probably still be making the model T now.

It probably wouldn't have changed very much.

And what's interesting about the model T was it was designed

to be put together very quickly. So.

So it wasn't just the design of the car itself.

It was actually the design of the parts as well.

So the big revolution came from from the technology that built the cars,

but also the way in which the cars could quickly be assembled.

And, and then you could make hundreds of these things,

they would roll out of the factory in very large numbers.

So I think it is quite an interesting,

subject in that, in that point.

And you find that countries that generally have a high level of state control,

stifle innovation anyway.

Yes. And, and, you know, we won't mention the countries, but no.

Anyway, still, the open societies allow more innovation, okay.

More technology and and that's, that's this is what drives it.

Yeah.

So the difference between mechanical and intelligent machines.

So this is where there seems to be a divide.

So for many many years we often saw mechanical

things and electronic things as being very similar.

They seemed to follow the same path.

However, over the past ten years

those things have slowly started to separate

and almost go their separate way in two different directions.

So mechanical and intelligent machines.

So when we talk about intelligent machines,

I think it is a word that we often use

incorrectly.

Intelligence is something that is allowing

one thing to do something else.

You might talk about people.

Human beings are intelligent most of the time.

So there is a

difference between mechanical things and intelligent machines,

but they are kind of going separate ways now

because we think of intelligent machines

as being fairly docile.

They're static.

They're just in one place.

So when you look at your computer device,

maybe you have a PC or a laptop.

It doesn't do very much.

It doesn't stand up, it doesn't walk around.

It isn't performing a mechanical function.

It just sits there in front of you.

So a lot of intelligent machinery is actually doing very little.

It's, it's it's performing tasks that we would

otherwise perform ourselves using, using our brains.

I mean, it's not really intelligence, is it? Really?

They call it intelligence.

It's it's like artificial intelligence, AI it's not really intelligence.

It's just

algorithms working away in the background.

And it's programmed to respond depending on that.

What inputs go into it. Yes.

So it's not really thinking in the same way that we would know.

It's it's just got a lot of information stored in it.

And if you ask it certain questions in a certain way,

it's just answering those questions based on information it's already got.

It's not thinking about it on an intellectual level.

It's just spewing out.

It's a bit like when you're buying from a computer, you'll

your computer will know nothing about you.

It's just a blank, empty computer.

The hard drive is virtually empty.

The only things inside the computer are the things

that allow the computer to to function.

But it can't do anything else.

It can run programs, but it can't do anything.

You can't ask it anything.

It's not that famous moment when they developed it.

When a computer beat the world chess champion. Yes.

you know, you can't beat a computer chess.

but it's not thinking about it, because all it knows is there.

There's only there's a finite number of moves that you can make in chess.

the ones that are, there's a lot of them.

Yeah, but there's, there's a, there are a finite number.

Yeah.

So if you programmed those all into a computer,

it can appear to be cleverer than you, but it's just

it's just working out from a list of instructions.

And what what is the best outcome from moving that chess piece here?

That or whatever?

Yeah, it's just thinking about it.

It's just in its programming. That's it.

You know, if if you move it here and that all those chess pieces here, then it's

the outcome is going to be more favourable for it in the long end for the game.

That's it.

It's a bit like whether how they can predict the weather more accurately,

because they just have all of the records from the past 70

or 80 years of weather conditions.

So they just take all of that data

and whatever the weather is doing today

that the computer can then look through history

at all of those weather conditions that were similar to the one we're having.

And it will kind of predict it will say, well,

because this is happening, this might happen next.

So they often describe those things as models.

They will come up with the possibility of what the weather will do next.

But it is all done with information that is already known.

And quite often that information has to be put into the computer.

So you're right, Steve, the computer isn't really doing it.

All it's doing is processing using ones and zeros

very fast so they can't create no something.

It can't create something or think in a creative way.

It's just relying on stored information.

So it can't suddenly come up with a new concept.

And, that's what I can't do.

At least it can't do it at the moment.

It can't come up with a new way of thinking.

A new concept can only use the information it's currently got.

Anyway, I don't know enough about that.

Really. Next, the phrase.

Now here's an interesting phrase Steve, I we've heard this a lot,

this particular phrase, and I know a lot of music fans will will say, oh, Mr.

Duncan, it was an album released by the police in the 1980s.

You are right, ghost in the machine.

But it's a phrase that's been often used as well over the years,

and a lot of people think that this relates to computers.

But in fact, it goes way back to, to the philosophy of,

of, of us human beings.

And there are those who believe that there are

consciousness, and everything that we think

is, is separate from, from the physical part of our body.

So what they're saying is basically we are machines

with this little thing driving it.

So think of the ghost in the machine that is literally what it's referring to.

It's referring to a little spark that's going on in there.

So imagine being well, we some people believe in ghosts.

So that's basically the, the concept of,

of everything that, that human beings stand for.

We are a physical machine controlled

by a little thing that's flickering away.

Some genetic code.

Yes, but but the, the subconscious and the conscious

is, is separate.

But some people believe it is.

It is as much part of the mechanics of the body as it is

being, our way of observing the world around us.

So I find that quite an interesting.

So it doesn't necessarily refer to machines itself.

It is actually talking about us, the ghost

that is operating this thing that is inside

this machine, operating it.

And over time it has been adapted and adopted by,

by modern technology and computer manufacturers as well.

So we think of something taking over, taking over a machine.

And quite often they will use that phrase as well.

So the connection between the thoughts and the mechanics of a person,

these are interesting concepts because we think something,

but our thoughts don't actually affect the rest of our body.

The things we feel and the things we think aren't affecting your your arms and your legs.

It's like the two things are separate.

Does that make sense, Mr.. Steve?

I'm not quite sure what you're saying there, Mr.

Duncan, but it's not.

It's not what I'm saying. It's a concept.

You mean like automatic stuff? I want to move my leg.

I don't have to think about it.

I just moved my leg.

Is that what you mean?

That's it? But also.

But also the actual you being you.

You being Mr. Steve.

That essence of your consciousness.

What part of your body is that?

Or is it separate and that that that's basically

the, the, the divide between those two things.

Some people some people believe it is and some people believe it isn't. Yes.

Do you do you have a soul or not?

Is it is your is your do you?

Yeah.

There's that distinction between people that think that you've got a soul and that lives on your very

your essence of your being when your physical body dies,

you've still got this soul that lives on or is that is your conscious mind.

You know, it's like your conscious mind in a way.

Does that live on after your body dies? Yeah.

Or is your conscious mind only a product

of your physical body and your brain, but also just die with you?

But what we're talking about is during your life when you were alive, how are those two things connected, if at all?

And I find that quite interesting.

And it does move on to the next thing, of course.

So the impact or effect on of technology on people,

because we think of ourselves as being

a thinking machine, which is good as we are.

But what about when technology develops

those same traits or those same abilities?

So you might talk about the impact and this is what you mentioned earlier, Steve.

but yes, exactly.

I'm taking jobs.

when computers first came along, they took a lot of jobs.

When agriculture first came along, mechanical agriculture, it took a lot of jobs.

but they usually replaced.

History shows that when a new technology comes along,

other jobs are created as a result of that new technology.

So the people that lost their job from an old technology,

now can cook and, upskill,

learn new skills and do the new jobs.

But of course, if you're going to remove I mean, not everybody

there is this fear that in the future that,

you've got to be quite brainy

to be able to do maybe a lot of jobs in the future,

because a lot of the sort of simple, repetitive jobs will probably go,

information gathering, that sort of thing.

who knows?

We don't know what's going to happen.

No, but you don't have to pardon me for certain, Steve.

The misconception is you have to be clever to use a computer.

So if you can use a computer, you automatically become

the smartest person in the room because the computer has the information.

And that is. That is those two things.

How human beings, we really don't need

to use our brains very much anymore.

This is something I mentioned a couple of weeks ago on one of my Wednesday live streams.

We don't we don't actually learn things anymore

in the same way as we used to, because we know

all we have to do is is type it in and there is the information.

There's no need to remember things because the computer is almost all brain.

It's a little bit like carrying your brain around in your hand.

You don't really need to use this, this thing

is almost being made redundant.

But when do you think of how much time you used to have to spend

learning the times tables, for example?

they used to be a lot of things

that you had to do, but it's like learning a language.

People are learning English, obviously watching watching here to learn English.

The only way to get your brain to

to get better at it is constant repetition. Yes.

and there's that's never going to go in terms of learning a language.

There could be technology that allows you to just speak into your phone.

And it I think it's already there.

And then the other person who speaks a different language can hear it,

but that's never going to replace.

I can't see that completely replacing the human connection

between me learning another language and being able to go to that country and speak that language.

Yes, there's, otherwise you're always going to lose that in human interaction.

Yeah.

And because they'll there'll be a delay, won't there?

If I speaking to a machine, can I order a cup of coffee please.

And then I play it back to the person working in the coffee bar in Rome.

It's that's not going to be a very nice experience.

and then they have to repeat the thing in their language,

and then you have to play what they've said

back to yourself so you can understand their, their response.

And you're right.

You're right that that is there is a line.

And that line will always exist.

It's never going to go away.

That line that exists between human

contact, human that that need for human

beings to, to to communicate and talk

and to share and, and of course, to learn as well.

That will never really go away.

That's one of the reasons why I don't feel particularly threatened

by modern technology in that particular area.

Steve.

So so you do actually bring up a very interesting why do you see that what technology's done for you?

Look what technology's done for a lot of people on YouTube.

You can now you can teach English to literally millions of people around the world,

through through technology.

You couldn't have done that before if you wanted to teach somebody English before.

You have had to go into a classroom, and, and teach people that there would be no other way.

But now you can you can help people this way to, to learn English.

so, there are always created new job for you. Yes.

And for other English teachers and for all sorts of other skills.

There are always options, I think. Yes.

I mean, there will be some disruption probably at first

whenever there's new, some new technology, suddenly a lot of jobs are replaced,

there's a disruption for a period of time, and then new jobs are created

and, and, people go back into employment again.

But it could be, I don't know, it could be a period of years.

I mean, if, you know, if I developed the way they say it will,

that could be a very sudden loss of a lot of jobs anyway in certain areas.

But then as new jobs get created

by that technology, those will eventually be filled again. Yes.

So the impact or effect of technology on people.

Well, technology of course affects the workforce.

I think we've pretty much covered that over the past few minutes.

So we won't go into that again because we've basically just talked about the workforce,

the way technology can come along and it can take people's jobs away.

Technology affects Mr..

Steve Security.

Now, I did mention earlier that there was a bit of a

a drama concerning technology around the world.

Not everyone was affected.

It was mainly affecting big companies, people

who use certain types of security software

because they have to handle lots of different types of data.

So not the average person, like like myself and Mr.

Steve, but big companies.

So because of a fault in a type of security software

devices were, were, were

well, they weren't working because they didn't recognise the software.

Suddenly it was different.

Suddenly it was it was something that appeared to be attacking the computer.

And of course, as you know, if that happens to your computer, it will stop working.

It will go into safety mode

and you can't do anything with it.

So that did happen and a lot of places were affected by it.

Airports.

And what, what what other places were affected?

Steve, thanks.

I think some places you couldn't draw money out.

It's they've described it as the biggest

sort of tech upset, computer upset that's ever happened.

and I mean, doctors surgeries, they couldn't make it.

I mean, this is ridiculous, isn't it?

We have become so reliant on technology

now that if something goes wrong, just ordinary functions.

Like, for example, in the UK, there is a, there is a particular system

that all surgeries use and the hospitals for making appointments

for patients and for accessing patient notes.

So in the old days, you had, you go to the doctor

and you'd have the notes and he would take them out and read them.

And last time you came, you had constipation or something.

but now it's all on the computer screen, isn't it?

You go to a doctor now, he doesn't have a physical notes.

And if you make an appointment to the doctor, it's all done on the computer.

Well, this system, at least in the UK, was affected

and people couldn't make appointments to go and see the doctor there.

When the doctor, they went into the doctor.

I'd like to make an appointment.

I'm sorry. You can't. The computer systems down.

Well, isn't that ridiculous?

Yeah, the most basic thing.

Okay, Steve, I'm just saying that.

And and the doctors couldn't look at the notes.

The patient notes it. I mean, that's just crazy. So.

So there isn't a backup system for those, okay, essential tasks.

And this is what will have to be done. Nothing.

Okay, Steve.

Now first of all, it wasn't the computers that was the problem.

Yeah I know the upshot is that that's just what happened.

Steve. Steve, you've made your point.

I need to make mine there.

Yeah, I'm just saying, my point is that there should be something.

Yes, that you can if there is a problem with the

if the computer is affected by something that there is a is a workaround.

Reverting back to a like a manual system.

But there isn't anything there isn't in that situation because, well, this is what we're talking about now.

We've talked about security.

So security is is, is a different thing because now I felt sorry.

I don't normally feel sorry for windows because Microsoft

over the years have been a bit naughty with their practices, to be honest.

And but

but a lot of people were criticising Microsoft when it wasn't really their fault.

It was another company who provides the security software, which is a completely different thing.

So in that situation, there wouldn't be a failsafe,

because that thing is what is deciding

what can go through and what can't go through.

So as soon as that disappears, or if it's corrupted,

then the computer itself won't work because that security system has stopped working.

It's a bit like your antivirus software, isn't it, Steve?

If it's not running, then your computer is suddenly exposed

to all of the viruses that that might be affecting.

It's the computer.

So, in that situation, I, I was, I was thinking,

okay, maybe it's not Microsoft's fault, so I might, I might give them

it is their fault really because they've outsourced that task to another company.

So I, I think you've actually I think they decided

to outsource the security updates to another company.

But all all companies do that.

They always have.

I know, but that this is this is a problem that happened with Boeing.

And anyway we won't go into.

But yeah, I mean this should be a way of,

of of a backup for computers if they go wrong.

Yeah.

In essential services like doctors, you know, it's health.

People's lives are at stake.

Well it's it's one issue that should be some way around it.

Okay.

If but this is what I did earlier.

Steve, at the start of today's live stream, you didn't see it because you weren't watching.

But this this is what I showed.

And I said these things.

What are they? I don't recognise them.

They're such unusual objects.

Can you see that?

What is it? It's so unusual. It's so weird.

And this.

This can never be corrupted.

This can never be lost if the electricity goes off.

And this is the point you just made, Steve.

So I'm actually saying.

All right by that there is no substitute

for a pen and a piece of paper.

If you keep your papers in a drawer

or in a filing system, they're always there.

It doesn't matter what happens.

The electricity can go off all of your computers can fail,

and you will still have these things.

So something I noticed as well when I was doing the my am dram show the other week,

we had, you know, musicians there, live musicians,

violin player, oboe, etc.

and of course, you know, musicians have got to stand with their music on, haven't they?

Well, normally, you know, I've never seen this before, but normally

you've got a piece of paper that's the music.

You open it up and the music up. Music's on there.

But one of the ladies, she didn't have that at all.

She had like this giant tablet.

And the music was on there

and she kept sort of pressing buttons on the screen.

But have you, have you seen what happens at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

They all have it on, on little tablet devices that. Yes.

I don't know if that, if that went it's the something went wrong with it.

The power went.

Then they wouldn't be able to play the music.

Seems,

Yeah.

But anyway, it, it was interesting.

If it's working properly.

Well, it probably will work most of the time. Yes.

but occasionally it's probably better anyway.

Yeah, we're running out of time.

That is the point that, a lot of people made yesterday, they were saying

this is something that that really is so rare.

And it's like anything when it happens, it seems like it's the end of the world,

but these things are so rare that it probably won't happen again.

But Phil.

Oh, I'm going to we're going to move on.

Yeah. No. Can I just make one point?

When software goes wrong, people dumping planes crash and people fall out of the air.

That's that's happened in those,

you know, we won't mention the company, but two planes crashed, right?

Yeah. Due to a software faults.

Yeah.

It didn't say that the pilots weren't able to overcome.

Yeah.

So there's, you know, there's got to be a way of overriding this, when it goes wrong.

I agree, I agree.

So technology can also affect privacy as well.

Another big one.

So when you go on the internet Steve what's the first thing you do normally when you go on the internet

I will put in my password. Yes.

But also you just look at things.

You look at things every time you look at anything

on the internet, anything, whatever it is,

shopping, news, anything,

it is being recorded.

It is whatever you think with your with your fancy software

and your, your, blockers.

Trust me, it's still getting through.

Someone is still tracking what you are looking at.

Whatever you think it is still happening.

And it's been proven over the years that a lot of data is always collected.

In fact, yesterday Facebook were fined

for stealing data and misusing data, I think.

I can't remember where it was.

I think it's Uganda or Nigeria somewhere in the African continent.

But it was a big story and this happens quite a lot. So.

So privacy is something that has already gone.

It's just that we don't realise it.

Companies say that they delete your data after a certain period of time.

I don't believe that.

I don't think anybody does.

It's you.

They might delete it, but it goes somewhere else. Yes.

well it's it's it is it, it's semantics, isn't it?

Because they say that we don't keep the data and the reason why they don't keep it is because they've already sold it.

So they don't need to keep it because it's done its job.

So it is there is there is a little bit

of trickery happening with that.

So you can say you've deleted it, but it doesn't mean that you've used it

or sold it to someone else for them to use, which is a completely different thing altogether.

So we often think of privacy and of course, the environment.

Steve,

can you think of one way that

technology affects the environment?

You mean in terms of pollution?

Anything?

Yes. you know, there's

everybody talks about the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere that they, due to industrial activities

and human activity, cars, oil, burning oil.

but the weird one, of course, computers

and software and places that run these massive databases,

they use a phenomenal amount of electricity that has to be generated.

So even if that that place is not producing

any environmentally damaging

and anything that's coming out of that factory or that place,

it is just a place that's full of computers that get hot and they need electricity

and they need cooling, but they're not producing anything that's harmful.

They're just using using the energy without putting anything back.

Which of course, electricity is probably fossil fuels is generating the electricity.

So that's causing the pollution that they were people used to.

That was it wasn't there a few year or so ago, a few years ago,

everyone was complaining about Bitcoin mining

using huge amounts of electricity, contributing to global warming.

But apparently the AI revolution will

make that look like nothing.

It will use up far more electricity

then this Bitcoin mining used to do interesting point.

from Lewis has been, has mentioned this a few times

that when new technology comes along it's the,

the distribution of that or the people that have access to it

are normally the wealthiest in society.

and yeah, as that is if that is a fair point,

quite often when new technology comes along, it's very expensive

and it's only available to the richest in society.

And and when they start developing sort of anti-aging technology

and things like that,

you know, that's probably only going to be available to, to the very wealthiest in society.

Yeah. I think it's is safe to say it will. Yes.

At least initially until it's upscaled.

And then when it's upscale it becomes cheaper, doesn't it? That's it.

so technology affects the future of humanity.

Oh my goodness.

The future of all of us.

Because machines might become

become more intelligent or more clever.

perhaps.

So this this brings me on to an interesting book.

a collection of stories, by the way, I called iRobot by,

of course, Asimov, Isaac Asimov, Mister Steve.

Yeah, he's he's the science fiction writer

whose work was used as the basis

of modern technology

concerning artificial intelligence, which I find quite fascinating.

So this particular.

Well, in fact, it's not one story. It's a collection of stories.

I think it was actually released or published in 1950.

But the original story relating to to his

his laws of robotics.

I'm sure you've heard of this. Do I have,

first of all,

something that's designed to to operate like a person

if it's robotic, if it has some sort of intelligence,

a robot may not injure a human being or through an action,

allow a human being to come to harm.

So I think I think that's quite a interesting law to have.

You don't want something running around causing problems and killing everyone.

The second law, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings,

except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

So even if I told a robot to do something against the human being, it wouldn't do it.

So I think that's that's a pretty good we definitely

we definitely need those in place when, when,

when we get, those robots that we see

in, in the films that go around killing human beings,

wonder that Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie.

You mean Terminator? Terminator. Yes.

And I'm. And the third law.

Steve, a robot must protect its own existence

as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

So even if the robot is in danger, it must be selfless.

Which I think is the most interesting of all the all the rules.

So you are actually making that robot

aware

of human beings and the fact they shouldn't be harmed.

So you are technically saying that that robot should be selfless

and have no self,

awareness.

And as for protecting itself, I think human beings should go by those laws.

I don't know about robots.

I think human beings should obey the same laws as the robots.

And then we will have a much a nicer society.

well that's it, you see, what do I you can program machines, but you can't program people.

At least not yet anyway.

Not yet?

Maybe in the future that will happen.

Anyway, I think that's an interesting subject.

Well, I hope people found that interesting.

There's been plenty of, feedback on the live chat and

and of course, as far as the future is concerned,

Steve, we don't know, do we?

Nobody knows what's going to happen in the future.

We can predict.

But, it's almost always very, very different to what we think it will be.

And that's a positive thing.

Well, it could mostly it's better than we thought.

Yes. One thing is for sure, people will never grow

tired of human contact in some form or another.

You can never reproduce the human soul.

I read a book years and years ago.

Science fiction book, just to tweak the end on this.

That, this this thing was created.

They were aliens from another planet. It landed, but they were like blobs,

and, they'd read your mind

and they they could tell they wanted to be friends with you, and.

But they formed themselves. They read your mind.

Who would be the perfect, the perfect partner,

the perfect person to spend your life with.

And from all the information that was in your head

about what you liked, what you didn't like in a person, it created itself.

It formed itself into this perfect human being.

For you as a partner who which sounds like a wonderful life ahead if they ever develop that technology, Mr.

Duncan, that there has to be some downside of that.

There has to be a negative.

There's no negative, none whatsoever.

So what do you say?

But what if everyone wanted the same type of person,

and then the world would be very dull and boring?

Well, people don't they? Do they? Everybody fancies different people.

so there's something positive to think about that that might come in the future.

Nice happiness, Mr. Duncan. I'm hungry.

I'm thirsty.

I can tell that you want to go.

And, I want to go.

So lovely to be here to interact with all of you

lovely people through the medium of this technology.

And see you all again.

will I be here next week?

Let me think. What's happening next weekend?

Yes, I will be here.

Good, because it will be the last English addict on Sunday.

So July, August will be coming.

And of course,

we know what happens in August.

It will be a certain person's birthday

on the 12th of August.

I will give you a clue.

It isn't Mr.

Steve and it is me.

Thank you, Mr. Steve. See you next Sunday.

See you next Sunday and see you in about four minutes time.

Yes, in the kitchen. Bye.

Bye. He was.

Mr. Steve has left the building.

Well, that was interesting.

I hope you've enjoyed today's live stream.

Something a little different.

Sometimes it's nice to let your mind wander

for a while to explore

the depths of the human soul.

And of course, think about everything else connected to it.

I will see you on Wednesday.

I'm with you on Wednesday.

I will be live with you from 2 p.m.

UK time.

On Wednesday I'm going to have a cup of tea now.

First of all, I will sit in Mr.

Steve's comfy corner because it is very comfortable,

I have to say, and then I will have a cup of tea with Mr.

Steve.

See you very soon. Enjoy the rest of your day.

I hope you will have a good time.

Whatever you are doing, have a good Sunday and enjoy yourself

until we meet again, hopefully on Wednesday.

This is Mr.

Duncan in the birthplace of the English language

saying thank you for watching, enjoy your day.

And of course, until the next time we meet here, you know what's coming next.

Yes, you do.

Stay safe.

Stay happy.

See you on Wednesday.