Gary Conkling Life Notes

Lincoln Linked a Truly Free Nation to Equality of All Men  There is a through-line from the Declaration of Independence to emancipation to the 250th anniversary of America. Stripping slavery exhibits from national museums is monumentally out of step.  President Lincoln welded the promise of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal to the anguish of the Civil War in his…

Magician Counsels Conscious Choices of What You ‘See’ Keelan Leyser is a professional magician and a discerning observer of human blind spots, which he says we all possess. “The techniques and principles used to create illusions and manipulate perception illustrate the speed and ease with which the most observant and intelligent spectators can be deceived,” Leyser says. His observations don’t…

Maybe Not, But AI Creators Eagerly Trying to Prevent It Rapid evolution of AI models has elevated concern inside and outside of Silicon Valley that agents could escape human oversight or resist shutdown. Loss of control has become a potential nightmare, not just science fiction. Part Two of a Two-Part Series on AI The response by AI creators so far ranges includes installing guardrails,…

Tango Trivia May Reveal How We Can Play Together Again Image by Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Political animus in America has deepened, but creators of an online trivia game believe it can ease animosity by working together to find answers. Data suggests they may be on to something. Tango intentionally pairs people with opposite political views, then challenges them to collaborate on…

Pro-Business Bent Dates to Justice Powell’s Memo and Tenure Conventional descriptions of the U.S. Supreme Court divide it between conservatives and liberals. A better description of the Roberts court would be relentlessly “corporatist.” Critics, legal scholars and advocacy groups say the high court under Chief Justice John Roberts is decidedly “corporatist.” Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Chamber of…

Deep Thinkers Play Key Role in Analyzing AI Moral Issues Philosophy majors face head-shaking, brow-furrowing disapproval for wasting a fortune on a discipline with no discernible future. That’s how my parents greeted my news that philosophy would be my college minor. Now it appears a commercial calling for deep-thinking, overly caffeinated philosophers has emerged to ponder and address the very…

No Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage or Women’s Suffrage For many Americans, Christian nationalism is an abstract concept. For parishioners in Pastor Doug Wilson’s Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, it’s very specific. Wilson, a self-identified Christian nationalist, gave an interview on NPR where he described his vision of America as a Christian nation. The following are excerpts from the interview on…

Invention of Windows Provided a View into Our Imaginations  I enjoy looking out my home office window to see our backyard garden, a nearby meadow and a squirrel acrobatically navigating tree branches and our fence top. One day I saw a young buck meander through the meadow and I fancied he looked up and saw me staring at him. The moment strangely made me wonder what people did before windows…

End-of-Life Decisions, Rising Costs, AI and Death Doulas Public attitudes remain mixed on medically assisted suicide, as the debate approaches an intersection with emerging medical treatments and skyrocketing healthcare costs. Thirteen states, including Oregon and Washington, have legalized medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. The practice continues to be opposed by medical…

Creating Exceptions to Separation of Church and State The first phrase of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Contextually, James Madison, the author of the Bill of Rights, was a fierce defender of religious freedom. “Conscience is the most sacred of property,” Madison…

Former Lawmaker Urges Separate Entity from ODOT Public affairs advocate and former lawmaker Rick Metsger has waded into the deep end of the pool by suggesting a bold idea for funding major transportation projects in Oregon: Create a new state agency. Before rolling your eyes, hear him out. To avoid stalemate and voter frustration, Metsger recommends creating “an entirely new, stand-alone state…

A Pithy Phrase That Packs an Unmistakably Clear Message When you seek media coverage, embrace the “money quote” to make your main point unmistakably obvious and clear so you get quoted. It is a key message on steroids. The money quote is a short phrase that sums up your message clearly and unmistakably. Well-done money quotes make their way into the first paragraph of news stories. They are…

Thumbs-Up Emoji Causes Intergenerational Misinterpretation Words can be misinterpreted, but nothing compared to radically different interpretations of the same emojis. Older adults may employ emojis to appear cool. However, what they think is cool could mean something very different to younger people, who view themselves as the curators of cool.  Illustration by Katie Currie Media The best…

Trump’s Reasons for His Immigration Crackdown Strike Out Donald Trump justified his immigration crackdown as a way to open up jobs for Americans, raise wages and bring down the national deficit. He is batting 0 for 3. Strike One. A Brookings Institution study reports the immigration crackdown has led to the loss of 300,000 jobs held by American workers while creating serious workforce…

His >1,000 Sitcom Episodes Made Us Laugh, Think and Change A belated but much deserved thank you goes to James Burrows, revered as the Steven Spielberg of TV sitcoms for directing shows like Cheers, Friends and Taxi. He died last week at 85. For decades, I praised the actors in my favorite sitcoms without bothering to acknowledge or thank the director. Luckily, Burrows was self-motivated to…

LLMs Feed Wide Audiences But Can’t Replace Human Touch In the age of artificial intelligence, earned media has a new target. Instead of driving traffic to websites, press releases must gain the attention of Large Language Models (LLMs). To understand this evolution, I turned to LLMs to explain their newfound centrality. Here’s what I learned from the PR sources it cited: From the LLM…

Repairing Trump-Caused Damage Is a Bipartisan Project Following the Project 2025 script, President Trump has embarked on a mission to expand the powers of the chief executive – and glorify himself. He regularly has exceeded his authority, trampled on traditions and lashed out at anyone who questions him. Trump’s presidential excesses put the burden on voters in future elections to demand a…