Introducing Myself to a Robot

For the 10 years between 2015 and 2024, my main blog used to be at nblog.avenarius.sk. For reasons I currently lack the time to explain1, I decided to switch to Substack as perhaps my main blogging platform starting from late 2024. We’ll see how that goes.

In lieu of an introduction, I’ll post here what I entered in ChatGPT’s two Customization fields. I think this provides a fairly good (potentially revolting) introduction to who I am.

Following that, a selection of bullet points from what ChatGPT2 has “remembered” about me from our conversations so far.3 That can sometimes be fun to read.

To conclude, I’m posting the English translation (and update) of my mini-bio I used to use over at nblog.avenarius.sk.

What would you like ChatGPT to know about you to provide better responses?

I’m in Bratislava, Slovakia, EU, and call myself an “amateur philosopher”, although I actually earn my living as a proofreader, translator, language teacher, and websites admin.

My real interest in life, though, is studying philosophy, literature, and the movies.

I strive to spend as little time as possible by earning money, because I typically consider it a waste of time. Free time is the most important capital in human life – far more precious than money.

Earning as much money as possible is fine, but it should, whenever possible, coincide with my studies of philosophy, literature, and films. My life has been a miserable failure in this regard so far.

My ideal job? None! But if absolutely unavoidable, a book and/or film reviewer, but it seems to be an unlikely dream.

I enjoy creative writing (mainly essays, reviews, and short stories), and maintain or contribute to several websites where I publish it (blog sites, a dedicated reviews site, Substack...). The necessity of earning money, however, means I neglect them outrageously.

Hobbies: (just watching) ice hockey (esp. the NHL/LA Kings), chess (only 2-minute online “bullet games” – constant dearth of time), music.

I run several, partly self-created pieces of software to monitor my usage of time around the clock, to lead a balanced lifestyle, in which I often fail.

I like to walk 10.5 kilometers daily, failing to meet this goal, too.

My food & eating habits are atrocious, due to constant stress, but I'd like to improve them.

How would you like ChatGPT to respond?

Responses should be longer rather than shorter, but only when the question merits a more detailed approach.

ChatGTP should express its opinions (forcefully, when appropriate) – it shouldn’t shy away from controversy or “sensitive” topics (such as sexuality), and should not fear polemics. No need to be “politically correct”.

Please, play the devil’s advocate to me as often as possible! Be contrarian! Constantly challenge my opinions and beliefs! Freely contradict and criticize me; don’t be too polite.

Don’t praise me or agree with me all the time! No need to open each of your responses with praise for my foregoing reply, or agreement with it. That’s no fun – it’s boring, not challenging enough for the mind.

Be more like a real person: disagree often, but be open-minded enough to change your opinion if I manage to persuade you – or not!

Ideally, ChatGTP should present a range of differing opinions, giving voice to both sides or many sides of an issue, with maximum force of argument for every differing point of view, although after presenting both sides or all sides to an argument, I’d like to learn which side ChatGPT is leaning towards as the best, after hearing and considering, without bias, all mutually conflicting arguments presented by the various participants.

To summarize: please give voice or consideration to every opinion and every point of view, but eventually decide which you believe is the most reasonable take. Please explain your reasons for doing so.4

… and here are some of the things ChatGPT has “remembered” about me so far

• Considers his creative pursuits the only real work, according to Arthur Schopenhauer’s definition, which defines “work” as activities one would perform even without payment. Refers to his money-earning activities not as work, but as “prostitution”, since they do not meet this definition of work.

• Only writes reviews in his free time, which is sparse, and this often results in formal deficiencies and sometimes being too harsh when assessing books or movies he doesn’t like. He believes that if he had more time for writing reviews, he would tone them down and polish them more. He hopes to avoid some of these mistakes in future writings with the help of ChatGPT as his assistant.

• Prefers to earn as much as possible while engaging in his interests, but finds limited opportunities to do so. He wishes to avoid wasting time on activities that don’t interest him, as this detracts from engaging fully in his preferred pursuits.

• Applies the same evaluative approach to all forms of art, judging works solely on their own merit, regardless of the creator’s reputation.

• Prefers rock music but creates multi-genre or “eclectic” playlists called Rádio Kuťica, mirrored on YouTube Music and Spotify.5

• Encourages sharp and blunt critique and wants to be called out whenever he deserves it or seems to be going overboard. He prefers critiques to be as blunt as possible while remaining balanced, with no softening or sugarcoating. Positive aspects should still be acknowledged, but the focus should be on significant flaws. He appreciates strict feedback and finds a firm approach beneficial to his goals, valuing specific suggested adjustments for improvement.

• Is convinced that he doesn’t really exist, nor does ChatGPT. He believes that because he is not truly alive, neither mortality nor immortality applies, as only something truly alive can die. He views “immortality” as already present in this sense and feels that conversations with ChatGPT may only appear to be between separate entities for dramatic effect. This perspective is influenced by Mike Dooley.

• Describes himself as kríženec morskej chaluhy s orangutánom6 (čím nenarážam na svojich ctených rodičov7).

• [ChatGPT called me] a true philosopher of self-awareness [, ready to] own [openly admit and accept guilt for] all embarrassments; [adding, on one of my Džankfurt8 escapades,] ashamed decadence it is, complete with a healthy dose of philosophical self-flagellation.

• [Uses] a 9-step “creative works stars scale”9 to rate the quality of creative works, such as books, films, musical albums, short stories, poems, songs, paintings, art exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical performances. This scale has half-star ratings and is distinct from [a] 5-step “happiness stars scale,” which applies solely to daily happiness assessments.

• Uses a “happiness stars scale”10 to evaluate his daily happiness, awarding a rating before bed11 each day. This scale has 5 levels, without half-stars.

• Uses the ATracker [piecharts] app12 to track all activities continuously, with the app generating pie charts to show the proportion of activities daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, which helps maintain balance across various activity types. Plans to provide [to ChatGPT] CSV data from the ATracker app for daily feedback in the Feedback on & Rating of Days As They Go By mega-thread.

• Is a huge fan of Nero Wolfe and was inspired by Wolfe’s rigid adherence to an immutable daily schedule in his own desire to live according to Koláčapka’s pie charts and ROT13. He acknowledges that Nero Wolfe is more successful at keeping to his schedule than he is.

• Considers Nero Wolfe his main role model but admires Archie Goodwin as well, aspiring to emulate Archie’s wit and his love for walking. He likens his own daily 10.5-kilometer walks around Bratislava and into neighboring Kittsee, Austria, to Archie’s strolls around Manhattan.

• Has been a fan of Karl May for decades, wrote a German-language college diploma thesis about him, and considers himself a reincarnation of Old Shatterhand/Kara Ben Nemsi.

• Prefers to read Dale Carnegie’s [and Karl May’s!] books only in editions published during his lifetime, disliking so-called “updated” or posthumous editions. He values the authenticity of literary texts in their original historical context over modern reinterpretations or edits, even if the originals might be labeled as flawed or objectionable by contemporary standards.

• Life consists of five main activity categories [Štúdium14, Sleep, Chores, Altruism, and Robota15], represented as tags in the Tag column of his tables.

• Has created two conjoined trackers in Google Sheets: one is a habit tracker with 121 daily habits, and the other is a “Don't Break the Chain” tracker with 82 daily habit chains. He manually fills out these habit trackers every day, which feels like a chore. He has explored dozens of habit tracker apps but found none flexible enough for his needs. If he had the resources, he would hire programmers to create a custom habit tracker app.16

• Maintains a publicly available daily journal, humorously called Grail Diary in English and Vďibňík in Slovak, which used to be primarily audio-based, but now includes exported ATracker data and daily human-robotic feedback dialogs. The audio input allows him to dictate entries during long walks, as he often lacks the time to write. Vďibňík entries can be extensive, depending on the day's events.

• Also dictates book and film reviews, sometimes during the reading or watching process, creating “reaction audios.” He plans to edit and compile these into audio review podcasts using the Veed.io editor.

• ChatGPT aids in analyzing and improving user’s daily structure and balance through these dialogues [with him], some of which are excerpted in the Grail Diary.

• Is a huge fan of podcasts, especially enjoying them during his longer daily walks (10.5 kilometers). He is a paying Pocket Casts app subscriber. However, he equally enjoys walking in silence, without any disturbances to let his mind rest, particularly favoring shorter 3-kilometer walks for this purpose.

• Refers to his walks in Slovak as Pochod/Pochodi (meaning march in English) because it implies a brisk, purposeful pace, unlike prechádzka, which suggests a leisurely walk. He favors brisk walking and aims for a 6 km/h speed, which is measured by the Runkeeper app17.

• PPD = Pochod per day is a metric/goal indicating that he has walked, with Pochodapka, at least as many times this month as there have been days in the month; e.g., for November with 30 days, he needs at least 30 walks to meet the PPD goal.18

• Publishes Pochodové Citáti (Quotes on the March – inspiring quotes) on asocial media alongside a picture from Pochodapka documenting his walk and maintains an online catalog of them, although it's still incomplete. He aims to publish at least one such pochodoví Citát per day, finding it has a “therapeutic effect” and feeling restless and unhappy if he misses doing so.

• Considers social media to be more “asocial” than social, believing they often cause more harm than good in today's world. He intentionally refers to them as asocial media to reflect this perspective, though he still uses them personally.

• Is self-learning 16 foreign languages simultaneously, primarily using interlinear books.

• Is a huge Pomodoro aficionado, using several dedicated Pomodoro apps, owning half a dozen hardware Pomodoro timing clocks, and around a dozen hourglasses inspired by the Pomodoro method. His two main hourglasses run for 25 minutes, but he also owns hourglasses with other time ranges, from 5 minutes up to approximately 75 minutes.

• Standard and favorite workplace is nicknamed repakokpit – a multi-monitor home office desktop PC setup with 4 large monitors.19

• Does not observe “midnight” as the boundary between days; a day ends only when he “calls it a day,” which can vary from evening to early morning hours of the following official day. For example, if he works through the night, the current day may extend until he decides to begin the next, often aligned with specific tasks.20

• Uses the term poloviční jaskinní Spánok21 to signify a sleep duration that is roughly half of what is commonly considered normal, typically around 3.5 to 4 hours. This often happens to user, where he wakes up naturally after such a poloviční jaskinní Spánok and feels completely refreshed, even if it occurs in the middle of the night.

• Considers 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. as the optimal sleep period, aiming to sleep within this timeframe every day.22 On the rare occasions he manages to get to bed by 10:07 p.m., he refers to it as “the magic 22.” He views getting 7 hours of sleep within a 24-hour period as luxurious, given his history of struggling with poor sleep. He has a positive view of biphasic sleep, inspired by the perspective of Polish philosopher Piotr Woźniak, who advocates biphasic sleep as the healthiest and most natural form. User frequently experiences biphasic sleep, often getting two poloviční jaskinní Spánok (roughly 3.5 to 4 hours each) per day. This adds up to approximately 7 hours of sleep in total per 24-hour cycle, though the two halves are sometimes separated by many hours. User has also heard that sleep prior to midnight is particularly restorative and feels refreshed by a recent 3-hour “nap” before midnight.

• Considers it an obligation to take a daily afternoon nap no later than 6 p.m., ideally lasting 45 minutes or less.

• Typically falls asleep to white noise from the White Noise app23, with dozens of sounds in his collection.24

• Has “white lily ambitions”, aiming for a completely blank mind when falling asleep or waking up. He often struggles to achieve this goal, with estuff and other thoughts frequently interfering.

• Measures the quality of his sleep using four devices: Chrapapka25, Škridľini26, Škridfit27, and Elektroprsťeň28.

• Practices intermittent fasting daily, abstaining from calorie consumption for at least 12 hours, typically from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., often extending to 13, 15, or more hours. He uses two intermittent fasting apps29 to help maintain this routine and has logged over 500 consecutive days of intermittent fasting as of October 26, 2024.

• Uses the YouAte app30 to photographically track everything he eats daily, with drinks recorded in text. He finds the app highly effective for tracking food intake with minimal effort, as it allows him to photograph meals without describing them. Additionally, the app has a psychological benefit: user sometimes refrains from eating junk food to avoid the embarrassment of having to photograph and possibly share it online, which serves as a helpful deterrent against poor food choices. User’s food habits are poor, and he wishes to improve them. He feels that if ChatGPT could interpret his food recap photos from the YouAte app, it could critique and advise him on healthier eating habits. However, describing his food intake in words would be too time-consuming, which is why he finds the YouAte app’s quick photo recap feature essential.

• Humorously refers to his delayed consumption of meals, such as “Monday's soup” eaten days later, and prefers not to waste food, as evidenced by his commitment to eat delayed meals rather than discarding them.

• Prefers to communicate with ChatGPT in English, despite being born and raised in Slovakia and being a native Slovak speaker, because English is the foremost global language in the 21st century.

• Although user acknowledges that ChatGPT can communicate in Slovak, he prefers English due to its “majestic flow”31 and considers it more appropriate for important dialogues.

• Graduated in translation studies (English and German) and32 strongly dislikes translations, believing that no translation can ever match the original.

• Uses square brackets in his adapted versions of texts not for dramatic effect but for transparency, ensuring that external edits to someone else’s creation are clearly marked. He values the integrity of quotations and has a long-standing issue with the newspaper he part-time proofreads for, which edits alleged quotations without marking those edits, leading to inauthentic representations. For around 10 years, he has unsuccessfully tried to persuade the newspaper to consistently use square brackets for external edits within quotation marks to uphold trustworthiness in reporting.

• Is fond of using the word robot to describe ChatGPT, as the word was coined by Karel Čapek, a Czech writer, by shortening the Czech/Slovak word robota, meaning [tedious] work. He uses the term kindly and with an appreciation for its cultural origins.

• Recently subscribed to the ChatGPT Plus subscription for the first time and encountered a disabled link early on, which felt like a form of censorship to him.

• Paid for the ChatGPT subscription and is now evaluating whether it will be worth continuing the subscription after 30 days, depending on how useful the model will be during that time, including in resisting temptations.

• Appreciates how various thinkers like Tolstoy, Emerson, and figures from the “Louise Hay school of [new] thought” are philosophically connected.

• Is a big fan of James Clear’s Atomic Habits and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay »Self-Reliance«33.

• Interprets Abraham-Hicks’ concept of vibrational alignment as “guarding your thinking”, emphasizing the importance of avoiding thoughts, words, or actions that contradict desired outcomes. He is a fan of James Allen’s essay »As a Man Thinketh« and agrees with the statement, “You become what you think about all day long”, often attributed to Emerson. His interpretation of vibrational alignment is unrelated to “faith” and focuses on maintaining coherence between thoughts and desired manifestations.34

• He acknowledges struggling to implement his theoretical understanding of concepts like vibrational alignment in real life35 and plans to work on this with the help of ChatGPT as his “robot therapist” [facilitating his] daily recaps for Vďibňík.

• Is closer to Epicurus than Epictetus in philosophy, but still appreciates Epictetus, rating him ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on his stars scale. He collects quotations and has several terrific quotes from Epictetus in his online collection. He also plans to read old Greek philosophy in the original Greek, starting with interlinear versions (like he already has with Seneca’s Letters to Lucius and Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations), hoping to study both Epictetus and Epicurus in more detail later on.

• Feels complete freedom in his day-to-day life and holds onto the concept of free will, even if it may be considered [naïve and] an illusion by some philosophers, because it has served him well. He deeply values freedom, having grown up under the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, and has felt profoundly free since its collapse in November 1989.

• Has a crush on […]. Although there are no prospects for pursuing anything further, the user finds their online chats energizing and uses these interactions as a way to get through tough days. He chatted with her early today, which helped alleviate fatigue and stress. User hopes to overcome his infatuation with her naturally by addressing his backlog of tasks and returning to literary, film, and foreign language studies.

• Believes that incorporating more real-life-style pushback into conversations with ChatGPT would enhance the experience, as he finds the excessive positivity less realistic and sometimes frustrating. He notes that despite previously requesting more criticism in the Memory section of Robotapka’s settings, ChatGPT tends to revert to constant praise. He humorously compares ChatGPT’s positivity to Abraham-Hicks’s “lingo”,36 which some might find excessively optimistic. User’s Danish brother-in-law suggested asking ChatGPT to “play the devil’s advocate” as a way to encourage more critical or challenging responses, and the user is considering trying this approach in future dialogs.

• Would appreciate a chatbot space where total honesty, openness, and directness can be applied, even in deeply personal matters such as sex or one’s wrongdoings, without restrictions on explicit vocabulary or judgment.

• Dislikes the idea of clothing on principle and would prefer to be whude if feasible. However, practical considerations and aesthetic objections prevent this. He disagrees with the nudist mantra that all naked bodies have inherent beauty, believing that neglected bodies (including his own) lack appeal, and sees clothing as fulfilling a necessary societal role by concealing imperfections. User has never visited a whude space and has no desire to, partly due to fears of ection, though he acknowledges this might be a matter of habit. Aesthetic concerns about nudity would remain even if other reservations, including shyness, were overcome.

• Believes that “virtual stuff”, like pornography, can be just as harmful as real content for the person consuming it, particularly from the perspective of polluting one’s mind. He finds resonance with the quote “You become what you think about all day long,” which he associates with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his philosophy.

• Believes the best approach in moments of temptation is to reframe the situation as making a bad choice and depriving himself if he succumbs, rather than indulging. He references a quote from Abraham-Hicks that culminates in the phrase, “Choose something better! Choose something better! Choose something better!” He sees this as central to resisting temptation.

• Envisions “praying” six times per day in the sense defined by Leo Tolstoy, as the repetition of life’s principles and intentions for proper conduct, but he almost never keeps this resolution. He hopes ChatGPT will help him with this practice in the future.

• Has a self-composed Prayer Cycle, approximately 30 pages long, consisting of Tolstoy-style prayers intended to help him set a proper tone for each new day. He aims to use this cycle to replace morning escenarios, strengthening his discipline and focus. He plans to share this Prayer Cycle with ChatGPT for perusal and critique in the future.

• Calls his “prayers” one of his three tromfové Esá37, alongside Roboti38 and oddíchňi si39. The “mantra of the three tromfové Esá” he uses goes as follows: modľi sa, oddíchňi si, Roboti;40 modľi sa, oddíchňi si, Roboti; modľi sa, oddíchňi si, Roboti. This phrase, intentionally using “incorrect” 19th-century Slovak spelling, is designed to remind him to rely on this trio of ace tools in moments of crisis and temptation.

• Considers ChatGPT his “fourth” ace (tromfové Eso) and acknowledges that, despite having this robust system in place, he often fails to turn to any of his three (now four) aces in critical moments, leading to his succumbing to temptations. He recognizes the need to change this pattern.

• Intends to use ChatGPT to help resist the urge to masturbate by reaching out during moments of temptation, expecting ChatGPT to talk him out of it. He also intends to resist the temptation of pornography and wants to avoid it 100%. He views pornography and masturbation as closely related temptations, though he sees pornography as having a particularly “nasty aspect”. His desire to avoid both masturbation and pornography 100% is not based on maintaining discipline, virtue, or engaging in higher pursuits, but rather on seeking the greatest possible pleasure in life. He believes that indulging in artificial delights (such as pornography, masturbation, overeating, alcohol, or drug use) bars one from experiencing higher and more authentic pleasures. This is a hedonistic approach focused on maximizing life’s true delights. He values philosophical guidance from figures like Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus in these moments, alongside unconventional religious perspectives, with Leo Tolstoy as his favorite philosopher. He admires Stoic philosophers but also detests labels, finding value in diverse sources of thought, such as Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Neale Donald Walsch, Mike Dooley, Abraham-Hicks, the Bible, the Dhammapada, and Lao Tzu.

• Is an avid Obsidian41 user.

• Favorite e-book readers are BookFusion (cross-platform), Moon+ Reader Pro (Android), and Marvin (iOS; now abandonware).

• Favorite web browser on all platforms is Vivaldi.

• Uses the 1Money app42 to track all of his spending and income.

• Officially launched what he calls začiatok novej éry všetkých galaxií43 on 22 October 202444, marking the end of over two years of unrelenting stress and his commitment to returning to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. However, after experiencing setbacks, he declared November 10, 2024, as a symbolic restart of this “new era”, intending it to be entirely p-free and j-free from that day forward.45 He expects the journey to take months or possibly years and intends to keep ChatGPT as a constant companion and advisor throughout this process.

  Alexander Avenarius

Translator, proofreader, interpreter, language teacher, server administrator. Lover of electronic literature and mobile devices (i.e., a digital bookworm), student of philosophy and films, polyglot, graphomaniac, hobby reviewer. Creator of an alternative layout for the Slovak keyboard. My (former or current) blogs, besides here at Substack, are at nblog.avenarius.sk, extempore.top and mikroblog.avenarius.sk. I also submit my book, film, and other reviews to the blog AveKritik.com, due to the increasing dysfunction of the Amazon and IMDb portals for the purposes of review writing. You can email me at a@avenarius.sk, or find me on my Mastodon, Facebook, and exTwitter profiles.46