Unlike the stomach, the brain makes no sound when empty

In April this year, I wrote an article bemoaning the speed at which we seem to lower standards and embrace mediocrity in public institutions. That article, titled ‘Developmental state, meritocracy and minimum requirements’ had these important lines: “Our country has subordinated meritocracy in preference of irrational and irrelevant considerations. Ordinary Namibians are aware that our society and its leaders do not value meritocracy. Our country is effectively a ‘zula to survive’, as one artist once sang, and you can ‘zula’ anywhere... countries that have succeeded economically, even in the developing world, are those with serious and decisive leadership that valued and championed meritocracy.“The enlightened members of our society need to stand up to demand the best of and for our country. Leaving state and public affairs in the hands of the semi-literate and the desperate adventurists is fatal. The enlightened in our country must recall the advice of philosopher Aristotle: &#039;The wise who refused to rule should prepare to suffer the rule of idiots&#039;.”Those who read it are prepared for what we are dissecting today.ChatGPT scandalOur country is engulfed in a scandal that the election manifesto of the ruling party was not written by men and women who seriously considered our country’s developmental matters and devised solutions. It was ostensibly generated by a computer application called ChatGPT.When this was pointed out, the ruling party sent Efraim Nekongo to defend the party. No one with a reputation to protect was sent. Strangely, he referred to methodological aspects followed and claimed that a certain Mwaala Lubinda verified this methodology.Nekongo doesn’t state the authoritativeness of Lubinda, who appears to be an agriculturalist. As soon as Nekongo&#039;s statement emerged, screenshots of evidence emerged clearly indicating and demonstrating parts and quantum that were generated via ChatGPT.Nekongo must be forgiven for three reasons. Firstly, he has never entered the doors of any university lecture room as a student. To expect him to comprehend complex matters of research methodology is the same as taking a cattleman from the cattle post into a biomedical laboratory and expecting him to identify O-positive blood from blood samples or to make determinations related to pathogens.Secondly, since he has no idea how ChatGPT works and because he may have seen some comrades with laptops working on the manifesto, he may have believed that the manifesto was really created by comrades.Thirdly, the Swapo youth league&#039;s constitution states that their primary role is to serve as a “transmission belt."In a factory or any assembly line, a ‘transmission belt’ is to move whatever is placed on it from one place to the other, with no role in production.Unlike the machine, it doesn’t process or produce. For as long as power/electricity is on and the operator switches it on, it will move and transmit.Viewed differently, when someone couriers expired canned fish through DHL or NamPost, can these courier companies be blamed for expired food?As a transmitter belt of the ChatGPT manifesto, Nekongo can thus not be blamed for the ChatGPT content. It is simple: he has no idea, the matters are above his mental weight and it’s his role to transmit and defend whatever is on the transmitting belt. He actually did well for his party, in the circumstances, although no serious mind will take him seriously.A closer lookThere is a bigger problem and one can only determine this problem by zooming in on this scandal thoroughly.The question that must be asked is this: who opened ChatGPT, entered the commands and copied the ChatGPT answers into the alleged manifesto? We understand that the manifesto was first compiled by the alleged Swapo &#039;Think Pot&#039;.This Think Pot consists of several chief executive officers, several professionals, including vice chancellors and deputy vice chancellors of our universities and executive directors of several ministries.Did the Think Pot resolve the ChatGPT method? How do we know that these individuals do not run important national institutions using ChatGPT?Furthermore, it was announced that this ChatGPT manifesto was approved by the Swapo central committee, consisting of several ministers and even people we thought were of sound mind.How did they approve a ChatGPT manifesto?If professionals, academic leaders, ministers, executive directors and all those who are part of the Swapo pot machineries can be associated with intellectual dishonesty at this level, how is this not an indictment on our country? Think of what ambassadors and diplomats in our country have already reported back to their country on this matter.One may be tempted to think that this is a mere accident and an oversight, although it passed through more than 300 eyes as part of the Swapo collective leadership.But when this is put into perspective, there appears to be a pattern.Trust A few weeks ago, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah had to explain herself publicly following her fake announcement that on 28 August 2024, the contractor will be on site to start the renovation of the Independence Stadium.This did not happen, of course. She informed the public that they assured her in writing that this would happen. She interestingly remarked: "We cannot continue to lie to the public.”Her choice of words being “we” and “continue” confirmed what we already know: that the Swapo regime has been lying to the public.To her credit, she wants to end the lies.But a criminal should first be tried, sentenced and rehabilitated. This is not the only recent Swapo lie. In July, Vice President Nandi-Ndaitwah launched another Swapo document that claimed that since 1990, the Swapo regime had acquired 3 483 083 226 hectares of agricultural land.The same document also claimed that 603 farms were acquired since 1990. It is not possible to acquire three billion hectares in Namibia simply because the total size of land in Namibia is only 82 million hectares. Total farmland is only 39 million hectares. Since 1990, until a few months ago, only 501 farms were acquired and not 603 as claimed by the Swapo document. Could this be another ChatGPT scenario?This is not just an isolated Swapo matter.It is a serious problem that can easily spread, if it has not already spread into public institutions.What if the Namibia Statistics Agency, Home Affairs, police statistics and Ministry of Finance normalise this culture of lies and use ChatGPT on important national matters?This is a serious matter, and we must all be alarmed.If vice chancellors of NUST/Unam, education executive directors and higher education ministers are creating, approving and supporting ChatGPT documents to run the country, why should university students not do their assignments and masters theses using Chat GPT? This culture is dangerous, and the first casualty will be our higher education. When our higher education is gone, the second casualty will be our human resources frameworks and mechanisms. When this happens, our economy will follow, and the results will be a failed State.Imagine a combination of dishonest, hungry ‘intellectuals’ and overzealous tin-brains surrounding the national pot, cooking meals for our children. Indeed, unlike the stomach that makes a noise when empty, an empty brain does not alert anyone when empty.*Job Shipululo Amupanda is an associate professor in political studies at the University of Namibia and the activist-in-chief of the Affirmative Repositioning movement.

Unlike the stomach, the brain makes no sound when empty

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Unlike the stomach, the brain makes no sound when empty

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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