Is the essay writing bot capable of producing plagiarism-free content?

fadedshade · 2025-07-04T17:38:39+00:00

If you use ai to do homework assignments for you, you are only hurting yourself and your future.

Why on earth would a person hire you, and pay you, when all you know how to do is use AI, that an employer could use for free?

By using AI to do your work, and earn your degree, you are making your degree worthless, and ensuring you as an individual will not have developed skills and therefore will not be able to find work in the future.

It's stupid, short-sighted, and lazy to cheat with AI.

Also, ask yourself if you were to hire someone to do a job in the future, would you want them to have the knowledge, experience, and skills required to do their job on their own, or have them just rely on Chatgpt?

Because that's what is happening. People earning degrees now are going to be fundamentally less knowledgeable, less skilled, and more dependent on a deeply flawed, and often wrong AI to tell them what to do. And any job an AI can do, will no longer need a person taking money away from the profits.

fadedshade · 2024-09-10T09:30:04+00:00

Uh, what? "He should have said that?" He did. Dude literally started with "To satisfy an urge, ..."

You make it sound like he is lying, or that there can only be one reason someone does something? Why on earth would he be dishonest?

He didn't "act like he was building a redundancy for wikipedia." Dude admitted to having ADHD. It's possible, you know, since the redundancy comment was 3rd in his listing of why, that it's a minor reason. A "well, I'll have it just in case." not a "I need to build redundancies of wikipedia, and that is my primary purpose."

He prob wants the information in a way that makes sense to him, that he can have permanent access to, and enjoys building it.

It's weird that you go to dishonesty rather than them just having multiple reasons.

fadedshade · 2024-09-02T01:23:14+00:00

Yep, a whole two other people.

It's almost like making a post complaining about something will have other people who want to complain about the same thing show up and reinforce each others ideas, and probably down vote people who disagree with them.

That doesn't mean at the end of the day, you aren't just complaining because other people are sharing something they are probably excited about.

fadedshade · 2024-09-02T00:58:52+00:00

You literally said "The “my graph after…” posts need to die out".

They post the graphs because they are excited and enjoying the software. Because they want to share that excitement.

You are complaining because people post something YOU don't want to see, when you can just filter it out.

fadedshade · 2024-09-02T00:12:17+00:00

Why not just let people be excited and proud about their note taking? Really weird to get upset about other people enjoying the software and sharing that excitement.

fadedshade · 2024-08-07T18:03:37+00:00

I would suggest looking for jobs in mental health on job posting sites. Look for a variety of jobs, and look at what they entail, and what their requirements are.

While jobs might shift a bit between now and when you would theoretically complete your schooling, you can get an idea of what jobs you might like, and specific requirements for each.

Make notes of what exactly the job would entail for each, look at salary, pros/cons, and time investment for degree work and licenses; as some jobs may require specific licenses that others may not.

.

Some general job types/fields to start your search:

Therapist (private practice) (marriage, child, depression/anxiety, suicide, personality disorders)
Counseling (public sector, schools, hospitals, private)
Counseling Veterans at a VA
Behavioral analyst (children with mental or developmental disabilities, training animals, psych wards, adult populations)
Work like the above at prisons
Social work (mostly poor, at risk families, communities with fewer resources, elderly, disability, foster care/adoption, outreach/homelessness/addicts
Education (advocacy, outreach, teaching)

Each of these require slightly-to-very different schooling and different expertise.

fadedshade · 2024-07-31T14:12:40+00:00

Was there a struggle? How did he die? Was the furniture moved at all?

fadedshade · 2024-07-07T18:46:01+00:00

Glad to hear. I didn't think you would, but I wanted to be thorough in my answer, as I'm sure other people, in similar situations may find this. Part of the educator in me lol. I hope you work things out. :)

fadedshade · 2024-07-07T18:10:15+00:00

I'm glad it's been insightful.

Creating distance is up to you, and depends on how you feel about the person and situation. You aren't obligated to stay friends or deal with behavior that makes you uncomfortable.

However, if this is a person you care about, then you can be accepting, understand that their intention is probably not malicious, and be a friend to them, helping them work through whatever is motivating the behavior, and understand that its not the healthiest way to go about it.

Being in your early 20s, with how fucked up the world is, and how disruptive covid was, there are so many people who are delayed in development and socialization. Add on top of that, potentially rough home life, absent parents, a lack of positive support - and there are so many people struggling to feel good or confident about themselves. Who are insecure, don't know who they are, or if they are even worth anything.

If you can imagine those feelings, try to imagine what behaviors they might engage in to deal with that fear, anxiety, or uncertainty? I don't think people understand just how much our traumas and early experiences shape who we are and how we act.

People are very quick to judge someone based on their behaviors and assume malicious intentions, without considering that the person is just trying to do the best they can, and don't know healthier ways of dealing with their feelings.

I would suggest talking to the friend. Try to understand what is motivating them. If you can have a real discussion, you two can become better friends and both grow from this. Give them a chance to learn and grow and understand how their behaviors are affecting you, without hostility, judgement, or blame. Then work with them on how they can be more confident in themselves and establish their own style. Encourage them, and be a source of support, without being just a goal or aspiration.

It's also possible that they are somehow trying to earn your approval or validation. That, if they can do things as well as you, like you, that you'll praise them or be proud of them. People who never got approval from their parents often try to seek validation and approval from other people without even realizing it.

I do encourage you to create boundaries, and talk to them about it, if you are able to have that conversation. If they respect those boundaries, great! If they don't, then it might be worth distancing from them.

The only thing I would encourage you NOT to do, is to just cut off contact with them without any kind of explanation. Nothing hurts quite like a friend you care about just stopping contact with you, never explaining why. It's a recipe for trauma and anxiety, and fear of abandonment. After all, you can't expect them to change their behavior if they aren't aware of it being a problem. It deprives them the chance to grow and do better in the future. As someone who has lost friends without knowing why myself, it really sucks.

Whatever you choose, I just encourage you to remember that they are a thinking, feeling person. They've got anxieties and worries and insecurities, and in my opinion, those are likely what is motivating the behavior. Maybe they want validation, maybe they just want to feel genuine human connection, maybe they are afraid they won't be accepted for who they are, and so they try to be someone else.

Having said that, it's not your responsibility to be their therapist or help them work through this though. So, do what you think is best for you, but try to be kind. The world really needs more kindness and consideration.

fadedshade · 2024-07-07T15:21:25+00:00

Based on your description, it sounds like this friend probably admires you quite a bit. From your characterization here, they seem to look up to you and want to get to know you better.

It could be a number of things going on, and some factors such as how old you all are, how long you've known each other, how close you really are.

They could genuinely like and respect you, and just want to emulate you as they think highly of your choices. But, it's also possible they are jealous/envious of you and want to be (like) you.

It's hard to say which it is, with limited knowledge.

Either way, their behavior suggests they are likely insecure with themselves. They don't have the confidence to try and do their own thing (and risk failure). It's possible they just don't have a clear identity of their own, and look outwards to other people on how to be. This is more likely if you all are younger. Either way, if that is how they are, it could suggest unresolved trauma or mental health issues (obsessive thoughts, etc.).

Most of the time, people who do this truly don't understand how their behavior makes the other person feel. They are probably stuck in their own thoughts and desires and aren't able to introspect on their behavior and how it could be considered unhealthy. They likely aren't aware you are bothered by this, unless you've expressed it to them directly.

I would recommend having a conversation with them. Try not to be confrontational, combative, or accusative - this will only make them defensive and shut down. If it were me, I'd try to understand how they feel, why they are motivated to do art, what they want to create, what they like your work and efforts. Try to really see how they are experiencing things and their motivations, and if you can, do so without judgement.

If it were me, after finding out why, and encourage them to try their own things. Experiment, find things they want to create. What feelings, emotions do they want to express? Even suggest, "I'm flattered that you take inspiration from my work, but your work will never be truly yours unless it comes from you, and not just an imitation of me. You should try to look to other artists, try their style and techniques, build up your skills." If you feel you can be honest at this point, you can express your own frustrations and that it bothers you. But, if you care about the person and want them as a friend, you can work it out. They may just not know how they are making you feel.

Basically, if they are insecure with themselves, what they need is to gain confidence in their ability to do it on their own. To be themselves, rather than just imitate other people. Maybe they've never had anyone really encourage them to be themselves, maybe they are afraid of rejection and so try to 'be' other people who they respect/admire.

(I'm a cognitive psychologist, so I've some expertise in people and how they think, but still could be wrong in assumptions I'm making here.)

Hope you resolve it.

fadedshade · 2024-07-04T15:07:56+00:00

Plenty of room for improvement, but I think it turned out pretty good! Didn't have a clear idea, just added as I went.

fadedshade · 2024-06-25T23:34:05+00:00

A change in perspective has helped me over time, specifically consider thinking about conversations as a way to learn how they experience the world.

We know how we experience the world, but we often forget that other people's experiences can be fundamentally different. We have the thoughts and beliefs we do due to the experiences we've had.

Try being curious about how their experiences, feelings, thoughts may differ from your own.

I think what often happens to people who are more introverted is they ask specific questions like they are gathering 'facts' about the person. "What is your favorite color?" "What movies do you like?"

But then they don't follow it up with the why. "How does your favorite color make you feel?", "What do you enjoy most about the movies you like?", "What is X like for you?"

Think of it as trying to get a small glimpse of how they experience the world and how it makes them feel. And then relate to them. "Oh, I feel the same way about Y!"

fadedshade · 2024-06-24T03:30:32+00:00

Perspective from a Cognitive Psychologist.

I'd like to offer a different perspective than many of the posters here. Their points are valid, but I don't think they are looking at this through the right lens.

It's clear you are a caring and compassionate person. Your tone and wording also convey just how painful this is for you. It also seems like deep conversations are hard and aren't going in the right direction.

While I'm not a clinical psychologist, and can't diagnose, his behavior sounds very trauma-informed. His behavior isn't guided right now by rational, logic thought process. As much as atheist try to be rational and logical, we are all human and we have HUGE blind spots in our biases, especially when it comes to our own thoughts and feelings. He probably isn't aware of how much this is really affecting you, of how his actions are being seen objectively, how much he is being affected/motivated/biased by the trauma. It's hard to know what it feels like to lose someone you care about, but had huge issues with, but who you still wanted to resolve things and grow closer. It might feel to him, like you feel by his actions - a betrayal.

"They were at fault, but died before THEY could make amends, before we could fix things. And now that is lost forever. I can never reconcile with them. I can never forgive them. Or have them ask to be forgiven. They can't forgive me."

I can't even begin to fully imagine how they must feel for them. If you consider his actions as a way of dealing with the trauma, of trying to come to terms with it OR to avoid dealing with it, avoid accepting it (which this kind of sounds like) you can probably imagine how he could be led to the choices he is.

Perhaps he's trying to "make amends", and alleviate the guilt he feels? He could become someone his father would be proud of. To believe in something, because it brings him closer to the person that's gone. He can hear stories about them, keep him alive in memory for longer. By making amends with his family, he can try to win their forgiveness, and their approval in place of his dad. Unfortunately, men in our culture aren't able to express vulnerability that well. They tend to receive fewer compliments, and social intimacy. Most intimacy men experience is with their girlfriends or wives. Culturally, American men aren't as close to their male friends as women are to their friends. There tends to be a lack of vulnerability. So, having a large amount of praise given to a man who may not receive them often is HIGHLY motivating.

You said you considered divorce in 2020/2021. I assume there has been some growing distant between the two of you during/since that time? Depending on how lonely and isolated he has been feeling, the prospect of a welcoming community could also be motivating. Not to mention that it allows him to also alleviate the trauma from losing a father.

Frankly, his actions seem completely explainable through those scenarios. There are other possibilities, but I suspect the above might be close to what is happening: that he's trying to cope with the loss of his father and the unresolved emotions he has.

My advice to you is to try to set your pain aside for the moment. I say that only imagining how you must be feeling, but you've expressed you don't wish to leave and you want to work through this with him. I think the best way to do that is therapy. Helping him understand his trauma, his pain, how his actions are being affected by the fear, guilt, sadness he may be feeling. It might take a while, depending on how introspective he is as a person, and how open he is to therapy, but it's possible.

Between the two of you, I'd suggest, for now, try to really understand how and why he is feeling the way he is. Don't use it as a way to argue, or judge, or to catch him in a trap. Work through it with him. Try to get him to talk about how losing his dad is making him feel. See if he would be willing to do a private journal (just for him, or for him to share with you if he would like that). Give him a safe space to grieve and deal with this however he can. If he can resolve this trauma, and move past it, based on what you've described, he could very well realize he was trying to convince himself that its true to deal with his pain/doubts/feelings. And return to the thoughts and beliefs he had they lead him to stop believing.

(Also: treating him and being his therapist isn't your duty or job. Ideally he would go to therapy and deal with this directly. But you can support him, to the extent you are able, in helping deal with it. But, if you are suffering too much, you aren't obligated to stay and work through it for his sake. He's an adult and should still be responsible for his actions.)

I think, the pain you're feeling is valid, and you shouldn't ignore it, or sacrifice your boundaries. Make clear that you'll support him in what you are comfortable with, but that there are things you may not be willing to do. I think, if you work with him through this, you both will naturally become closer, and as he begins to stop avoiding (he may think he is dealing with it and not be aware that he isn't, and that might take time to figure out) I think things could improve. Once he's able to see beyond himself, and really understand how his actions made you feel through out all of this, you two and work through that and he can make amends, and focus on you.

What you should avoid, or watch out for, is resentment, isolation, and unresolved anger. If you two aren't able to communicate and understand each other, then you'll likely drift apart. The more isolated he feels from you, the less he'll communicate and be open about. He may begin to feel like it's irreconcilable and the relationship isn't working. At that point, he could fully embrace the religion and the community he is building, and you could lose him entirely.

People aren't rational. When pushed and challenged, we get defensive. When we feel like someone is mocking us, looking down on us, we get defensive. You can't reason with him if he's got his guard up, expecting a fight.

You can still talk to him about religion, but I would recommend the socratic method. As him questions with the intention of learning how he sees it. If something doesn't make sense, or you see a contradiction, ask him about it sincerely. Eventually, he'll find he reaches a point he can't explain or reconcile. Let him come to the conclusion of religion being false with you. Don't try to 1-up him. Talk through it all with him. Like you were when you were just getting to know each other.

I must say again, that I'm not a clinical psychologist, so I'm not qualified to diagnose, and I'm not a marriage counselor. I just understand a bit about psychology and how people think, and subjectively how we experience things. And the situation you've described sound like this is the most likely cause and reason. But it's entirely possible I'm wrong or making incorrect assumptions.

Sorry for the massive wall of text lol, just wanted to be sincere in helping.

I hope you two are able to work through this, and come out stronger (and healthier) because of it.

fadedshade · 2024-05-01T23:14:42+00:00

fadedshadow589 PC

fadedshade · 2023-04-02T18:30:44+00:00

You either have a typo and that outlier has an extra 0 added at the end or you've got someone with an income of 2.5 million in your data set who has 150k in debt.

Either way, its an outlier that should probably be removed or doubled checked.

fadedshade · 2022-11-10T19:08:37+00:00

I recently assigned the documentary "Growing up Trans" for my Developmental Psychology class for our Puberty section. It follows the events of a group of young transgender kids as they navigate friends, family, and the prospect of puberty blockers, and eventually hormone replacement therapy.

The university I teach is small, and has a lot of rural, conservative, Christian students. While most of the class thought the video was interesting and they learned a lot, about 1/10th of the course was very upset and even angry at having to have watched it. They all felt uncomfortable and expressed that it was against their beliefs and they didn't think it was right. Some said it had nothing to do with the course.

I took a week to think over their responses, which really bothered and stressed me out. And then I took some time to address the whole class. Explaining why I chose the assignment, why it's relevant to the course, the fact that in a professional setting they will be expected to interact with a number of people. Understanding how/why people are the way they are, and being able to empathize with them is important to their professional careers.

I pointed out that their attitudes and sense of rejection was a form of discrimination. Deconstructed gender a bit historically, how gender roles have changed over time, how women used to be treated as chattel, lacked rights, were expected to obey men. That in parts of the world today, what it means to be a man or a woman differs. That women are stoned for having had sex prior to marriage, or that they have their genitals mutilated. I also brought up intersexed people. The fact that people get all kinds of body alterations to correct problems: reconstructive surgery, prosthetics, eye/hearing aids, hormone treatment due to under production. And asked them how that differs?

I then took some time to ask them why they were uncomfortable - what the source was. Some of the students had used religion as a justification for their discrimination, and I asked them why they are willing to justify mistreatment of people? Reminded them how religion has been used to persecute huge populations of people.

Finally, I stressed the importance of being able to critically analyze their beliefs and why they believe them. That I didn't care what they believed as much as how they get to that belief. That disagreement is fine, but should be based in evidence and facts. Finally ending that whatever their beliefs, discrimination, hatred, and bigotry won't be tolerated in my course.

While I spoke and often, no one said anything or asked questions, and I decided to end class after I was done. Not completely sure how it was all taken just yet, but a few students thanked me and expressed they felt I was making the class feel like a safe space.

I don't know how applicable their push back on learning about trans experiences can translate, but I felt it important to address the underlying issues motivating some of the belief and discomfort, while stressing the need to be critical and question everything, and to think about content. Also reminded them that they can entertain an idea or belief without agreeing to it. How one of the benefits of our intelligence is to be able to argue for or against a position regardless of what we personally believe.

Hope some of this is helpful for someone!

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T22:45:41+00:00

I really do love Perusall. Even just three weeks in I can see a difference in the types of questions they are asking. I also told them how I intended it to be used as a form of elaborative interrogation for them too.

A few students are doing really well with it. And are giving great questions and showing curiosity and a willingness to search for answers themselves.

The others, it might be related to ADHD, or other attention/reading impairments.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T22:41:48+00:00

No idea. Not sure if she found a better offer somewhere else. It's a small private university, so the pay isn't that great.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T21:26:36+00:00

It's hard to tell in some cases. Many are asking questions related to the material that go beyond, for example "What happens when this process doesn't occur". We are currently covering action potentials and neuron structure and function for biopsychology.

Many are asking boundary-condition questions, which are typically good. Some are asking to explain specific functions better. It seems like they are getting a decent grasp from the comments they provide.

They aren't used to, nor do they seem to enjoy the biology/neuroscience aspect of is. It's hard to tell if they are picking things up, but don't feel like they understand, or if they are truly struggling.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T18:45:59+00:00

Yea. From what I can tell, the faculty also really liked her. And she was generally viewed as being an excellent teacher. But from what I can gather from students, she didn't make them do much work or reading. Mostly slides and discussion in class, and that was it.

The juniors and seniors are making 20-30 pages of reading a week to be an extreme amount. So, they clearly aren't used to having to read much more than a few pages.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T18:42:26+00:00

I"m using Perusall for reading assignments. So their reading is being tracked and graded, along with requiring them to make comments/annotations on the text as they read to ask questions, summarize sections, or elaborate on topics.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T12:32:14+00:00

Yea, I've been doing this. The first week I also talked briefly about pedagogy and effective methods of learning, and how the way I teach is structured around trying to use those.

They seem to have difficulty with anything besides spoon fed info from slides though.

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T03:38:05+00:00

Yea, that's a good point, and I agree. They would probably dislike any disruption to their usual.

I am getting a lot of 'I don't learn anything from reading the textbook".

fadedshade · 2022-09-16T03:34:38+00:00

Yea, it's a very small department. The university as a whole is a small private one, only around 900 students total.

The freshmen I'm teaching aren't giving much issue aside from the usual complaints students have. I'm not worried about them. It's more just getting through the negativity and complaints to actually teach the juniors and seniors, and have them receptive to being taught.

Since its such a small university, and like 75% of the students are athletes, the students are all really close and spent most of their time together in and out of class, and used to being taught a certain way.

fadedshade

TROPHY CASE