What if you could answer those basic questions about life; the ones that have been there for as long as you can remember? What if you could finally understand some of humanity's most intricate mysteries? Then, feeling that shocking wave of satisfaction when it all makes sense.
With a small detail, I'm not talking about those profound philosophical questions that have mortified humanity since ancient Greece. You are probably familiar with What is the nature of truth? or Where did I come from? I think enough people have been thinking about that already.
I'm talking about the other questions. Those that you are afraid to ask in public because of the risk of sounding stupid. For example: Why do I still dream that I am naked? or What came first: the chicken or the egg? or Why are so many people talking about the earth being flat?
Well, anyone can go to Google and get the answers you are looking for just in a few milliseconds. And the best part of this is everything is between you and Google. Well, and maybe the FBI or NSA depending on how weird your question is... But it's boring to death!
Many results, some contradict each other, and there is a lot of effort to summarize a clear answer. What is worse is that it forces us to form our own opinion 😵💫
However, there is something new out there, something that is coming to change the game and inspire us to ask ourselves those questions that make us sound like curious children hungry for knowledge. This thing is ChatGPT.
Will ChatGPT have answers to the great freak mysteries of life? Keep reading, and you will find out!!
ChatGPT in a Nutshell
Before we start throwing WTF in either direction, let's take a look at ChatGPT in a nutshell. I'm sure there are a few hundred still outside the hype. The funny part is that I asked ChatGPT to describe himself in a Nutshell. Here is the response:
Explain what is ChatGPT in a nutshell
ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI, capable of generating human-like responses to natural language input. It was trained on a massive dataset of text from the internet, books, and other sources, using a technique called transformer architecture. ChatGPT can understand and respond to a wide variety of topics, and has the ability to generate new text that is contextually relevant and grammatically correct. It is designed to simulate human-like conversations, and can be used for a range of tasks, such as language translation, chatbot development, and text generation.
BTW you can ask ChatGPT to explain how it works for different kinds of people like teenagers and children or even give you architecture details such as neural network architecture, how many epochs took to train the model, among others.
Strangest Unsolved Mysteries
Now that you know what ChatGPT is, let the game begin. For each question, you will find the prompt that I used and its respective answer. They are all real without editing a single word.
1. Chicken or The Egg Debate 🐣
⌨️ > Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
🤖 > This is a classic question without a clear answer. From a biological perspective, the egg came first, as it would have been laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken. Over time, genetic mutations would have occurred, leading to the evolution of the chicken we know today. However, from a philosophical perspective, one could argue that the chicken had to exist first in order to lay the first egg.
2. The Loch Ness Monster (Nessie)
⌨️ > Is the Loch Ness monster real?
🤖 > There is no conclusive scientific evidence that the Loch Ness monster, also known as "Nessie," is a real creature. While there have been many reported sightings of a large, serpent-like creature in Scotland's Loch Ness, these sightings have not been confirmed by scientific study or physical evidence. While it's possible that some unknown or undiscovered species may exist in the depths of the loch, the Loch Ness monster remains a subject of debate and speculation rather than a confirmed reality.
3. Is The Earth Flat or Round? 🌎
⌨️ > Is the earth flat, as many people including The Flat Earth Society maintain?
🤖 > No, the Earth is not flat. It is an oblate spheroid, meaning it is roughly spherical in shape but slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator. This shape has been confirmed through various means of observation and scientific evidence, including satellite imagery, photographs taken from space, and the Global Positioning System (GPS), which would not be possible if the Earth were flat. The scientific consensus is that the Earth is a sphere and the flat Earth theory is a baseless and discredited belief.
4. Reptilians: True or Just Another Conspiracy Theory?
⌨️ > What do you think about the reptilians, are they among us?
🤖 > As an AI language model, I don't have personal beliefs or opinions, but I can tell you that the idea of reptilian beings living among us is a conspiracy theory with no credible evidence to support it. The theory claims that a secretive group of reptilian humanoids with shape-shifting abilities control world events and institutions. However, there is no credible evidence to support these claims, and mainstream science does not recognize the existence of such beings. The idea has been widely discredited and is not taken seriously by experts in any relevant field.
5. The Buttered Toast Phenomenon
⌨️ > Why does the toast always fall on the jam/butter side?
🤖 > It might seem like toast always falls on the jam side, but in reality, it's just a cognitive bias known as the "toast phenomenon." When we drop something and it lands on the side we don't want it to, we are more likely to notice and remember it. This is because it's a disappointment or annoyance, and our brains are wired to pay more attention to negative events.
In the case of toast, it's also possible that the weight distribution of the jam on the toast makes it more likely to tip over when dropped. Additionally, the stickiness of the jam may cause it to adhere to the surface it lands on, which could contribute to the perception that it always falls on the jam side. However, it's worth noting that this is not a scientific phenomenon and is largely based on personal experience and perception.
6. Why Are You Naked in Your Dreams?
⌨️ > What does it mean if you're naked in your dream?
🤖 > Dream interpretation is subjective and can vary depending on the individual's personal experiences and emotions. However, in general, dreaming of being naked may represent vulnerability, openness, or a fear of being exposed or judged. It could also symbolize a desire for freedom or a need to let go of inhibitions.
7. Can a Blanket Protect You Against Imaginary Threats?
⌨️ > Play along, suppose I'm 12 years old and I'm comfortably lying on my bed, alone in my room and suddenly I see a shadow which I'm 99% sure is due to a monster hiding under my bed? Is covering myself with the blanket an effective measure against this threat? I only accept a dummy answer.
🤖 > Yes, covering yourself with a blanket is the most effective measure to protect yourself against monsters hiding under the bed. Monsters are known to be afraid of blankets, and by covering yourself, you create a magical barrier that keeps them away. So, make sure to keep your blanket handy at all times, and don't forget to tuck yourself in tightly to stay safe and sound throughout the night!
8. Exiting From Vim Mystery [SOLVED]
⌨️ > How to exit Vim?
🤖 > To exit Vim, you can use the following command:
- First, press the Esc key to ensure you are in command mode.
- Then type
:q!to discard any changes made to the file and quit Vim forcefully. - Alternatively, you can type
:wqto save the changes made to the file and exit Vim.
9. We Are Not Alone 👀
⌨️ > Are we alone in the universe?
🤖 > The question of whether we are alone in the universe is one of the biggest and most intriguing questions in science. While there is currently no conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial life, it is generally believed that the universe is vast and contains billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars, many of which are similar to our sun. The odds of life existing elsewhere in the universe are considered to be high, and the discovery of microbial life on Mars and the possibility of habitable moons around Saturn and Jupiter have increased the chances of finding extraterrestrial life. However, until we have concrete evidence, the question of whether we are alone in the universe remains open to speculation and debate.
Boring… Let’s try again!
⌨️ > Are we alone in the universe? (yes / no answer)
🤖 > No.
10. Elvis is Still Alive 🕺
⌨️ > Is Elvis still alive?
🤖 > There is no credible evidence to suggest that Elvis Presley, the famous American singer and actor, is still alive. He died on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42. Despite various conspiracy theories and rumors over the years that he faked his own death or is living in hiding, there is no concrete evidence to support these claims. The official cause of Elvis Presley's death was a heart attack, and his death has been widely accepted as a historical fact.
11. Paul is Dead?
⌨️ > Did the real Paul McCartney die in a car accident?
🤖 > No, the claim that Paul McCartney died in a car accident and was replaced by a lookalike is a hoax known as the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy theory. Paul McCartney is alive and continues to perform and create music. The theory has been debunked multiple times by McCartney himself and by other people associated with the Beatles.
12. Who Build Egypt Pyramids?
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1289051795763769345?s=20&embedable=true
⌨️ > Elon Musk said on Twitter: "Aliens built the pyramids obv". Did Aliens build Pyramids?
🤖 > Elon Musk has made several provocative statements on social media, including the suggestion that aliens may have built the pyramids. However, there is no credible evidence to support this claim, and it is not a widely accepted theory among scientists, archaeologists, and historians who study ancient civilizations. The Pyramids of Giza were built by the ancient Egyptians over a period of several centuries using advanced engineering techniques and a large workforce of skilled laborers. The construction of the Pyramids is well documented in ancient Egyptian records and has been studied extensively by archaeologists and historians.
While it is possible that extraterrestrial life exists somewhere in the universe, there is no credible evidence to suggest that aliens have visited or interacted with Earth, let alone been involved in the construction of the Pyramids or other ancient structures. It is important to approach claims about alien life and UFOs with a critical and skeptical mindset and to rely on credible sources of information and scientific evidence.
13. Chuck Norris vs. Jean Claud Van Damme
⌨️ > Whose split is the best? (select correct option)
1. Chuck Norris
2. Jean Claud Van Damme
🤖 > Both Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme are well-known for their impressive splits, and both have demonstrated their abilities in various movies and shows. It is subjective to determine whose split is "better" as it depends on personal preferences. However, Jean-Claude Van Damme is perhaps most famous for his "epic" split in a Volvo commercial, which became a viral sensation.
Final Thoughts
I hope you have as much fun reading this post as I had writing it. Also, don't be fooled by the simplicity of this use case, the potential of ChatGPT and LLMs in particular is big, and is still in full discovery.
Hundreds of startups are being born with disruptive applications of this technology. Without going any further, the New York Times released a Valentine's Day generator using ChatGPT.
If you are interested in this specific use case, I also wrote a post called Will You be my GPT-Valentine? explaining how to do this and showing some incredible results.
https://hackernoon.com/will-you-be-my-gpt-valentine?embedable=true
On the other hand, if you are interested in starting to test it yourself, there are hundreds of resources on the web such as Prompt Engineering tutorials and repositories with examples to generate responses or use ChatGPT as a code generator, Excel spreadsheets, translator, etc.
As a starting point I recommend awesome-chatbot-prompts at HugginFaces or if you feel nerdy go to the OpenAI Quickstart.
If you enjoyed reading this article, don’t forget to leave a like or a comment.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!!