I got up early this morning, say 5:30 AM, and thought, “Oh hell, why not?” And I logged onto ChatGPT thinking I’d check its legal knowledge, at least as far as I’m qualified to do so, which is not very far. I asked it what a juristic person was. It got that.
I then asked, “Can officers of a corporation be held personally liable for acts committed by the corporation?” It explained that while “the law generally treats the corporation as being responsible for its own actions and liabilities [...] there are certain situations in which the personal liability of corporate officers may be imposed.” It gave three examples. Here’s the third – yeah, I’m getting there, just cool your jets:
Piercing the corporate veil: In some cases, a court may "pierce the corporate veil" and hold the owners or officers of a corporation personally liable for the debts or obligations of the corporation. This is typically done when the corporation has not been operated as a separate legal entity (for example, if the owners or officers have commingled personal and corporate assets or have not kept proper corporate records).
That’s where I was going when I asked about personal liability; that was to be my next question: What does it mean to pierce the corporate veil. ChatGPT saved me the trouble of having to ask.
I asked it about the history of the idea of the corporation, about the legal organization of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, about habeus corpus, and the king’s two bodies, all of which ChatGPT nailed.
Now we’re cooking with gas.
So I decided on a new line of questioning: “Moving away from the law, what about Felix Culpa?” Nailed it. Next came Paradise Lost and Milton’s intention “to justify the ways of God to men?” I decided to swing for the fences.
And we're there! – I asked about Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129. Why that sonnet? Because I wrote about it in one of my earliest publications, “Cognitive Networks and Literary Semantics,” and argued that its underlying logic was that of Felix Culpa. Yes, lust was a disaster, “Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,” and so forth. However, we’re all afflicted by lust – “All this the world well know; yet none knows well” – and so, we’re all in this together. We hold this in common; it unites us.
We can argue whether or not that’s a reasonable account of the poem. In this context that’s a side issue. Having already quizzed ChatGPT about Felix Culpa I wanted to see if I could steer it, Socratically if you will, to that reading. That’s when the wheels fell off the wagon.
Now tell me about Shakespeare's Sonnet 129.
Shakespeare's Sonnet 129, also known as "Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame," is a poem that addresses the theme of lust and its destructive effects. The poem is written in the form of a sonnet, which is a 14-line poem that is typically composed in iambic pentameter and follows a specific rhyme scheme.
In Sonnet 129, Shakespeare compares the experience of lust to "a death-denying death," suggesting that it is a destructive and self-destructive force that ultimately leads to the demise of the person who indulges in it. The poem describes the ways in which lust consumes and corrupts the individual, causing them to engage in shameful and self-degrading behavior in pursuit of pleasure.
The poem also reflects on the idea of the fleeting nature of pleasure, as it describes how the pursuit of lust ultimately leads to "a pain of pleasure." This suggests that the pleasure derived from lust is short-lived and ultimately leads to suffering or regret.
Overall, Sonnet 129 presents a negative view of lust and its effects, and it serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of indulging in this destructive desire.
What does the poem's final couplet say?
The final couplet of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129 is as follows:
"Then do I think on thee, and then I die:
O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?"In this couplet, the speaker of the poem reflects on the destructive effects of lust and how it causes him to die, both metaphorically and literally. The speaker wonders if the object of his lust will leave him "unsatisfied," or unfulfilled, suggesting that his desire for this person is never fully satisfied.
The final couplet of the poem serves as a conclusion to the themes and ideas that have been explored throughout the poem. It suggests that the speaker's obsession with lust has caused him to suffer and die, and that he is left feeling empty and unfulfilled as a result.
That couplet is not from Sonnet 129 at all. Where’d ChatGPT get it from? (FWIW, I did a quick search on those lines and couldn’t find them, at least not as a couplet.) ChatGPT conflates 129 with that foreign couplet it coughed up and offers a reading of that conflation.
Let’s go around again:
Whoops! And we were doing so well. Those lines are not from Sonnet 129. Try again: What's the concluding couplet of Sonnet 129 and what does it mean?
I apologize for the error in my previous response. The correct final couplet of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129 is as follows:
"The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream."In this couplet, the speaker reflects on the destructive effects of lust and how it consumes and corrupts the individual. The speaker describes lust as "murderous, bloody, full of blame," suggesting that it is a destructive and self-destructive force that ultimately leads to the demise of the person who indulges in it. The speaker also suggests that the pleasure derived from lust is short-lived and ultimately leads to suffering or regret.
Overall, the final couplet of Sonnet 129 serves as a conclusion to the themes and ideas that have been explored throughout the poem. It presents a negative view of lust and its effects, and it serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of indulging in this destructive desire.
Why would ChatGPT quote everything but the final couplet and call it a couplet? Does it not know what a couplet is? Apparently not.
That's everything BUT the final couplet.
I apologize for the confusion. The final couplet of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129 is as follows:
"So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."In this couplet, the speaker suggests that the object of his lust will continue to live on and be remembered through the eyes of those who love her, until the day of judgment when she will rise again. The phrase "till the judgment that yourself arise" suggests that the speaker believes in the resurrection of the dead and that the object of his lust will one day be resurrected and judged.
The final couplet of the poem serves as a conclusion to the themes and ideas that have been explored throughout the poem. It reflects on the lasting impact of lust and how it can influence and shape the way in which the object of desire is perceived and remembered by others.
Wrong again. Try this:
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.I apologize for the errors in my previous responses. The final couplet of Shakespeare's Sonnet 129 is as follows:
"All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell."In this couplet, the speaker suggests that, although the destructive effects of lust are well-known, people continue to indulge in it because they are drawn to the pleasure and fulfillment it provides, even though it ultimately leads to suffering and "hell." The phrase "the heaven that leads men to this hell" suggests that the pleasure derived from lust is deceptive and ultimately leads to destruction.
The final couplet of the poem serves as a conclusion to the themes and ideas that have been explored throughout the poem. It reflects on the destructive and seductive nature of lust and the ways in which it can lead people astray.
Finally. But I had to feed it the couplet in order to get it acknowledge it. If I were to run through this drill a second time, would it still be confused about what a couplet is and where you find the final one? I don’t know. It’s worth a try.
But not now. Before moving on, notice this phrase, “The final couplet of the poem serves as a conclusion to the themes and ideas that have been explored throughout the poem.” It used very similar formulations – almost word for word – in its previous two attempts on the couplet. In general, it seems to make fairly extensive use of formulaic language.
With that behind us, I decided to see if I could spoon feed ChatGPT the idea that the Fortunate Fall is the underlying trope of Sonnet 129.
Can we not take comfort in the fact that we’re all in this together, it afflicts us all and so, in an odd way, unites us?
It is true that the human experience is characterized by a range of shared challenges and struggles, including those related to love, desire, and relationships. In this sense, it is possible to find some comfort in the fact that we are all "in this together," as it can help us to feel a sense of connection and commonality with others.
However, it is also important to recognize that the ways in which people experience and cope with these challenges can vary greatly, and it is not always helpful to assume that others are experiencing the same thing or to generalize about their feelings and experiences. It is important to be mindful of the individual nature of people's struggles and to approach them with empathy and understanding.
Ultimately, it is up to each person to find their own way of coping with the challenges and struggles that they face, and to seek out the support and help that they need in order to navigate these challenges in a healthy and positive way.
How does this relate to the idea of the Fortunate Fall?
The idea of the Fortunate Fall, also known as felix culpa in Latin, is a belief that holds that the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, as described in the Bible, was actually a good thing because it allowed for the possibility of salvation and redemption. According to this belief, God allowed Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, despite having warned them not to do so, in order to create the opportunity for humanity to be saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In this sense, the idea of the Fortunate Fall suggests that the challenges and struggles that humans experience can ultimately lead to positive outcomes or growth. It is a way of finding meaning or purpose in difficult or adverse circumstances, and of viewing them as part of a larger plan or purpose.
While the idea of the Fortunate Fall may be comforting to some people, it is important to recognize that it is just one perspective and that different people may have different ways of understanding or coping with the challenges and struggles that they face. It is up to each individual to find their own way of making sense of their experiences and to seek out the support and help that they need to navigate their challenges in a healthy and positive way.
Did it take to the bait? Perhaps, but only weakly. More later.
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