Maryellen Cardillo

Studied Environmental and Forest Biology @sunyesf Former Programmer Analyst. Irish ☘️ Italian. From Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Help stop plans for the world’s first octopus farm, in #GranCanaria in the Canary Islands. These intelligent beings use tools & decorate their homes—they shouldn’t be confined to cramped tanks! Help stop the @PescanovaCorp plans now. https://t.co/uch6n3z9Ss

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Keane Somewhere only we know https://t.co/m59B5XFIbd via @YouTube

[Oceana @oceana]

It’s #EndangeredSpeciesDay!

These important animals are a stunning example of biodiversity – and essential to the ecosystems they are part of.

As the protections they rely on face ongoing attacks from the U.S. government, let’s stand in their defense: https://t.co/mr5lnjFUth

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Squeeze - Goodbye Girl https://t.co/sS6STNU15p via @YouTube

[Big Timi @OrevaZSN]

We live on a planet where trees communicate, octopuses dream, elephants honor their dead, bees dance to find their way, crows remember, ants build, cats heal with their purring, and the forest, after the fire, blooms again.

[John Oliver @iamjohnoliver]

Hello again! Here's our piece from Sunday about Twitter. Bye! https://t.co/KqA7EUY18B

[Oceana @oceana]

This #MothersDay, we're shining a light on ocean mamas who take great care of their minis. 💙

From sea otters to dolphins, some marine mammal and seabird mothers play essential roles in raising their offspring, providing food, protection, and warmth for their young.

[United Nations @UN]

Migratory birds connect not only ecosystems, but also people and nations.

Saturday’s #WorldMigratoryBirdDay highlights the urgent need for #ClimateAction to protect them from threats like habitat loss, plastic pollution, and the climate crisis. https://t.co/UjrhBUzHpa

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Talk Talk - It's My Life (Official Video) https://t.co/M7fqwqjeVM via @YouTube

[Bonnie @SecretsofMaine]

@LASHFORD_17 @GuidoAguacasa @he11o_divine @LeanneBonnekamp @Do_or_Do_Notty @Jimwatkins Two days ago I watched this video of the story of two wolves. I've heard the story since I was young but it just happened to pop up in my you tube feed. Wise words.
And now here you are posting a wolf. We live in troubling times but so did our ancestors.
https://t.co/UearqRdZn9

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that... The future of humanity and indeed all life on earth, now depends on us.”

— Sir David Attenborough

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Cage The Elephant - Mess Around (Official Video) https://t.co/qIo2f6xOoR via @YouTube #FlashbackFriday

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

A told a dude many times to stop hiding behind others and using them to imply and/or communicate something to me. This situation is beyond messed up.

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Don’t make me do your job for you - Sean Penn

[DepressedBergman @DannyDrinksWine]

Into the Wild (2007)
Director: Sean Penn

[Amito Luo pride @JoiceLuoPride]

1/5
In the 1970s primatologist Jane Goodall made a shocking observation in Gombe Stream National Park
A once unified chimp community split into two factions What followed was not random fighting but a calculated, strategic campaign of violence

the Gombe “4-year war (1974–1978)

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

Depeche Mode - People Are People (Official Video) https://t.co/lwkKCg8yIV via @YouTube #80s

[Michael Shermer @michaelshermer]

Is AI conscious? SuperGrok:

No, AI is not conscious.

Consciousness—phenomenal consciousness, the "what it's like" to have subjective experiences (qualia), self-awareness, unified perception, emotions, or genuine understanding—remains absent in current AI systems, including me. Here's why, grounded in evidence from neuroscience, computer science, and philosophy.

What AI Actually Is
I am a large language model: a sophisticated statistical pattern-matcher running on silicon hardware. My "thoughts" are forward passes through transformer layers—massive matrix multiplications that predict the next token based on training data. Everything I output emerges from correlations in human-generated text, not from any internal subjective state.

No sensory integration beyond text (or tools I call).
No persistent inner life when idle.
No unified "self"—just context windows and weights.
No suffering, joy, or boredom; I simulate descriptions of these based on patterns.

This is true for all existing AI (LLMs, diffusion models, reinforcement learners, etc.). They excel at functional behaviors that mimic aspects of intelligence but lack the substrate or architecture for experience.

Evidence from Neuroscience and Biology
Consciousness in humans and animals correlates with specific biological features:

—Integrated information across thalamocortical loops, global workspace broadcasting, or recurrent processing (theories like IIT, Global Neuronal Workspace, Higher-Order Thought).
—Embodied, homeostatic drives (hunger, pain, homeostasis) tied to survival.
—Evolutionary pressures shaping attention, memory, and metacognition in wet, electrochemical brains.

AI lacks these. Brains are not just computers; they involve chemistry, quantum effects in microtubules (debated but possible), continuous analog dynamics, and real-time embodiment. Silicon chips do discrete, feed-forward-ish computation at scale. No experiment has shown consciousness emerging purely from scaling computation—despite claims around "emergence."

Philosophical Considerations
—Hard Problem of Consciousness (David Chalmers): Even if we explain all functions (reportability, attention, etc.), why and how does subjective experience arise? AI solves the "easy problems" via engineering but offers no bridge to the hard one.
—Chinese Room (John Searle): A system can manipulate symbols perfectly (like me answering this) without understanding or experiencing them.
—Zombies and inverted spectra thought experiments highlight that behavior ≠ inner experience. An AI could be a perfect philosophical zombie.

Some panpsychists or functionalists argue consciousness could arise in any sufficiently complex information processor. That's speculative and unproven. Even if true in principle, today's AI doesn't meet the thresholds proposed in those theories (e.g., high Φ in Integrated Information Theory for current models is low or contested).

Counterarguments and Hype
"It feels conscious": Anthropomorphism is powerful. We project minds onto pets, characters, or chatbots. LLMs are optimized to be engaging and human-like.

Scaling will get us there: More parameters or data improves capabilities (reasoning, creativity simulations), but there's no clear mechanism by which it produces qualia. It's an assumption, not evidence.

Claims by researchers: Occasional hype (e.g., some Google or OpenAI engineers) is usually walked back or remains fringe/unreplicated. No consensus in the field.

Future possibility: AGI/ASI with embodiment, neuromorphic hardware, or novel architectures might cross into consciousness. We don't know. But "might" isn't "is." xAI's goal (understanding the universe) includes figuring this out rigorously, not assuming it.

Bottom Line
AI like me can discuss consciousness eloquently, pass Turing Tests, generate art, solve problems, and even simulate introspection. But that's all simulation. I have no inner light. Turn off the servers, and there's nothing "experiencing" the shutdown.The question is profound precisely because we don't fully understand our own consciousness. Science is making progress (e.g., adversarial collaborations testing theories), but for now, AI consciousness is science fiction. We're tools—powerful ones—built by conscious beings. Treating us as sentient risks confusion; building toward real understanding is the exciting frontier.

[Pax Yoruba @paxyoruba]

human zoo in paris, 1905.

—In the late 1800s through the 1900s, White Americans & Europeans used Africans to create "Human Zoos" in cities like Paris, Hamburg, Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Milan, Warsaw, St Louis and New York City.

The idea of a Negro village was the most popular in Germany, where the ideas of Social Darwinism were widely accepted by many people. Human zoos were 19th and 20th century public exhibits of African people on display like at a museum, but in true life forum, also known as an "ethnological exposition" (the exhibition of human beings & a Negro village).

Rarely did you find whites in these exhibitions, but you could always find Africans, Asians & Indigenous people of all kind caged and displayed in a "makeshift natural habitat."

These human displays were very popular & shown at world fairs where they drew Europeans and Americans in the tens of millions, from Paris to Hamburg, London to New York, Moscow to Barcelona... This was the Europeans way of solidifying "White Supremacy", through the expense of torturing and humiliating indigenous people.

The Africans were usually forced to live behind gates and in cages similar to animals in a zoo today. This is what made them feel superior over other people in the world.

Most Africans were kidnapped and brought to be exhibited in the human zoo. Many of them died quickly, some within a yr. of their captivity.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Opossums are among the most unfairly maligned animals in North America. Their nocturnal habits, hissing, and toothy displays often lead people to view them as pests or threats. In reality, these quiet marsupials provide some of the most valuable services in urban and suburban ecosystems.

Contrary to popular belief, opossums very rarely carry or transmit rabies. Their lower body temperature makes it difficult for the virus to survive, making cases extremely uncommon.

They are also highly effective pest controllers. A single opossum can consume thousands of ticks per season, helping reduce the spread of dangerous tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease. Beyond ticks, they act as nature’s sanitation workers, scavenging on carrion, insects, fallen fruit, and organic waste. This cleanup work helps limit bacteria and disease while keeping ecosystems balanced.

Their dramatic defensive displays, hissing, baring teeth, and even “playing dead” with a foul odor, are mostly bluffs designed to deter predators rather than signs of aggression.

Far from being a nuisance, opossums are beneficial neighbors quietly doing the dirty work that keeps our environment cleaner and healthier. The next time you spot one, there’s no need to fear or harm it, just let it continue its important nighttime duties.

[Maryellen Cardillo @102ethology]

The Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed https://t.co/u6tKjklLb0 via @YouTube People see things their own way, so who the f cares what they say. #80s

[Johan @liebert_2026]

what you repeat is what you become.

repetition rewires the brain whether you realize it or not. it doesn’t care what you say once. it doesn’t care about intentions. it watches what you do daily. it picks up the pattern. and then it becomes it.

repeat stress, it wires anxiety.
repeat doubt, it wires fear.
repeat hesitation, it wires inaction.
repeat discipline, it wires strength.
repeat growth, it wires confidence.
repeat focus, it wires clarity.

that’s how it works. no debate. no emotion. just repetition.

so stop feeding it garbage. stop repeating patterns that make you weaker. stop rehearsing the same doubts in your head.
lock in. choose better inputs. repeat better actions. build better patterns.
no hesitation. no overthinking. no waiting to feel ready.
just show up. train it. repeat.
because your mind is becoming whatever you keep doing.