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This isn't true and it's odd you believe it. I just asked Chat GPT 4 to explain the religious significance of the Wizard of Oz as a literary critic. Here's so

This isn't true and it's odd you believe it. I just asked Chat GPT 4 to explain the religious significance of the Wizard of Oz as a literary critic. Here's some of what it gave me, it doesn't write anything like you claim it does: "Moreover, Dorothy's companions -- the Scarecrow seeking a brain (wisdom), the Tin Man seeking a heart (love/compassion), and the Lion seeking courage (strength) -- symbolize spiritual virtues that are often extolled in religious texts. They embark on this quest together, mirroring the communal aspect of many religions. The slippers (silver in the book, ruby in the film) can be viewed as sacred objects, or relics, that assist her in her journey, providing divine protection and eventually leading her to salvation (returning home). Finally, the revelation that the Wizard is a mere mortal, and that Dorothy had the power to return home all along, imparts a spiritual lesson often found in religious narratives: the divine or the sacred is not external, but within us." If I was a student I could have easily expanded on these concepts (with or without GPT) and turned in a good essay.

joeframbach 3y ago
Genuinely curious - what religions are being described here? It doesn't match my limited understanding of any religions I'm familiar with.
- anotherman554 3y ago
  I didn't ask GPT to describe any particular religion. My prompt was "As a literary critic, describe how Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz is a religious figure." The divine being contained within I would think would match Buddhism pretty well. The reference to relics is too vague to pin down to any religion, there's probably lots of examples of it in lots of religions. If I had to defend it off the top if my head I'd compare the Ruby slippers to the "holy moly" herb Athena gives Odysseus to defend him from Circe. If anything I think GPT went wrong saying strength is one of the virtues associated with the Lion. It would be much easier to focus on courage and say he needs to learn to be like a brave apostle who says things like "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:" My point wasn't that this essay was particularly good, necessarily, only that it was was good enough for undergraduate work.
hollandheese 3y ago
That sounds like a bad 8th grader's essay, just pure bullcrap. These ideas would get an F in any English 101 course.
- vGPU 3y ago
  I think you exaggerate. I’ve turned in worse in English 104 and gotten an A. Quality goes out the window when you have 75 minutes and a 12 page paper to write.
- anotherman554 3y ago
  I'd say it would be good enough to pass an undergraduate class if it was expanded. Did you ever teach a class? I have not but as I understand it you'll have some students that aren't so good at writing, and some that are good. You don't want to discourage the weaker students from growing by giving them F's. This isn't a field like engineering where there are objective right and wrong answers and anyone dies if you pass the students who are not so great at writing essays on literature.
  - throwaway675309 3y ago
    You're missing the point. The writing is not what's being critiqued here. If we were grading this purely from a prosaic perspective, GPT would easily fly under the radar. The issue is the substance of the generated content - devoid of even the most minimal novelty.
    - rvba 3y ago
      Dont know how it works in USA but the schools I knew wanted you to write down no novelties or thought of your own, you were supposed to repeat the 'accepted' interpretation of a book. You were graded for memorizing or recognizing the themes that you were supposed to mention. Also big chance to get a C or a D when you came up with a "novel" approach that the shitty and boring book is actually shitty and boring. Hell no school was there to stop making your own interpetations different than the official one. Damn, even on the fucking retarded drawing lesseons (where probably half of stuff was drawn by parents) the teachers would deduct points for any individual style. I was thinking of getting an MBA, but does it even get any better for "adults"? Arent you just tought to repeat some schematics, which often are bullshit.

joeframbach 3y ago

Genuinely curious - what religions are being described here? It doesn't match my limited understanding of any religions I'm familiar with.

anotherman554 3y ago
I didn't ask GPT to describe any particular religion. My prompt was "As a literary critic, describe how Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz is a religious figure." The divine being contained within I would think would match Buddhism pretty well. The reference to relics is too vague to pin down to any religion, there's probably lots of examples of it in lots of religions. If I had to defend it off the top if my head I'd compare the Ruby slippers to the "holy moly" herb Athena gives Odysseus to defend him from Circe. If anything I think GPT went wrong saying strength is one of the virtues associated with the Lion. It would be much easier to focus on courage and say he needs to learn to be like a brave apostle who says things like "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:" My point wasn't that this essay was particularly good, necessarily, only that it was was good enough for undergraduate work.

hollandheese 3y ago

That sounds like a bad 8th grader's essay, just pure bullcrap. These ideas would get an F in any English 101 course.

vGPU 3y ago
I think you exaggerate. I’ve turned in worse in English 104 and gotten an A. Quality goes out the window when you have 75 minutes and a 12 page paper to write.
anotherman554 3y ago
I'd say it would be good enough to pass an undergraduate class if it was expanded. Did you ever teach a class? I have not but as I understand it you'll have some students that aren't so good at writing, and some that are good. You don't want to discourage the weaker students from growing by giving them F's. This isn't a field like engineering where there are objective right and wrong answers and anyone dies if you pass the students who are not so great at writing essays on literature.
- throwaway675309 3y ago
  You're missing the point. The writing is not what's being critiqued here. If we were grading this purely from a prosaic perspective, GPT would easily fly under the radar. The issue is the substance of the generated content - devoid of even the most minimal novelty.
  - rvba 3y ago
    Dont know how it works in USA but the schools I knew wanted you to write down no novelties or thought of your own, you were supposed to repeat the 'accepted' interpretation of a book. You were graded for memorizing or recognizing the themes that you were supposed to mention. Also big chance to get a C or a D when you came up with a "novel" approach that the shitty and boring book is actually shitty and boring. Hell no school was there to stop making your own interpetations different than the official one. Damn, even on the fucking retarded drawing lesseons (where probably half of stuff was drawn by parents) the teachers would deduct points for any individual style. I was thinking of getting an MBA, but does it even get any better for "adults"? Arent you just tought to repeat some schematics, which often are bullshit.