In theory, it’s called the “problem of another thoughts”. Currently, in today’s age of sentient-sounding ai and rapid AI improvements, it’s received an enormous upsurge in media policy. But it’s still unanswered, a answer eludes us.
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Generally, the “problem of another minds” grapples with an inherent fact of our neurons: we’re secret to our own thoughts — all the reasoning, emotions, fears, and aspirations. Via our neurons, we experience a rich tapestry of personal experiences. It’s our passport to all the beautiful moments that make living unique.
But what about other people? We can’t observe their ideas. So how do we realize if they’re really, really the same as ours?
Sometimes they’re faking it. It’s feasible: ChatGPT, Grok 3, and DeepSeek are all wonderful scammers. Turns out, our much-ballyhooed Turing check was more suggestive of mortal gullibility than electric sentience.
We know our emotions are real and reasonable, but we can just conclude other people’s emotions through their activities— and often we get it brilliantly wrong. Often we marry the wrong person, trust the incorrect “friend”, and up the incorrect leader.
It’s a cruelly inadequate system that’s been the main cause of most large-scale war and small-scale interpersonal conflicts.
This brings us to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy.
To some, he’s a modern-day George Washington. To some, he’s only the latest in a long series of Eastern European kleptocrats, overflowing in forgery, theft, and fraud. Ideas are vast and diverse.
But we can all agree that we’re living in an age of “unusual” world officials. From D. C. to Kiev, these ain’t your father’s officials no ma’. Like Trump, Zelenskyy’s path to elections was a crazy one. He was a artist. He had a hit show on Ukrainian Television, where he played a well-meaning history professor who’s strangely elected president of Ukraine.
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Appear, I’ll confess it. Ukrainian humor escapes me ( NSFW, I think? ):
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Ironically, in Zelenskyy’s TV show, the concern that propelled him directly to the Russian presidency was problem. It’s not just a Soviet thinking point: Ukrainian fraud is a very real, very serious problem. A decade ago — before Putin was “literally Hitler”, and countries like Germany were joyfully seeking stronger ties with Russia — Ukraine was widely acknowledged as the most crooked nation in Europe.
It’s not that Zelenskyy himself is crooked ( although it’s possible ). Obviously, the problem trouble preceded him. But that doesn’t change the fact that problem is an administrative, widespread problem in Ukraine, and he came away through that program.
The God’s fair truth is, nobody has any idea how significant international aid is being stolen. Ukraine will often confess to million-dollar thefts, but most observers suspect the real number is much larger. President Trump put the figure in the hundreds of billions:
Relevant:  , The Art of the Sabotage: The Far Left’s Betrayal of Ukraine Is Coming
There’s little to love about Zelenskyy. He’s daring, he’s a soldier. Consider how you felt when then-candidate Trump shrugged off a shot wound in Butler, arose to his feet, and yelled,” Battle! Battle! Battle”!? Well, Ukrainians perhaps felt equally when Zelenskyy cooly told Biden,” I need ammunition, hardly a ride”.
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That was ballsy. Amazing. Sounds like someone Bruce Willis did suggest while fighting bad people in the Nakatomi Plaza.
It was both Trumpian and Washingtonian because we often compare international problems to the soldiers of our American Revolution. President Reagan did so in the 1980s, when he called the Dominican Contras” the social equivalent of our Founding Fathers”.
But they really weren’t. Nor are the Ukrainians now.
That doesn’t suggest Zelenskyy’s challenge isn’t virtuous. Or that the horrible, ugly things being said about him are correct. Putin accused him of being a Nazi, which he undoubtedly isn’t: he’s a Russian Jew. ( It’s kind of annoying that” Ashkenazi” has the word” Nazi” in it, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what Putin meant. )
Does Russia have a traditional say to Ukraine? Confident. But does Sweden. Western history is rife with countries, places, and territories being traded consistently amongst competing power and empires. Ownership is often determined by whoever won the last conflict.
And when battle comes, it’s truly dreadful for the individuals in those places. Your heart goes out to ‘ boyz. And the ripple effect isn’t usually limited to Europe: often we feel it here in America, also.
But most of the moment we don’t.
The issue of whether or not Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a good man is a bit of a mislead: it’s not really important.
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It’s Zelenskyy’s career to become “good” for Ukraine. It’s Trump’s work to be “good” for America.  ,
That’s it.
We can’t mistake Zelenskyy for pursuing the best possible bargain for Ukraine. That’s his work. If you were in his boots, you’d been begging the great European power to give you billion as well. The more cash — and the more weaponry — and the more Russian agreements — the better.
But President Trump has a task to perform, too. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him pursuing it.