I asked ChatGPT what Kurt Vonnegut would say to us in these times. Its response:
Kurt Vonnegut, if he were speaking to us now, would likely offer a mix of sardonic wit, humanist pleading, and weary amazement at our capacity for both brilliance and stupidity. Here’s what he might say, in a tone echoing Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, or one of his essays:
—
“So it goes… again.”
Look at you all. Staring into glowing rectangles, panicking over floods and heat and elections and billionaires trying to go to Mars. The world is on fire—sometimes literally—and you’re all trying to multitask your way to inner peace.
You invented machines that think, but forgot how to talk to each other.
You mapped the human genome, but can’t decide whether poor people deserve healthcare.
You’ve built towers that scrape the sky, and yet a sixth grader somewhere still thinks books are dangerous.
And God help you, you keep electing people who couldn’t pass a high school civics test.
But you also love. You write poetry. You keep dogs. You donate blood and time and kidneys. You march for strangers. You feed your neighbors. You grieve deeply. You laugh like it still matters.
Maybe it does.
So yes, the planet is in a bit of a pickle. But I’ve always said: “We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” And this? This is a hell of a thing.
Just be kind, dammit. Just be kind.
And if that fails?
Try a good martini, a walk in the woods, and maybe a little less news.
I love it! The Dalai Lama says it more simply, but admittedly with less panache and verve:
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
That doesn’t mean we can’t work to try to change things. But if it’s done out of anger and hatred it’s going to make things worse instead of better.
July 11, 2025
There’s more to religion than being kind.
God bless.
🙂
Both excellent answers.
🙂
Truth can even come from robots.
🙂
Wow. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but still, surprising. The advice is good.
🙂
…unlike Victor, my religion is kindness and that’s enough for me.
🙂
That really is so Vonnegut. It is so us.
🙂
I’m always surprised when someone else is surprised that I held a door open for them. When did kindness become unexpected?
🙂
I LOVE it!!! I love Vonnegut and have read almost all of his books. He really was such a one-of-a-kind talent. Such a sad end that he came to.
🙂
We are quite in accord with both statements. Oh, bring on the kindness universally.
🙂
Kindness is a wonderful thing.
🙂
More Vonnegut … and less network news!
Taking his advice, now I wish someone would stir me a chilled martini, extra dry.
🙂
I agree with you – there is a lot more to religion than being kind.
🙂
It doesn’t read like Vonnegut but it certainly posits the way he thought. I like both him and the Dalai Lama.
🙂