iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

A 14th century parable about agentic AI transformation

Tamerlane was looking for someone to teach his donkey to talk. Nobody wanted the job. Finally the wise men of the dunes - Hodja Nasreddin took the position and promised to teach the donkey to talk in 10 years time.
- Are you crazy? his friends asked him.
- Not really, Hodja answered, the money is good the job is not hard and in 10 years a lot might happen: I might die, or Tamerlane might die or surely enough this old donkey might die.

Dan Hopewell @danhopewell.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

But this is how a donkey reads

How a donkey reads
Nasreddin Hodja

During a conversation with Tamerlane, Hodja started bragging about his donkey.
- It is so smart that I can teach it even how to read, he said.
-Then go ahead and teach it reading. I give you 3 months. Tamerlane ordered.
Hodja went home and began to train his donkey. He put its feed between the pages of a big book and taught it to turn the pages by its tongue to find its feed. Three days before the three month period was over, he stopped feeding it.
When he took his donkey to Tamerlane, he asked for a big book and put it in front of the donkey. The hungry animal turned the pages of the book one by one with its tongue and when it couldn't find any feed between the pages it started braying.
Tamerlane watched the donkey closely and then said,
- This is sure a strange way of reading!
Hodja remarked,
- But this is how a donkey reads.

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Gabriel Liston @lastwater.net · 28/01/2026

Oh man, it'd been too long since I'd seen a Hodja story. Thank you!