On Fridays I share articles/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my way.

Things Glen Found Interesting

1. Are you graduating this weekend? Congratulations! Still want these emails after you lose your Stanford account? Subscribe for free with your long-term email address at https://theglendavis.substack.com/
2. White lies hide dark truths (Tom Tugendhat, Substack): “What is assisted dying? Suicide exists. Killing exists. Both are real, longstanding, legal concepts. But assisted dying? That’s a phrase suspended between the act and its denial. The bill claims to offer choice, dignity and control. But its language and its silences speak volumes about who holds power and who is expected to disappear quietly. Patients are not poisoned, they are ‘assisted’. Doctors don’t kill, they ‘participate in the process’. Institutions aren’t forced to comply, they’re just not ‘protected’ from being compelled. Patients ‘take life-ending medication’, as if it’s a herbal tea. Death is cleaned, blanched and euphemised. This new bill doesn’t just hide the reality of its actions; it hides the decision from the family.”
   • The author is a member of the British parliament.
   • Related in terms of “safeguards”: Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up. (Brian M. Rosenthal, New York Times): “Four years ago, an unconscious Kentucky man began to awaken as he was about to be removed from life support so his organs could be donated. Even though the man cried, pulled his legs to his chest and shook his head, officials still tried to move forward. Now, a federal investigation has found that officials at the nonprofit in charge of coordinating organ donations in Kentucky ignored signs of growing alertness not only in that patient but also in dozens of other potential donors.”
3. If It’s Worth Your Time To Lie, It’s Worth My Time To Correct It (Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten): “If you say Joe Criminal committed ten murders and five rapes, and I object that it was actually only six murders and two rapes, then why am I ‘defending’ Joe Criminal? Because if it’s worth your time to lie, it’s worth my time to correct it. If one side lies to make all of their arguments sound 5% stronger, then over long enough it adds up.”
4. College Students Are Using ‘No Contact Orders’ to Block Each Other in Real Life (Pamela Paul, Wall Street Journal): “Administrators, adolescent psychologists and sociologists describe Gen Z students as fundamentally different from earlier generations. Many have difficulty with confrontation and little experience working through interpersonal conflicts, which was only exacerbated by the pandemic. They have mastered the terminology of ‘harassment’ and ‘discrimination,’ sometimes with just cause and other times to brand a run-of-the-mill disagreement.”
   • Some wild stories in here.
5. My expensive, exhausting, happy failed attempt at homesteading (Mike Riggs, Washington Post): “How many square feet of raised beds do you need to meet a toddler’s strawberry demand? I still don’t know. We dedicated 80 square feet to strawberries last season. The bugs ate half our harvest, and the other half equaled roughly what our kid could eat in a week. Have you ever grown peas? Give them something to climb, and they’ll stretch to the heavens. Have you ever shelled peas? It is an almost criminal misuse of time. I set a timer on my phone last year. It took me 13 minutes to shell a single serving. Meanwhile, a two-pound bag of frozen peas from Walmart costs $2.42. And the peas come shelled.”
6. At Secret Math Meeting, Researchers Struggle to Outsmart AI (Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American): “Ono says. ‘I don’t want to add to the hysteria, but in some ways these large language models are already outperforming most of our best graduate students in the world.’ ”
7. On the protests in LA:
   • Still looking for articles with insight — let me know what you find helpful.
   • ‘Delete That Photo or We’ll F— You Up’ (Leighton Woodhouse, The Free Press): “I have been to dozens of mass protests like the one that exploded in Los Angeles on Friday. What I saw in Los Angeles on Sunday was different.… The demonstrations are ugly, but so is what precipitated them.”
   • 11 Theses on the Unrest in Los Angeles (Isaac Sauls, Persuasion): “Trump wants the fight. The protesters want the fight. So… we’ll get the fight.”
8. The Best and the Brightest Under Pressure (Matt Stoller, Substack): “I do not know if there is a broader realization of the harm that elites have done among my classmates.… Nearly everyone I met has matured into someone who is kinder than they were as a college student, willing to overlook flaws and acknowledge vulnerability. I was genuinely impressed, and felt a deep connection to my class. But I also periodically asked, ‘do you know someone who died of fentanyl?’ And the answer was always no, sometimes accompanied by surprise that most Americans do have personal experience with a family member or friend, or friend of a kid, who died.”

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent. Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it. If this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up here. You can also view the archives.