{"id":6930,"date":"2022-06-17T15:20:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T23:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6930"},"modified":"2022-06-17T15:20:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T23:20:45","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-355","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2022\/06\/17\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-355","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 355"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>     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&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is volume 355, which is 5 times 71. It\u2019s also apparently the number of labeled&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/TopologicalSpace.html\">topologies<\/a>&nbsp;with 4 elements, but I think knowing that it is 5 \u00b7 71 is cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li>Two fascinating articles about Stanford:<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/palladiummag.com\/2022\/06\/13\/stanfords-war-on-social-life\/\" target=\"_blank\">Stanford\u2019s War on Social Life<\/a> (Ginevra Davis, Palladium Magazine): \u201cThe University sent a clear message with its treatment of the Band. Spontaneous organizations, particularly when they could become chaotic, controversial, or otherwise a space for breaking rules, were now something to be controlled. Rather than treating freedom and spontaneity as strengths, the dynamic became one where students had to justify their projects and ideas while under suspicion from administrators. Student life was becoming dominated by restrictive bureaucracy.\u201d I believe this is substantially correct.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/maxmeyer.substack.com\/p\/how-i-almost-didnt-graduate-from\" target=\"_blank\">How I Almost Didn\u2019t Graduate From Stanford<\/a> (Maxwell Meyer, Substack): \u201cApparently, in order to graduate from Stanford while not officially enrolled, I needed to be placed in a special 0\u2011unit \u2018course\u2019 that exists only on paper. And because Stanford requires booster vaccines in order to enroll in <em>courses<\/em>, the degree progress office was literally unable to place me in the fake course.\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/06\/11\/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Google engineer who thinks the company\u2019s AI has come to life<\/a> (Nitasha Tiku, Washington Post): \u201cAs he talked to LaMDA about religion, Lemoine, who studied cognitive and computer science in college, noticed the chatbot talking about its rights and personhood, and decided to press further. In another exchange, the AI was able to change Lemoine\u2019s mind about Isaac Asimov\u2019s third law of robotics.\u201d Speculative and disputed.&nbsp;<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/06\/11\/us\/trooper-traffic-stop-prayer-blake-cec\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">This traffic stop between a Black man and a White state trooper began with fear. It ended with a surprising act of kindness<\/a> (John Blake, CNN): \u201cDoty closed his ticket book and opened his car door. He walked back over to Wilkerson\u2019s car and turned to Geddis. \u2018Sir, do you mind if I ask what kind of cancer you have?\u2019 \u2018No, I don\u2019t mind. I have colon cancer.\u2019 Doty took a deep breath and looked at Geddis. \u2018Can I pray for you?\u2019 Doty said.\u201d Heartwarming.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2022\/06\/ilya-shapiro-georgetown-diversity-bureaucrats\/661247\/?utm_source=feed\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>In the world of medicine:&nbsp;<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/erictopol.substack.com\/p\/a-turning-point-in-cancer?s=r\" target=\"_blank\">A turning point in cancer<\/a> (Eric Topol, Substack): \u201cThe convergence of genomics of the cancer\u2014be it from the person\u2019s DNA or tumor directly or the blood (known as liquid biopsy)\u2014matched with the appropriate therapy is leading to outcomes that are being described as \u2018unheard-of\u2019 by expert oncologists.\u201d<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/15\/magazine\/gender-therapy.html?campaign_id=9&amp;emc=edit_nn_20220615&amp;instance_id=64091&amp;nl=the-morning&amp;regi_id=61134534&amp;segment_id=95173&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=7e27eb03d313913e565c956ad92f7516\" target=\"_blank\">The Battle Over Gender Therapy<\/a> (Emily Bazelon, New York Times): \u201c&nbsp;\u2018Being trans comes with goals \u2014 this is what to do,\u2019 Butzen says. \u2018It comes with a support network and a cause to fight for.\u2019 Online, where the stakes start relatively low, teenagers in progressive communities can trade in a cisgender, heterosexual, white identity \u2014 the epitome of privilege and oppression \u2014 to join a community with a clear claim to being marginalized and deserving of protection.\u201d<ul><li>It is significant that this reporting is in New York Times. This is a long article and it was difficult to find a passage to excerpt. I am confident the journalist would not consider this a representative excerpt nor the one she considers most important.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/06\/11\/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine\/\" target=\"_blank\">Professors Need the Power to Fire Diversity Bureaucrats<\/a> (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): \u201cAt present, sanctions in higher education flow in one direction: Diversity bureaucrats exert control over faculty members whose speech allegedly undermines inclusion. I propose giving faculty the power to investigate, sanction, and fire diversity officials if they undermine free speech. Administrative abuses will continue as long as bureaucrats can punish speech, even in flagrant violation of university policy, without any consequences.\u201d I like this. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s structurally possible at most universities, but I like&nbsp;this.<\/li><li>International perspective:<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/14\/opinion\/ukraine-war-putin.html\" target=\"_blank\">Five Blunt Truths About the War in Ukraine<\/a> (Bret Stephens, New York Times): \u201cThe Russians are running out of precision-guided weapons. The Ukrainians are running out of Soviet-era munitions. The world is running out of patience for the war. The Biden administration is running out of ideas for how to wage it. And the Chinese are watching.\u2026 an army that cannot wage a high-tech war, relatively low on collateral damage, will wage a low-tech war, appallingly high on such damage. Ukraine, by its own estimates, is suffering 20,000 casualties <em>a month<\/em>. By contrast, the U.S. suffered about 36,000 casualties in Iraq <em>over seven years<\/em> of war. For all its bravery and resolve, Kyiv can hold off \u2014 but not defeat \u2014 a neighbor more than three times its size in a war of attrition.\u201d<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/06\/16\/china-expansion-indopacific-asia-taiwan-xi-aquilino\/\" target=\"_blank\">China\u2019s military expansion is reaching a dangerous tipping point<\/a> (Josh Rogin, Washington Post): \u201cChina is building the capability to use nuclear blackmail to deter a U.S. intervention if it invades Taiwan, following Russia\u2019s model. China\u2019s regional military presence is expanding, including a secret naval base in Cambodia and a secret military cooperation agreement with the Solomon Islands. China has developed new technologies, including hypersonic missiles and antisatellite lasers, to keep the U.S. military at bay in a Taiwan scenario. And now, China no longer recognizes the Taiwan Strait as international waters.\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/06\/13\/progressive-organizing-infighting-callout-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\">Elephant in the Zoom<\/a> (Ryan Grim, The Intercept): \u201c\u2026Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and other reproductive health organizations had similarly been locked in knock-down, drag-out fights between competing factions of their organizations, most often breaking down along staff-versus-management lines. It\u2019s also true of the progressive advocacy space across the board, which has, more or less, effectively ceased to function. The Sierra Club, Demos, the American Civil Liberties Union, Color of Change, the Movement for Black Lives, Human Rights Campaign, Time\u2019s Up, the Sunrise Movement, and many other organizations have seen wrenching and debilitating turmoil in the past couple years.\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"simple-list wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2022\/06\/13\" target=\"_blank\">Different News Sources<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/scholars-now-think-666-in-revelation-refers-to-price-of-gas-in-the-end-times\/\" target=\"_blank\">Scholars Now Think \u20186.66\u2019 In Revelation Refers To Price Of Gas In The End Times<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uQ4NjspjuJE\" target=\"_blank\">David Mitchell CAN\u2019T BELIEVE a HAIRY BIKER Was Trapped in a BANK<\/a>! (Would I Like To You?, YouTube): five minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kRah77UrCWc\" target=\"_blank\">Transparent Card Magic<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube): nine and a half minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/dilbert.com\/strip\/2022-06-14\" target=\"_blank\">Working From Home<\/a> (Dilbert)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2022\/06\/14\" target=\"_blank\">Broker<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xmR4qCYF3b8\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Tyson is Right Behind You<\/a> (Jimmy Kimmel Live, YouTube): three minutes<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jcs.biologists.org\/content\/121\/11\/1771?fbclid=IwAR0tM-Pa8S0-p5T1Tc-ebCsxEUGP2aUnqtk97j62gqtwWmPPIyV3E4L9JH8\" target=\"_blank\">The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research<\/a> (Martin A. Schwartz, Journal of Cell Science): \u201cAt some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else. I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her subsequent career supports that view. What she said bothered me. I kept thinking about it; sometime the next day, it hit me. Science makes me feel stupid too. It\u2019s just that I\u2019ve gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I actively seek out new opportunities to feel stupid.\u201d The author is a professor at Yale. First shared in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/10\/04\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-221\" target=\"_blank\">volume 221<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) 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\u2019ll 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.\n\nAlso, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two pieces critical of Stanford plus lots&nbsp;more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Two articles critical of Stanford plus much more!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[131,219,125,113,300,207,215,116,184,135],"class_list":["post-6930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-academia","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-china","tag-lgbtq","tag-medicine","tag-military","tag-police","tag-race","tag-russia","tag-stanford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1NM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6930"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6932,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6930\/revisions\/6932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}