{"id":6981,"date":"2022-08-05T19:47:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T03:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6981"},"modified":"2022-08-05T19:47:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T03:47:29","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-362","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2022\/08\/05\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-362","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 362"},"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>362 feels like a number that should have lots of factors, but it\u2019s only got the prime factors 2 and&nbsp;181.<\/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><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.openbible.info\/blog\/2022\/08\/exploring-ai-assisted-bible-study\/\" target=\"_blank\">Exploring AI-Assisted Bible Study<\/a> (John Dyer, personal blog): \u201cI prompted GPT\u20113 to generate text for each chapter in the Bible in each category. For example, the prompt to generate a prayer was: \u201cWrite 5 prayers inspired by John 3 in the Bible. Remember that the events described here are in the past. First include a short observation or lesson for each prayer, and then write a personal prayer related to the lesson.\u201d&nbsp; I reviewed the generated text to avoid (or at least minimize) unhelpful or heretical content. I accepted about 90% of GPT\u20113\u2019s suggestions on its first pass and regenerated the rest until it gave me something useful. It cost about $150 over six weeks to generate this content, which consists of 71,062 generations and 1.1 million words.\u201d<ul><li>This is the same guy who generated the AI Bible artwork I shared recently (these and other experiments of his are available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.openbible.info\/labs\/\">http:\/\/www.openbible.info\/labs\/<\/a>).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persuasion.community\/p\/patel#details\" target=\"_blank\">What an Overly Pessimistic View of America Gets Wrong<\/a> (Yascha Mounk interviewing Eboo Patel, Persuasion): \u201cIf every institution founded by a faith community in your city disappeared overnight, preschools, hospitals, and universities would be gone. YMCAs would be gone, places where AA groups meet would be gone. Half of your social services would probably be gone. It feels to me that religious identity diversity should be at the center of our national conversation, and I\u2019m curious as to why it\u2019s not.\u201d This conversation is full of wisdom and I highly recommend it.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/data-marriage-behavior-love-psychology-romance\/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_social-type=owned&amp;utm_brand=wired&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;mbid=social_twitter\" target=\"_blank\">People Are Dating All Wrong, According to Data Science<\/a> (Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Wired): \u201cGood romantic partners are difficult to predict with data. Desired romantic partners are easy to predict with data. And that suggests that many of us are dating all&nbsp;wrong.\u201d<ul><li>From later in the article: \u201c\u2026how a person answered questions about themselves was roughly four times more predictive of their relationship happiness than all the traits of their romantic partner combined.\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/frenchpress.thedispatch.com\/p\/a-crucial-court-case-exposes-the\" target=\"_blank\">A Crucial Court Case Exposes the Darkness of America\u2019s Worst Industry<\/a> (David French, The Dispatch): \u201cIf someone wanted to create a system that was designed to facilitate the distribution of child pornography, videos of rape and other kinds of abuse, or revenge porn, it would be hard to construct a more efficient system than MindGeek\u2019s. And the sheer amount of MindGeek\u2019s traffic and the volume of the downloads demonstrates that Pornhub and other sites are injecting poison into American life at an industrial scale.\u201d<ul><li>A student recommended this piece from a month ago in addition to the above: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2022\/06\/20\/the-fight-to-hold-pornhub-accountable\" target=\"_blank\">The Fight to Hold Pornhub Accountable<\/a> (Sheelah Kolhatkar, The New Yorker): \u201cPschorr was surprised by the lack of regulation in the U.S. \u2018It was always interesting for me as a German to see that, in the U.S., you\u2019d get I.D.\u2019d if you went to a bar, and if you\u2019re not twenty-one you get in big trouble,\u2019 he said. \u2018But if you want to consume porn all you have to do is click \u2018Yes, I\u2019m 18,\u2019 and you\u2019re in the realm of dirt.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d I found this article interesting because it portrays Christians both favorably and unfavorably in short&nbsp;order.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/30\/nyregion\/how-did-a-two-time-killer-get-out-to-be-charged-again-at-age-83.html\" target=\"_blank\">How Did a Two-Time Killer Get Out to Be Charged Again at Age 83?<\/a> (Rebecca Davis O\u2019Brien &amp; Ali Watkins, New York Times): \u201cA homeless shelter worker and people close to Ms. Leyden questioned whether, despite her gender identity, Ms. Harvey should have been placed in a homeless shelter for women, given her history of attacking and murdering them.\u201d Read that sentence slowly. Wow. And the last eight paragraphs are jaw dropping.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com\/template\/oakv2?campaign_id=9&amp;emc=edit_nn_20220801&amp;instance_id=68142&amp;nl=the-morning&amp;productCode=NN&amp;regi_id=59635643&amp;segment_id=100125&amp;te=1&amp;uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F9f8e4343-5901-5122-ac17-b49e67b69933&amp;user_id=82bd71d01fd70886e97df691aa12c777\" target=\"_blank\">A large new study offers clues about how lower-income children can rise up the economic ladder<\/a>. (David Leonhardt, New York Times): \u201cChurches and other religious organizations may have some lessons to teach other parts of society. Although many churches are socioeconomically homogeneous, those with some diversity tend to foster more cross-class interactions than most other social activities. Churchs [sic] have lower levels of what the researchers call socioeconomic \u2018friending bias.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d&nbsp;<ul><li>Sadly there isn\u2019t more info on the religious dynamic, even though this section of the newsletter is called \u201cHow Churches Shine\u201d<\/li><li>Although this is a NYT piece, it is not paywalled because it is from their morning newsletter.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/news\/2022\/august\/nondenominational-growth-mainline-protestant-decline-survey.html\" target=\"_blank\">Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From<\/a>? (Ryan P. Burge, Christianity Today): \u201cWhat is driving the growth of nondenominational churches? While in the past it resulted from a significant portion of individuals leaving a mainline tradition, now it looks like nondenominational congregations are increasing by taking in people who were raised Catholic\u2014which is about a quarter of the general population.\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.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/parenting-technique\" target=\"_blank\">Parenting Techniques<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2022\/08\/01\" target=\"_blank\">Happiness<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zAR4LWrNYFM\" target=\"_blank\">Don\u2019t Look Away! Maxence Vire\u2019s Magic Moves Fast<\/a> (America\u2019s Got Talent, YouTube): eight minutes. This one has a slow&nbsp;start.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/after-unfortunate-autocorrect-error-thousands-of-damned-souls-sent-to-hell\/\" target=\"_blank\">After Unfortunate Autocorrect Error, Thousands Of Condemned Souls Sent To He\u2019ll<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uoDugluvtPQ\" target=\"_blank\">How Are There Not More Homeless People?<\/a> (Jason Cheny, YouTube): three minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SBGC2HhKdXo\" target=\"_blank\">Mind2Mind\u2019s Psychic Powers Leave The Judges in Shock<\/a> (America\u2019s Got Talent, YouTube): eight minutes<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NN9c2AZbyeI\" target=\"_blank\">BBQ Joint Logos are Out of Control<\/a> (It\u2019s a Southern Thing, YouTube): four minutes. Something like this has def happened before.<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/zephaniah-tired-of-his-parents-asking-why-hes-not-a-major-prophet-yet\/\" target=\"_blank\">Zephaniah Tired Of His Parents Asking Why He\u2019s Not A Major Prophet Yet<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-D2g1-c4TuY\" target=\"_blank\">If Fast Food Places Could Meet<\/a> (Matt Mitchell, YouTube): three and a half 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:\/\/scholars-stage.org\/the-problem-isnt-the-merit-its-the-ocracy\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Problem Isn\u2019t the \u2018Merit,\u2019 It\u2019s the \u2018Ocracy\u2019<\/a> (Tanner Greer, personal blog): \u201cThe American system of government was built on the assumption that the most salient political divides would reflect geography, not ideology or class. The senator from Massachusetts would share bonds in common with the lay citizenry of Boston that he did not share with a senator from South Carolina. On the national sphere this would allow him to represent the interests of his constituents as if they were his own. This has proven more true at some times in American history than others; yet because of the way American politicians are elected, this sense of representing the interests of a geographically bounded group of people is more true in the political arena than in most others.\u201d First shared in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/01\/03\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-232\" target=\"_blank\">volume 232<\/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:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. 362 feels like a number that should have lots of factors, but it\u2019s only got the prime factors 2 \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2022\/08\/05\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-362\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 362\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/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":"Something in this compilation of links will interest you. And there are more amusing videos than normal at the end.","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":[168,219,153,222,113,136],"class_list":["post-6981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-america","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-catholicism","tag-dating","tag-lgbtq","tag-pornography"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1OB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6981","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=6981"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6986,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6981\/revisions\/6986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}