{"id":7604,"date":"2025-01-10T18:34:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T02:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7604"},"modified":"2025-01-10T18:34:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T02:34:22","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-486","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/01\/10\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-486","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 486"},"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><br><br>    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<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.undergroundthomist.org\/why-should-ignoring-god-matter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Should Ignoring God Matter?<\/a> (J. Budziszewski, personal blog): \u201cIt is abhorrent beyond words to abandon those who have done us the greatest good. Disloyalty to my friend, unfaithfulness to my wife, ingratitude to my parents, treason to my fatherland \u2014 such things cannot even be spoken of without shame, calumny, and disgrace. But what greater treason could there be than to turn traitor to the Author of our being, who is not only the Good above all goods, but the Source of all these goods? Why would you want to do that anyway? For He is the true Friend and origin of friendship, the true Bridegroom and origin of marriage, the true Father by whose name all earthly fathers are called. His kingdom is the true Homeland, of which our earthly homeland is hardly a shadow. Don\u2019t <em>any<\/em> of these seem good things to you? And if we still need more reasons to admire what is so great and good, what\u2019s wrong with us? \u2018But I don\u2019t <em>know<\/em> all this to be true.\u2019 Perhaps not. But wouldn\u2019t it be prudent to find&nbsp;out?\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The author is a professor of philosophy at UT Austin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.ayjay.org\/contractualism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contractualism<\/a> (Alan Jacobs, blog): \u201cTo accept that being human means that I am bound to my family even when I don\u2019t like them, even when I\u2019ve been hurt by them, even when I have <em>absolutely had it<\/em> with them, is the beginning of something. But only the beginning. The people you are bound to may need to change, and you may have to tell them that they need to change. Boundaries must be set, then re-negotiated, then re-set. It will be hard. But if you\u2019re lucky, then maybe the family members <em>you<\/em> have most offended will do the same for&nbsp;you.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/03\/technology\/ai-religious-leaders.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">At the Intersection of A.I. and Spirituality<\/a> (Eli Tan, New York Times): \u201cCritics of A.I. use by religious leaders have pointed to the issue of hallucinations \u2014 times when chatbots make stuff up. While harmless in certain situations, faith-based A.I. tools that fabricate religious scripture present a serious problem. In Rabbi Bot\u2019s sermon, for instance, the A.I. invented a quote from the Jewish philosopher Maimonides that would have passed as authentic to the casual listener.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I don\u2019t use AI for my sermons, in case you were wondering. I can imagine that someday I might put them into an AI to ask \u201cis there a criticism I should anticipate and address?\u201d or something along those lines, but I genuinely can\u2019t imagine myself outsourcing sermon prep to an&nbsp;AI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thedispatch.com\/article\/has-world-war-iii-begun\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Has World War III Begun?<\/a> (Kori Schake, The Dispatch): \u201cOur enemies have regional ambitions for conquest and are working to keep the U.S. out, because without the strength of the United States, our regional allies could not protect themselves. Russia threatens nuclear use if the U.S. aids Ukraine, hoping to forestall assistance. China attacks Philippine coast guard ships, hoping the U.S. won\u2019t come to their aid although they are treaty allies of the U.S. North Korea fires missiles over the Sea of Japan and conducts espionage operations against South Korea, testing whether it can be peeled from the U.S. defense umbrella. Iran attacks Saudi Arabia hoping\u2014rightly, it turned out\u2014that the U.S. would balk at retaliation. Their ideal would be a world war without American participation, because it would result in China dominant in Asia, Russia dominant in Europe, North Korea dominant on the Korean Peninsula, and Iran dominant in the Middle East.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astralcodexten.com\/p\/bureaucracy-isnt-measured-in-bureaucrats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bureaucracy Isn\u2019t Measured In Bureaucrats<\/a> (Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten): \u201cThis really sunk in for me when I read an article about the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021. Many Afghans had collaborated with the Americans, eg as translators, in exchange for a promise of US citizenship. As the Taliban advanced, they called in the promise, begging to be allowed to flee to America before they got punished as traitors. The article focused on a heroic effort by certain immigration bureaucrats, who worked around the clock with minimal sleep for the last few weeks before Kabul fell, trying to get the citizenship forms filled in and approved for as many translators as possible. It made an impression on me because nobody was opposed to the translators getting citizenship, and the bureaucrats were themselves the people in charge of approving citizenship applications, so what exactly was forcing them to go to such desperate lengths? If you ponder this question long enough, you become enlightened about the nature of the administrative state.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-01-03\/religion-based-investors-tap-us-company-assets-sway-work-policies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A $24 Billion Fund Puts Its Religious Stamp on Corporate America<\/a> (Jeff Green and Saijel Kishan, Bloomberg): \u201cGuideStone is part of a nascent coalition of conservative Christian investors that are starting to flex their muscles and use their shareholder clout to counter progressive corporate policies such as funding Pride parades or covering employees\u2019 travel costs for abortions. They\u2019re also zeroing in on banks for allegedly closing customer accounts on political and religious grounds. By some measures, there\u2019s now half a trillion dollars in investments spread across conservative faith-based private funds and state pension funds that can be brought to bear to influence company behavior, said Will Lofland, who oversees shareholder advocacy at GuideStone.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/03\/science\/snail-darter-fish-tellico-dam.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">This Tiny Fish\u2019s Mistaken Identity Halted a Dam\u2019s Construction<\/a> (Jason Nark, New York Times): \u201c&nbsp;\u2018There is, technically, no snail darter,\u2019 said Thomas Near, curator of ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum. Dr. Near, also a professor who leads a fish biology lab at Yale, and his colleagues report in the journal Current Biology that the snail darter, Percina tanasi, is neither a distinct species nor a subspecies. Rather, it is an eastern population of Percina uranidea, known also as the stargazing darter, which is not considered endangered. Dr. Near contends that early researchers \u2018squinted their eyes a bit\u2019 when describing the fish, because it represented a way to fight the Tennessee Valley Authority\u2019s plan to build the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River, about 20 miles southwest of Knoxville.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>My favorite line in this article is a response from a critic who \u201cbelieves the findings\u2026 lean too heavily on genetics.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\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. Things Glen Found Interesting Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email? In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/01\/10\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-486\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 486\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":"","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":[124,219,208,189],"class_list":["post-7604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-environmentalism","tag-family"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1YE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7604","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=7604"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7606,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7604\/revisions\/7606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}