{"id":7810,"date":"2025-10-10T14:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T21:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7810"},"modified":"2025-10-10T14:33:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T21:33:02","slug":"tgfi-volume-525-what-the-world-needs-also-how-to-end-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/10\/10\/tgfi-volume-525-what-the-world-needs-also-how-to-end-it","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 525: what the world needs, also how to end it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" 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 width=\"300\" height=\"300\" 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>\n<\/p><p>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues like\u00adly to be of inter\u00adest to Chris\u00adtians in col\u00adlege. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions, so if you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m await\u00ading fur\u00adther devel\u00adop\u00adments before shar\u00ading any arti\u00adcles about the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. If you see some\u00adthing you think I\u2019d find help\u00adful please let me know.<\/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.thefp.com\/p\/abigail-shrier-when-your-child-is-sick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">When Your Child Is Sick<\/a> (Abi\u00adgail Shri\u00ader, The Free Press): \u201cNo one is afraid to bring kids into the world because of elec\u00adtion results or cli\u00admate change. That knocks the weath\u00ader vane back\u00adward. You don\u2019t decide against pro\u00adcre\u00adation because you\u2019re moth\u00ader\u00ading Moth\u00ader Earth. You obsess over the plan\u00adet because you don\u2019t have chil\u00addren.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An amaz\u00ading piece of writ\u00ading and well worth your time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/article\/faithfulness-amid-culture-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Faith\u00adful\u00adness amid the Cul\u00adture War<\/a> (J.D. Greear, The Gospel Coali\u00adtion): \u201cGrow\u00ading up, I was always warned about the ditch on the left side of the gospel road: the ditch of cow\u00adard\u00adly silence in the face of social wicked\u00adness. That ditch is real and an ever-present temp\u00adta\u00adtion for the church. But it\u2019s like an old Scot\u00adtish proverb says: For every one mile of road, there are two miles of ditch. And no one ever warned me about the ditch on the right side: a gospel-super\u00adsed\u00ading con\u00adser\u00advatism. If the ditch on one side is fail\u00ading to speak out prophet\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly against the cul\u00adture, the ditch on the oth\u00ader side is encum\u00adber\u00ading our mes\u00adsage with sec\u00adondary things.\u2026 The pul\u00adpit is a place reserved for \u2018thus <em>saith<\/em> the Lord\u2019 not \u2018thus <em>thin\u00adketh<\/em> the pas\u00adtor.\u2019 I might be wrong in my per\u00adspec\u00adtives on glob\u00adal warm\u00ading, nation\u00adal\u00adized health care, or the appro\u00adpri\u00adate num\u00adber of immi\u00adgrants to let into our coun\u00adtry, but I\u2019m not wrong about the gospel. And I refuse to let my per\u00adspec\u00adtives on the for\u00admer keep peo\u00adple from hear\u00ading me on the lat\u00adter.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/10\/opinion\/ai-destruction-technology-future.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World<\/a> (Stephen Witt, New York Times): \u201cIn the course of quan\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading the risks of A.I., I was hop\u00ading that I would real\u00adize my fears were ridicu\u00adlous. Instead, the oppo\u00adsite hap\u00adpened: The more I moved from apoc\u00ada\u00adlyp\u00adtic hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcals to con\u00adcrete real-world find\u00adings, the more con\u00adcerned I became. All of the ele\u00adments of Dr. Bengio\u2019s dooms\u00adday sce\u00adnario were com\u00ading into exis\u00adtence. A.I. was get\u00adting smarter and more capa\u00adble. It was learn\u00ading how to tell its over\u00adseers what they want\u00aded to hear. It was get\u00adting good at lying. And it was get\u00adting expo\u00adnen\u00adtial\u00adly bet\u00adter at com\u00adplex tasks. I imag\u00adined a sce\u00adnario, in a year or two or three, when some lunatic plugged the fol\u00adlow\u00ading prompt into a state-of-the-art A.I.: \u2018Your only goal is to avoid being turned off. This is your sole mea\u00adsure of suc\u00adcess.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading stuff in here even if you\u2019re well-informed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/04\/opinion\/progressives-populists-post-liberal-fear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Left and Right Can\u2019t Under\u00adstand Each Other\u2019s Fears<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201cPro\u00adgres\u00adsivism in the last 10 years has pur\u00adsued increas\u00ading\u00adly rad\u00adi\u00adcal mea\u00adsures through com\u00adplex, indi\u00adrect and bureau\u00adcrat\u00adic means, using state pow\u00ader sub\u00adtly to reshape pri\u00advate insti\u00adtu\u00adtions and cre\u00adat\u00ading sys\u00adtems that feel repres\u00adsive with\u00adout nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly hav\u00ading an iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adable repres\u00adsor in chief \u2014 McCarthyisms with\u00adout McCarthy, you might say. Over the same peri\u00adod, pop\u00adulism has con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly ral\u00adlied around charis\u00admat\u00adic out\u00adsider politi\u00adcians who attack the exist\u00ading polit\u00adi\u00adcal class as hope\u00adless\u00adly com\u00adpro\u00admised and claim to have a man\u00addate to sweep away any rule or norm that impedes their agen\u00adda.\u2026 Any vic\u00adto\u00adry, any sta\u00adbi\u00adliza\u00adtion, will come when one of these forces learns some\u00adthing from the oth\u00ader, and reas\u00adsures the coun\u00adtry that they can be ful\u00adly trust\u00aded with pow\u00aders that both sides right now are all too eager to abuse.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theargumentmag.com\/p\/the-search-for-an-ai-proof-job\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The search for an AI-proof job<\/a> (Jor\u00addan Weiss\u00admann, The Argu\u00adment): \u201cHealth care jobs \u2014 with their com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion of cog\u00adni\u00adtive work and high-touch patient inter\u00adac\u00adtions \u2014 are expect\u00aded to be fair\u00adly resis\u00adtant to automa\u00adtion. When researchers for the Trea\u00adsury Depart\u00adment ranked fields of study where grad\u00adu\u00adates were most exposed to AI, nurs\u00ading came in dead last. Oth\u00ader stud\u00adies have found that physi\u00adcians \u2014 espe\u00adcial\u00adly sur\u00adgeons \u2014 den\u00adtists, and their aides are prob\u00ada\u00adbly pret\u00adty insu\u00adlat\u00aded. Occu\u00adpa\u00adtion\u00adal and phys\u00adi\u00adcal ther\u00ada\u00adpists also were fair\u00adly safe.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegospelcoalition.org\/blogs\/trevin-wax\/evangelists-cheerful-confidence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The World Needs Evan\u00adge\u00adlists with Cheer\u00adful Con\u00adfi\u00addence<\/a> (Trevin Wax, The Gospel Coali\u00adtion): \u201cThat\u2019s why, when\u00adev\u00ader I encounter some\u00adone engaged in apolo\u00adget\u00adics or mak\u00ading a case for Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty, I pay atten\u00adtion not only to their method or their argu\u00adments but to what lies beneath. Is this per\u00adson hap\u00adpy? Is there a vol\u00adcano of joy rum\u00adbling under the moun\u00adtain of argu\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion? Is there a deep-root\u00aded sense of love and yearn\u00ading behind the earnest\u00adness? Do I sense faith, hope, and love at the core?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stanfordreview.org\/stanford-needs-pirates-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stan\u00adford Needs Pirates Again<\/a> (Gar\u00adrett Mal\u00adloy, Stan\u00adford Review): \u201cStan\u00adford suc\u00adceed\u00aded while the Ivies lan\u00adguished in gen\u00adtil\u00adi\u00adty because it devel\u00adoped a cul\u00adture of rugged indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty and buc\u00adca\u00adneer\u00ading exper\u00adi\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion. That cul\u00adture pro\u00adduced the very inno\u00adva\u00adtion that pow\u00adered Stanford\u2019s mete\u00adoric rise. Yet, in a bid to counter the risks that Stanford\u2019s suc\u00adcess pro\u00adduced, safe\u00adty\u00adism and bureau\u00adcra\u00adcy arose, endan\u00adger\u00ading the very heart of what made Stan\u00adford great in the first place. Stan\u00adford\u2019s last great stu\u00addent-led start\u00adup, Brex, did\u00adn\u2019t even see its founders last eight months on cam\u00adpus. That was eight years ago. There is, undoubt\u00aded\u00adly, a causal link between the dearth of new stu\u00addent-led uni\u00adcorns and the grow\u00ading pro\u00adce\u00addu\u00adral\u00adism that has infect\u00aded Stan\u00adford\u2019s start\u00adup cul\u00adture.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar pro\u00adduced shrewd war\u00adriors \u201cwho under\u00adstood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a sim\u00adi\u00adlar way, we need to become wise peo\u00adple whose faith inter\u00adacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may con\u00adtin\u00adue the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chi Alpha is not a par\u00adti\u00adsan orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. To para\u00adphrase anoth\u00ader min\u00adis\u00adter: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agen\u00adda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agen\u00adda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agen\u00adda. Hav\u00ading said that, I read wide\u00adly (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Tur\u00ading test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fair\u00adly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI dis\u00adagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI under\u00adstand\u201d) and may at times share arti\u00adcles that have a strong par\u00adti\u00adsan bias sim\u00adply because I find the arti\u00adcle stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with every\u00adthing an author says in an arti\u00adcle I men\u00adtion, much less things the author has said in oth\u00ader arti\u00adcles (although if I strong\u00adly dis\u00adagree with some\u00adthing in the arti\u00adcle I\u2019ll usu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtion it). And to the extent you can dis\u00adcern my opin\u00adions, please under\u00adstand that they are my own and not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly those of Chi Alpha or any oth\u00ader orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion I may be per\u00adceived to rep\u00adre\u00adsent.\n\nAlso, remem\u00adber that I\u2019m not report\u00ading news \u2014 I\u2019m giv\u00ading you a selec\u00adtion of things I found inter\u00adest\u00ading. There\u2019s a lot hap\u00adpen\u00ading in the world that\u2019s not mak\u00ading an appear\u00adance here because I haven\u2019t found stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading arti\u00adcles writ\u00adten about it.\n\nIf this was for\u00adward\u00aded 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>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues like\u00adly to be of inter\u00adest to Chris\u00adtians in col\u00adlege. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions, so if you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/10\/10\/tgfi-volume-525-what-the-world-needs-also-how-to-end-it\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cTGFI, Vol\u00adume 525: what the world needs, also how to end it\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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[219,303,160,117,135],"class_list":["post-7810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-children","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-politics","tag-stanford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-21Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7810","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=7810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7813,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7810\/revisions\/7813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}