{"id":7914,"date":"2026-02-20T20:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7914"},"modified":"2026-02-20T21:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T05:01:24","slug":"tgfi-volume-543-artificial-humanities-and-a-wise-wager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/02\/20\/tgfi-volume-543-artificial-humanities-and-a-wise-wager","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 543: artificial humanities and a wise wager"},"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<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:\/\/writing.yaschamounk.com\/p\/the-humanities-are-about-to-be-automated\">The Human\u00adi\u00adties Are About to Be Auto\u00admat\u00aded<\/a> (Yascha Mounk, Sub\u00adstack): \u201c\u2026I decid\u00aded to see whether the newest AI mod\u00adels would be capa\u00adble of writ\u00ading a com\u00adpe\u00adtent aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic paper in my field of study, polit\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adry. The result both elat\u00aded and depressed me.\u2026 The human feed\u00adback involved in this process cer\u00adtain\u00adly drew on my train\u00ading in the field, but it was very min\u00adi\u00admal. Includ\u00ading the time it took Claude to gen\u00ader\u00adate the text, and the rather longer time it took me to read what Claude had writ\u00adten, it took less than two hours from when I had the idea to run this exper\u00adi\u00adment to when the draft was fin\u00adished. The draft could cer\u00adtain\u00adly be improved in a few respects. There are cer\u00adtain\u00adly a few places in the argu\u00adment where review\u00aders could come up with clever objec\u00adtions.\u2026 Had a fel\u00adlow stu\u00addent sub\u00admit\u00adted it to my department\u2019s grad\u00adu\u00adate stu\u00addent work\u00adshop when I was doing my PhD, my respect for them would have gone up rather than down.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Includes the paper, which the author (a pro\u00adfes\u00adsor at Johns Hop\u00adkins) says \u201ccould, with minor revi\u00adsions, be pub\u00adlished by a seri\u00adous jour\u00adnal.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/2026\/02\/calling-change-radically-artificial-intelligence\/\">Your Under\u00adstand\u00ading of Call\u00ading Is About to Change Rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly<\/a> (Rus\u00adsell Moore, Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty Today): \u201cWe must always seek God\u2019s will. But what we meant by this for most of our lives is about to change dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly. It\u2019s not God or his will that\u2019s chang\u00ading but the world as we\u2019ve known it\u2014and with it, the out\u00admod\u00aded way we\u2019ve thought about \u2018career.\u2019 .\u2026We have thought of voca\u00adtion as a def\u00adi\u00adnite thing. That mind\u00adset may even be behind a lot of the angst we have about dis\u00adcern\u00ading God\u2019s will for a career. We think once it\u2019s decid\u00aded, then the map is set, and now we just set out on it.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/patrickkoroly.substack.com\/p\/you-dont-get-pascals-wager\">You Don\u2019t Get Pascal\u2019s Wager<\/a> (Patrick Koroly, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cPas\u00adcal isn\u2019t try\u00ading to tell ran\u00addom athe\u00adists to be Chris\u00adtians. He\u2019s try\u00ading to ask uncer\u00adtain and indif\u00adfer\u00adent Chris\u00adtians whether their choic\u00ades make any sense. Clear\u00adly, it con\u00adtra\u00addicts the heart, since they believe in God yet ignore the prac\u00adtice. Clear\u00adly, it con\u00adtra\u00addicts rea\u00adson, since a cun\u00adning Chris\u00adt\u00adian would be vying for heav\u00aden. Your actions are nonsense\u2014if you hold these beliefs, you\u2019re mak\u00ading a bet that will <em>always<\/em> lose! I lack the pow\u00ader to stop the end\u00adless tide of Wager mis\u00adin\u00adter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions. But I hope that you now under\u00adstand Pascal\u2019s _actual_ mean\u00ading: not that we ought to live as mer\u00adce\u00adnar\u00adies in ser\u00advice of God, but that our heart and mind demand two very dif\u00adfer\u00adent things. The Wager calms the mind so that the heart may con\u00adtend with God as it must.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unlocked: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/opinion\/toxic-empathy-christianity-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NVA.feDs.QLLLp_pKDrJc&amp;smid=url-share\">Chris\u00adtians Against Empa\u00adthy Aren\u2019t Who They Think They Are<\/a> (David French, New York Times): \u201cI nev\u00ader thought it would be Chris\u00adtians who led the attack on fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal Chris\u00adt\u00adian val\u00adues, but here we are. The Book of Hebrews says, \u2018For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weak\u00adness\u00ades, but we have one who has been tempt\u00aded in every way, just as we are \u2014 yet he did not sin.\u2019 In Chris\u00adt\u00adian the\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy, Christ engaged in the ulti\u00admate act of empa\u00adthy. He didn\u2019t imag\u00adine what it would be like to live as a man \u2014 he became one.\u201d \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded by a stu\u00addent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/will-we-regret-the-release-of-the\">Will We Regret the Release of the Epstein Files?<\/a> (Rob\u00adby Soave, The Free Press): \u201cIt\u2019s been just days since the major\u00adi\u00adty of the files were released, and a vast cam\u00adpaign is already under\u00adway to embar\u00adrass, harass, or smear any\u00adone tan\u00adgen\u00adtial\u00adly asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded with Epstein\u2014a ser\u00adi\u00adal sex\u00adu\u00adal predator\u2014no mat\u00adter how slight or inci\u00adden\u00adtal the con\u00adnec\u00adtion.\u2026 Take the smear\u00ading of Glenn Dubin, a hedge fund man\u00adag\u00ader. In the files is an image of him, arm-in-arm with three under\u00adage kids, whose faces are obscured by the Epstein files\u2019 char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic black box\u00ades. The impli\u00adca\u00adtion is clear. But the iden\u00adti\u00adties of the chil\u00addren are known. They aren\u2019t vic\u00adtims. They are <em>his own kids<\/em>.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/16\/us\/epstein-files-academic-funding-colleges.html\">Epstein\u2019s Ties With Aca\u00add\u00ade\u00admics Show the Seedy Side of Col\u00adlege Fund-Rais\u00ading<\/a> (Alan Blind\u00ader, New York Times): \u201cMr. Epstein, who in 2019 died by sui\u00adcide in the jail where he was being held on sex traf\u00adfick\u00ading charges, gave mon\u00adey, or sim\u00adply dan\u00adgled the prospect of it, before peo\u00adple on a range of cam\u00adpus\u00ades, includ\u00ading Har\u00advard, M.I.T., Stan\u00adford, Bard Col\u00adlege and Colum\u00adbia.\u2026 It was not always clear how much admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtors knew about Mr. Epstein\u2019s con\u00adtacts with their schools. Most due dili\u00adgence poli\u00adcies, indus\u00adtry offi\u00adcials said, are usu\u00adal\u00adly built around gift accep\u00adtance, not solic\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stanforddaily.com\/2026\/02\/18\/ash-wednesday-compassion-optimization\/\">This Ash Wednes\u00adday, choose com\u00adpas\u00adsion over opti\u00admiza\u00adtion<\/a> (Ari\u00adana Duduna, Stan\u00adford Dai\u00adly): \u201cThis prac\u00adtice of self-sac\u00adri\u00adfice may seem for\u00adeign, but it cul\u00adti\u00advates some\u00adthing our cul\u00adture has lost: the capac\u00adi\u00adty for gen\u00aduine com\u00adpas\u00adsion. Com\u00adpas\u00adsion lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly means \u2018to suf\u00adfer with\u2019 \u2014 not to feel sor\u00adry for some\u00adone from a dis\u00adtance, but to join their dis\u00adcom\u00adfort. You can\u2019t opti\u00admize your way into com\u00adpas\u00adsion because com\u00adpas\u00adsion requires pre\u00adcise\u00adly what opti\u00admiza\u00adtion seeks to elim\u00adi\u00adnate: vol\u00adun\u00adtary, unpro\u00adduc\u00adtive suf\u00adfer\u00ading.\u2026 Instead of treat\u00ading my anx\u00adi\u00adeties about school\u00adwork, sum\u00admer intern\u00adships and career plans as mere prob\u00adlems to solve, I have begun to view them as oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties for com\u00admu\u00adnion with oth\u00aders nav\u00adi\u00adgat\u00ading the same strug\u00adgles.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded by a stu\u00addent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/minutes.substack.com\/p\/rented-virtue?r=1fn2p\">Rent\u00aded Virtue<\/a> (Will Mani\u00addis &amp; Nabeel S. Qureshi, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cEvery sec\u00adu\u00adlar con\u00adstraint even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly faces the ques\u00adtion: why main\u00adtain this when it is cost\u00adly? The only thing that has ever held a con\u00adstraint in place across gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions, through pres\u00adsure, through loss, through the slow grind\u00ading temp\u00adta\u00adtion of day after day to sim\u00adply stop, is the con\u00advic\u00adtion that the con\u00adstraint was not cho\u00adsen but received. That it comes from some\u00adthing out\u00adside the self that the self can\u00adnot rene\u00adgo\u00adti\u00adate. That it is owed to God and to cre\u00adation itself.\u2026 If you asked why the con\u00adstraint was there, and kept ask\u00ading, you arrived at God. You always arrived at God.\u2026 There is no sec\u00adu\u00adlar alter\u00adna\u00adtive. There has nev\u00ader been one.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/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=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/group-chat-ruined-by-android-user\">Group Chat Ruined By Android User<\/a> (Baby\u00adlon Bee): I am unapolo\u00adget\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly that guy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/textsfromsuperheroes.com\/post\/807944643519102976\/batshaped\">Bat Shaped<\/a> (Text From Super\u00adheroes)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\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\/2026\/02\/20\/tgfi-volume-543-artificial-humanities-and-a-wise-wager\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cTGFI, Vol\u00adume 543: arti\u00adfi\u00adcial human\u00adi\u00adties and a wise wager\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":[124,219,247],"class_list":["post-7914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-23E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914","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=7914"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7919,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions\/7919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}