{"id":8017,"date":"2026-08-07T19:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=8017"},"modified":"2026-08-07T19:20:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:20:04","slug":"tgfi-volume-567-more-ai-heavy-than-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/08\/07\/tgfi-volume-567-more-ai-heavy-than-normal","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 567: more AI-heavy than normal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a> You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Incen\u00adtives are for losers<\/a> (Adam Mas\u00adtroian\u00adni, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cOur val\u00adue sys\u00adtems are flim\u00adsy for the same rea\u00adson our sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic rea\u00adson\u00ading is flim\u00adsy: we don\u2019t fix our men\u00adtal mod\u00adels until some\u00adthing tells us that they\u2019re bro\u00adken. So unless your pas\u00adtor is pop\u00adping quizzes dur\u00ading the ser\u00admon and cold-call\u00ading peo\u00adple in the pews, and unless you find your\u00adself thrust into var\u00adi\u00adous Trol\u00adley Prob\u00adlems on a reg\u00adu\u00adlar basis, there\u2019s noth\u00ading that tells you that you need to firm up your moral and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00advic\u00adtions. Why spend your days won\u00adder\u00ading about right and wrong, good and evil, sacred and pro\u00adfane, etc. when you don\u2019t have to? You\u2019re just going to get your\u00adself into trou\u00adble, or even worse, into a phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy PhD pro\u00adgram.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. A Catholic Moment or an Evan\u00adgel\u00adi\u00adcal Cen\u00adtu\u00adry?<\/a> (Tim\u00adon Cline, First Things): \u201cCon\u00adtrary to online chat\u00adter, we are not in a \u2018Catholic moment.\u2019 But we may already be in an evan\u00adgel\u00adi\u00adcal cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly more peo\u00adple are leav\u00ading Catholi\u00adcism than con\u00advert\u00ading to it. By con\u00adtrast, evan\u00adgel\u00adi\u00adcal Protes\u00adtants boast remark\u00adably high con\u00adver\u00adsion and reten\u00adtion rates and health\u00adi\u00ader lev\u00adels of prac\u00adti\u00adcal piety\u2014church atten\u00addance, Bible read\u00ading, cat\u00ade\u00adch\u00adesis. Through the upheaval of the past half cen\u00adtu\u00adry, evan\u00adgel\u00adi\u00adcals have remained numer\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly and spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly sta\u00adble, have repeat\u00aded\u00adly reformed their insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, and con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly out\u00adper\u00adform their coun\u00adter\u00adparts. To cite one exam\u00adple, the per\u00adcent\u00adage of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans who con\u00advert from Catholi\u00adcism to Protes\u00adtantism (4 per\u00adcent) is high\u00ader than the per\u00adcent\u00adage of all con\u00adverts to Catholi\u00adcism (1.5 per\u00adcent).\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. GIFT LINK: When His Church Goes Dark, They Talk to His Dig\u00adi\u00adtal Twin<\/a> (Eli Saslow and Erin Schaff, New York Times): \u201cLester cloned his voice and trained his dig\u00adi\u00adtal twin using almost two mil\u00adlion words of his ser\u00admons, pod\u00adcasts, books, text mes\u00adsages and emails. For the last sev\u00ader\u00adal months, it had been pub\u00adlicly avail\u00adable on his web\u00adsite and Face\u00adbook page for online chats or phone calls. It had learned to mim\u00adic his bent toward opti\u00admism, his obses\u00adsion with the Green Bay Pack\u00aders and his casu\u00adal slang, but it did more than just regur\u00adgi\u00adtate what he had already said. It mapped his think\u00ading onto new con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtions to pro\u00advide advice around the clock for peo\u00adple he\u2019d nev\u00ader met who had ques\u00adtions he\u2019d nev\u00ader been asked. \u2018It\u2019s a dig\u00adi\u00adtal ver\u00adsion of my mind,\u2019 he told his con\u00adgre\u00adga\u00adtion. \u2018If I\u2019m asleep or trav\u00adel\u00ading, you don\u2019t have to wait. You can have 24\u20137 access to this oth\u00ader ver\u00adsion of me.\u2019 \u201d\n