{"id":8049,"date":"2026-11-06T19:28:05","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T03:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=8049"},"modified":"2026-11-06T19:28:05","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T03:28:05","slug":"tgfi-volume-579-snakes-can-cartwheel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/11\/06\/tgfi-volume-579-snakes-can-cartwheel","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 579: snakes can cartwheel"},"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> 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:\/\/worldviewdesign.substack.com\/p\/why-your-existence-is-hard-to-explain\">Why Your Exis\u00adtence is Hard to Explain<\/a> (Joshua Ras\u00admussen, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cI want to share some of my lat\u00adest thoughts on how, by your own pow\u00aders of analy\u00adsis, I think you can see that your exis\u00adtence is <em>puz\u00adzling<\/em> (to say the least). Now I\u2019m not talk\u00ading about the <em>pur\u00adpose<\/em> of your exis\u00adtence. I\u2019m ask\u00ading about an <em>expla\u00adna\u00adtion<\/em> of how you could have come to be in the first place.\u2026 Con\u00adsid\u00ader a few famil\u00adiar fea\u00adtures of you. You are some\u00adone who can think, some\u00adone who can feel, and some\u00adone who can do things. These fea\u00adtures have some\u00adthing in com\u00admon: you can expe\u00adri\u00adence them with\u00adin con\u00adscious\u00adness. You can con\u00adscious\u00adly think some\u00adthing, con\u00adscious\u00adly feel some\u00adthing, and con\u00adscious\u00adly do some\u00adthing. There is an expe\u00adri\u00adence of being you. David Chalmers famous\u00adly calls the chal\u00adlenge of explain\u00ading con\u00adscious expe\u00adri\u00adence, the hard prob\u00adlem. To explain your exis\u00adtence as a con\u00adscious being, we need, at min\u00adi\u00admum, to explain your con\u00adscious\u00adness. But what could explain that?\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The author is a Chris\u00adt\u00adian, although this arti\u00adcle is not explic\u00adit\u00adly Chris\u00adt\u00adian.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/deepdivebible.org\/welcome\">Deep Dive Bible<\/a> \u2014 a new Bible study web\u00adsite. Has some nice fea\u00adtures. Worth a look.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/31\/technology\/san-francisco-ai-boom-dating.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NFE.CN9j.dSCMNwtKQmZx&amp;smid=nytcore-android-share\">In San Francisco\u2019s A.I. Boom, a First Date Has Become an Inter\u00adview<\/a> (Emmy Mar\u00adtin, New York Times): \u201cIn some cor\u00adners of San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco, young sin\u00adgles are get\u00adting cre\u00adative with dat\u00ading. On a Sat\u00adur\u00adday night at Kilo\u00adwatt, a bar in the Mis\u00adsion neigh\u00adbor\u00adhood, peo\u00adple packed togeth\u00ader for an event called \u2018Date My Ex,\u2019 where par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants on a stage pitch some\u00adone they love in five min\u00adutes or less, with a slide deck. Atten\u00addees wore name tags and waved paper hearts on sticks when\u00adev\u00ader a pitch land\u00aded, like bid\u00adders at an auc\u00adtion for oth\u00ader people\u2019s exes.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/2610.40584\">Ear\u00adly Career Researcher Respons\u00ades to AI in Math<\/a> (Anna Bran\u00adden\u00adberg\u00ader, Han\u00adna Mula\u00adrczyk, &amp; Dora Woodruff, arX\u00adiv): \u201c\u2026math\u00ade\u00admati\u00adcians are grap\u00adpling with the fact that a core part of our jobs could soon be auto\u00admat\u00aded. How\u00adev\u00ader, the lead\u00ading voic\u00ades on the mat\u00adter have been Fields medal\u00adists and famous math\u00ade\u00admati\u00adcians, who can hypoth\u00ade\u00adsize and ideate from the safe\u00adty of a secure job. Us ear\u00adly-career math\u00ade\u00admati\u00adcians do not have the same lux\u00adu\u00adry, and our unique point of view was not as rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded in these dis\u00adcus\u00adsions. Hence, we decid\u00aded to ask grad\u00adu\u00adate stu\u00addents and post\u00addocs how they felt direct\u00adly.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> The authors are grad stu\u00addents in math at MIT.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I am not super-inter\u00adest\u00aded in the midterms per se. I am, how\u00adev\u00ader, inter\u00adest\u00aded in how they inter\u00adsect with \/ reflect reli\u00adgion in Amer\u00adi\u00adca. Two reflec\u00adtions that caught my eye:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/home\/post\/p-223553641\">I Wel\u00adcome the Blue Wave, Not the Blue Jesus<\/a> (Tish Har\u00adri\u00adson War\u00adren, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cPol\u00adi\u00adtics, of course, should (and inevitably will) be affect\u00aded by one\u2019s beliefs and con\u00advic\u00adtions, but reli\u00adgion must nev\u00ader be a pawn in a polit\u00adi\u00adcal match. I do not want this 2000-year-old faith to become mere\u00adly the mas\u00adcot for team red or team blue, but instead to trou\u00adble and chal\u00adlenge both. I want it to chal\u00adlenge plat\u00adforms and pol\u00adi\u00adcy, but more cru\u00adcial\u00adly, to chal\u00adlenge the reign\u00ading ascen\u00addan\u00adcy of pow\u00ader and money\u2014to rel\u00ada\u00adtivize and curb our devo\u00adtion to pol\u00adi\u00adtics itself and to tem\u00adper the hope that we find in it. I want it to chart out ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry of the human heart where pol\u00adi\u00adtics can\u00adnot trav\u00adel, to ask ques\u00adtions that pol\u00adi\u00adcy can\u00adnot answer, and to pro\u00adduce beau\u00adty that calls us out of our tribes and into our deep\u00adest human\u00adi\u00adty.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wng.org\/opinions\/the-midterm-revenge-of-the-religious-left-1793953994\">The midterm revenge of the reli\u00adgious left<\/a> (James Shel\u00adton, World): \u201cWhen the 120th Con\u00adgress con\u00advenes on Jan. 3, 13 mem\u00adbers who stud\u00adied at a sem\u00adi\u00adnary or divin\u00adi\u00adty school will take the oath of office. Tied with 2017, that is the largest class of elect\u00aded sem\u00adi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adans going back to the Con\u00adti\u00adnen\u00adtal Con\u00adgress. Nine of the 13 are Democ\u00adrats, more than have ever served togeth\u00ader in a sin\u00adgle Con\u00adgress.\u2026 Amer\u00adi\u00adca already knows about Talarico\u2019s claims that God is \u2018non\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adry\u2019 and that Chris\u00adt\u00adian teach\u00ading on abor\u00adtion is \u2018just not root\u00aded in Scrip\u00adture.\u2019 It will soon grow famil\u00adiar with Trone Gar\u00adriott, who helped offi\u00adci\u00adate a Satanist wed\u00adding, and Haynes, who con\u00adclud\u00aded a \u2018remix\u2019 of Matthew 25 with \u2018Amer\u00adi\u00adca, go to hell\u2019 and is more cor\u00adrect than he knows when he calls him\u00adself \u2018a heretic in the name of Jesus.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The below graph\u00adic from the author (him\u00adself a sem\u00adi\u00adnary grad) at <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jayshelt\/status\/2117941375668990278\">x.com\/jayshelt\/status\/2117941375668990278<\/a> is quite strik\u00ading.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"765\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=840%2C765&#038;ssl=1\" alt class=\"wp-image-8051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=1024%2C932&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=300%2C273&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=768%2C699&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=1536%2C1398&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?resize=1200%2C1092&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/religious-left-in-congress.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\"><\/a><\/figure>\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:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/11\/01\/science\/these-snakes-cartwheel-out-of-dangerous-situations.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NlE.L-eP.jLGSs61CRUj2&amp;smid=url-share\">These Snakes Cart\u00adwheel Out of Dan\u00adger\u00adous Sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions<\/a> (K. R. Call\u00adaway, New York Times): \u201cDwarf reed snakes, tiny snakes native to South\u00adeast Asia, can launch into a series of cart\u00adwheel-like move\u00adments to spin out of sight when preda\u00adtors approach.\u2026 Now, a new team of researchers has ana\u00adlyzed the mechan\u00adics of the move\u00adment, and found that when rolling, the snakes can trav\u00adel about four times faster than when slith\u00ader\u00ading.\u2026 Through\u00adout the rolling move\u00adment, the snakes also kept their heads large\u00adly at the same lev\u00adel and point\u00ading in the same direc\u00adtion, which helps to explain how they stay ori\u00adent\u00aded despite the chaot\u00adic-look\u00ading motion.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You are not ready for the video. It first shows actu\u00adal speed then pro\u00adgres\u00adsive\u00adly slowed down until 16x slow-mo. Watch the slow-mo and then let it loop to the begin\u00adning. THEY ARE FAST!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I actu\u00adal\u00adly laughed when I read this about the Pope vot\u00ading <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/damienredicamn1\/status\/2115973681201512481\">x.com\/damienredicamn1\/status\/2115973681201512481<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pope_vote.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"746\" height=\"761\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pope_vote.png?resize=746%2C761&#038;ssl=1\" alt class=\"wp-image-8050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pope_vote.png?w=746&amp;ssl=1 746w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/pope_vote.png?resize=294%2C300&amp;ssl=1 294w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\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\/11\/06\/tgfi-volume-579-snakes-can-cartwheel\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cTGFI, Vol\u00adume 579: snakes can cart\u00adwheel\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"0","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":[124,219,220,160,117,164,203],"class_list":["post-8049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bible","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-politics","tag-relationships","tag-silicon-valley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-25P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8049","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=8049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8055,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8049\/revisions\/8055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}