I’m a Christian and that defines my worldview and ethics. And I love art. Like Keats, I believe that good art is both beautiful and useful: Beethoven’s symphonies inspire awe; Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov explores themes of suffering, faith, and free will; It’s a Wonderful Life inspires hope and encourages selflessness; Shakespeare’s plays blend humor … Read more
Plato is an unexpected architect of progressive thought, but his name has come up as the bad guy in some conservative circles lately. This is partly because at the heart of Plato’s political philosophy lies the concept of the philosopher-king, a notion that resonates with progressive governance and control. The philosopher-king concept fundamentally assumes that … Read more
In today’s educational landscape, the concept of tolerance has become a foundational aspect of many school policies and curricula, aimed at fostering environments where all students can flourish regardless of their background. The intent is commendable, as it seeks to promote respect and understanding among students of various cultural, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds. However, … Read more
Professionally, my goal was “work hard until something good happens” for many years. I had the luxury of the world’s best string of bosses. I had no idea how lucky I was to be learning from giants who poured wisdom into me, protected me and told me hard truths that shaped my character. At DARPA … Read more
Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are valued teachers and they generated many of the ideas bumping into each other in the culture today. Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and social critic who is known for his contributions to the field of existentialism. He believed that the individual’s relationship to God was the most … Read more
In Shawshank redemption Otis “Red” goes before the parole board with promises to be better. He tries to play by the rules and repeatedly gets denied. Finally, he has had enough and lets them have it. He is done with their game, they can keep him there forever. He speaks with the tired wisdom of … Read more
“If love is the essence and totality of the good demanded of us, how can it be known that we love?” Karl Barth We think in groups and live in tribes. It’s hard to believe anything that doesn’t align with a big group of folks. The historical struggle between economic classes is shifting to a … Read more
Around 1710, the English theologian Thomas Woolston wrote that Christianity would be extinct by the year 1900. In 1822, Thomas Jefferson predicted there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian. While these predictions didn’t pan out, we live in a world that neither of them … Read more
As computers become powerful and solve more problems, the possibility that computers could evolve into a capability that could rise up against us and pose an existential threat is of increasing concern. After reading a recent book on artificial intelligence (AI), Superintelligence, Elon Musk recently said: I think we should be very careful about artificial … Read more
Tonight, I just finished Francis Collins’ book “The Language of God” where he lays out the basic facts of genetics and the human genome, denounces Creationism and rejects Intelligent Design theory, rebukes Richard Dawkins, and generally sets a tone for reasonableness between Christians and scientists. This is a lot of disjoint topics, and while he … Read more