The Friday Update - Reminders

Happy Friday,

The hoi nikōntes — the ones who “overcome” or “conquer” (it’s the same root as Nike) — receive seven shout outs in Revelation. In chapter 2, they’re celebrated for overcoming false teaching. In chapter 3, they’re commended for rising above moral compromise. In chapters 12-14, Jesus affirms them for overcoming the beast. But lest we miss the point, we need to understand that they were not taking victory laps. Indeed, their success would have been news to them. What Jesus was celebrating was not a fait acompli, but their faithfulness in the midst of persecution and trials.

The Health of the West

Those who think the West is riding a toboggan into oblivion find much to point to: Kermit the Frog giving a commencement address at Maryland University; 73 year old Bill Belichick having a 24 year old fiancé; the Chicago Sun Times publishing a summer reading list containing books that do not exist (thanks AI); a survey showing that 1 in 7 dog owners would trade their spouse for 3 more years with their dog, etc., etc. ad infinitum. These are not signs of a virtuous republic, but surely more objective measures are available. What should we track? Population trends? Life expectancy? Debt levels? Incarceration rates? What are the right metrics? (I’m curious what you think.)

Two Things on AI

1) This is your last chance to register for Lakelight’s free AI event, which will be held on June 5th and can be attended virtually. You need not be techy to attend, only curious about AI and where it is headed.

2) If you’ve yet to listen to Ross Douthat’s much-discussed interview with Daniel Kokotajlo — a former Open AI engineer who now claims the world is soon to end — you probably should. Be forewarned, his views are quite dark.

Without Comment

1) Hate crimes against US Jews have risen 344% in the last 5 years.

2) Another study shows that young people are turning to Jesus.

3) Goldman Sachs received over 315K applications for 2,700 internships.

4) Moody’s recently downgraded US debt, making this the first time in a century the US’s rating is not top tier.

5) The National Restaurant Association is reporting that 75% of restaurant traffic is now takeout.

6) The US has the highest global percentage of children living with single mothers, according to a Pew Study published in 2019. 

The New June

May — the new December — is ending, which means June — the month now dominated by SCOTUS news — is upon us. I’m not saying I’m old, but I remember when no one paid much mind to the Supreme Court. Of course, I also remember TV test patterns, and I walked to school in the snow. Uphill both ways.

WOTW

Honorable mentions go to civilizational moment (a term Os Guinness uses when claiming the West is teetering) and embodied cognition (a way of describing non-AI thinking). Full honors go to hypernormalization, which this Guardian article describes as a “heady, ten dollar, Soviet-era” word describing a time when “everything feels broken but people march on as if it isn’t.”

Have a Favorite?

Well-crafted theories help us see patterns we ought not to miss.  Take Moore’s Law (computing doubles in power and halves in price every 18 months), Sunstein's Theory of Group Polarization (when like-minded people deliberate together, their views become more extreme) or Ferguson’s Law (any great power that spends more servicing its debt than on its military will soon decline). The one I learned this week — Per Bak’s Theory of Self-Organized Criticality — notes that complex systems (e.g., power grids) become fragile as they grow more efficient. Do you have a favorite theory?

Commencement Addresses

Kermit aside, it seems this year was not a memorable one for commencement speeches. But you can always revisit the classics: David Foster Wallace at Kenyon (’05), Solzhenitsyn at Harvard (’78); JFK at American University (’63) and Admiral McRaven at the University of Texas (’14). BTW, it turns out that Churchill’s memorable speech at Harrow (the “Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense,”) was not a commencement address.

Overheard

1) The Bible was written for us, but not to us – i.e., we need to interpret it and place it in context.

2) Paul says, “Let me remind you…” a lot, suggesting it’s not what we don’t know that is upending us, but what we know yet keep forgetting.

3) “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”

4) This is an odd moment. While secularism is unraveling and many religious institutions are in decline, belief in the supernatural is up and young people are growing more religiously conservative.

5) Small choices, repeated daily, shape our character more profoundly than major one-time decisions.

6) Adopting a victim mentality is a train ride to a depressing nowhere.

Closing Prayer

“Loving God, breathe into our hearts and minds at this time your loving and guiding word. Inspire us by your Spirit, that we may hear, and later do, what you would have us hear and do. Lift us up by your still small voice within and grant us the blessing we need and we seek. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.” (Richard Baxter - 1615 - 1691) 

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