The Friday Update - Swarmchasers

Happy Friday,

David’s picture of spiritual maturity is a child resting in his mother’s arms. Not a nursing baby – i.e., not one making demands. But one resting contentedly because he knows and trusts the one holding him.

Artificial Opinion

Per Pew, AI-generated answers to nearly 300 survey questions missed real people’s answers by an average of 12 percentage points. This suggests that if you want to know what humans think, you still have to talk to them. 

Overheard

1) The road to the next duty is the only straight path.

2) If you clearly write out a problem, you’ve half-solved it (Kidlin’s Law).

3) Having an opinion about everything is exhausting, especially for those around you.

4) Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

5) Intellectual conflict is to be encouraged; personal conflict is to be resolved. 

FWIW

1) October is Pastor Appreciation Month. I mention this purely as a public service announcement.

2) Some of our strongest opinions concern decisions for which someone else will bear the consequences.

3) One of the aspects of Jesus I have long underappreciated is his gracious acceptance of limits, starting with the incarnation itself. 

Without Comment

1) 74% of the women on the Titanic survived; 80% of the men did not.

2) The 3% unemployment rate for 25- to 34-year-olds with a PhD is the highest (outside the pandemic) since 2009.

3) Octopuses have three hearts.

4) More than a third of 15-year-olds in England say that they hardly ever leave their bedrooms except for school.

5) The top 0.1% of US households now control $28T, or about 15% of the nation’s total wealth.

6) Over the last 30 years, Americans have seen double-digit declines in practically every measure of socializing — e.g., playing cards, attending a sporting event, going to a bar, volunteering, etc.

7) The US teen birth rate has hit an all-time low, falling 7% in the last year.

Question

Did those closest to me receive my best today or only what I had left to offer?

Quotes Worth Requoting

1) “They will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.” — Plato, commenting on the invention of writing  

2) “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?” — George Eliot

WOTW

Honorable mentions go to The Great Disinvitation (Derek Thompson’s term for the collapse of Americans hosting people at home), Swarmchasers (volunteers who hunt for traces of rogue AI agents) and beige flag (a quirk that isn’t a dealbreaker, just noted — e.g., someone who claps when the plane lands). Full honors go to unc (an older, out-of-touch person — which may or may not have been used to describe me). 

Oct 31

Americans are expected to spend $13.5B on Halloween this year - i.e., the 509th anniversary of the Reformation. Of that, $920M will be spent on costumes for pets and – if our neighborhood is any indication – several hundred million will be spent on 10’ tall skeletons. (Note: I’m expecting somewhat less than $13.5B to be spent in recognition of the Reformation.)

Resources

Click here to hear my interview with Dr. Warren Kinghorn. He is the Duke psychiatrist and theologian whose talk on anxiety we featured two weeks ago. I interviewed Kinghorn before the event in front of a group of pastors and therapists.   

Closing Prayer

“Thanks be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits you have given me, for all the pains and insults you have borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.” (Richard of Chichester - 1197-1253)

P.S.

 If TFU has become part of your Friday rhythm—and you’d like to help us out—then send it to a friend. Preferably one who reads. But we’re trying to be hospitable.