history of science
What does the West owe to Christianity and Islam?: Complexity historians
The monk who smuggled numerals In 976, al-Khwarizmi’s work on Hindu-Arabic numerals reached a Catalan monastery through Gerbert of Aurillac, a monk who had studied in Islamic Iberia. Gerbert became Pope Sylvester II.... What does the West owe to Christianity and Islam?: Secular critics
Three hundred and fifty-nine years Galileo spent his last nine years under house arrest for describing what he saw through a telescope. The institution that confined him did not formally acknowledge he was right until 1992. That is not a footnote in the debt story.... What does the West owe to Christianity and Islam?: The Story
The surgeon who doesn’t know In 1088, students in Bologna organized themselves into a universitas — a legal corporation with elected rectors and the right to grant degrees. The model spread to Paris, Oxford, Cambridge. Every one was a Church institution. The faculty were clergy.... The Open Question March 18: How do we reason about the future given AI? I find this topic extremely perplexing, and endlessly fascinating.
- What are we raising our kids to be ready for? What skills don't matter anymore that we used to hold sacred, and what do we need to emphasize?
- Will we have universities?
- Where to invest time/energy?
- Where to invest money? Will money even matter?
- Purpose and meaning, etc...
especially when I factor in stuff like Nate Soares talking about If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies, Rob Miles and Jeffrey Ladish communicating the wild risks involved in AI acceleration, there's almost too much to contemplate at once, and I'd love y'all's help.
Some convos already on UpTrust that might be relevant:
- Blake on AI collaboration
- Tommy on TikTok brain with AI
- Renee on Older people adopting AI
- Leif on Digital Mystics
- Alex on AI & the Second Coming of Christ
- Dave on an AI Safety introduction he likes
#openquestion
Good call Jay. This reminds me that apparently Darwin mentions the word "love" 95 times in his book The Descent of Man in contrast "survival of the fittest" (twice) in the same work; once to apologize for saying it....