I have noticed that modern people speak about myths with a certain confidence, usually while participating in them. The word itself is often used dismissively, as though a myth is merely a falsehood displaced by more rational understanding. We contrast myths with facts as though the distinction resolves the matter cleanly and permanently. And yet … Continue reading How and Why Do Myths Arise
The Robot Monk
A humanoid robot named Gabi reportedly took Buddhist vows this week at a temple in Seoul. The headlines wrote themselves almost immediately. “Robot monk.” “AI converts to Buddhism.” “Humanoid takes vows.” The story circulated with the predictable mixture of fascination, amusement, and mild existential discomfort that seems to accompany nearly every modern AI milestone. At … Continue reading The Robot Monk
The Company One Keeps at the End of the World
There is a particular kind of question that appears harmless on its face and yet carries more weight than intended. The “zombie apocalypse” prompt is one of these. It is usually asked in jest, often answered quickly, and almost never revisited with any seriousness. Who are the three people you'd want at your side in … Continue reading The Company One Keeps at the End of the World
Arete and the Meaning of Excellence
The Greek word arete is often translated as “virtue,” though I have never been fully satisfied with the equivalence. Virtue, as we tend to use the term, carries a moral tone and sometimes a certain stillness, as if it were something one might possess and set aside. Arete, at least as I understand it, seems less settled. It … Continue reading Arete and the Meaning of Excellence
Three Lenses in a Noisy World: Building a Personal Method for Understanding the News
There is a quiet habit many of us carry without much thought. We wake, we check the news, and we assume that in doing so we are becoming informed. It feels responsible, even virtuous in a modest civic sense. A person who keeps up with events is, after all, a person who cares about the … Continue reading Three Lenses in a Noisy World: Building a Personal Method for Understanding the News
Xenophanes and the problem of human gods
Ancient Greece produced many memorable philosophers, but few left behind an observation as quietly unsettling as that of Xenophanes of Colophon1. He did not set out to dismantle religion, at least not in any modern sense. What he did instead was notice something that others, perhaps, had grown too accustomed to see. To a Greek … Continue reading Xenophanes and the problem of human gods
Borrowed Armor
I recently finished Stephen Fry’s retelling of the Trojan War1, and as often happens with old stories, one episode lingered longer than the rest. It is the moment when Patroclus puts on Achilles’ armor. Achilles, in a fit of pride and grievance, has withdrawn from the fighting. Without him, the Greeks begin to lose ground. … Continue reading Borrowed Armor
