Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
I want to return to Ira‘s observation that we are talking about many different understandings of artificial intelligence because it is basic to what I am finding. The individuals to whom I talked certainly did not share the same concept, but neither did the articles or studies I read. Some referred to any task performed […]
Before addressing Ira’s observation that society– and we ourselves– are talking about many different understandings of artificial intelligence, I’d like to look at important recent events while they are fresh in our minds. They clearly contrast the present state of human and artificial intelligence in a way that highlights the contributions and threats of AI. […]
My limited knowledge of artificial intelligence is pretty much based on conversations with a computer engineer friend 30 years ago. He described his work as developing software to make a machine think like a human. I’m not sure he ever totally agreed with me, but after a while, I suggested he had reversed his task. […]
So far, I’ve looked at global technological systems to understand the major developments in human evolution taking place around us. You could also use artificial intelligence. Again, people seem to sense its impact but have difficulty explaining exactly what that is. We are amazed when we read something written by a machine, but we are […]
Several years ago, I attended a peace church conference. Surprisingly, I did not find a lot of emotional piety but rather profound thought, even when asked questions such as “Is there a better way to preserve the community than shunning?” However, I was most impressed with a discussion about the need to make cooperation the […]
Rebuilding culture is not something that is consciously done. You don’t gather people to design a culture. It naturally develops over many years as guidance for a group’s life. In an oral society, culture is the lifestyle and customs resulting from living together geographically. These are enforced and sustained by leaders, group pressure, and foundational […]
I’ve been implying that we must build new or rebuild old cultural values lost by relying on technological systems. This assumes a very loose definition of culture as shared meanings and purposes that bind us together and guide our social relationships. The loss occurs when technological systems provide what we need or think we need […]
I’ve been arguing that modern technology brings us many marvelous comforts and capabilities but also erodes traditional culture’s benefits. When people use technology to solve all their problems, culture becomes irrelevant. Let me go over some of the things lost. Culture provides guidance in social relationships. Technology focuses on overcoming our natural human limitations. It […]
Traditional culture provided all sorts of guidelines for relating to our neighbors. Some of you have questioned if there was ever such a thing. You argue I should recognize the US has never had a common story. In the past, our democratic government has simply been able to prevent our present cultural wars. Perhaps then […]
I think I got ahead of myself. Responses to the first lesson indicate I should define what I mean by culture and technology. In the past, a community was associated with a culture. That culture was not something consciously built but an understanding that developed naturally from living together. That is not to say everyone […]
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