Please stick around to the end for a couple of announcements. While discussing the AI & Christianity series, I talked about artificial intelligence being a tool to spread one's influence farther. I also noted how that was not a unique property of AI, computers or modern technology. Plenty of past inventions enabled an expansion of reach. A reminder of that came this past week in a story about the linguistics of tea. Apparently the words for 'tea' can be placed in one of two groups; they are either very similar to te … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Zooming Out on the World
globalization
Science Corner: Raising and Razing Babel
Global concerns from climate to nuclear proliferation weigh heavily as we begin 2017. So a pair of stories about the international flow of information and standardization caught my eye. First up, a study on language barriers in science communication. Major journals are all in English, or maybe a journal needs to be in English to have enough readership to be considered major. Scientists in many countries are expected to publish in English regardless of their native language, in order to be part of the international … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Raising and Razing Babel
Book Review: Flourishing, by Miroslav Volf
Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World, Miroslav Volf. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. Summary: Volf argues that the twin globalizing forces of international economics and world religions, problematic as they may be, may also be the source of rich and holistic flourishing for the human community. … [Read more...] about Book Review: Flourishing, by Miroslav Volf