In Good Faith is a podcast where two friends talk about society and culture through a Christian lens and in good faith. We seek to approach everything with charity and curiosity, and aim to help our listeners do the same. Presented by Chong Shao and Daniel Shih.
On today’s show, Chong and Dan look back on an eventful year. Along major dimensions - in technology, in geopolitics, in our socio-emotional lives, it feels like things are accelerating and spinning out of control. This leads to a discussion about peace - what is it, and how can we achieve it? Why does it seem like peace is only ever temporary? Where does chaos and disorder come from, that disturb the peace? Dan concludes with reflections on where ultimate peace is found - yes, Jesus - but goes to great lengths to explain this in the least-trite way possible.
Music by: Julian Wan
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Email - ingoodfaithmail@gmail.com
Show notes
Big things have been happening (2:55)
Social-technological - AI, medicine, Internet-mediated life...
Geopolitical - Breakdown of Pax Americana
Emotional-psychological - Awareness, acceptance and exploitation of disorders within the heart
The external things affect us individually, and vice versa
The Nine Breakthroughs of the Year (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/scientific-breakthroughs-2023-list/676952/)
How Anxiety Became Content (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/therapy-language-anxiety-mental-health/676325/)
What do we mean by peace? (26:05)
Absence of bad stuff; presence of good stuff
Can we be at peace, even when things around us are bad?
"Shalom" - the way things ought to be
What causes chaos and disorder? (37:50)
Left-Right answer, circa early 2000s - individuals vs society
Left-Right answer, circa 2020s - Common-Enemy politics
The upshot - we are being affected both too little and too much by the outside world
Conclusion (53:20)
Peace comes from an external intervention into the broken human world
Peace requires a change in perspective - cosmic, eternal
People are looking for peace; Christians can help them find it
20 Apr 2023
27: We Are Not Ready
On today’s show, Chong and Dan plant their flag on the next transformational change facing society: Artificial Intelligence (AI). After a decades-long pursuit, pioneering researchers and organisations have been releasing AI products into the world, with amazing and unsettling results. We provide a primer on AI, focusing on ChatGPT and its Large Language Model relatives. Then Chong provides Dan with three near-future, AI-driven scenarios, to spark a discussion of what could come next. AI seems set to disrupt society, but we are still unsure by how much, given that so much of society still operates in the physical world. To be continued…
Music by: Julian Wan
Connect with us
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ingoodfaithfm (https://www.instagram.com/ingoodfaithfm)
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ingoodfaithfm (https://twitter.com/ingoodfaithfm)
Email - ingoodfaithmail@gmail.com
Show notes
Something big is happening (1:41)
Human technology as (i) fire, (ii) sharp sticks and (ii) our brains
The biggest upgrade to our brains is happening right now
Planting the flag on AI - not exploring all the issues, but rather what it is and what it could mean for us
Existential risk, AI, and the inevitable turn in human history (https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/03/existential-risk-and-the-turn-in-human-history.html)
AI primer (11:43)
Neural networks, Large Language Models (LLM) and generative AI
Intro to ChatGPT - how it works, what can be done
How to Become an Expert on A.I. (https://www.nytimes.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbot.html)
How Does ChatGPT Really Work? (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/technology/ai-chatbots-chatgpt-bing-bard-llm.html)
What all this could mean (31:44)
Scenario 1 - Disruption of “knowledge work”
Scenario 2 - Teaching and learning overhauled
Scenario 3 - “Her” will be real life
How much does all this matter? Torn between “not as much” and “a whole lot”
Tinkering With ChatGPT, Workers Wonder: Will This Take My Job? (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/business/economy/jobs-ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt.html)
Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It. (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/chatgpt-schools-teachers.html)
Replika users fell in love with their AI chatbot companions. Then they lost them (https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-03-01/replika-users-fell-in-love-with-their-ai-chatbot-companion/102028196)
You Can Have the Blue Pill or the Red Pill, and We’re Out of Blue Pills (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/opinion/yuval-harari-ai-chatgpt.html)
Conclusion (1:07:09)
We should be careful when wielding words…
28 Dec 2022
26: You're Only Human
On today’s show, Chong and Dan share what’s been going on in our lives during a busy 2022. This gets us to unpack the concept of “busyness”, and how we in modern society constantly strain against our limits and wonder if we are doing “enough”. Drawing on insights from the book You’re Only Human, we consider how limits are not an inherently bad thing. We also explore the root of our busyness, namely pride in pursuing our own interests and seeking to be the master of our own lives. We conclude with a call to not be everything, everywhere, all at once.
Music by: Julian Wan
Connect with us
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ingoodfaithfm (https://www.instagram.com/ingoodfaithfm)
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ingoodfaithfm (https://twitter.com/ingoodfaithfm)
Email - ingoodfaithmail@gmail.com
Show notes
Year in review (2:01)
Dan’s “sophomore slump” in ministry
Chong’s priority stack - core, primary, secondary
Primary responsibilities (children, church, work) expanding and crowding out other things
Concept of busyness (16:31)
Why do we feel like we are never doing enough?
Introduction to Kelly Kapic’s book
Ultimately a theological problem - misunderstanding who we are and what we were made for
You’re Only Human (http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/you-re-only-human/406040) by Kelly Kapic
Finitude is not sin (25:17)
God created us with limits (and it was good); he did not create us with sin
Cautionary tale: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Time management techniques cover up the core problem
IGF 11: The Crisis of Freedom (https://ingoodfaith.buzzsprout.com/1113221/5609848-11-the-crisis-of-freedom)
Pride as the root cause (45:05)
We want to do more and be more, want mastery over all things… i.e., to be like God
Humility as the antidote - to think less of ourselves and to think of ourselves less
Giving thanks for our limitations
Conclusion (1:02:09)
The insidious effect of busyness - robbing us of joy in the present
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