We Are Not Saved

Transcript: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatchesendofworld/2023/09/the-thickness-of-the-world/

In the book Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis there is a scene where the King is arguing with a priest about what seems to be an unreasonable demand from one of the gods. The priest says something profound, something I'm still trying to wrap my head around. This episode is an effort to do just that.

1. The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction by: Matthew B. Crawford

2. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by: Oliver Burkeman

3. Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future by: Jean M. Twenge

4. When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake by: Tim Larkin

5. Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution by: Tucker Carlson

6. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by: Gino Wickman

7. One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by: B. J. Novak

8. Animal Farm by: George Orwell

9. Slaughter-House Five (Graphic Novel) by: Kurt Vonnegut and Ryan North

10. Children of the Mind (The Ender Saga, 4) by: Orson Scott Card

11. Chariots of the Gods by: Erich von Däniken

Transcript: https://www.wearenotsaved.com/p/the-apocalypse-will-not-be-as-cool

There are many potential apocalypses, and when people imagine them they imagine that everyone will die. On the contrary most people will live, and it will be messy and miserable.

Transcript: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatchesendofworld/2023/08/does-technology-encourage-virtue/

Last week we looked at how technology appears to multiple our temptations, but what does it do to our better impulses. If we move from considering the Deadly Sins to the Capital Virtues does technology undermine our efforts or assist us?

Apparently even the "smart" people are finally ready to admit that we should start reducing our annual deficit. In 2017 I was unclear on what the endgame was. I'm still unclear.

Transcript: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatchesendofworld/2023/08/the-temptations-of-technology/

What effect does technology have on the temptations we experience? If we examine the seven deadly sins it would appear that in all cases technology makes these sins more tempting and more accessible. Why would that be?

1. End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration by: Peter Turchin

2. Minds Make Societies: How Cognition Explains the World Humans Create by: Pascal Boyer

3. How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by: Steven Johnson

4. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by: Peter Attia MD

5. Jump Gate Twist by: Mark L. Van Name

6. Send Us Your Armies (Pilgrim's Path Book 1) by: Vic Davis

7. Lonesome Dove by: Larry McMurtry

8. Science Fiction Short Stories compiled by: Guy d'Andigne

9. Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by: Larry Correia

10. The Myth of Sisyphus by: Albert Camus

Transcript: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatchesendofworld/2023/08/and-there-was-silence-in-heaven/

In the Book of Revelation we read that when the seventh seal was opened there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. In this post I'm going to engage in some spurious scriptural speculation about what that might mean.

Transcript: https://www.wearenotsaved.com/p/is-pornography-a-supernormal-stimuli-15a?sd=pf

Supernormal stimuli are those things which encourage us to do something that was historically very useful, but in an artificial and supercharged way. Think of the way junk food hacks our appetite.

Somehow I got the two audio files mixed up. So I published my substack thinking it was my Patheos piece, so now I'm publishing that Patheos piece. I will go through and try and fix some links, but I don't think I can fix it entirely... In any case here's the Patheos Audio:

Transcript: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatchesendofworld/2023/07/technological-salvation/

Two groups have a narrative of human potential — a sense of humanity's ultimate destiny: the Actively Religious and the Radical Humanists. The former our ultimate salvation will occur in partnership with the divine (e.g. God). For the latter we are destined to be saved by our own efforts. These similarities invite us to consider both as paths to salvation, albeit very different ones.