Mr. Thiel, an investor in artificial intelligence, says he is drawing on biblical prophesies to warn of an Antichrist who will promise safety from existential risks like nuclear war, climate change and artificial intelligence only to bring about something worse: one-world, totalitarian government. (Povoledo, The New York Times)
Read MoreModern iterations of these trials, which academics call sorcery accusation related violence (SARV), still take place around the world. Data is limited, but a UN-commissioned report published in 2023 estimated that at least 20,000 people in 60 countries were accused of witchcraft between 2009 and 2019, from Ghana to India. (Newey, The Telegraph)
Read MoreThe eminent social thinker remained in Germany throughout his career to defend the most progressive and enlightened traditions of his native land. (The Times)
Read MoreIn proposing to allow sexually explicit conversations with its popular chatbot, OpenAI exposed fractures over how to balance rapid user growth and digital freedom with safety and child protection—issues that many believe were belatedly confronted when social media made its debut a generation ago. (Schechner & Wells, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreCenturies ago, some Irish feasted and drank, too, but for a more religious purpose. Christians in Ireland during roughly the ninth and 10th centuries began observing a feast day for St. Patrick during Lent, according to History.com. For the holiday, people could drink and dance and skip Lenten prohibitions against eating meat, feasting on Irish bacon and cabbage. (Snider, USA Today)
Read MoreBuddhists are the world’s only major religious group whose population shrank between 2010 and 2020, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of religion in 201 countries and territories.(Tong et al. Pew Research Center)
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