Ask most Americans what it takes to get ahead, and you’ll hear some version of the same answer: work hard, stay disciplined, take responsibility for yourself. It’s a story we tell so often we barely notice we’re telling it. Success is earned. Failure is, at least partly, deserved. The Ayn Rand story, and most people... Continue Reading →

There is something uncomfortable about reading Byung-Chul Han and Thomas Merton side by side when using the Cardijn method of See-Judge-Act. Maybe this is why many Catholics find Catholic Social Teachings uncomfortable. One is a contemporary Korean-German philosopher writing about burnout and digital fatigue; the other was a Trappist monk who died in 1968, before... Continue Reading →

There is a question almost no one in the AI industry is asking, and it might be the most important one: Who is this for, and what kind of human life should it serve? Not "What can it do?" Not "How fast can it run?" Not "How much revenue will it generate?" But rather — what... Continue Reading →

This past week, I gave a lunch talk to a group of interdenominational people aged 55 and older, one of those potluck lunches I have found to be popular nowadays, who would have thought…I was told the audience knows little about Merton. But they were looking for something more than a biography. I am attaching... Continue Reading →

Green Junction In the late 1950s, plastic films began to replace paper and other natural-based materials in agriculture and landscaping. Mostly classified as mulch, these materials are applied directly on soils for different purposes: protection of seedlings and young plants, reduction of soil moisture, control of weed growth, and prevention of soil erosion. For many... Continue Reading →

*A See–Judge–Act Reflection on* Magnifica Humanitas There is something almost head-scratching about a papal encyclical on artificial intelligence — the oldest institution in Western civilization issuing formal teaching on the newest technology in human history. But *Magnifica Humanitas: On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence* is not a panic document, and it... Continue Reading →