Currently Reading (see: 'was reading but got distracted by making a website')

My inspiration for reading this was a comment on Ars Technica relating the intent of the Pope's Encyclical with the Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics, which in my head did not quite add up. I had seen some of the Pope's public statements on actions from <current administration>, which I guess heartened me enough to think that what he has say about the AI Revolution might also be agreeable. I have lots of pre-conceived notions about the Church, few of them good, but it seemed wise to face my biases while the mood strikes me.

Current thoughts!

That Pope, he's kind of a smart guy. I knew of course that theological studies confer real degrees and doctorates, but it was still unexpected to see this written so academically, cited sources and all, and written to be read and respected by more than just his followers. Stories and teachings from the Bible are prevalent, but so also are other *cough* true *cough* historical documents like prior Encyclicals or works of other noteworthy figures in the Church. These are most interesting to me because this isn't an exercise in learning what the Pope believes in, but in how one of the most revered people on the planet communicates to the broader world.

If my understanding of Christianity is elementary, then my understanding of Catholocism specifically is certainly no more than kindergarten-level. Some things have been tricky to grasp, but amusing in their strangeness. For example, after being thoroughly confused by seemingly random and unaffiliated pronouns ("Who is 'she'???"), I learned that the Church is referred to as a she. I will politely decline to do so myself, as she is not and never was a living being. Generally though, the work is approachable even for an ignorant athiest. Leo XIV deigns to summarize the Tower of Babel as if anybody who would read this would not already know the story, and he is correct and wise to do so.

The first section of the Encyclical is dedicated to establishing the place, and perhaps the right, of the Church to be providing commentary in modern society, how it has done so historically (mostly post- or concurrent to the Industrial Revolution), and why it is doing so again during the so-called AI Revolution. Each of these are bolstered through the writings of past clergy, establishing a verifiable pattern of behavior by the Church which forms a stable foundation upon which Leo XIV can offer insight on the res novae, the 'new things' of the age, the stuff on everyone's mind. Taken in just the context that's provided in this piece, the Church kinda sounds great: it maintains a strong pro-worker and pro-union stance, the right for all people to have dignified work paid at liveable wages, etc. If only they truly meant "all people" in every instance they said it, then I'd convert in a heartbeat, but alas.

holy shit writing is hard when you want to sound smart doing it. not to mention writing in an html document, but at least there's no stupid AI here.

need to like make an outline or smth, and determine like what I want this even to be. Should it be a brain dump or should it be something that has a point to make? The intent is to challenge myself, but also to do it, so something hard but not too hard... hmm.