Thinking Religion 168: Tribalism and Identity with Matthew Klippenstein

Sam Harrelson on July 29, 2024

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Episode Summary

In this episode of “Thinking Religion,” Sam is joined by Matthew Klippenstein to discuss a wide range of topics, including cultural differences, the development of early Christianities, political dynamics in the USA and Canada, and the philosophical and historical context of monotheism.

Topics Discussed

  1. Cultural Differences and Regional Dialects:
    • Sam and Matthew explore regional cultural differences within the United States, particularly focusing on dialects and food traditions.
    • The significance of regional barbecue styles in South Carolina.
    • Comparison to regional differences in Japan, such as variations in soy sauce.
  2. Early Christianities and Monotheism:
    • Discussion on the origins and development of monotheism in ancient Israel and the influence of early Desert Fathers and Mothers.
    • The role of Josiah’s reforms and the discovery of Deuteronomy in shaping Jewish religious practices.
    • Influence of Platonic philosophy on early Christian thought and the transition from henotheism to monotheism.
  3. Political Dynamics in the USA and Canada:
    • Current political climate in the USA, including the pressures within the Democratic Party for President Biden to step down​ (Politico)​.
    • The complexities of the two-party system in the US and the potential for future changes.
    • Comparison with Canadian politics and the challenges of maintaining political coalitions over long periods.
  4. Philosophical and Sociological Reflections:
    • The concept of tribalism in modern politics and social media’s impact on political identities.
    • Dunbar’s number and its implications for social networks and community sizes.
    • Reflections on the interconnectedness of humanity and the natural world.

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Contact Information

Listener Q&A

  • Have questions or comments about this episode? Leave them in the comments section or reach out to Sam and Matthew directly through their social media profiles.

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Europe’s only Indigenous Group and a Growing Recognition of Ecotheology

Sam Harrelson on July 25, 2024

How Europe’s only Indigenous group is inspiring a greener Christianity:

“Sámi traditions and our practices all have to do with collaboration — with the place, with animals, with everything that grows,” said Lovisa Mienna Sjöberg, a Sámi theologian at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Norway. “You should not take more than is your part to take.”

But more than 600 years after their first encounters with missionaries, Sámi communities are also some of northern Europe’s most devoutly Christian. Mixing Indigenous cosmology and ethics with Christian stories, imagery and theology, the Sámi have, over centuries, evolved a multilayered faith of their own, often in the face of bitter oppression and persecution by puritan churches and state authorities.

OpenAI’s Strawberry

Sam Harrelson on July 16, 2024

Happening quickly…

Exclusive: OpenAI working on new reasoning technology under code name ‘Strawberry’ | Reuters:

The document describes a project that uses Strawberry models with the aim of enabling the company’s AI to not just generate answers to queries but to plan ahead enough to navigate the internet autonomously and reliably to perform what OpenAI terms “deep research,” according to the source. This is something that has eluded AI models to date, according to interviews with more than a dozen AI researchers.

What is Slop?

Sam Harrelson on July 12, 2024

This is a fantastic post from Garbage Day (a newsletter I always enjoy) on the concept of “slop.” If you haven’t already, you will probably hear that term in various contexts soon (if you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably encountered “AI Slop” from weirdly generated pictures of Jesus at a poker match with dogs, etc).

The basic concept is that we’re all doing the work of content production as once mainstreamed media continues to crumble and (d)evolve as studios, businesses, influencers, and record labels struggle for relevancy. However, your 100 posts that are fully SEO friendly with the right hashtags and AI-generated thoughts to promote your new business or side hustle are just… noise.

“Slop,” if you will. Like Taylor Swift Slop when she churns out alternative versions of her songs.

Slop isn’t inherently negative, but it’s not doing much to further the discovery or memory of your brand (whether you’re marketing a business or posting images from your vacation on your Reels). 

Intentional Marketing will be a buzzword as we lurch towards election season and the Fall here in the USA if not well into 2025. Don’t post more. Post better and consume intentionally to decrease the slop effect.

More slop for the void:

The fix for all of this seems obvious and, unfortunately, impossible, at least right now. It has to come from us, the user, the viewer, the consumer, and there’s a lot of us now. We have to be the ones to demand that we all make less, aim smaller, be more deliberate about what we consume, and find new ways of funding — and distributing — what we do make.

Do What You Do Well (Unlike YouTube)

Sam Harrelson on July 11, 2024

YouTube Shorts and these voiceovers are a mistake, in my opinion. YouTube does a few things very well. Long form videos. Discovery marketing. Algorithmic suggestions that draw people in to long binges of watching. 

You don’t need to chase something that you think is a market driver if it’s not a core competency.

Do what you do and do it very well and the market will reward you long-term. These short-term plays expend resources and revenues. 

YouTube Shorts adds TikTok-style artificial voiceovers – The Verge:

YouTube has announced a set of new features for YouTube Shorts, some of which are available now, like a new text-to-speech video narration that lets you add an artificial voiceover. On TikTok, those are the sometimes startlingly robotic voices that you hear a lot on videos with something to promote.

Anglo-Saxons Fought in Syria and Iraq

Sam Harrelson on July 11, 2024

Anglo-Saxons may have fought in northern Syrian wars, say experts | Archaeology | The Guardian:

“These finds put the Anglo-Saxon princes and their followers centre-stage in one of the last great wars of late antiquity. It takes them out of insular England into the plains of Syria and Iraq in a world of conflict and competition between the Byzantines and the Sasanians and gave those Anglo-Saxons literally a taste for something much more global than they probably could have imagined.

It adds an international dimension to those sites. We have looked at the Anglo-Saxons in a rather insular manner.”

Rome’s Colosseum as a Garden

Sam Harrelson on July 10, 2024

Beautiful thoughts here about modern architecture…

Rome’s Colosseum Was Once a Wild, Tangled Garden – The Atlantic:

Plants growing today in the Colosseum include very rare species like Asphodelus fistulosus and Sedum dasyphyllum, which scientists believe can only survive when sheltered by the arena, a sanctuary from the urban environment outside. Due to increased pollution and the rising temperature of the city, the flora inside the ruined walls are beginning to change: Plants suited to a warmer and more arid climate are beginning to proliferate at the expense of those more used to cool and damp.

Chinese Spy Cars?

Sam Harrelson on July 9, 2024

Turns out it wasn’t just spy balloons…

Chinese self-driving cars have quietly traveled 1.8 million miles on U.S. roads, collecting detailed data with cameras and lasers | Fortune:

Since 2017, self-driving cars owned by Chinese companies have traversed 1.8 million miles of California alone, according to a Fortune analysis of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles data. As part of their basic functionality, these cars capture video of their surroundings and map the state’s roads to within two centimeters of precision. Companies transfer that information from the cars to data centers, where they use it to train their self-driving systems.