Friday Links
February 13, 2026
First station on Croagh Patrick
Does God Exist by Peggy Rosenthal
Why I’m Done with Notre Dame
Quillette Podcast #324: Guests of the Nation
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat with Anthropic’s CEO: ‘We Don’t Know if the Models Are Conscious’
Writers Against AI
A glimpse at the obscure life of a medieval English 'anchoress'
The Sonneteer
Does God Exist by Peggy Rosenthal
A close read of Milosz is always worth a read:
Talking about this poem in Conversations, Milosz explains that for many centuries of Christianity, “‘Oeconomia Divina’ was understood as the edification of the world by God and a form of education—the meting out of punishments and rewards, God’s involvement with the world.” But in this poem “we have God’s next educational intention. God decided to withdraw, to become Deus absconditus. God is not to be seen. . . . God has hidden Himself; no trace of His presence can be found.”
Why I’m Done with Notre Dame
Christian Smith explains his reasons for leaving:
We live in a pluralistic society, and so the work of scholarship can and should be pursued within diverse, distinctive intellectual traditions—secular and religious, liberal and conservative. A Catholic university is Catholic only insofar as its scholars, however diverse their frameworks and methods, maintain a serious engagement with the Catholic intellectual tradition. The central and animating question should be: What do the Catholic tradition and the many scholarly disciplines have to say to one another?
Quillette Podcast #324: Guests of the Nation
Lionel Shriver is a no-filter sort of person and I hesitated to share this as she can be offensive. I’ve only listened to part of this and I almost turned it off, but someone whose recommendations I usually find worthwhile said it was an excellent podcast and it is good to listen to those with whom you may disagree. I was intrigued by one particular clip, Shriver says her decision to not have children was selfish:
Lionel Shriver joins Quillette editor Iona Italia to discuss her new novel A Better Life, a provocative and darkly comic exploration of immigration, incentives, and the uneasy moral psychology of the modern West.
Set during the Biden administration’s de facto open border period, the novel follows a progressive New York mother who takes in a Honduran migrant — and her politically radicalised, unemployed Gen Z son who sees the situation very differently. What unfolds is a sharp examination of territory, responsibility, birthrates, human nature, and the contradictions of liberal idealism.
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat with Anthropic’s CEO: ‘We Don’t Know if the Models Are Conscious’
For whatever reason, this week there’s been a lot talk about AI, more than normal. This may have been partly because of a (very poorly written because probably written mostly by ChatGPT) post “explaining” why we are all going to lose our jobs unless we buy the author’s AI product. Ultimately, I think that "article may have just been really bad marketing copy, but it got a lot of views and shares. Maybe what he is said is all a lie, all true, or somewhat, sort of true. I have no idea, which is why I am going to listen to this podcast over the weekend. Douthat always asks interesting questions and has truly in-depth conversations so, though I’ve not listened yet, I’m guessing this will be worthwhile:
A.I. is evolving fast, and humanity is falling behind. Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, has warned about the potential benefits — and real dangers — linked to the speed of that progress. As one of the lords of this technology, is he on the side of the human race?
It is probably also worthwhile to read some other articles about AI, such as this one OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination; Microsoft’s AI chatbot tells writer to leave his wife; “ChatGPT killed my son”: Parents’ lawsuit describes suicide notes in chat logs; Anthropic AI engineer quits to pursue career in poetry: ‘World in peril’. Of course, the world is always in peril, but the AI revolution does seem problematic for a lot of reasons. As writers, artists, readers, and people of faith, we should try to understand what is happening, prepare for it, and, I think, probably fight it, or, at the very least, use it intentionally. I do not understand people who unthinkingly started using ChatGPT for simple things like making a list or coming up with a writing prompt. The fact that it is easy is part of the problem. Doing hard things is good for us. And that brings me to this . . .
Writers Against AI
Paul Kingsnorth is famously against the Machine in its many iterations. I read his manifesto the other day and was inclined to sign it, but I had some questions, which a few friends kindly answered. I think a lot of us who say we don’t use AI, don’t like AI, refuse to use AI, yadda, yada, yadda may inadvertently be using it. How can we always know when it is so ubiquitous? I mean, I refuse to use ChatGPT to compose a simple email because I think that as a writer and a human being I can do something that simple, but I use the internet, I look things up, I check the contents of books. Am I using AI then? I generally try to not engage in chatbot conversations, but am I always aware that I am in a conversation with a chatbot? No, at least not right away—there is usually a giveaway at a certain point—but maybe I am using it more than I realize. What I can do, though, is decide never to use it on purpose. I can ask those I work with not to use it. I can make a pledge, such as this one from Kingsnorth:
I’m calling this the Writers Against AI campaign. It is built on a simple three-point manifesto. To support the campaign, a writer must make three pledges:
I will not use AI in my work as a writer.
I will not support writers who use AI in their work.
I will support writers, illustrators, editors and others in related fields whose work is entirely human-made.
The first of these points draws a line for our own creative work. We say, as storytellers: we will remain human. With the second, we refuse to lend our voices or our money to anyone who uses this technology to replace human creativity. Finally, we commit to doing something positive: supporting, financially and morally, other creators who are drawing the line too, and refusing to be dehumanised.
A glimpse at the obscure life of a medieval English 'anchoress'
Shemaiah Gonzalez on Christine of Shere, anchoress:
I imagine that the world was too loud, too distracting. I imagine Christine found the loss of intimacy with Christ frightening. This world was too ordinary when his love could be had. I believe not wanting to lose that intimate presence of Jesus is why she returned. Like the Psalmist, Christine prayed: “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
The Sonneteer
And news you can really use: there’s a wonderful new poetry Substack from Ken Gordon. Ken has already featured Ernest Hilbert, Timothy Steele, Sunil Iyengar, Rachael Hadas, and Boris Dralyuk. You should sign up and read it.
