A conversation with ChatGPT about AI and Extraterrestrials (English post)

ChatGPT and other instances of AI are hot at the moment. Some find them a menace to society, others think they’re harmless and only fit for entertainment. Recently I had a very interesting chat with ChatGPT about AI and extraterrestrials. I asked ChatGPT about a possible connection between UAPs/UFOs, aliens and artificial intelligence. ChatGPT is … Lees meer

The reality of the mental space

(Yesterday I published a Dutch column on this website, which was enthusiastically picked up by some non-Dutch-speakers. Therefore I have translated the text into English.) Every now and then you have questions that arouse wonder. Earlier this week, this question suddenly occurred to me: Does language exist? Can we deny an affirmative answer to that … Lees meer

David Halperin, “Intimate Alien”: UFOs, aliens, and religion (book review)

(P.S. Below is the English translation of the Dutch review that was published yesterday.) UFOs, unidentified flying objects – scientists usually ignore this subject. It is seen as the stuff of conspiracy thinkers, the mentally ill, or in short: the “UFO-crazies”. Nevertheless, in recent years books have been published that approach the subject in a … Lees meer

Patricia Williams on anti-intellectualism

In a recent piece in The Guardian, Patricia Williams writes about the rising anti-intellectualism she sees in the US. While reading this piece, I thought that the situation in the Netherlands is rapidly deteriorating in just the same way that Williams describes in the US (though the banning of certain books by universities will probably … Lees meer

Introducing my new research project: A philosophical and theological exploration of ‘religious atheism’ and ‘religious naturalism’

Via my LinkedIn-account I already announced that from February 1, 2015, I have a new halftime position, as a researcher at the Dominican Study Centre for Theology and Society in Amsterdam (see http://dsts.nl). It’s a position for one year, and I intend to do a lot in that time.

The project that I will be working on is titled: The spirituality of ‘belonging without believing’: a philosophical and theological exploration of ‘religious naturalism’ and ‘religious atheism’. I’ll try to give a brief description of what I will be working on for the coming year…

Lees meer