Athens and Jerusalem (in Education)

In this episode we have a visit from Rebecca Teclemariam. She has worked for more than 30 years in education as an educator, teacher, teacher educator and administrator. We are particularly curious about how she connects mathematics and ethics. She attempts to show how essential values ​​for humans can be shown mathematically. An example is to create a mathematical model that shows the relationship between generosity and friendship. We also discuss whether it is possible to measure all forms of values ​​and knowledge mathematically, maybe even theological values. If it is true that the universe is mathematical, then we can stop doing mathematics based on material prosperity and growth and instead use human resources to measure the values ​​that really have value for us. Can we stop giving value to what we think we can measure and instead measure what actually has value for us? This will have revolutionary impact and perhaps this is what we should do in schools to create a sustainable relationship between humans and the world?

In this episode we discuss AI. What is the future of existence related to AI, what is the difference between humanity and AI and is it possible to bring ethical values into the algorithms of AI?

In this episode we start discussing Spinoza's thoughts on God, universe and the human existence. In the end we discuss what kind of abilities human being have that should be unfold in school. Maybe there is a connection between Spinoza's philosophy of human being as part of the eternal universe, and to try to raise children based on the nature God has given us, that school could be a space where children are able to search and find their inner gems?

In this episode we discuss the holy. Our starting point is Mircea Eliade and Rudolf Otto. The German theologian and philosopher Rudolf Otto in his influential 1917 German book The Idea of the Holy gives us the term numinous, meaning "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring" also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." Eliade, a historian of religion is famous for splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time. In the podcast we discuss how the modern world has become more profane than sacred, and how the sacred could still be an essential part of human existence.

In this episode we discuss Leo Strauss' lecture on Athens and Jerusalem. This is the first out of three lectures, delivered in the fall of 1950, investigate the agreement, disagreement, and conflict between the biblical and the philosophic “ways of life”: “Philosophy in the full sense is [...] incompatible with the biblical way of life. Philosophy and the Bible are the alternatives or the antagonists in the drama of the human soul. Each of the two antagonists claims to know the truth, namely, the decisive truths, the truths regarding the right way of life. But there can be only one truth, and, hence, conflict is inevitable.” The first lecture is uploaded to Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KQ_U9Nt3YEThe lecture is also made as a transcript: https://www.academia.edu/29738143/Leo_Strauss_Jerusalem_and_Athens_1950_

In this episode we discuss the catholic encyclical letter "Fides et Ratio" written in 1998. This was the first encyclical since Pope Leo XIII's 1879 Aetern Patris to address the relationship between faith and reason. We recommend to read the letter, we only interpret some of the issues been highlighted in the letter.https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html

In this episode we elaborate on some of the ground questions of being a human being. What are we and were are we coming from and what if we are not coming from anything, would that mean that we have always existed and will always exist. Such cosmological questions often unfolds when death becomes part of life. Life understood as a small universe starting with a bang when conceived and ending with another big bang called death.

In this episode we discuss if history has a course or not and if this course are of progress or decline. We further discuss what possibility human existence has to develop a good society. Could such a society be based on facts or do we need a narrative based on faith? Underneath these discussions are the question of what is human being and what kind of potential do human have to actualize our faith and facts in an ever changing reality.