The Pope, the Plantation, and the Algorithm: A Theology Nerds Throwdown

About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of technology, religion, and evolving institutions through a theological lens.

Bo and I started with bikes, a Pentecost-red pair of glasses, and my new Crazy Chicks ballcap. We did not stay there. By the end we had hit the evolutionary anthropology of religion before belief, Pope Leo XIV's AI encyclical, Gandalf telling Denethor exactly where he can put his stewardship, and the working thesis of the my AI book in process — the platform is the plantation. The connective tissue: we are inside a transition the old institutions cannot speak to, the technology is rewriting the very interiority Whitehead says religion grows out of, and the resources we actually need are older than we think. Three centimeters per second of grooming older, in fact. This is the nerdiest TNT we have recorded in a while. Come for the social-bonding endorphins. Stay for the encyclical. ⁠You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube. ⁠Join our upcoming online class – THE FUTURE OF RELIGION⁠⁠⁠ Tripp and Ilia Delio are teaming up for a brand-new four-week online class, ⁠⁠⁠The Future of Religion ⁠⁠⁠— for everyone who’s read the books, asked the questions, and realized the faith they inherited doesn’t quite fit anymore. Together they’ll trace religion’s evolutionary arc and map what’s emerging…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. Tripp Fuller, Rev. Bo Sanders

Topics covered

• evolutionary anthropology of religion
• AI encyclical
• technology and religion
• transition of institutions
• future of religion
• social bonding

Keywords

• theology
• AI
• Pope
• evolutionary anthropology
• religion
• technology
• future of religion
• social bonding

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: YouTube, The Future of Religion

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