What I Think About What Other People Say (WITAWOPS)

People have developed something quite amazing and somewhat scary. It answers questions, speaks in full paragraphs, generates drawings (like many of the ones I use for my posts), drives cars, writes code, analyzes traffic and adjusts signals in real-time, and can even imitate voices. It’s called Artificial Intelligence for a very important reason: it mimics thinking and appears, on the surface, as anthropogenic intelligence. But it is obviously not. It is artificial, created by non-human machines and code.  I have a science degree (systems engineering) and a religious studies degree (Islamic studies). So what happens when I put the A.I. system through a religious lens?  Old Testament / Hebrew Bible But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they wil...

During my first visit to the USA in 1988, I had to stop for a hot dog in Manhattan. While the street vendor assembled our dogs, we got to chatting. Looking at the color of my skin, he asked if I was from India. “No,” I replied, “I’m from Kenya.” He paused, puzzled. “Kenya is in India, isn’t it?” “No. Kenya is in Africa.” And then came the line I’ll never forget: “Africa, India—same thing.” I wish I could tell you this was an isolated incident from a long-gone era, B.I. (Before Internet). But really, not much has changed. Still Not a Continent? People, companies, even the U.S. Government—many still lump “Africa” into a singular, vague idea. Want proof? Search for the phrase “He served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa” and you’ll find, scattered all over, a non-parallel construction mixing nations and a continent.  Let me be clear: Africa is not a country. Image ChatGTP, 2025 I’m big on word choices and the need for parallel constructions. If a soldier served at military bases in Afg...

On December 9, 2024, I published this post that was really focused on whether or not America would do the right thing and allow Syria to reboot. This week, I am excited and proud to acknowledge that America set off in the direction I was hoping for. We have begun the complex process of lifting four decades of sanctions and gulf states have offered to pay off some of Syria's debt. Image designed by freepik.com What I said in December: Title: Mistakes: Can we correct, repent, offer reparations, and remember? Today I explore whether we can and do forgive past leaders for their mistakes. “ The American administration made many mistakes against other peoples. Will every American citizen, every American soldier be asked: “Why were you with them? Why were you with them?” He will respond, saying that there was an administration, and there were inherent circumstances unique to this time and place that imposed on me to be here. Administrations are making bad decisions. The American people ca...

I met Sudan—the world’s last male northern white rhinoceros—at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya in 2009. He had recently been relocated from a zoo in the Czech Republic, in a last-ditch effort to breed him naturally. I had just arrived in Kenya myself, representing the U.S. government through USAID, and embarking on a number of exciting projects.  Sudan lived another nine years before a leg infection made it impossible for him to stand. At 45, he was euthanized. For me, he is a symbol of our power over other species although at one point, the dating app Tinder dubbed him the world’s “most eligible bachelor.” ( CNN ) Photo of me with Sudan, Ol Pejeta, 2009 (real, not generated) Sudan was a northern white rhino, a distinct subspecies now functionally extinct. Only two females remain—his daughter and granddaughter—both also at Ol Pejeta. In contrast, the southern white rhino population has rebounded from around 100 in the early 1990s to nearly 20,000 today across Africa, tha...

The world feels like it's in crisis. We live in an age marked by deep anxiety and disorientation, where it often seems that everyone is out for themselves. The moral lessons we were taught in childhood—that kindness matters, that community is sacred, that we are all connected—now feel hopelessly idealistic, even quaint. At worst, they seem like relics of a fairy tale no one believes in anymore. As adults, we find ourselves in a society that doesn't seem especially caring or communal. We are measured and judged as isolated individuals—through exams we sit alone, performance reviews that magnify our personal wins and failures, and a culture where the most self-interested often rise the highest. It's as if we know, deep down, what an ideal society could look like—but it remains just out of reach, elusive in practice. A Philosopher’s Answer: Nasir Khusraw and the Universal Soul At this juncture, I’ve found unexpected solace in the writings of the 11th-century philosopher-poet N...

I mourn USAID the way we knew it. The agency that I worked for a decade has essentially disappeared, with only a fraction of it reincarnated and subsumed into the State Department. I empathize with all my former USAID colleagues, contractors, grantees, sub-grantees, recipients, project beneficiaries, vendors, and suppliers in the United States and around the world. All of you are economically and emotionally harmed. The battle will ensue in the Courts and in the end, Congress will have no choice but to act (see my January 4 post explaining this locus of power). The next incarnation of US Foreign Assistance will be skinny, laser-focused, more intertwined with U.S. Peace and Security, and obviously A.I.-driven. Disclaimer: the views expressed in this post are solely my own, published under my first amendment rights, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government or any of its current or former federal agencies. What Other People Say Designed by  Freepik “Aft...

“There are other forces in this world, Frodo, besides that of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought.” — Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring What Do I Think? Gandalf’s words to Frodo reflect an age-old debate: Are we merely playing out a script that has already been written, or do we have the power to shape our own destinies? The struggle between free will and predestination is not just a historical theological debate—it is playing out in society and governance today. It impacts how we interpret success and failure, in how we justify actions, and out day-to-day decisions. Designed by Freepik Christianity has long been divided on this question. Strict Calvinists embrace predestination, the idea that God has already determined who will be saved and who will be damned. In contrast, strict Arminians believe in free will, asserting that while They know what we will choose, the Almighty ...

Consider these three quotes, each regarded as the word of God within their respective religious traditions: "inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the scriptures. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction." “And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and oppression is worse than killing.”  “Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” Image by macrovector on Freepik . Before you scroll down to identify the sources (think spoiler), consider what they collectively mean and imply.  What Do I Think When it comes to understanding sacred texts, I find myself navigating between three perspectives. First, that these texts are not exactly what God revealed but rather what men (intentionally gender-specific here, since religious scholars and leaders have historically been male) have altered over time to serve their own interests...