Pope Francis has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Pope Francis has died

#541

Post by Ygg2 » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

Ygg2 wrote: post #269

keybored wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To your pre-edit: > [basically] What if in a different world Hamas had all the weapons plus the backing of the US while Israel only had shoddy weapons? In a hypothetical world where Usain Bolt was raised on Greenland and became interested in competitive gaming: would he have become the fastest human? Probably not. Different timelines. This Sam Harris exercise is meaningless. The goal is not to measure the level of ev…

> The goal is not to measure the level of evil in the hearts of or . That’s impossible. The goal of thought experiment wasn't to measure evil or good. It's to determine if the lines between good and evil are that far apart. If Ukraine was way stronger than Russia, would it try to annex Kursk and other non-Ukraine regions? Would it commit as many atrocities? No. It would be constrained by its desire to join EU. Could…

Small edit. 30 million not 30.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#542

Post by ForOldHack » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:02 PM UTC

abruzzi wrote: post #415

moralestapia wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do! https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/knowledg...

I was always taught that knowledge was "justified true belief."

Einstien said it was what was left over when you forgot everything you leaned in school.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#543

Post by neves » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:05 PM UTC

chaorace wrote: post #504

jimmcslim wrote: post #237

The Vatican published an interesting document on AI [1], which attributes a number of quotes to Pope Francis: * As Pope Francis noted, the machine “makes a technical choice among several possibilities based either on well-defined criteria or on statistical inferences. Human beings, however, not only choose, but in their hearts are capable of deciding." * In light of this, the use of AI, as Pope Francis said, must be…

I rarely feel this way about someone of Pope Francis' age and social position, but I've genuinely admired Francis as a thinker. He was a bona fide Jesuit, through and through. The next pope has big shoes to fill.

Note that Antiqua et Nova was authored by the Church. With its profound philosophical tradition, the Church offers insights in this text that surpass anything ever written by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#544

Post by armchairhacker » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:05 PM UTC

solfox wrote: post #344

swat535 wrote: post #299

Pope Francis caused quite a bit of controversy among Catholics. From his crackdown on the TLM (Traditional Latin Mass) to his often unscripted, pastoral tone on issues like sexuality, economics, and interfaith dialogue, he unsettled many and yet drew others closer to the Church. With his passing, we’re left to process a papacy that disrupted in the deepest sense of the word. As a Catholic, I often found myself both i…

A teacher of mine often reminds me that in many cultures—like Japanese and Native American traditions—the role of having an enemy is viewed with a certain respect. Enemies help define us. They challenge us, sharpen us, and push us to grow. Western culture tends to abhor the idea of having enemies, but sometimes, having them simply means you’ve stood for something meaningful—something worth noticing. It seems Pope Fra…

Does the enemy have to be a person?

I think the problem with enemies is 1) vindictiveness and 2) ineffectiveness.

Everyone dislikes some actions and ideas, and thus dislikes people who express those actions and ideas. Every group has enemy groups, who they oppose and who oppose them, even if they're not explicitly named.

A problem is when people start opposing others who don't express the actions and ideas they oppose, because they resemble the people who do. Anger generalizes, sometimes to ethnic groups, sometimes to the entire world.

Another problem is when people attack others in ways that don't stop their actions or ideas. Violence doesn't seem to promote its ideas in the long term, and it can backfire. Jesus might be the greatest example of this.

The way to kill actions is through counter-actions, and the way to kill ideas is through counter-ideas. These counter-actions and counter-ideas can be ugly or violent, or they can be pretty or pacifist. But every action or idea opposes another action or idea, which could be considered an "enemy".

Re: Pope Francis has died

#545

Post by foxandmouse » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

Though I’m neither Catholic nor especially religious, you don’t have to be devout to recognize that Pope Francis has been a powerful force for good. From his warm outreach to refugees and the homeless to his landmark environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, he has consistently championed the poor, fostered interfaith dialogue and empathy.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#546

Post by serf » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

amfarrell617 wrote: post #460

stavros wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because we mean "credit for how well-written the thing is", whereas you mean "credit for agreeing with the meaning".

He still is responsible for the team that wrote it.

a publisher is responsible for a book, but the credit of the thing is poured onto the author.

why?

Re: Pope Francis has died

#547

Post by chpatrick » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

carabiner wrote: post #488

timeon wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * As Pope Francis observes, “the very use of the word ‘intelligence’” in connection with AI “can prove misleading” Yes, LLMs are more about knowledge than intelligence. AK rather than AI.

Noam Chomsky just called it "plagiarism software."

Pretty disappointing from someone who spent his career modelling language and the cognition behind it.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#548

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:07 PM UTC

thimkerbell wrote: post #458

Which churches come closest to Pope Francis's teachings and worldview? Ones that have both in-person and online services.

There are many different orders of Catholic priests, but Pope Francis was a Jesuit and his teachings reflected that. Many of the Catholic universities (and even high schools) in the Americas were founded by Jesuits.

Popping into the church connected to your nearest Catholic university is a good bet, but you can probably find a Jesuit priest nearby even if you aren't in the Americas.

Re: Pope Francis has died

#549

Post by dctoedt » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:07 PM UTC

schmookeeg wrote: post #536

dctoedt wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He riled many of his flock and hierarchy when he said that "even atheists can be redeemed". It's quite a bit above our pay grade to proclaim categorically who supposedly cannot be redeemed; it verges on blasphemy. Cf. Job. 38: 1. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall a…

As an agnostic who spends a lot of time reading scriptures of several religions, trying to grasp the themes and motivations of others I share a world with -- those passages are particularly inscrutable.

> As an agnostic who spends a lot of time reading scriptures of several religions, trying to grasp the themes and motivations of others I share a world with -- those passages are particularly inscrutable.

I think the author's intent is to remind us that some things are simply beyond our ken (to which I'd add: For now).

Re: Pope Francis has died

#550

Post by themaninthedark » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 5:13 PM UTC

yusina wrote: post #397

solfox wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A teacher of mine often reminds me that in many cultures—like Japanese and Native American traditions—the role of having an enemy is viewed with a certain respect. Enemies help define us. They challenge us, sharpen us, and push us to grow. Western culture tends to abhor the idea of having enemies, but sometimes, having them simply means you’ve stood for something meaningful—something worth noticing. It seems Pope Fra…

"Enemy" may be the wrong word for this. To me, that implies wishing sth bad on the other party and aiming to hurt/damage/destroy it. "Opponent"? "Antagonist"?

Rival.

Source: Anime and Pokemon games :)