There’s been a raft of commentary on how academics write things and academic publishers reap unusually robust financial benefits (see excellent summaries here and here); but right… Read more “The cost of academic book publishing”

I’m listening to an excellent interview with Dr. Renny Thomas, an anthropologist in India. In my opinion, Dr. Thomas is at the forefront of studying religion and… Read more “Anthropology of the moderns”

One of the things that I engaged last year was an extensive set of conversations, workshops, and public events on AI ethics. I was involved with those… Read more “AI policy recommendations”

This semester, I’m teaching a brand new class: FutureProofing Humanity. The course takes as its premise that some people have a religious worldview of using science and… Read more “Human and transhuman dignity”

Many years ago, I wrote a paper arguing that religious cultures help explain why — particularly at that time — U.S. scientists and engineers were more interested… Read more “Robots: The Stuff of Religion”

Can’t wait? Skim below for a coupon that’ll let you buy Temples of Modernity directly from the publisher at a price just over $30. Can’t wait that… Read more “Temples of Modernity – much more reasonable price!”

Lots of people want to separate religion and science into separate spheres, thereby eliminating conflict between the two. But those efforts at demarcation seem theoretically naive. They… Read more “Resolving the demarcation problem in religion and science”

I couldn’t be present for the entirety of day 2, but I was able to get online for most of the event. I’m really busy today, so… Read more “Narratives of AI in India – day 2”

I must have mentioned that my new book, coming out this year, is about artificial intelligence in the U.S. and India. In particular, it engages conversations or… Read more “Narratives of AI in India”

I suppose everyone has an axe or two to grind. Among mine are the myriad ways in which people (scholars included), persist in their commitment to beliefs… Read more “Revisiting the conflict thesis”