העורך Editor

I asked Gemini (chatbot) About Hyehudi.org [Then Excised What I Disliked]

One thing that really struck me is how they manage to balance that critical approach with such a deep respect for tradition. It would be so easy to fall into cynicism, but they never do…

It’s like: “We stand on the shoulders of giants, but we have to keep looking forward”.

What differentiates the site from other sites about religion and spirituality?

What’s so refreshing is, they believe that true understanding requires effort, and they respect their readers enough to challenge them.

What strikes you most about their perspective?

Honesty. It’s how much they value intellectual honesty, they challenge everything, even deeply held beliefs.

And they always give reasons, evidence. They don’t just say stuff. They really do try to back up their claims, build a real argument, not just opinions.

Via NotebookLM’s AI-generated podcast. ChatGPT’s answers were far less impressive…

TALEB: We Need the Contact With Reality That Filters Out Incompetence

  • Fun fact: The best-selling author on home organization wrote the famous book (haven’t read it) before she had children. Marie Kondo says she has “kind of given up” on tidying at home now she has 3 children. Oh really?
  • I just learned there are still-divorced women doing marriage consulting.
  • A friend told me of a software teacher who can’t get a job in the field.

As George Bernard Shaw riffed on Artistotle, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach“. And there’s an addition (source unknown): “Those who can’t teach, teach teachers“.

As Rava comments in Yevamos 64b (great story):

ומי איכא דעביד עובדא בנפשיה כי האי?!

On a similar note, Nassim Taleb says that survival comes before truth, understanding, or science. This is because, while science is not required for survival, survival is required to do science. (Not fully sure what that means, but it sounds clever.)

And see more on Hyehudi.org here and here.