In Good Faith Chong Shao, Daniel Shih

On today’s show, Chong and Dan look back on an eventful year. Along major dimensions - in technology, in geopolitics, in our socio-emotional lives, it feels like things are accelerating and spinning out of control. This leads to a discussion about peace - what is it, and how can we achieve it? Why does it seem like peace is only ever temporary? Where does chaos and disorder come from, that disturb the peace? Dan concludes with reflections on where ultimate peace is found - yes, Jesus - but go...

On today’s show, Chong and Dan plant their flag on the next transformational change facing society: Artificial Intelligence (AI). After a decades-long pursuit, pioneering researchers and organisations have been releasing AI products into the world, with amazing and unsettling results. We provide a primer on AI, focusing on ChatGPT and its Large Language Model relatives. Then Chong provides Dan with three near-future, AI-driven scenarios, to spark a discussion of what could come next. AI seems...

On today’s show, Chong and Dan share what’s been going on in our lives during a busy 2022. This gets us to unpack the concept of “busyness”, and how we in modern society constantly strain against our limits and wonder if we are doing “enough”. Drawing on insights from the book You’re Only Human, we consider how limits are not an inherently bad thing. We also explore the root of our busyness, namely pride in pursuing our own interests and seeking to be the master of our own lives. We conclude ...

On today’s show, Chong and Dan examine the elephant in the current affairs room - the Russo-Ukrainian War. We start by introducing the frame of the End of History, the famous work of political philosophy which posited liberal democracy as the final form of human government after the Cold War. The 1990s and 2000s were great, but now History is back with a vengeance. Rather than discussing the intricacies of the war, we unpack why the war matters by reflecting on four ideas:There is such a thin...

On today’s show, Chong and Dan plants the flag on a topic that is looming large on the horizon: the metaverse. We begin by exploring how previous technologies have transformed society and worship, including automobiles (leading to megachurches) and smartphones (leading to Instavangelists). The metaverse looks like the next “big thing”. What is it, and why should people (including Christians) care about it? Drawing on a Gospel Coalition article, we critically examine the metaverse through thre...

On today’s show, Chong and Dan commemorate an important milestone - after 10 years, Dan has completed bible college! The main topic of our show is “belonging”. We reflect on what is special about this word - it is passive (we don’t “do” it), and it is always in relation to something or someone else. Belonging is also a core part of our identity. Therefore it is no surprise that in our individualistic culture, there is a “crisis” of both belonging and identity. What is the “solution”? Da...