The Real and the Unreal
Luke Burgis argues that the pressing AI question is not its usefulness but its reality, using his caregiving experience with his Alzheimer’s‑stricken father as a touchstone. He proposes three guiding principles: the real‑vs‑unreal test, the “Three City Problem” linking faith, reason, and Silicon Valley, and the need for human ontological mapping to steer AI toward truth. Burgis warns that workers who can discern genuine insight from simulated output will dominate the future labor market, while specialists confined to a single discipline risk obsolescence.
A Good Contagion: René Girard's Influence
The foreword to the newly released edited volume "Be Not Conformed" recounts how a modest Stanford colloquium in the late 1990s sparked a worldwide Girardian movement. 16 scholars contribute essays that trace René Girard’s mimetic theory from its quiet academic...
Be Not Conformed—René Girard at the Crossroads
René Girard’s centennial conference spurred the upcoming edited volume "Be Not Conformed—René Girard at the Crossroads," slated for April 10 release by Catholic University of America Press. The book compiles 17 interdisciplinary essays linking Girard’s mimetic theory to philosophy, theology,...
The One and the Ninety-Nine
Luke Burgis announces his new St. Martin’s Press book, *The One and the Ninety‑Nine*, launching June 16 2026. The work blends personal caregiving trauma with a cultural critique of identity formation in an age of social contagion, AI, and fragmented institutions. Burgis argues...