Tag: human flourishing

A Victory for Humanity: Vocation, AI, and Magnifica Humanitas

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, emphasizes that discussions around artificial intelligence should focus on human dignity and community values. It asserts that genuine human experiences—rooted in relationships, compassion, and moral growth—cannot be replicated by technology. The text advocates for educational approaches that prioritize human flourishing amidst technological advancement.

Pope Leo XIV

Here’s a confession: my interest in generative AI isn’t really about AI, it’s about our humanity, because vocation work is deeply human work. It requires our individual ability to reflect and to learn, to discern and to decide; it also depends on our collective ability to be human together: to communicate clearly, to hold together some form of civil society, and to pay attention to our neighbors’ needs.

Similarly, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, published in May 2026, is widely seen as being “about AI” when in fact, it’s about our humanity. In the third chapter of Magnifica Humanitas, when the pontiff turns his attention to AI, he’s actually focusing on what it means to be human.

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Teaching to Live: An Interview with Almeda M. Wright

Almeda M. Wright

For Almeda Wright—who’s featured in the most recent episode of NetVUE’s podcast, Callings—human flourishing depends in large part on a vision of abundance, resilience, and thriving. She notes that it does not mean that everything in our lives always goes “perfectly well,” but we do have to have “the support and the resources to encounter whatever emerges.” Even amidst difficulty, we have the capacity to flourish. “When hard times come,” she notes, you can still thrive, if “you feel that there are resources, communities, people, a sense of purpose, a sense of calling, a sense of God, or a spirituality that allows you to face it and not be overwhelmed by it.”

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Grit and Purpose: Angela Duckworth

In a recent episode of NetVUE’s podcast Callings, Angela Duckworth discusses her book “Grit” and the significance of passion and perseverance. The conversation touches on mentoring, the importance of connection in education, and the relationship between human flourishing and serving others. Duckworth emphasizes goal setting and intentionality in pursuing one’s vocation.

Angela Duckworth

NetVUE’s podcast Callings recently released an episode featuring an interview with Angela Duckworth, the author of the well-known book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, a number one New York Times bestseller. Her TED talk on this topic is one of the most watched of all time. A 2013 MacArthur Fellow, Angela is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor in the department of psychology and faculty co-director of the Behavior Change for Good initiative in the Wharton School, both at the University of Pennsylvania. Angela’s wide experience includes having advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, Fortune 500 CEOs, as well as working as a math and science teacher in the public school system. She founded a summer school for underserved children and co-founded the Character Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing scientific insights that help children thrive. Angela holds degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and the University of Pennsylvania.

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