We understand from some (e.g. a communication discussed Gary Marcus a few hours ago) that the intention behind the chosen name "Leo" is to state a continuity with Leo XIII, seemingly as times are seen akin to those which solicited the open letter "Rerum novarum", "on the condition of the working classes ... to define the relative rights and mutual duties of the rich and of the poor, of capital and of labor ... [as] the spirit of revolutionary change [... has] made its influence felt in the... sphere of practical economics".
> On Saturday Leo pointed out the similarity with AI, telling cardinals: “In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”. [...] His greatest alarm was devoted to the use of AI in the armaments sector, which he said has seen remote weapons systems leading to a “distancing from the immense tragedy of war and a lessened perception of the devastation caused by those weapons systems and the burden of responsibility for their use”.
AStonesThrow · 21h ago
Interestingly, I was going over this with my mother yesterday. I have enjoyed some renewed interest in astronomy, and I've chosen to ignore "traditional tropical astrology" in terms of the traditional dates of "Sun signs". Instead, I'm going by the actual IAU-defined boundaries of the actual constellations, to determine the location of the Sun and other "astrological planets" at a given time. The apps I'm using, particularly Stellarium, support this identification by default.
So just looking at Robert Prevost's birthday: Sept. 14, 1955, the Sun was actually in the IAU constellation of Leo at that time, and shall be, going forward from there. So it is very interesting.
I doubt a Pope ever has a singular reason for choosing his regnal name, and while the influence of Leo XIII is undeniable, the enduring meanings and connotations of the name "Leo" also can't be ignored here. Ultimately it means "the lion" and, for me personally, this is a very exciting time to be alive, for both me and others!
mdp2021 · 20h ago
> the enduring meanings and connotations of the name
The intentions behind some expression remain a privilege of its chooser - and I strongly doubt that the constellation can be as significant, behind the choice, as the recognition of the changes in the times and their consequences in society.
AStonesThrow · 12h ago
> I strongly doubt
Oh indeed; I definitely agree that his reasoning and motivation are merely an inch deep, and we must scrupulously avoid, when playing "inside baseball" with the Catholic Church, avoid going beyond the words which come out of his lips; we must avoid ascribing any deeper meanings or searching for enduring symbolism which has broader implications.
The mainstream media is certainly the best, and perhaps only true interpreter of soundbites such as this one, and of course the most important link to a name such as "Leo" is a mostly obscure dude who lived 100 years ago. After all, the Catholic Church is only 2,000 years old and only comprises like 1.3 billion human beings.
She is extremely superficial, and we mostly forget frivolous, silly things like the patterns of stars and the track of our local star, because those are now the realm of hard science, and nothing to do with mysticism or symbology, which again, must be discounted when we pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth and being relayed by the experts in mainstream media.
Thank you for dispelling my ridiculous speculation: I was going to take it even further by exploring the Leo-"Lion" imagery and how powerful that can be, but of course we're examining a man and not a feline!
There seems to be an assumption that we are living times of critical technical change. Also see https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-leo-xiv...
> On Saturday Leo pointed out the similarity with AI, telling cardinals: “In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”. [...] His greatest alarm was devoted to the use of AI in the armaments sector, which he said has seen remote weapons systems leading to a “distancing from the immense tragedy of war and a lessened perception of the devastation caused by those weapons systems and the burden of responsibility for their use”.
So just looking at Robert Prevost's birthday: Sept. 14, 1955, the Sun was actually in the IAU constellation of Leo at that time, and shall be, going forward from there. So it is very interesting.
I doubt a Pope ever has a singular reason for choosing his regnal name, and while the influence of Leo XIII is undeniable, the enduring meanings and connotations of the name "Leo" also can't be ignored here. Ultimately it means "the lion" and, for me personally, this is a very exciting time to be alive, for both me and others!
The intentions behind some expression remain a privilege of its chooser - and I strongly doubt that the constellation can be as significant, behind the choice, as the recognition of the changes in the times and their consequences in society.
Oh indeed; I definitely agree that his reasoning and motivation are merely an inch deep, and we must scrupulously avoid, when playing "inside baseball" with the Catholic Church, avoid going beyond the words which come out of his lips; we must avoid ascribing any deeper meanings or searching for enduring symbolism which has broader implications.
The mainstream media is certainly the best, and perhaps only true interpreter of soundbites such as this one, and of course the most important link to a name such as "Leo" is a mostly obscure dude who lived 100 years ago. After all, the Catholic Church is only 2,000 years old and only comprises like 1.3 billion human beings.
She is extremely superficial, and we mostly forget frivolous, silly things like the patterns of stars and the track of our local star, because those are now the realm of hard science, and nothing to do with mysticism or symbology, which again, must be discounted when we pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth and being relayed by the experts in mainstream media.
Thank you for dispelling my ridiculous speculation: I was going to take it even further by exploring the Leo-"Lion" imagery and how powerful that can be, but of course we're examining a man and not a feline!