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Hello, I’m Donald Paul. I am husband, father, and former-seminarian who is obsessed with Catholic theology. On my substack In Defense of Theology you will find:

  • Faithful discussions on Catholic theology

  • Reflections to become a smarter Catholic

  • Really cool Catholic books you need to read

If you love Catholic theology and want to learn together, I’d love to connect!

this week it was revealed that Matt Damon has been cast as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic “The Odyssey.”

I can’t help but think they made a mistake casting a well-known actor in this role. Should have gone with a real Nobody.

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Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody!

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How to brainwash your mind in next 7 days:

  1. Wake up and don't look at your phone for 1 hour.

  2. Drink 3 litres of water every day.

  3. Do your most important task in the morning.

  4. Exercise at least 1 hour per day.

  5. Replace social media with knowledge books.

Here is my 2025 In & Out list. I think 2025 will be a year of contraction:

IN

  • Membership clubs, charter cities, conventions, symposiums, scenes, the local (if you’re lucky to live in the right city)

  • Group chats, servers, IRL > Timeline / FYP

  • Small, intimate streams with IRL components ("communities")

  • Trying to connect physical objects to online worlds, like adult Webkinz, with varying success

  • Internet culture analysts

  • Self-critical politics (reflective in the mainstream and extreme/binary thinking on the fringe as a gatekeeping tactic)

  • Radical feminism (soft, commodified version)

  • YouTube

  • Big tech invests in AI companions, bifurcating offline and online further

  • This ⬆️ causes problems for the mentally ill and elderly

  • Tech-y people continue to find companionship in Claude

  • Accelerationism

  • Fictosexuality and imaginary friends

  • Networks & bundling

  • Longevity tech goes mainstream, replacing filler/thinness as a status marker

  • Continuing to blame the phones—online vs. offline bifurcation grows

  • Social media continues to trend downwards

  • Anti-Discord sentiment

  • Exploring abandoned malls / bringing “liminal spaces” and “weird core” IRL, urbex

  • Gen Alpha experiments with AI-generated personalities

  • Terrorism increases

  • Rebuilding your attention span

  • Immersive storytelling experiences (but we haven’t cracked it yet)

  • Narrative in general

  • Zines

  • MEAN trolling, like we have not seen since earlier days of the Internet

  • Fast food

  • Magic and the supernatural

  • Renaissance for SNL, NYT, WaPo, etc.; all gatekept media reinvents itself, WaPo in particular

  • “Meaning,” “spirituality,” “values,” “what does it mean to be human?” “magic”

  • “Alt media” continues its path to legitimacy

OUT

  • Transgender identity/gender ideology recede as culture war issues

  • Millennial irony

  • TikTok and Instagram, social media

  • The Manosphere

  • “Democratization”

  • Botox and filler (but facelifts remain in)

  • Podcasts, being a “Creator”

  • Being prolific online, quality > volume; network > content

  • Individuals being famous/influencers, you need to offer more (e.g., a network or 'immersive' experience). Doesn’t mean they’re all gone, maybe an influencer will host SNL. (h/t my sis, but it’s changing)

  • Ordering on Amazon (friend tells me she has started to see 'not available on Amazon' stickers)

Jan 3
at
6:07 PM