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Does Mathematics Need Us to Understand It? What Remains Open (or not) When AI Proves the Theorem

Abstract

Recent AI-generated mathematical results have revived questions about the relationship between proof, understanding and mathematical value. This article reconstructs an inquiry that began by welcoming automated discovery and developed into a challenge to the assumption that human intelligibility should determine the boundaries of mathematics. Through an AI-assisted dialogue, close reading of historical and recent mathematical and philosophical work, and examination of a reported local-smoothing proof, I distinguish the difficulty of discovering an argument from the difficulty of verifying, explaining…

The “Anonymous Missionary”? A Missiological and Canonical Exploration

Abstract. This article examines whether an unbaptized person without confessional belonging can meaningfully be described as an “anonymous missionary.” It reconstructs the development of an inquiry begun in my 2023 essay on canon 784, subsequently reshaped through AI-assisted discussion, an objection concerning informed nonbelief, and a targeted rereading of theological, missiological and canonical sources. The central distinction separates a Christian interpretation of someone’s relationship to grace, their demonstrable contribution to missionary activity, and their authorization to act for the Church.…

Can an Unbaptized Person Be Authorized to Use O.P.? An Exploration in Canon Law

Abstract: This article examines whether an unbaptized person could receive legitimate authorization to use the Dominican postnominal O.P. It reconstructs an AI-assisted inquiry that moved from ordinary membership to exceptional affiliation, comparisons with Jesuit collaboration and Benedictine oblation, and the congregational designation OPA before returning to the exact initials. The central documentary finding is that religious vows are unnecessary for some authorized uses of O.P.; this does not establish eligibility without baptism. Dominican legislation, the Code of Canon Law and…

Whose Thinking Is Being Assessed? The Unsettled Boundary Between Assistance and Authorship in AI-Assisted Education

Abstract

This article examines the unsettled boundary between intellectual assistance and the requirement that assessed work express a learner’s own thinking. It reconstructs an iterative human–AI inquiry and develops it through close analysis of original research on language models, writing, feedback, authorship, learning and assessment validity. A graduate admissions policy provides one institutional example, rather than a verdict on higher education generally. The argument distinguishes the origin of an idea, the learner’s understanding, intellectual contribution, expression and disclosure. Direct reading…

A Roman Joke at the Limits of Canon Law: Can an Unbaptized Person Become a Jesuit?

Abstract. An old student joke in Rome—whether someone could become a Jesuit without baptism—developed into an inquiry into legal validity, institutional membership and the authority to use “S.J.”. I reconstruct that development through a dialogue with an AI assistant, checked against the Latin and Eastern Codes, Jesuit proper law, institutional reports and canonical scholarship. The decisive opening was the distinction between an unlawful admission and an invalid one: canon 10 gives grounds for questioning whether every breach of Catholic eligibility…

An Unfinished Reflection on a Candlelit Tour of Oxford’s University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Abstract

The candlelit tour of Oxford’s University Church of St Mary the Virgin on 30 October 2026 brought together university history, Christian controversy, religious memory and the responsibilities of learning. This article reconstructs the Revd Canon Dr William Lamb’s account thematically, retaining its architectural details, historical figures, personal recollections and movement from the church to Compline and the Old Library. Seven photographs supply inscriptions for transcription, translation and comparison. Institutional histories, primary texts and scholarship distinguish factual correction, chronological compression,…

Building a Rule-Based Generative Design System in WordPress

Abstract

This article examines how redesigning my personal WordPress website developed into a generative visual identity. Its central question is how typography, colour and composition can vary while recognition, readability and maintainability remain dependable. Drawing on the conversation, screenshots, reversals, original source and recorded checks, I reconstruct how that question emerged. Missing tags first required distinguishing content from display logic; oversized photographs challenged my association between importance and scale; and excessive colour variation led me to propose coherent palettes for…