Mark,
I wanted to let you know that your 2014 essay "Babel and Beyond" had a significant impact on me. Your diagnosis of the "Babel problem"—humanity's persistent failure of communication and coordination—crystallized something I'd been thinking about for a long time.
Your work inspired me to explore an unexpected connection. I've written a paper titled "Báb-El: The Gate of God Hidden in Babel's Tower" that examines how the Akkadian etymology of "Babel" (Bāb-ilim, "Gate of the Gods") may contain a prophetic encoding pointing to the Báb, the 19th-century herald of the Bahá'í Faith.
The paper uses your framing of the Babel problem as its foundation and returns to your central question—"Can humanity unite?"—throughout. I cite your essay prominently and also reference the recent Wired article about your coining of "AGI" as an example of how answers can be "hidden in plain sight."
I'm planning to submit this to AI and Faith, which seems like the right venue given their mission to bridge wisdom traditions and emerging technology. I wanted to give you a heads up since your work is central to the argument, and to thank you for the insight that made this connection visible to me.
The basic thesis: the same linguistic structure that describes the problem (Babel/confusion) encodes the solution (Báb-El/Gate of God) through progressive revelation—it just took millennia for humanity to reach the developmental stage to recognize it.
Would be happy to share a draft if you're interested.
Dave
