{"id":2,"date":"2015-05-30T13:33:06","date_gmt":"2015-05-30T11:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kwasniewski.org.pl\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:43:45","slug":"strona-startowa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/","title":{"rendered":"Start page"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Spis tre\u015bci  \/  Contents<\/p>\n<\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Western_Civilization_%E2%80%93_history_and_theory\" >Western Civilization &#8211; history and theory<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#How_Christianity_influenced_the_emergence_of_modern_science_technology_and_economy\" >How Christianity influenced the emergence of modern science, technology and economy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#book_reviews_and_synopses_philosophy_and_theology_other_texts\" >book reviews and synopses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 philosophy and theology\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 other texts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Civilization\" >Civilization<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Christianitas_and_the_European_Phenomenon\" >Christianitas and the European Phenomenon<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Other_texts\" >Other texts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Reviews\" >Reviews<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#On_photography\" >On photography<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/#Socialism\" >Socialism<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Western_Civilization_%E2%80%93_history_and_theory\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Western Civilization &#8211; history and theory<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Christianity_influenced_the_emergence_of_modern_science_technology_and_economy\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How Christianity influenced the emergence of modern science, technology and economy<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"book_reviews_and_synopses_philosophy_and_theology_other_texts\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">book reviews and synopses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 philosophy and theology\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 other texts<\/span><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"gca-column one-sixth first\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3459 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/media\/strona-startowa\/jacek.kwasniewski3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"188\" height=\"287\" \/><\/div><div class=\"gca-column five-sixths\"><p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"478\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">July 2025<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> \u2013 1\/ I present a text written by OpenAI\u2019s GPT-4o and 4.5 models on the culture-forming role of the fear of death. 2\/ I present a new version of the text in which I consider the hypothesis that the development of the historical process of Western modernization can be measured by the amount of information produced. A mathematical model performing such an estimate is included. 3\/ I also present a summary of a book on secularization in nineteenth-century Europe.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">October 2025<\/span> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2013 1\/ A brief note on the project, underway since July, to build an AI agent for analyzing literature on the fear of death. Polish and Italian versions. 2\/ A conversation with an AI on the prospects of it attaining self-awareness.<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">November 2025<\/span> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2013 1\/ Comments on the conversation with the AI about self-awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\">recent, recommended <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>(texts are available in Polish, some in English)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(11.2025) addition to the article \u2013<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Comments_on_the_Conversation_with_AI_about_Its_Self-Awareness_2025\"><strong>Comments on the Conversation with AI about Its Self-Awareness<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(10.2025) article \u2013<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Prospects_for_Artificial_Intelligence_Achieving_Self-Awareness_A_Conversation_with_an_AI_2025\"><strong>Prospects for Artificial Intelligence Achieving Self-Awareness. A Conversation with an AI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(10.2025) informazione sul progetto in corso \u2013<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Il_timore_della_morte_come_forza_creatrice_di_cultura_domande_di_ricerca_e_analisi_supportata_dallIA_2025\"> <strong>Il timore della morte: quesiti di ricerca, analisi supportata dall\u2019IA, costruzione di un agente AI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(10.2025) information about the project being carried out \u2013 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Building_an_AI_Agent_for_Literature_Analysis_OCR_%E2%86%92_segmentation_%E2%86%92_embeddingsFAISS_%E2%86%92_synthesis\"><strong>Building an AI Agent for Literature Analysis<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(07.2025) text written by AI \u2013<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Death_Anxiety_as_a_Driver_of_Cultural_Change_Impacts_on_Religion_Mind_Culture_and_Civilization_Twentieth-Century_Discussions_2025\"><strong>Death Anxiety as a Driver of Cultural Change<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(04.2025) article \u2013<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#The_Amount_of_Information_Produced_in_European_History_as_a_Measure_of_Modernization_2025\"><strong>The Amount of Information Produced in European History as a Measure of Modernization<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(03.2025) PL summary of the book &#8211;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/recenzje-ksiazek\/#Hugh_McLoad_Secularisation_in_Western_Europe_1848_-_1914\"><strong>Hugh McLeod, Secularisation in Western Europe, 1848 &#8211; 1914<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(01.2025) ENG chapter\u00a0 &#8211;<\/span> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/recenzje-ksiazek\/#Ekelund_Robert_B_Hebert_Robert_F_Tollison_Robert_D_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Medieval_Church\">Ekelund R., H\u00e9bert R., Tollison R., The Political Economy of the Medieval Church<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(01.2025) ENG article\u00a0 &#8211;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/recenzje-ksiazek\/#dAvray_David_The_Medieval_Church_as_an_Economic_Production_Firm\"><strong>d\u2019Avray David, The Medieval Church as an Economic Production Firm?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(01.2025) ENG, PL information &#8211;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/recenzje-ksiazek\/#Iannaccone_Laurence_R_Ekelund_Robert_B_The_Medieval_Church_from_the_Perspective_of_the_Economics_of_Religion_Some_Information\"><strong>Iannaccone, Ekelund, The Medieval Church from the Perspective of the Economics of Religion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(01.2025) ENG new translation &#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Western_Civilization_and_Time_-_synopsis_of_the_book_2018\">Western Civilization and Time: Main Idea and Synopsis<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(12.2024) ENG paper &#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#The_Wests_Journey_Beyond_Death_Eschatology_Ammortality_and_Potential_Exhangeable_Identities_2024\">The West\u2019s Journey Beyond Death: Eschatology, Ammortality, and Potential Exhangeable Identities<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(2014)\u00a0 PL analysis &#8211; (still relevant) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/#Russia_-_our_worlds_misfortune_2014\"><strong>Russia, the world&#8217;s misfortune<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div>\n<hr style=\"height: 2px; background: gray; border: 0px;\" \/>\n<div class=\"gca-column one-half first\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Civilization\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/ksiazka-cywilizacja-zachodnia-i-czas\/\">Civilization<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">My book from 2012, <em>Western Civilization and Time.<\/em> Western civilization is challenging death\u2014not with fanfare, but steadily, step by step. The driving force behind this process has been the transformation of time into one of the most important values, a process that has been unfolding for centuries. The value of time is evident in the cult of speed, the cult of youth, and the growing demand for longer life. Pursuing these priorities consumes an ever-increasing share of GDP. How did this come about? What comes next? This book explores these questions. It <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">was downloaded from my website 45,734 times between 2012 and 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div><div class=\"gca-column one-half\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Christianitas_and_the_European_Phenomenon\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/christianitas\/\">Christianitas <\/a>and the European Phenomenon<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The European Phenomenon &#8211; this term is used in the history studies to describe the civilizational flourishing of Europe, which had started in the 11th-12th centuries. Over the next few hundred years, we had surpassed <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">other civilizations both <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">economically, technologically and in science, even though previously they were much more developed than us. I am carrying out the project on the role of Christianity in the creation of this phenomenon. Three areas have been selected for the study:\u00a0 science, technology and Western market economy. Several parts of the book are available here.<\/span><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div>\n<hr style=\"height: 2px; background: gray; border: 0px;\" \/>\n<div class=\"gca-column one-half first\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Other_texts\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/teksty\/\">Other texts<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Papers on Western civilization, theology, philosophy and political science, e.g.: western death taboo \u25cf philosophy of science and theory of civilization \u25cf historiography of science and religion \u25cf islam and Russia vs the West \u25cf sense of guilt in the <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">early modern <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Western culture \u25cf optymistically on the necessity of evil \u25cf meaning of life paradoxes \u25cf history of medieval technology (agriculture, mills, merchant ships). Finally, a choice of my works in Soviet studies from 80.<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Some texts are available in English<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-column one-half\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reviews\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/recenzje-ksiazek\/\">Reviews<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Reviews, essay reviews, synopses of books: history and theory of science (E.Grant, H.Butterfield, S.Jaki, S.Shapin, A.Whitehead) \u25cf history and theory of civilization (P.Chaunu, R.Duchesne, E.L.Jones, J.K\u0142oczowski, J.Delumeau, D.Landes, R.Wright, M.Simon, T.Woods, R. Wright) \u25cf history of technology (M.Taylor, A.Pacey) \u25cf history of IT (G.Dyson) \u25cf Philosophy of religion (A.Plantinga) \u25cf history of modern physics (B.Greene).<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Titles in the original languages.<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div>\n<hr style=\"height: 2px; background: gray; border: 0px;\" \/>\n<div class=\"gca-column one-half first\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"On_photography\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/o-fotografii\/\">On photography<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Some texts on photography and film editing. How to make family videos which won&#8217;t be boring to viewers, while their editing work won&#8217;t consume all of your time. Additionally, reviews of TV sound bars and home cinema audio systems. Lastly, few papers on making panomara stitching, tests of cameras, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-column one-half\"><h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Socialism\"><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/socjalizm\/\">Socialism<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ebook <strong>\u201c(Un)-Real Socialism\u201d<\/strong> written with my late friend. One of the few global theories accounting for the communism phenomenon. The work hotly discussed both in Poland and in the Western sovietology circles.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Some chapters are available in English<\/span> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">The book has been downloaded 11993 times in 2013 (plus 34 281 times individual chapters)<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div>\n<hr style=\"height: 2px; background: gray; border: 0px;\" \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From 2017 to 2023, I collaborated with Jacenty Siewierski, the author of an outstanding work on the Christian roots of our civilization. He had his own subpage, <em>Why Europe?<\/em>, on my portal, where this book is also available. With great sorrow, I share the news that my friend Jacenty passed away on September 24, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>contact: <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1815\" src=\"http:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/media\/strona-startowa\/adres-mail-gmail-9520.jpg\" alt=\"adres-mail-gmail-9520\" width=\"208\" height=\"33\" \/><div class=\"gca-utility vertical-spacer\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western Civilization &#8211; history and theory How Christianity influenced the emergence of modern science, technology and economy book reviews and synopses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 philosophy and theology\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 other texts From 2017 to 2023, I collaborated with Jacenty Siewierski, the author of an outstanding work on the Christian roots of our civilization. He had his own subpage, Why Europe?, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"category-strona-startowa","6":"czr-hentry"},"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["pl","en"],"languages":{"pl":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":466,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11168,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/11168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jacek.kwasniewski.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}