Introduction

Every year, I challenge myself to learn something completely new. Not a casual hobby, but an intentional, reflective, deep dive—the kind that changes how you see things.

Early on, these adventures were physical. I trained for and ran my first marathon, learned to scuba dive, picked up windsurfing, skied five countries in Europe. Later, they became more complex: a complete house remodel (which also taught me about patience), a deep dive into Buddhism that took me to Bhutan, writing and publishing a book, even learning to grow cannabis legally and well.

In 2015, my project was exploring the history of the Bible itself—not as devotional study, but as historical inquiry. The politics surrounding which texts would be included in the canon turned out to be stories of power and intrigue that would make for an excellent Netflix series. The compounding translation issues across languages and centuries revealed how much interpretation shapes what we think we're reading. It was fascinating and humbling to discover how much human decision-making went into what many consider divine revelation.

This year's project combines two interests: the exploring the evolution of sacred texts, and artificial intelligence as a research tool. It's been fascinating to see how AI can augment human curiosity without replacing the essential work of thinking and meaning-making.

Kevin Meyer - Morro Bay, California USA