I would like to have a clearer vision of social progress. Do you ever get the feeling that different forms of progress are in competition? That they are, in fact, interfering with one another? Progress is subjective. But could it be objective? Is there a (better) way to translate the disparate interests of a diverse population into collective decisions? Of course there is voting. But people are... [Read More]

I’ve always been interested in space exploration. But I get impatient with excessively fantastic stories. What makes it exciting is the possibility, the challenge. Simply waving an authorial wand, to summon the necessary magical technology, is cheating. If you have any respect for science, engineering, and the real work of technological research and development, then it must be believable. The pu... [Read More]

I didn’t know what to call this post. It would almost be better as poetry. The subject is naturally metaphorical, impressionistic, interpretive. Information is all around us. Light, sound, temperature, pressure, smells, tastes. Life is information, both figuratively and literally. DNA encodes the information that makes life possible. Organisms live or die based on their ability to interpret and ... [Read More]

The biggest challenge in life is getting along with other people. When times are tough, the challenge increases, and you find out just how bad we all are at it. We’d rather fight and kill–and maybe get killed—than find compromises. Not everyone is quick to violence. Like most human qualities, we have different tolerances. Most people are somewhat tolerant. A few are very tolerant or intolerant. B... [Read More]

Is it safe to say that conflict is the main source of human misery? It seems to be a major cause. Human relationships are rife with conflict. We disagree about virtually everything. One question over which we often disagree is who gets what. In general, we always disagree over how to best use our finite time and resources. The disciplines of political science, business management, and economics ... [Read More]

It’s all too much. The world. The people. The noise. The chaos. The complexity. Can it be measured? This overwhelming scale? We know many facts, at least approximately: the area of the Earth’s surface; the number of humans; the biomass of wild versus domesticated animals; the energy expenditure of human activity; the dollar value of (legal) global transactions; the logistical quantities (in mass ... [Read More]

It has always been my dream to design a city. Mostly for entertainment. But also an an exercise, and possibly for real. I was first inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. I was twelve, I think. Although the eponymous dungeons of D&D were fascinating, but somehow unsatisfactory. This is true about many “dungeon” environments for games (especially video games). They are all absurd follies. Who would bui... [Read More]

I’ve been creatively stuck for over a year. I had been running on fumes for years before. I have never been diagnosed with clinical depression. But I have regularly suffering long bouts of anxiety and general low mood, which I consider a form of chronic discouragement. All such things exist on a spectrum. Without being able to confidently identify a faulty mechanism in the nervous system, all suc... [Read More]

I have an uncommon perspective on global warming. It is motivated by a consideration of long-term planetary processes—both geological and biological. I hope it is consistent with current scientific understanding. But I have never examined it scientifically. Consider the solar system. A collection of astronomical bodies coalesced from interstellar gas, itself the remains of one or more supernovae ... [Read More]

I’m not talking about a literal game. I’m talking about literal life. It’s absurd to talk about “life”. Or, as Marvin the android said, “Life? Don’t talk to me about life!” But we do. We can try to talk about life, but it’s like talking about anything, except “life” is not just “anything”; it’s virtually “everything”. Whatever you talk about, it’s as much talking about talking and words as it is... [Read More]