This is the perpetual question. Every moment of every day, you can decide to do something different. But deciding is itself arduous. And it only gets more arduous every day, as the number of options increases. Though, for many, the high cost of exploring alternatives prohibits their discovery and evaluation. Taking an alternative route itself has pre-conditions that incur a cost. One that is ofte... [Read More]

Is this question easy to answer, or difficult? It seems simple. Knowledge is valuable if it helps you surive and prosper. If you like knowing things for the sake of it, then I suppose all knowledge helps you prosper. I think that is a good way to be. But you still have to navigate the world, both physically and socially. That takes knowledge. Although maybe it takes less knowledge than in the pa... [Read More]

What is common knowledge? A somewhat ambiguous question. Both interpretations are important. What do most people know? What should they know? What do they know about what others know, and what do they believe about what others should know? Knowledge—or ignorance—is a rabbit hole. But maybe it’s worth trying to find the bottom, so that we can start filling it in. There is a war on. Not just now, ... [Read More]

I am not a political scientist. Nor a philosopher. Or anything similar. But I like to consider the state and nature of human society. Or, if “society” is too abstract, simply the behaviour of people in relation to one another—in contrast to their behaviour in relation to objects and nature. Society is a kind of fiction. But so is everything. It’s hard to talk about things, for this reason. For so... [Read More]

Every thing I see is perfect. If only for this infected bite on my thigh and the panting impatience of my bored dog. Dense grass. Blooming clover. Green leaves on lilac and ash. Sinewy spruce. Rippling cedar. The blighted Norway maple out of view at the front, while I slouch over candescent screen, at the table, on the patio, in the back yard. Don't dwell on the sagging plastic shed stained with a... [Read More]

I’ve been in psychotherapy twice. The first time I was in my mid-twenties. It lasted for about a year. The second time in my late forties, for six years. The first time helped me get through an acute crisis. The second time I was trying to address a chronic problem. While I gained some insight, the problem is still with me. I suspect I have more than one emotional problem. But they all seem to co... [Read More]

Have you heard of the “metacrisis”—also called polycrisis, human predicament, long emergency, and other terms? It is the umbrella for all the crises that we face now or in the coming future, with a high degree of certainty. It includes critical threats to the economy, government, democracy, human health, climate, ecology, and the entire biosphere. The metacrisis—and all the particular crises it i... [Read More]

Online trolls are strange. On the one hand, it seems clear what they’re up to. Whether they are insecure, or bored, or confused, they want to pick fights and annoy people because it makes them feel powerful. But how does this really work for them? How do they interpret the act of trolling as a personal accomplishment, or evidence or their superiority? Especially when trolling strangers, and even ... [Read More]

Everyone wants to be thought good. By the people that they consider good. But “good” is a divisive concept. And it always will be. Can goodness be defined empirically? No. Goodness is subjective. No two people can ever completely agree on what “good” means. Goodness is what people prefer. What people prefer is good. People prefer different things, both innately, and culturally. So, good is arbitr... [Read More]

I was going to write about this initially. But I got distracted by the wider context, and wanted to address that, first. Like I said: I am privileged. I have opportunities. I want to be more egalitarian. But while this is superficially easy, I am not a naturally open and empathetic person. I try to be compassionate, but I can be a little cold. I’m not that great for the front lines of charity. I... [Read More]