The energy and attention required to cooperate is fundamentally different — usually, at odds — with the energy and attention it takes to dominate. This is why overtly domineering leadership […]
The country of unfinished dreams
In the country of unfinished dreams there’s one that still skips like a wreck there’s one that still skips like a record you left in the sun. In the country […]
The magic of meaninglessness
There’s an intriguing quote attributed to Giovanni Pico della Mirandola related in a review of the new book The Grammar of Angels: “Voices that mean nothing have more magical power […]
Le Guin’s notes on fantasy tropes
I’m grappling with how to avoid formulaic fantasy tropes in my fiction writing. I lean into a nuanced character-centered novel with depth, set in a fantasy milieu, vs. a violent […]
Fantasy challenges
As I’m working on some fantasy fiction, a friend asked what was the most challenging part. I said: trying to balance buoyant imagination and believable realism. But maybe there is […]
Undying Greek Poets, hallucination, and ChatGPT
While the success of the internet as a global town square is dubious at best with its pervasive misinformation and polarization, one area in which it is unquestionably beneficial is […]
Towards Artificial Wisdom
What would Artificial Wisdom look like? We have myriad technologies which are grouped under the umbrella term Artificial Intelligence. Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Generative Computing, etc. — these are systems […]
Nekrosestina
Leaves of gold and red make the announcement. We’ve been sleeping, trusting life’s green driver. Now we see: soil’s rich and grave appeal draws us down and grants eternal access […]
A Meditation for Election Day
I visualize and affirm the triumph of Wisdom, of Love, of Democracy over lesser impulses and coarser currents in my country.