Category Essay

On the Limits of Human Understanding

Intelligence, Interpretation, and the Persistence of the Unfamiliar Chapter I — On the Limits of knowing For a long time, intelligence has been treated as a kind of privileged access to reality. The success of modern science has reinforced the impression…

2+2…

Counting in a World Governed by Noise It’s Not the Head There is a persistent temptation, when confronted with violence, corruption, or cruelty, to focus on faces. Names. Leaders. Criminals. Presidents. Kingpins. The story almost writes itself: identify the villain,…

Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Imagination?

On misnamed machines, unexpected minds, and the power of mirrors What if the problem with modern AI isn’t that it’s becoming too intelligent — but that we’ve misunderstood what kind of thing it already is? Author’s note I am not…

At the Margins of the Simulation

How language, money, and convenience shape a controllable society Introduction Have you ever felt that the effort you put in—at work, in a career, in a relationship, or at school—seems pointless, or becomes an unsustainable effort? Or have you noticed…