About
Jackson Wagner
With luck, this site will someday host a quality collection of effective-altruist and rationalist essays, plus acting as a hub for my literary analysis of games like Braid and The Witness, among others. For now, things are still very much under construction.
Recent
The Book That Indexes Itself: Testing the Codex Seraphinianus for MeaningStatistical and computer-vision tests of the Codex Seraphinianus' invented script — what turns out to be real structure, and what is beautiful filler.
How bad would it be if GPS satellites were shot down?Losing GPS isn't an X-risk, but would create a huge disaster on the scale of Covid-19 or bigger.
Giving up on EA after 13 yearsAfter 13 years, I have realized that EA was Electronic Arts stock and videogames all along, not effective altruism. (An April Fools post.)
Anime's unrealistic energy-ball explosions are actually depicting condensation shockwavesWhy does anime feature giant spherical sci-fi explosions? Because big explosions in humid air really look like that.
Effective Altruism
How bad would it be if GPS satellites were shot down?
- What I learned building a next-gen GPS: not an X-risk, but a disaster on the scale of Covid.
Human Empowerment versus the Longtermist Imperium?
- Steelmanning longtermism's critics, since they won't do it themselves.
The Toba Supervolcanic Eruption
- Winner of the EA Forum's $3000 Creative Nonfiction prize!
X-Risk, Anthropics & Peter Thiel's Investment Thesis
- I analyze the investment strategy Thiel describes in 'The Optimistic Thought Experiment'.
Nuclear Strategy in a Semi-Vulnerable World
- What if all you needed for a nuke was the raw uranium?
Longtermism in 1888
- A letter from my great-great-grandfather fermi-estimates the size of Heaven.
Giving up on EA after 13 years
- April Fools: I'm divesting my shares... in Electronic Arts.
New Cause Area: Low-Hanging Fruit
- April Fools: civilization is running out of it, and nobody is working on the problem.
Miscellany
The Book That Indexes Itself
- Testing the Codex Seraphinianus for meaning: real structure, or beautiful filler?
Anime's energy-ball explosions are real physics
- Those giant spheres are condensation shockwaves, of the sort you see in humid air.
Why the East Rules -- For Now
- Why did the Song Dynasty succeed where the Romans failed?
San Jose's crime-liability experiment is cool.
- New gun control law could help inform designs for weird libertarian utopias?
Games, Movies, Sci-Fi
Examining 'The Witness'
- A deep dive into the philosophy of Jonathan Blow's masterpiece.
'Chrono Trigger' Short Story
- Six perspectives on determinism, free will, and purpose.
Braid Mod 'More Now Than Ever'
- My own fan-sequel with new puzzles, writing, and music.
Meanings of 'Braid': Six Variations on Reality
- Analyzing the mood, setting, and mechanics of the acclaimed time-travel puzzle game.
Meanings of 'Braid': Four Meditations on The Princess
- Plot twists & fan theories. Enumerating Her divine attributes.
Collection of 'Braid' and 'The Witness' interviews, articles, etc.
- My curated collection of all the best analysis out there.
Overthinking It: Matrix 4 is about choosing the blue pill.
- Reality is overrated; embrace the freedom of feelings.