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.
Grounding Philosophy
Eventually this section will host a LessWrong-style sequence of posts about values and the human condition, in light of facts of the universe like the pervasiveness of darwinian competition, the threat of death, etc.
Recent
Overthinking It: Matrix 4 is about choosing the blue pill.Reality is overrated; embrace the freedom of feelings.
Longtermism in 1888: fermi estimate of Heaven's sizeA letter from my great-great grandfather that reads more like a Ted Chiang sci-fi.
Short Story: The Toba Supervolcanic EruptionA story about humanity's perilous past and uncertain future.
Existential Risk, Anthropics, & Peter Thiel's Investment ThesisI analyze the investment strategy Thiel describes in 'The Optimistic Thought Experiment'.
Effective Altruism
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.
Miscellany
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.