Blog Posts
The Book That Indexes Itself: Testing the Codex Seraphinianus for Meaning
Statistical 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 years
After 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 shockwaves
Why does anime feature giant spherical sci-fi explosions? Because big explosions in humid air really look like that.
Human Empowerment versus the Longtermist Imperium?
A look at longtermism's critics and what a genuinely human-empowering alternative to a totalizing longtermist imperium might look like.
New Cause Area: Low-Hanging Fruit
A new cause area proposal: instead of chasing ambitious, hard-to-fund interventions, why not just pick up the low-hanging fruit lying around everywhere. (An April Fools post.)
Cool new San Jose gun law with implications for weird libertarian utopias
Crime liability insurance is something we should experiment with more.
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 size
A letter from my great-great grandfather that reads more like a Ted Chiang sci-fi.