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Agency Without a Self
Argues that rejecting free will and a unified self clarifies rather than undermines agency, meaning, and life design.
Writing in public
Uncompressed public thinking
Short, plain, unhedged essays on thinking and cognition, civilization, and identity — with poetry, story, and the small crafts of attention: coffee, calendars, kitchens, and code.
Featured post
Elasticity of Moral Circles
Human moral circles expand during abundance and security, then contract to immediate community under scarcity and disruption.
Recent
All postsPowerlessness in Inherited Systems
Explores the double alienation of living under inherited systems with no clear path to influence or understanding of how change works.
The note graph in July 2026
A snapshot of the personal note graph as it appeared in July 2026.
Social Contract Legitimacy
Argues political authority rests not on founding consent but on whether institutions continuously protect those bound by them.
Books I have read
Personal reading log spanning fiction and nonfiction, organized by genre with works from 1908 to 2026. This list, started in late 2022, is far from complete. I'm sure I've missed some and will again.
Start here
Essays that say what the rest is trying to do.
Two Epistemic Cycles
Two Latin mottos map epistemic life as inner formation (think, learn, connect, declare) and outer execution (perceive, connect, effect).
Uncompressed Public Thinking
Argues that mid-century thinkers like Feynman and Watts spoke before optimization, reputational risk, and compression eroded public thought.
Old Man by the River
A short story of a father and son fishing, exploring memory, impermanence, and presence through quiet dialogue.
Republic Continuity as Achievement
Argues that the American republic's survival is an active, recurring achievement requiring each generation's recommitment, not inevitable destiny.
HOMO·HOMINIS·ESSE
COGITA·DISCE·NECTE·ENUNTIA
PERCIPE·STRUE·EFFICE