During the Cold War crises, both sides had fairly easy off-ramps. Today there are none. — As the war that almost no one thought possible enters its next dystopian phase, it seems fair to assume almost no one yet grasps what has really happened. Up until the day of the invasion we all heard and read the seasoned experts opine on why it wouldn’t happen. Or…

Is this what human civilization has spent thousands of years culminating towards? Apocalyptic power in the hands of unhinged mobsters hell-bent on settling old scores? So we thought we knew what terrible and terrifying in the 21st century meant. We thought we already had our rude awakening from “end of…

How are we to value technological civilization and the idea of progress? After 25+ years working in technology and innovation, I’ve decided I honestly don’t know. Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of darkness and chaos. Werner Herzog Civilization is a hopeless race to…

A three-part meditation on the “meaning of life” at large scales. Part 1 highlights a surprisingly gruesome reality. Part 2 is about the trajectory of life on Earth and in the universe. Part 3 is on human progress and the bizarre moral dilemmas it creates. Part 1 of this series…

Grazing through the morning news yesterday I, like many others, shook my head in disbelief at the 130 million Americans crowding together this Thanksgiving during the height of the pandemic. A sci-fi villain couldn’t have planned a better super-spreader event, I thought.

A three-part meditation on the “meaning of life” at large scales. Part 1 highlights a surprisingly gruesome reality. Part 2 is about the trajectory of life on Earth and in the universe. Part 3 is on human progress and the bizarre moral dilemmas it creates. Prelude: Humans of the Natural World Among the delightfully surreal experiences…

As a student in Germany during the Cold War 1980s, I was more fascinated by the country’s history and culture than my actual studies. There was much to admire, in particular something I missed in the US. Enlightenment values like rationality, objective truth and egalitarianism felt like the default, not…