PinnedMember-onlyTable of ContentsI write from my disparate obsessions and don’t expect anyone to find all of it interesting except me. Hence, a tool to sort the wheat from the chaff. The links are to Medium Lists but you can just scroll down the page to see info on all articles. Tribes —…6 min read6 min read
Published inFourth Wave·Oct 14Member-onlyKevin Phillips — RIPThe author of hard right Republican strategy put racism, division, and ‘red meat’ issues at the heart of campaigns — “The whole secret of politics knowing who hates who.” — Kevin Phillips Kevin Phillips died on Oct. 9 at age 82. Phillips is credited with Nixon’s Southern strategy which is described in his Washington Post obituary as follows: The idea, in essence, was to co-opt White Democrats by associating African…Politics5 min readPolitics5 min read
Published inThe Taoist Online·Sep 20Member-onlyChristianity From the Heart…or its general vicinity — Heart A decade or so ago, I saw a talk by Dr. Richard Davidson. He began by describing an experiment with highly experienced meditators, i.e., Tibetan monks in Dharamsala. As he and his team were placing a collection of sensors on the skull of their first subject, the monks burst out…Religion6 min readReligion6 min read
Jun 6Member-onlyNewsletterIn which I shift my approach to publishing and express some disappointment Back to the blog Some years back, I switched my primary publishing platform from my blog, DarwinianInterlude, over to Medium. That hasn’t totally worked out. I’m shifting back, inspired by Cory Doctorow's explanation in On Media Enshittification (pt 1) that all his…Medium4 min readMedium4 min read
Published inPredict·Apr 27Member-onlyDrake’s Equation and YouShort form: Q: Where is everybody? A: A good question; important that we grok(*1) it.Extraterrestrial Life12 min readExtraterrestrial Life12 min read
Published inPredict·Sep 15, 2022Member-onlyExploiting the Fracture Points in US Politics for Fun and ProfitYou specifically may be a target — The big picture Next time some social interaction on the internet pisses you off consider that your reaction might be manufactured. A variety of bad actors exploit our fears, love of outrage, and any strong emotion — typically to create fractures in the body politic. The tools to accomplish this, including targeting any…Politics10 min readPolitics10 min read
Sep 6, 2022Member-onlySchismogenesisMAGA for a day — or here’s how you can really own the Libs — Key points: Schismogenesis is a term from Gregory Bateson, noted anthropologist and systems theorist. It names a ‘positive feedback loop’ that can cause societies to break apart. The term was developed as he observed how gender roles progressed in severe opposition to each other in the Iatmul people — and…Politics10 min readPolitics10 min read
Jul 19, 2022Member-onlyWordle-KuHaving fun in our Wordle chat thread — How we got here. Step 1: Wordle’s color palette of grey, green, and yellow suggested Japanese scroll paintings of mist on green mountains. That, in turn, inspired haiku Step 2: it occurred to me to extend the rules so that instead of 5/7/5 syllables, the syllable count should be determined…Wordle3 min readWordle3 min read
Published inAmalgamatedAmalgamations·Jun 22, 2022Member-onlyCultivating Joy and ConnectionIn Search of the Lost Word — I have an odd love of harmonizing minor human interactions. Here’s an example. Rather than thinking about how to get through an intersection first, it feels best to maximize throughput (an information systems term that should be self-explanatory.) I know this sounds kind of goofy, but if everyone did it…Community6 min readCommunity6 min read
Published inPolitically Speaking·Jun 8, 2022Member-onlyTaxes Are HateUnless they’re taxes on you — I’ve resisted for a couple of weeks, but this has been festering. You see, I try to leave timely commentary to other writers. Caren White is a favorite. For my part, I prefer to try and dig in with analysis. It’s my slow-cooking thing. …Elon Musk3 min readElon Musk3 min read