Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
Living proof marijuana doesn't kill brain cells…
From coding to chess, computers keep outperforming humans at cognitive tasks, revealing a huge gap in our understanding and definition of intelligence. We need to consider what lies between the capabilities of computers today and a hypothetical Artificial General Intelligence. For decades, scientists and philosophers have debated, sometimes rather vigorously, if a computer could ever… Continue reading ChatGPT: We need a new definition of intelligence
My writing process can best be described as vomiting on the screen and sifting through it in search of an editable morsel. The morsel is then preserved as I throw up again and repeat the process. Many morsels do not make it, some do as the process repeats itself into something resembling a final product. … Continue reading Celebrating 500 posts: Why and how I write
Hamlet’s lessons for a happy holiday season and a successful life in general. Who knew Shakespeare’s tragic Danish Prince could offer such good advice on positive mental health while careening towards a bloody end for him and his entire family? “There is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so.” Hamlet speaks these few… Continue reading This Christmas let thinking make it so and be merry from the inside out
Once upon a time, HBO’s House of the Dragon was praised for its commitment to diversity, and anyone who disagreed was attacked as a racist, but suddenly the woke have completely changed direction, and they’re now claiming black story lines haven’t been given the proper respect, wondering whether black people should watch the show at… Continue reading HBO’s House of the Dragon and woke casting, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t
The Boss’ new album will be composed of entirely culturally appropriated songs, a collection of “soul music” covers, but that is inherently a good thing. Harold Bloom’s seminal The Anxiety of Influence reveals why all art, if not all ideas entirely, can be seen as the product of cultural appropriation. Bruce Springsteen is just the… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen and the artistic necessity of cultural appropriation
HBO Max’s Station Eleven could’ve been a standard post-apocalyptic drama, but the introduction of a traveling caravan of actors who perform Shakespeare after the world ends, transforms the show into a story about stories. Their importance, their interpretation, how they are shared and how they change over time, something made apparent in the very first… Continue reading Station Eleven, Hamlet, and the importance of the stories we tell each other and ourselves
Robert Egger’s The Northman is based on the same source material as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a Viking legend circa 1,000 AD, but takes a completely different path, crafting an almost anti-Hamlet. This “Shakespherean” mode of adaptation presents unique opportunity to return to Shakespeare’s original roots and illuminate both works. Despite attempts to cancel the world’s greatest… Continue reading Hamlet, The Northman, and Shakespeare’s genius through the looking glass
Dogs began their descent from wolves some 130,000 years ago when an enterprising pack discovered a new source of food and warmth ripe for exploitation. Today, there is little doubt who is in charge in most households, as canines have transitioned from essential workers for hunters and farmers to loveable, furry, spoiled parasites, doted over… Continue reading Dogs rule the world, from essential worker to best friend and now master of their domain
On the surface, Hamlet ponders life and fear of death, but the subtext veers far beyond that into morality and conscience, reflecting the themes of the play and the broader range of the human condition. Not bad for a speech that seems almost accidentally stuck into the final product, as if Shakespeare wrote it for… Continue reading “To be or not to be” is the most famous speech in the English language, but what does it really mean?
It took close to 350 years for mathematics and philosophy to catch up with the ideas about the human mind explored in Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. From computer science to the study of language, the opacity of other minds remains at the forefront of our understanding of each other and at the center of Iago’s scheming… Continue reading Shakespeare’s Othello, the Turing Test for Artificial Intelligence, and the indeterminacy of radical translation
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 