PinnedBye for a bit :)I have appreciated developing my writing voice on Medium over the past three and a half years. But all good things cannot go on forever, yes? Regrettably, Medium does not serve me as well as it once did. (I know others can relate!) While I have faithfully contributed here for…2 min read
Published in The Shadow·Aug 15Member-onlyThe Modern Necessity for Digital Self-RegulationAs the 21st-century ripens and technological creep advances, we as modern citizens face new challenges. No longer plagued by the material primitivity of earlier ages, increasingly we are besieged by excess instead. Enter the rather cosmopolitan trend of dopamine fasting, the practice of temporarily abstaining from addictive digital products. This…Society7 min read
Published in Dialogue & Discourse·Jul 14Member-onlyInflation Origins & the Morality of MoneyThough we are certainly not spared ominous montages of American gas pumps throughout our daily digital treks, planted before that flickering screen ourselves, watching the numbers blink higher and higher, still feels jarring. …Economics6 min read
Published in The Shadow·Jun 11Member-onlyThe Public Loathing of Amber HeardOver the past month the American masses have been drawn like flies to the contentious defamation trial between Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Beamed in to living rooms every weekday and cut-and-pasted into innumerable (and often snarkily edited) video clips that achieved instant virality, the trial became a…Psychology8 min read
Published in Dialogue & Discourse·May 11Member-onlyOrwellian Bellyfeel & Trendy CausesEarly in the morning of March 14, famed technologist Elon Musk made waves on Twitter by posting his Ukrainian-themed “I support the current thing” meme. As controversial memes are wont to do, off it happily galloped into the land of virality. Memes are fascinating vessels of comic content but what…Philosophy7 min read
Published in Dialogue & Discourse·Feb 26Member-onlyTrudeau, Authoritarian Regressions, & Language GamesWhen Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the imminent sweep of his government’s Emergency Act on February 14, he stood before Parliament — several stone-faced, mask-clad public officials fidgeting behind him and in soft, schoolmarm tones he proceeded to spin webs of language silk to frame a story of unprovoked…Politics7 min read
Published in Science and Philosophy·Feb 13Member-onlyThe Beauty of Radical WonderI have waxed lyrical in the past on the hypnotically dreamy childhood experience, in which hungry curiosity mingled with innocent delight. As children we encountered the world with fresh eyes, a thin slate of preconceptions, and shameless pleasure. …Self6 min read
Published in The Shadow·Feb 4Member-onlyA Good Witch/Bad Witch Story of Big TechThe tech revolution that has bowed our heads to our smartphones and unfurled reality onto the virtual plane is imbued with all the mythic dualism of good and evil. One side is a light-dappled frontier of beautiful freedom; the other side an inky, rigidified specter of enslavement and exploitation. …Philosophy7 min read
Published in Invisible Illness·Jan 29Member-onlyA Theory of Psychological Inflammation-ReductionBattling uncertainty, inefficiency, and non-alignment — We know what biological inflammation is — flare-ups of pain and swelling running the gamut from quotidian activities like skinning your knee to hospital-plopping ailments like pneumonia. …Psychology8 min read
Published in Dialogue & Discourse·Jan 20Member-onlyCan Humor Be A Political Weapon?Ever since Benjamin Franklin’s infamous 1754 “Join or Die” debut, political cartoons have remained an American pastime, ironically serving as both welcome diffusers of political tension and galvanizers of activist sentiment. The historical luckiness of our ability to poke fun (and holes of irrationality!) in the regimes of our day…Politics13 min read
