Other research & writing
Everything outside the theses and memos. Original research at the frontier, longer-form essays, and the manifesto that anchors the whole thing.
Hard Limits on Sparse Bioelectric Control
Bioelectric repair is a dimensionality problem, not a dose problem. Below a critical number of intervention sites, no amount of stimulation works.
The biggest energy shock of our lifetimes, and almost no one is pricing it
For the first time in recorded history, all four material pillars of modern civilisation are disrupted simultaneously. The S&P 500 is two percent from all-time highs.
Stranded or Fungible?
Testing whether Extropic’s thermodynamic-computing moat survives scale. On what I could measure, the moat looks more like a head start.
Risk, Volatility, and the Evolution of Courage
Most advice about investing follows a standard template: diversify, dollar-cost average, gradually reduce risk as you age. This advice isn't wrong, but it misses something important.
The Peacock Principle: Why Sexual Selection Could Hold the Key to True AI Intelligence
Our quest for artificial intelligence has become a high-stakes standardized test—and we might be studying for the wrong exam.
Beyond Numbers: Finding Meaning in an Expanding Family
"What if?" my wife whispered on our balcony, the sounds of our sleeping children drifting through the open window. "What if we're really having a third?"
It's Tokens All The Way Down
"The future belongs to those who consume the most tokens." This line, casually dropped by a friend, has been rattling around in my head for weeks. It's not just a clever play on Silicon Valley jargon—…
The Memory We're Losing to Memes
This week my feed is flooded with Studio Ghibli images from ChatGPT's 4o update. By the middle of next week, I suspect it will be largely forgotten, replaced by something else equally ephemeral. When …
AI First at a Fraction of the Cost
Had dinner with a friend who's CFO at a large CPG company. Told him about "vibe coding" - using AI tools like Cursor to build products with minimal coding experience. He got it immediately.
The AI Tool Paradox
I signed up for Cursor yesterday. It's impressive how easy it is to deploy code with AI tools now. A decade ago, the limiting factor in building software was often writing the code itself. Now it's so…
The Vibe Coding Revolution
I stumbled across a "chaos coding" class today during lunch. Not just any class—one taught by my good friend Aaron Wright, who I recently spent time with at ETH Denver.
Culture Without Function
Emergent coordination in artificial systems, through costly signals.
Avoiding the Middle
Concentrate at the extremes. Avoid the middle. Life’s biggest returns compound at the tails; the comfortable middle is the riskiest place to stand.