essays

and other fiction

"You find out when you reach the top, you're on the bottom."

- Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind


Creative Commons License
In November and December of 2012, I spent a few weeks going through these and doing whatever I had to do to still feel okay about having my name on them. As an unknown writer in 2002, I had a high incentive to attract attention and a low incentive to avoid mistakes. As I got more readers, those priorities gradually switched places, and also some of my ideas have changed.

In revising my essays, I did three different kinds of things: annotation, rewriting, and disclaimers. For example, How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth was annotated to keep all the stuff I was wrong about and explain why I was wrong. The Effects of Highly Habitual People was so heavily rewritten that I saved the original version. Arno-geddon was kept unchanged, but with a disclaimer at the top. The Slow Crash has some of all three. Your Life As Pornography is the only thing that was already perfect. The singularity essays were so difficult that they stalled the project, so I also never got around to fixing "How to Save Civilization".

Reverse Chronological Order

Scroll down or click here for alphabetical order.

Beyond Civilized and Primitive 15 February 2008
How To Save Civilization 5 September 2007
9/11 FAQ 5 September 2006
Fall Down Six Times 15 March 2006
Don't Fear The Singularity 3 December 2005
The Age of Batshit Crazy Machines 4 July 2005
The Critique of Civilization Changes Everything 15 April 2005
Critique of Civilization FAQ 8 April 2005
The Slow Crash 2 February 2005
How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth 19 December 2004
Troubleshooting America 17 September 2004
How to Drop Out 2 April 2004
Democrats nominate Hitler 18 February 2004
The Animal in the Dark Tower 9 February 2004
Your Life As Pornography 11 December 2003
Seven Lies About Civilization 24 November 2003
Arno-geddon 13 October 2003
Grand Diversifying Theory 21 August 2003
The Effects of Highly Habitual People 24 June 2003
21 Stories About Civilization 3 May 2003
Who Would Satan Bomb? 5 April 2003
Twisted Utopian Visions 27 January 2003
Against Rights 27 November 2002
Violence Unraveled 11 November 2002
Science the Destroyer 25 October 2002
Where was Luke Skywalker on September 11? 2 September 2002
The Coming Expansion 29 July 2002
The System Works 13 May 2002
The Soul of Progress 19 April 2002
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow 21 March 2002
Violence vs. Pacifism 7 March 2002
Thinking Through the Fall 21 February 2002
The Mathematics of Responsibility 7 February 2002


Alphabetical Order

21 Stories About Civilization 3 May 2003
9/11 FAQ 5 September 2006
Against Rights 27 November 2002
The Age of Batshit Crazy Machines 4 July 2005
The Animal in the Dark Tower 9 February 2004
Arno-geddon 13 October 2003
Beyond Civilized and Primitive 15 February 2008
The Coming Expansion 29 July 2002
The Critique of Civilization Changes Everything 15 April 2005
Critique of Civilization FAQ 8 April 2005
Democrats nominate Hitler 18 February 2004
Don't Fear The Singularity 3 December 2005
The Effects of Highly Habitual People 24 June 2003
Fall Down Six Times 15 March 2006
Grand Diversifying Theory 21 August 2003
How to Drop Out 2 April 2004
How To Save Civilization 5 September 2007
How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth 19 December 2004
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow 21 March 2002
The Mathematics of Responsibility 7 February 2002
Science the Destroyer 25 October 2002
Seven Lies About Civilization 24 November 2003
The Slow Crash 2 February 2005
The Soul of Progress 19 April 2002
The System Works 13 May 2002
Thinking Through the Fall 21 February 2002
Troubleshooting America 17 September 2004
Twisted Utopian Visions 27 January 2003
Where was Luke Skywalker on September 11? 2 September 2002
Who Would Satan Bomb? 5 April 2003
Violence Unraveled 11 November 2002
Violence vs. Pacifism 7 March 2002
Your Life As Pornography 11 December 2003