It affects everything and no one is talking about it. For a population to replace itself, the fertility rate, historically and without scientific question, has to be 2.1 (births per woman). In the US, right now that number is 1.70, and decreasing. In other words, as our population ages, we’re…

How technology shapes culture and politics Reality has always been subjective. Objectivity may be the domain of certain philosophers and scientific materialists, but both would surely agree that an objective reality cannot ultimately be perceived. What consciousness could experience it? How can it be objective while being witnessed? Unless the…

Free will is an illusion I think we know the universe is deterministic. We just fool ourselves otherwise. Our egos need to believe in their own agency. Yet, there are clues all around us we’re playing a charade. Let’s start by thinking of the number of phrases we use, everyday…

*For me, a healthy, privileged white man in an affluent society — Hi. I’m a healthy, privileged white man in an affluent society, and I’ve been an on again / off again vegetarian throughout my life. Yay, me! My current stretch isn’t even my longest — it will be just two and a half years in January. But I’m positive it’s going…

I want to talk to people who understand — don't you? People are carrying on as if nothing is the matter in my everyday life. The kids are almost done with school, and summer plans are being made. Where I live, we look forward to summer since the winters can…

We most admire the lone wolf. I watched Top Gun: Maverick this week. It was fun, in a soft-reboot (a.k.a. legacy sequel) kind of way. Maverick is thirty years older, but he’s basically still the same. And that’s the point: rather than having leveled up to say, a Navy Admiral…

I’m happier, and you can be, too. — First, let’s define terms: by “social media,” I mean the social networks Facebook and Twitter. I still have a LinkedIn account. God knows why. And Medium is technically socially media, but it’s so functionally different. I’d joined Facebook in 2007 when a friend sent me an invite. I’d never even…

The thing you’ll hear time and again from conservatives and libertarians is how people ought to be free of government to do their thing. Competition, the free market, etc., will spur innovation, grow the economy, and so on. I have absolutely no problem with the idea that individuals, free and…