Philosophy has spent 2,500 years asking "What is true?" when the urgent question was always "What kind of constraint is this, and does someone profit from my belief that it's unchangeable?" Deferential Realism doesn't care whether your epistemology is justified—it asks whether your constraint claim serves extraction or description. The innovation here isn't the four-category … Continue reading The Tyranny of Necessity: How Deferential Realism Weaponizes Skepticism
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The Biotech Supply Chain Hiding in Plain Sight
Response to: Yang, Y. Tony. "China's Beautiful Biotech Chaos vs West's Elegant Paralysis." Asia Times, December 28, 2025. https://asiatimes.com/2025/12/chinas-beautiful-biotech-chaos-vs-wests-elegant-paralysis/. Here's a statistic that should end the "race" metaphor: one-third of all Western Big Pharma acquisitions now originate from Chinese laboratories. The chaotic experimentation happens in Shanghai; the billion-dollar validation checks are signed in New York. The Global … Continue reading The Biotech Supply Chain Hiding in Plain Sight
Unsubscribe Weekend: Black Friday Through Cyber Monday
Use Black Friday through Cyber Monday as “Unsubscribe Weekend,” since every company that has your info will email or text you. — Sam Friedlander, Los Angeles
When AI Reviews AI: A Case Study in Benchmark Contamination
Date: December 19, 2025Method: UKE_G Recursive TriangulationTarget: "Evaluating Large Language Models in Scientific Discovery" (SDE Benchmark) Two days ago, a new benchmark paper dropped claiming to evaluate how well large language models perform at scientific discovery. The paper introduced SDE (Scientific Discovery Evaluation)—a two-tier benchmark spanning biology, chemistry, materials science, and physics. Models were tested … Continue reading When AI Reviews AI: A Case Study in Benchmark Contamination
What Will History Say About Us? (Wrong Question)
Someone on Twitter asked ChatGPT: "In two hundred years, what will historians say we got wrong?" ChatGPT gave a smooth answer about climate denial, short-term thinking, and eroding trust in institutions. It sounded smart. But it was actually revealing something else entirely—what worries people right now, dressed up as future wisdom. Here's the thing: We … Continue reading What Will History Say About Us? (Wrong Question)
On Method: How This Blog Works
Or: Why some posts are tools, some are evidence, and some are just interesting The Problem With Judging Things Here's a pattern that shows up everywhere: the way you measure something determines what you find valuable. If you judge fish by their ability to climb trees, all fish fail. If you judge squirrels by their … Continue reading On Method: How This Blog Works
Epistemic Hygiene for the Terminally Secular: A Contemplative Practice Without the Metaphysics
Traditional contemplative practices come wrapped in cosmologies most secular moderns can't honestly adopt. You can't just extract "mindfulness" from Buddhism without noticing you've gutted the thing. The four noble truths aren't optional packaging—they're load-bearing structure. The Trappist monk's lectio divina assumes divine revelation. Zen koans presuppose non-dual awareness. Sufi dhikr requires belief in God. The … Continue reading Epistemic Hygiene for the Terminally Secular: A Contemplative Practice Without the Metaphysics
What’s Really Happening with “AI Superintelligence” Claims
You've probably seen headlines about AI companies claiming they're building "superintelligence" or that we need to worry about controlling AI before it gets too smart. Let me explain what's actually going on. The Magic Trick Imagine someone shows you an incredible calculator. This calculator can solve math problems faster than any human alive. It can … Continue reading What’s Really Happening with “AI Superintelligence” Claims
The Atrophy of Connection: Why AI Companions Are More Dangerous Than Cognitive Prosthetics
https://twitter.com/henloitsjoyce/status/1955284509886386201 A recent tweet from a former AI companion company founder has been making rounds, describing how their product—an AI boyfriend named "Sam"—unexpectedly attracted more female users than their original AI girlfriend offerings. The thread offers a rare insider perspective on the mechanics of digital intimacy, detailing features like proxy phone numbers with ambient background … Continue reading The Atrophy of Connection: Why AI Companions Are More Dangerous Than Cognitive Prosthetics
Zuihitsu, 2025-09
Technically, zuihitsu are longer reflections than what I tend to collect. But, the general idea is right. Here’s this month’s installment. If you want the complete set, please download the fortune file. The worst sin against stewardship is to waste your life.—R.C. Sproul I believe in the brotherhood of all men, but I don't believe in … Continue reading Zuihitsu, 2025-09
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