SNEAK PEEK: Board Game Ethics
(Stick around for a sneak peek at my latest manifesto!) It’s been a busy week onboarding at Hopkins and continuing to get settled in...
top of page
Rapid Fire
Basically a blog where I try to do philosophy outside.
Search
Aug 30
The Origin of Philosophy
This week, I cried reading a philosophy book. I can’t remember the last time that happened. In The Origin of Philosophy , Spanish...
Aug 9
What Deck-Builders get Right
Skill explosions are all around us. Just compare Simone Biles’s 2024 gold medal vault with Larisa Latynina’s 1956 gold medal vault, set...
Jun 7
I’m shining the Bat-Signal
Maybe you’ve seen my Work-in-Progress talk on AI and the Future of Work. Maybe you even liked it! If so, I have good news: In less than a...
May 24
Jazz bends Music like a Gaudí Building
I recently got to listen to a jazz concert on the roof of Antoni Gaudí’s magnificent La Pedrera. Meet the building that teaches you how...
Mar 29
My talk on Superintelligence and Suicide
This week I gave a Zoom talk as part of the AI Futures Work-in-Progress Series at Indiana University (a thing I totally started but it’s...
Jan 26
Letting Students Write the Rules
I mentioned before that I’m driving to the University of Kentucky eSports Lounge this weekend to give a talk on how rules structure a...
Jan 12
Talent and Fit
At a really (really) high level, performance is a function of what you bring to the table (we’ll call that talent), and and how you can...
Dec 15, 2023
3 things I learned Writing the Rules
Next month, I’m giving a talk at the University of Kentucky Esports Lounge (yes, really) about rethinking the place of rules in the...
Nov 3, 2023
Wanna playtest the SlamBall Card Game?
What kind of philosopher of games and sports would I be if I didn’t try to make a card game about SlamBall? Anyway if you want to help me...
Oct 20, 2023
Look at me I’m on a Panel
Last week, I was sick as a dog and downright loopy. What a perfect time to be invited to an APA Panel on AI ethics! Fortunately, I...
Sep 15, 2023
Games let us practice suffering Bad Luck
First I’ll share my story. Then I’d love to hear yours. In Twilight Imperium, there’s a unique hex called the Gravity Rift. Ships that...
Sep 8, 2023
Game Values vs. Real-Life Values
My friend Kjell and I noticed there just aren’t enough podcasts, so we decided to help. Our first episode takes an early look at some of...
Aug 25, 2023
The Politics of Age of Empires II
I’ve been playing a lot of Stellaris lately, but as a kid, the only computer game I really played much was Age of Empires II (AoE2, as in...
Jul 21, 2023
SlamBall and the Skill Explosion
Darius Clark, 25, is a highly decorated long jumper who holds the Guinness World Record for the highest vertical leap with a running...
Jul 14, 2023
Twilight Imperium and Instrumental Convergence
I got to play Twilight Imperium last weekend and I was so powerful I didn’t know what to do. I like to describe Twilight Imperium as 8...
Jul 7, 2023
Why do (some) scientists hate philosophy?
My concern here is that the philosophers believe they are actually asking deep questions about nature... It’s not that there can’t be...
Jun 30, 2023
I had to write a research statement about what I’m working on. Here’s my first draft.
Let me know what you think! I'm still figuring out how to summarize my research program and instill confidence I’ll be a “productive”...
Jun 23, 2023
Complexity versus Richness
Here’s some chess jargon: pawns aren’t pieces. Your king, queen, rooks, bishops, and knights are all pieces. But your pawns are just...
Jun 16, 2023
Efficient and Effective
Just a quick dive into a useful distinction, because these aren’t the same: Effectiveness is all about outcomes. (You know, effects.)...
bottom of page