the useful uselessness

the revolution will not be technological

This essay continues the exploration begun in “The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized,” examining how artificial intelligence completes the circuit of individualization by eliminating even the need for another human to tell us the problem lies within ourselves.

self-help and aerobics: a pseudo-scientific method for detecting snake oil

Next time someone tries to sell you wisdom, ask: Would this make sense if shouted while doing burpees? If yes, run. I call it the aerobics test: an infallible method for detecting intellectual charlatanism. Because philosophy that works at 160bpm probably isn't philosophy at all.

the bullshit economy: why attention extraction requires interpretation without end

We’ve created a thriving marketplace where empty words thrive, where profundity is packaged and sold by the hour, and where the ability to say nothing with great conviction has become a lucrative career path. The attention economy doesn’t merely benefit from bullshit: it structurally depends on it.

The Certainty Syndrome: A Pathology of Our Time

From wellness gurus certain about ancient wisdom to CEOs certain about the future—everyone's performing certainty while drowning in doubt. On the pathology of fake knowing and why admitting ignorance might save us all.

Post-Depth: The Plasticization of Profundity

We’ve moved beyond post-truth into something more insidious: post-depth. In this new landscape, wisdom becomes a product, complexity gets packaged into consumable portions, and profundity itself transforms into a surface performance.

Corporate Hierarchy as the New Feudalism

From C-suites to cubicles, we've recreated medieval feudalism in modern offices. Executive elevators replace castle towers, MBAs substitute for noble titles, and 'cultural fit' ensures the aristocracy reproduces itself. Time to name what we see: corporate feudalism in designer suits.

The Right to Temporal Dignity

Time theft wears no mask. It announces itself in Friday afternoon ‘urgent’ emails and lunch-hour meetings. We’ve normalized temporal violence in broad daylight, celebrating it as ‘dedication.’ What if reclaiming our time is the most radical act of resistance?"

Boredom as Blasphemy

We’ve turned productivity into a religion and boredom into blasphemy. Even our vacations become performances of hyperactive rest. What if doing nothing isn’t laziness but the most radical act of resistance in an achievement-obsessed world?

The Revolution Will Not Be Psychologized

We’ve turned pain into pathology and healing into a business plan. But what if our symptoms aren’t signs of brokenness, but clues that something larger is sick, and screaming to be overthrown?

The Curious Middle: Beyond Accusation and Doubt in an Age of Certainty

In a world that increasingly demands absolute positions, the space between conviction and uncertainty becomes the most fertile terrain for genuine thought. Yet this middle ground is rapidly disappearing from our conversational landscape.

For a new definition of “work”

In our relentless pursuit of productivity, we’ve inverted an ancient wisdom: leisure isn’t what remains after work, but the foundation from which meaningful work emerges.

Time, Gravity, and Conversations: A Physics of Human Connection

What if conversations create gravitational fields where separate consciousnesses briefly merge? Perhaps being truly understood is physics-defying—a small miracle of human connection, a brief victory over time itself.

Love is Measured in Celsius: The Thermal Dynamics of Intimacy

In the laboratory of love, chemistry gets the credit, but physics governs our connections. While poets speak of burning passion and hearts growing cold, couples negotiate a more literal thermal equilibrium—where compatibility is measured in degrees Celsius (or Fahrenheit).

Emotional Bureaucrats

Emotional bureaucracy—the internalization of administrative logic into our most intimate psychological processes—transforms how we experience life itself. We become both bureaucrat and bureaucratized, simultaneously administering and being administered by our own hearts.

Good Enough: Challenging the Tyranny of Excellence

In our obsession with excellence, we’ve become slaves to arbitrary metrics. The concept of ‘good enough’ isn’t surrendering to mediocrity, but recognizing that sustainable achievement often emerges precisely when we stop demanding perfection from ourselves and others.

The Utility of Uselessness - Time, Work, and Combating Stupidity

In our obsession with productivity, we've forgotten the value of uselessness. Paradoxically, history shows our greatest breakthroughs often emerge from seemingly 'useless' activities—the mind at play accomplishes what the mind at work cannot.

The (Sad) Story of the Chatbot That Know Us Better Than Our Mothers

As we outsource our thinking to machines that mimic understanding, what essential human capacities might we be surrendering in our fascination with artificial minds? Perhaps in these digital mirrors, we discover not their intelligence, but our own intellectual fatigue.

On the Beauty of Distraction

Some distractions are meaningful and productive. Perhaps you’re envy-scrolling on Instagram when you hear a strange chirp overhead and find yourself marveling at the sight of a violet-backed starling. In that instant, a negative attention transforms into a beautiful distraction.

The Conversations of Lovers and Teams

Three kinds of conversation help to build more effective and harmonious teams.