Topics
Wild diversity with a unifying theme.
A table of contents for this substack.
The unifying theme is: Things generally go better when you don’t try to separate nebulosity and pattern.
That is straightforward practical advice. However, it sounds obscure until you know what I mean by “nebulosity” and “pattern.” That is best explained by examples. Since both nebulosity and pattern appear everywhere, I write about many topics—and why you may find it helpful to work with both nebulosity and pattern there.
They include: meta-rationality, software, Vajrayana Buddhism, adult development, romance, nobility, society, the mythic mode, philosophy, and health.
Starting in 2024, all my new writing is here. There’s twenty years of earlier material on my own sites, and you might want to check those out!
Substack automatically creates post list pages for each topic. Unfortunately, those are in reverse order, from most recent to oldest. Most of what I write builds on earlier writing, so you may want to explore from the bottom of those pages up. Alternatively, I put many links to earlier writing in most posts. If anything seems unclear, try following those.
Meta-rationality
Meta-rationality is skill in reasoning that goes beyond formal rationality by recognizing nebulosity, and by taking contexts and purposes into account. In the Cells of the Eggplant is my book-in-progress about using meta-rationality to level up technical work.
Parts One through Three of that are on another site. I’m posting chunks of Part Four here. Some additional posts, not included in the book, appear in the automatically-generated list page.
Software
The automation of routine rational programming has made software development a field in which meta-rationality is critically important. Most of your value as a developer is now in understanding requirements, architecting large systems, and managing teams of people and AI agents.
My discussion begins here. You can find more in the Part Four table of contents, or the list page.
Vajrayana
Vajrayana is an unusual, life-affirming branch of Buddhism, reversing many of the doctrines and practices of the mainstream. It aims for a vaster, brighter, freer way of seeing, feeling, and acting in the actual world. It creates unusual, effective people who lead with kindness, enjoyment, and connection.
My main Vajrayana site is Vividness. You can find my substack Buddhist writing on a list page.
Adult developmental stages
Adult stage theory describes three fundamental ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. They are the communal or pre-systematic mode; the rational or systematic one; and the fluid or meta-systematic one. These are distinctive ways of being that manifest in every domain. This framework shapes much of my writing, across several different web sites.
I’ve jokingly titled an overview page “The most important knowledge in the world.” It has links to most posts, with brief explanations. The automatic list page includes some not included there.
Transformational romance
A series of true stories about how romantic relationships catalyzed developmental stage transitions. I’ve written an introduction and overview page, “Unavailable Dakini Catalyst.” The automatic list page includes some posts not featured in “Unavailable.”
Nobility
Nobility is the wise, creative, and just use of power. It is the aspiration to manifest glory for the benefit of others. It seeks to fulfill all our in-born human potential, and to use it in service of others.
A table of contents page collects my posts about it, on this site and elsewhere, with brief explanations.
Society, culture, politics, and history
Most of my writing on these topics is in Meaningness and Time, on another site. That begins:
Western culture, society, and selves have disintegrated. The bottom has fallen out of the bucket.
This is common knowledge. It is just a fact—for worse and for better. It happened. Spilt milk. No use wringing hands.
Instead, ask: now what?
A list page collects additional posts here on Substack.
The mythic mode
This is the mode not just of myths—but of dreams, visions, and make-believe play. It is the mode of ecstatic ritual, of encounters with gods and demons, and of falling in love with someone you barely know. The mythic mode is where we find inspiration and our deepest purposes.
“Seeing and doing mythically” is a good starting point. The list page has more.
Philosophy
Philosophy is bad. It derives obviously false and harmful conclusions, using methods that can’t and don’t work. For some reason, most people treat philosophy reverently, as a sacred alternative or supplement to religion. This is a huge mistake that makes you miserable.
I don’t do philosophy, but I do write about why you should be wary of it. There’s a list page.
Health
The American health care system is utterly broken. I’ve written about some workarounds I’ve found personally.
Header image courtesy Manolo Chrétien