Why “Other-ing” Behaviors Hold Us Back (How Understanding Our Biology & History Can Move Us Forward)

(This is in rough form and notations are a mess. I may return and clean it up and I may not.) Why do societies repeatedly struggle with fear, hostility, and violence towards “the other”? From ancient migrations to modern debates over immigration, this pattern appears universal and stubborn. Yet, beneath the rhetoric and reaction, both biology and history reveal that turning against outsiders is not inevitable. Instead, recognizing the roots of otherism can help us transcend instincts and build a more cooperative, adaptable future. ### The Biological Basis: Built-in Boundaries and the Genetics of Aggression Research across genetics, neuroscience, and […]

Retrolanguage, Language Models, & a Hidden Crisis: Understanding & Responding to the Risks Shaping Human Thought

Large Language Models (LLMs) are reshaping communication, information exchange, and human decision-making at scale. While their capabilities offer efficiencies and new forms of connection, they also introduce substantial risks—ethical, psychological, social, and technological—that demand urgent consideration from technologists, policymakers, and the public.

This report synthesizes current research, expert analysis, and ongoing conversation to explore these risks, focusing on the unique concept of retrolanguage—the subtle and potentially dangerous drift in linguistic meaning enabled by LLMs.

Migrant Malfeasance = Societal Self-Destruction

If you walk the streets of any city and look at the faces, hear the languages, note the foods, fashions, and festivals, it is impossible to miss a simple truth: all of humanity, everywhere on Earth, is the product of migration. Borders are recent. Migration is ancient. Arguing against migration (or against the diversity it brings) is like arguing against air or water as necessary for life. Here, let’s review…

The Human Crisis: Our Struggle For Cohesion

Look around, and you’ll see a paradox: in a world of technological marvels and vast resources, billions still suffer from hunger, homelessness, and hatred. We’ve mapped genomes, explored distant planets, and shrunk the world through digital connections, yet we can’t seem to guarantee everyone a full belly, a safe place to sleep, and mutual respect.

The repeated story is that this is “just the way things are.” But is it really? Or are we missing something deeper that cuts across borders, politics, and technologies?

Ignore the propaganda/media (all you need to know is…)

(audio courtesy of https://notegpt.io – a free online text to speech generator) Captive, coerced, and controlled labor is the grail of economy. Cheap, captive, coerced, and controlled labor is the grail of capitalism. Cowed, cheap, captive, coerced, and controlled labor is the grail of power. Consider the focus and locus of all this activity and effort — it is enlightening: All economy stops without labor. Global Capitalism fails without labor. All Power crumbles without labor. If you sell your labor, every bit of the above is targeting you. Economy, Global Capitalism, Power, they ALL know their entire kingdom rests upon […]

Thoughts on ‘handing out hits for free’, errata

In 2010, I submitted several ideas to my employer, a TCCG and Analog Pen and Paper Roleplay company: They laughed me out of the meeting and laid me off later that year. In June of 2023, thirteen years after I and all my suggestions got laughed out of the company, they finally released the LoTR cross over set. It is the #1 selling set of all time as I write this. To date, they have yet to manage print on demand, but it remains most likely to save their PnP brand. They didn’t go all in on their MMO, which […]