Rapid Fire

Basically a blog where I try to do philosophy outside.

MVP mini-manifesto

I’m always fascinated by Most Valuable Player awards because I think they’re a great encapsulation of how we think about value in sports...

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...

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...

I got my guy!

So here’s the mind-blowing keynote for Who’s Responsible for ChatGPT? Apparently I have a very expressive face. Anyway, I’ll give you a...

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”...

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...

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.)...

Robert Horry and Value Capture

You already know what value capture is if you’ve encountered NBA Ring Culture. You know your cousin who says Michael Jeffrey Jordan is...

"More good is better than less good"

Here's a bad question: How many people should there be? Uh oh. That's renowned Oxford moral philosopher Derek Parfit, by the way. I shall...

This one's not really about chess

There are 255,168 possible games of tic-tac-toe and they’re all boring. If both sides play perfectly, tic-tac-toe is a draw. And playing...

Ricky Mouser