Breaking, Unbroken
Something I used to think about a lot was what we mean when we use the term ‘free will.’ Some people argue a great deal over whether it exists, which has always seemed a bit silly to me: The so-called…
Category Essays
Multimedia
What’s interesting about games as a medium is that, as I touched on briefly last week, they aren’t a medium in any substantial sense. Yes, there are certain expectations and technical restraints and conventions, but nothing that can’t be easily…
Patrolling the Premises
I recently read this article decrying the famous trolley problem’s newfound fame and ubiquity. While I may have quibbles regarding some of its arguments, I still found it a very interesting and thought-provoking piece. I’d like to, for the moment,…
A Miner Shift
Decades ago, a friend told me a logic problem that had a big impact on how I see the world. Two workers emerge from the coal mines after a long day of work: One’s face is covered in soot, the…
Letting Go
I have a hard time letting go. Sometimes one gets haunted by the past not because it’s haunting but merely because it is past. Memories cling, like getting a song stuck in your head except it’s just a moment, a…
Vessels of Absence
I used to want to be fearless. This made sense as an aspiration at the time – I reasoned that many people avoid doing things out of fear, and to move beyond fear was to be freer, more able…
Dreaming Alone
I love single-player games. Don’t get me wrong, I like all sorts of multiplayer games as well, and I enjoy cooperation and competition as much as anyone, but what really excites me about the medium of games is the possibility…
A Net for Water
Writing has been difficult recently. Every idea I think to write about feels obvious, trivial, or disingenuous. I like to take threads of ideas and follow them back, to see what each idea implies about its underlying antecedents, to tug…
The Test of Time
Everything is temporary, and it’s easy to forget that. There’s something in us that drives us to seek stability, try to find something permanent and reliable, that can be there for us forever, and during this pursuit it becomes to…
The Weight of Words
I think words are important. This is, perhaps, an unusual trait – even many of those who make their living with words seemingly have little respect or affection for them. Often we treat words with contempt, as imperfect vessels for…