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Before we talk about numbers, let’s talk about empathy. Death sucks. It’s probably the number one worst thing about living. Otherwise, living is mostly great. But death kinda mucks it up in the end. Over 4,000 people have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s more than died in the US during the 9/11 attacks. It’s… Continue reading

I can’t stop thinking about the science-fiction post-apocalyptic nightmare we’d be living in right now if the regular flu didn’t exist until December of 2019 and it suddenly appeared and started spreading in the age of the internet. 32 million Americans have gotten the flu this year so far. 310,000 needed hospitalization. 18,000 have died.… Continue reading

A popular refrain from writers is that they don’t enjoy writing, but they enjoy having written. I find this is true for so many things in life. There’s the joy we experience while doing a thing, and then there’s the joy of having done the thing. The “have had” pleasure. Exercise is a good example.… Continue reading

One of the more pernicious effects of the Trump administration is that non-crazy people now have to distrust government agencies. And that conspiracy theorists are difficult to mock. Neither of these things used to be true. The idea that government is inherently untrustworthy or that they are inefficient at their jobs … is mostly wrong.… Continue reading

Let’s imagine a future dystopia where we live among machines that provide a much-needed service, but through mechanical failures and user error, they kill over one million people per year. ONE MILLION. Another 20 – 40 million are seriously injured or permanently disabled every year from these machines. That would be the car. And it… Continue reading