Sifting the Truth from World Zero, the Imagined, and the Mediated — Imagine a fantasy realm where nobody is content to live a single life at a time. Everybody is conscious of multiple worlds that are like twisted skeins of truth, a roiling rope of realities. What kind of planet would you use as a setting? I would use Earth, because we…

A Sci-Fi Allegory of Our Political Alienation — Kate, a police detective investigating a multiple murder, wakes up to find a strange man in bed with her and a strange thing in her infant son’s bed. The substitutions weren’t even human, they were some kind of revolting and soulless copies. …

Nature enchants us with novelty but engages us with familiarity — My friend Joe S, our lab manager, had a lot to teach me. A dark-haired American Irishman with, I gathered, IRA connections, he was all about rough justice. When I asked how you decide what judges to vote for he said to always vote them all out. …

Massively hegemonizing, wickedly indifferent aliens are on their way here — “Advanced aliens really are out there, and we have enough data to say roughly where they are in space and time, and when we will meet or see them.” Robin Hanson, grabbyaliens.com The Paradox There is no consensus here on Earth that we have detected ET aliens, either near us or greatly…

They are rare and arbitrary — “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” — A Course in Miracles The contemplation of miraculous events often leads to fruitless disagreement about big deals like the nature of reality. …

The right attitude solves everything — “No need to ask, He’s a Smooth Operator” — Sade Adu A free man doesn’t worry about vaccines. If there’s an epidemic, somebody will make a vaccine and sell it to him. Won’t take any time at all without government interference. Somebody else will test it, make sure it works…

We are wired to detect reality; sometimes we err high or low — “This feels so unreal.” — Nearly all of us, sometime during the pandemic Each of us has a brain that constructs realities for us, using our senses and memory boxes of dusty debris from the unconscious attic. Our biological survival depends on our discerning base reality from our imaginings and…