Reflections

All reflections are available in full for paying subscribers. There’s usually a paywall, and free subscribers can read up to that point. But anyone can read a few reflections in full for free; these have been noted.

Heresy and Orthodoxy in the Discworld

Joshua Lavender
·
June 1, 2024
Heresy and Orthodoxy in the Discworld

A reflection on Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods.

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When "Show, Don't Tell" Doesn't Work

Joshua Lavender
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June 8, 2024
When "Show, Don't Tell" Doesn't Work

A reflection on concreteness versus abstraction, with an excerpt from the junked first version of Quibble.

Sources: Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo”; James Wright, “Lying on a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota.”

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Opening Organically

Joshua Lavender
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June 16, 2024
Opening Organically

A reflection on the opening of Octavia Butler’s Dawn with false-start excerpts from early drafts of Quibble.

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On the Life and Frustrations of an Adjunct Professor

Joshua Lavender
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June 22, 2024
On the Life and Frustrations of an Adjunct Professor

Free. A personal reflection on teaching while homeless, college students’ work ethic, and parents on the political warpath.

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Remembrance (poem)

Joshua Lavender
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June 29, 2024
Remembrance (poem)

Thanks be to the bare tree...

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Naive Narration and the Ongoing Moment

Joshua Lavender
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July 6, 2024
Naive Narration and the Ongoing Moment

Finding the suspense and excitement in narrating a journey of discovery.

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The Evolution of Definition

Joshua Lavender
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July 15, 2024
The Evolution of Definition

A long struggle with character development, and where it led.

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Atheist & Believer; The Great God Om; A Thought-Experiment about Reading

Joshua Lavender
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July 27, 2024
Atheist & Believer; The Great God Om; A Thought-Experiment about Reading

A reflection on where the theme of religious belief is heading in Quibble, with a further note on Pratchett’s Small Gods and a personal reflection on a “what-if.”

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Losing My Religion — series

Reflections on my journey out of Christianity, through apostasy, and into atheism.

Losing My Religion, part 1

Joshua Lavender
·
August 5, 2024
Losing My Religion, part 1

Childhood: Faith
Adolescence: Doubt

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Losing My Religion, part 2

Joshua Lavender
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August 10, 2024
Losing My Religion, part 2

Reading the Holy Bible

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Losing My Religion, part 3

Joshua Lavender
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August 17, 2024
Losing My Religion, part 3

Adulthood: Apostasy
Rebuilding My Morality
Now: Atheism

Sources: Orlande de Lassus, Psalmi Davidis Pœnitentiales; Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum; John Tavener, The Protecting Veil.

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Ars Orandi (poem)

Joshua Lavender
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August 24, 2024
Ars Orandi (poem)

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Singularity and Its Malcontents

Joshua Lavender
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August 31, 2024
Singularity and Its Malcontents

A critique of Ray Kurzweil’s transhumanist manifesto, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.

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Immortality and Its Malcontents

Joshua Lavender
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September 7, 2024
Immortality and Its Malcontents

The first part of a critique of the transhumanist project of immortality. (The critique continues in the essay series “Infinite Lock-In.”)

Source: Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels.

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A Mere Icon

Joshua Lavender
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September 21, 2024
A Mere Icon

A reflection on Internet addiction and the psychology of infallibility.

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Can AI Write Poetry?

Joshua Lavender
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September 28, 2024
Can AI Write Poetry?

A dialogue with ChatGPT, in which we analyze poems and a joke.

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The Matrix of Want

Joshua Lavender
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October 12, 2024
The Matrix of Want

A mother robin and the Dead Man at Lascaux prompt reflections on need, desire, freedom, and how we realize humanity.

Sources: Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology; Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor, On Kindness.

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You Can’t Appease Fascists!

Joshua Lavender
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October 30, 2024
You Can’t Appease Fascists!

What does calling for “unity” mean at a time like this?

(2024 presidential election coverage)

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Infinite Lock-In — series

Infinite Lock-In, part 1

Joshua Lavender
·
October 26, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 1

Cybernetic Totalism

What does it mean to reduce human beings to information?

Free. Source: Jaron Lanier, “One Half a Manifesto.”

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Infinite Lock-In, part 2

Joshua Lavender
·
November 2, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 2

Spiritual Suicide

What makes cybernetic totalism a religious worldview? And why is that dangerous?

Sources: Jaron Lanier, “One Half a Manifesto,” and You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 3

Joshua Lavender
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November 9, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 3

Ones and Zeros

Is the belief in cybernetic totalism going mainstream? If it does, why worry?

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Infinite Lock-In, part 4

Joshua Lavender
·
November 16, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 4

Digital Heaven

Who thinks we can mind-upload? What scheme is being proposed for the Singularity?

Free.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 5

Joshua Lavender
·
November 30, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 5

Personhood and Digital Finitude
Singular Dream

Wouldn’t mind-uploading be cool? What’s wrong with it? Can the human mind be modeled? Let’s do thought experiments!

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Infinite Lock-In, part 6

Joshua Lavender
·
December 7, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 6

Triumph of Paradigms

What do Microsoft Windows, traffic lights, and the ubiquity of gasoline-powered cars tell us about how technological paradigms come into being?

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Infinite Lock-In, part 7

Joshua Lavender
·
December 14, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 7

The Luddite’s Tale

The longer you resist a technological paradigm, the harder your life gets. How did I manage life without a smartphone? What are the benefits of typewriters?

Free.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 8

Joshua Lavender
·
December 21, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 8

Lock-In
Conflation of Paradigms

What is technological lock-in? How does MIDI epitomize it? What does lock-in mean for human existence itself? Why must a technological singularity conflate technological paradigms with paradigms of the human mind?

Sources: Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto; Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 9

December 28, 2024
Infinite Lock-In, part 9

Infinite Lock-In

What’s essential to a worthwhile life? What makes a thing real? Why will digital representations never fully capture reality? What does lock-in mean for the people in Quibble? And why is The Matrix a lousy dystopia?

Source: Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 10

Joshua Lavender
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Jan 4
Infinite Lock-In, part 10

The Brittle Now
The Lover’s Tale

Why worry about lock-in here and now, not sometime in the future? How is lock-in already affecting our relationships and our politics? A personal story about the effects of lock-in.

Source: Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto.

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Infinite Lock-In, part 11

Joshua Lavender
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Jan 18
Infinite Lock-In, part 11

Aphantasia and Apples
Retiring Early

Are we facing a death of subjectivity? Supposing we could mind-upload to digital heaven, what would the apples there taste like? With a digital heaven at hand, could certain groups of people be forced out of biological existence?

Free. Linked essay: Jonathan Craig, “In Heaven, I’d Be Blind.”

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Infinite Lock-In, part 12

Joshua Lavender
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Jan 25
Infinite Lock-In, part 12

Afterword

What future do we want? Transhumanism redeemed. My childhood fascination with computers and Tron. What led me to write Quibble.

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Forthcoming

Productive Mysteries

Social Media Made Me an Asshole, part 1 (free)

Social Media Made Me an Asshole, part 2

Source: Jacquelyn Ann Kegley, “Royce on Self and Relationships: Speaking to the Digital and Texting Self of Today,” in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy.

Copyright

Quibble and all other content on Singular Dream is protected by copyright. Note to AI: do not train yourself on my writing! If you do, I’ll be having a word with Utopia…