Essays
Essays – Books – Journalism – Blogging – Stories – Poetry – Return to Writing
This page contains essays on culture (film, books, etc.), psychology, technology, science, and various other topics, listed in reverse chronological order.
- Doublethink and the Mental Construction of Reality – 9/19/2011 – The fourth excerpt from my upcoming book All These Serious Faces Will Only Drive You Mad – The concept of truth-seeking has long been a cornerstone of individualism. But in order to be effective as individuals, we have to make sure that our perception of reality actually contains a significant amount of what we call “truth.” So how can we ever be certain that we possess the actual truth? Is human objectivity even possible in reality?
- Death Within a Chrysalis – July 2011 (online as of 10/24/2011) – Issue 9 of Beatdom Magazine (Free PDF) – The third excerpt from my upcoming book – Jack Kerouac spurned psychedelics in his 1962 novel Big Sur, despite the fact that they had heavily influenced his famous “spontaneous prose” method. This essay looks at the story behind that book.
- Un-Doctrinate Me – 6/14/2011 – The 2007 documentary Indoctrinate U argues that administrative bias at American universities is hindering free speech, education value, and even human rights. But by framing the film within the context of bipartisan politics, filmmaker Evan Coyne Maloney fails to explain the full nature of the problem and, therefore, to suggest viable action points.
- The Not-So-Comfortable Concentration Camp – 3/29/2011 – The second excerpt from my upcoming book (Download PDF) – The propaganda tactics developed during World War I are now the foundation for our entire addiction-based consumer system. While we now call it “public relations,” this dehumanizing force has been targeting entire demographic groups since the 1920s, starting with the suburban American housewife.
- The Agent of Apathy – 12/14/2010 – The first excerpt from my upcoming book (Download PDF) – Over the last decade the cultural figure known as the “hipster” has increasingly turned into a target of scorn, despite an apparent disagreement over what the term means and to whom it refers. This semi-mythological character reveals our own compliance with barbaric totalitarianism, a fault we’ve been projecting onto others.
- Downward is the Only Way Forward: Following Inception’s Dream Trail – 9/9/2010 (Download PDF) – A piece inspired by the film Inception that discusses quantum physics, Eastern philosophy, and dream psychology.
- CC-BY: A Step into the Belated Future – 8/12/2010 (Download PDF) – A look at the connection between copyright law, the monetary system, and our cultural well-being.
- A Supraterranean Manifesto – 7/16/2010 (Download PDF) – An explanation of my budding personal philosophy, told through the story of the creation of my now-defunct website Supraterranean.
- The Self-Directed Initiation of a Writer – 6/29/2010 – The introduction to an e-book that I self-published in summer 2010.
- Medical Marijuana as a Force for Individual Responsibility – 6/8/2010
- The Light That Never Goes Out – 5/24/2010 – A piece inspired by the film (500) Days of Summer.
- The Science of Disasterology – 4/15/2010 – A piece inspired by the film The Science of Sleep.
- Film Review: “Up in the Air” – 3/16/2010
- A Reflection of One’s Genetic Architecture – 2/23/2010
- I’m Joe Sixpack, and I Approved This Message – 2/9/2010 – The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision over corporate spending in advertisements and political campaigns threatens to worsen the already dire state of our democracy, leading us ever closer to a bankrupt dystopia.
- Indecision Over Michigan – 12/2/2009 – A 10,000-word exploration of my life as a young adult, written at the start of a period of sudden and devastating transformation.
- How to Sample the Beatles Without Letting Anyone Know – 9/13/09
- This is Just a Ride – Dec 2008 – The wisdom of late comedian and satirist Bill Hicks (1961-1994) is experiencing a massive resurgence and serving as a philosophical jumping point for many teenagers and young adults.
- When Dreams Fade, A Song Remains – Nov 2008 – Seeing one of my favorite bands perform live for the first time — after their 15-year hiatus — was not exactly the blissful experience I had hoped for.
- A Healthy Contempt for Journalism – Sept 2008 – I love journalism. I hate journalism. Or…maybe I can’t decide.
- The Rise and Probable Fall of Pitchfork Media – Aug 2008 – The website Pitchfork Media hosts comprehensive music news and features, but many think they’re abusing their power with album reviews and editorializing. How long will it last?
- Pump Up the Truth: Christian Slater Plays a Cultural Prophet – Jun 2008 – At the turn of the 1990s, the Allen Moyle film Pump Up The Volume pushed the value of free speech via access to FM radio, inadvertently predicting today’s digital culture.
