Thoughts
I write a lot. Essays. Articles. Blog posts. All of them sharing what I’m thinking about. Maybe you think about these things, too.
Finding Hope in Fictional Death
But mysteries cut through the wooliness of our understanding and the demands of the present and invite us to take a step back and think about all those things, precisely because the stakes are so high.
A Useless Heroine
It resonates for us, too, as we feel paralyzed with helplessness: it often feels like our own resistance is about saying no, about doing the right thing, and sometimes—for some of us—to die. It feels absurd and futile. And yet it is what we’re compelled to do when faced with injustice.
The Danger of Girls’ Schools
The danger of girls’ schools is that they remind us of things we’d rather forget. That we need safe spaces. That we are learning, growing, developing inside of high walls that are never high enough to keep violence out.
Why AI Can’t Write Poetry
The rest of the bot’s writing is about on a par with its poetry, but the latter stands out because poetry appeals to more than just the brain: it’s an echo of lived experience, a reaction to the world’s constant change. So many poems illuminate the struggle we experience when life takes us in a different direction than the one we’d planned. Our hopes and desires are often thwarted and poetry gives word and life to the pain that ensues.
Where Do We Find Meaning?
We're outsourcing the activities that give meaning to our lives. Most of us look for what we might call "meaning opportunities": places where we can do good, or create something, or exercise empathy. What happens when those are the very opportunities taken over by something that is non-sentient? What takes their place in our lives?
It’s All About the Storms
It might be too obvious a metaphor, but I’m going for it anyway: the last few weeks and months, we’ve all been inundated with the daily rapid-fire shocking news that comes out of a regime whose principal goal appears to be creating chaos. The storm is shielding me from all that today.
Television to the Rescue!
We cannot always be protesting, writing signs and letters, calling our legislators. We must do all those things, and more; but we also need to step back from them so we're healthy enough to stay the course.
Who Will Write Tomorrow's Great Literature?
Literature is born out of a balance of that frustration and the utter joy one feels when the work does come together. When the practice ceases to be part of the creative process, that disconnect means that deep thoughts cannot find their way into literature.
Censorship is so 1984. Read for Your Rights
I’ll be honest: some of these books do contain scary or uncomfortable material, but that does not mean they should be kept away from the public. Life is full of scary and uncomfortable circumstances. People go through unpleasant, tragic, and downright terrifying experiences every day, and these characters, stories, and situations mirror the experiences that people have. And help us learn how to cope with those experiences.
Facts May Be Dead. The Truth Isn’t.
We’re called to make something of the here and now, to make something that approximates truth out of the fear and the confusion and the lies, if for no other reason than to leave a record.
Just a Frivolous Interview
I did this interview a year or so ago for a publication whose name I’ve forgotten… but it was frivolous and fun and I feel that maybe sometimes something a little lighter would do us all some good! Enjoy!
Beyond this be dragons
I don’t know how to live on the borderline between what was and what will be, in the current shadow world of secrets and lies and abominations.
Know Them Before You Break Them
But essential to any of these options is an understanding of both the rule’s original intent and its current application; in comparing these two aspects, we can proceed with genuine wisdom.
Why AI Can’t Do Poetry
A bot executes algorithms, and does so perfectly every time. There is no space there for the experience of failure, or the yearning for something transcendent.
The Loneliness Crisis: Words to the Rescue
I feel I’m leaving friends, or acquaintances, or a whole community behind when I close the book. How on earth could I ever be lonely?
The Story's The Thing
I’m always talking about how the stories we tell and the stories we read or hear or view both reflect and shape who we are. Usually I’m talking about enlightenment—learning something about ourselves, delving into issues such as pain or love or agency. But sometimes, the stories teach us facts.
Is AI the Beginning or the End?
I’m not worried—yet. AI can’t do what I can do—yet. Computers can’t just create stories in a void; instead, they’re given a massive number of exemplars—works that are similar to what the computer is tasked to create—which is then broken down into data. AI reads the data using statistical algorithms to recognize patterns and relationships.