This website is a tool for helping me clarify my thoughts about the way the world appears to be, and some very rough ideas about how changing our perspective on consciousness might increase what appear to be the rather low prospects of a thriving, long-term human culture.

I’ve long been intrigued by the concept of melding ideas about fundamental mind, broadly-interpreted hylozoism, findings of modern physics and other scientific disciplines, and an imaginative expansion from investigations of non-human animals, particularly Odontocetes (toothed whales such as orcas, dolphins, etc.) At its core, the idea is that the fundamental nature of reality includes both qualitative and quantitative properties—extending beyond what is merely measurable. Once we have escaped from the narrow view of the universe as exclusively physical, the horizon of worldviews worthy of serious consideration expands tremendously.

Evidences that appear to support the conceptions of holism and fundamental mind can be found in many places, but they remain somewhat piecemeal. Pulling some of them together is what I try to do here. Trying to express and integrate such wide ranging ideas in a coherent manner, however, is very humbling for someone who knows so little about any of them. As C.S. Lewis wrote: “I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it.“ C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964)

The articles here are all works in progress, varying in their level of completion. I tend to prioritize exploring more material, even if it’s roughly stated, rather than refining fewer pieces to a higher degree. This approach can sometimes result in inconsistencies or unfinished ideas. If you have suggestions for improvement, please let me know– I look forward to good criticism.

Edward Tufte style

The site was built with a GitHub Hugo theme based on Edward Tufte’s ideas, and the very strong tutelage of ChatGPT (no way I could have done this on my own). The Tufte CSS package was developed by Dave Liepman “to style web articles using the ideas demonstrated by Edward Tufte’s books and handouts.” Tufte is revered by many for his simple, elegant approach to presenting information, particularly data visualization. Many of his books, all self-published, Tufte was turned down by numerous publishing houses, finally deciding to mortgage his house and self-publish his first book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information in 1983. are widely considered classics by technical editors and professionals whose job includes communicating technical information.