Essays
Philosophical and Political
Desert Variations
[Notes: February-March 2025] **I have moved to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, long-ago hangout for Ed Abbey and a botanically more abundant, diverse desert but without the fascinations of rock and floral creativity that I saw in Joshua Tree. (I spent five days...
Living Towards Ends
Not long ago I wrote an essay[1] about what are called “existential risks,” aka “X-risks,” those calamitous possibilities (e.g., nuclear war, anthropogenic climate disruption, pandemic, and more, sometimes referred to collectively as the polycrisis) that are...
Aging: The Surprise
I awoke today preoccupied with thoughts about aging and its place in a life—Thoughts about aging as a phenomenon and as my experience and how it came on me as a surprise. I then moved to an obvious question: When does aging begin? (I know well enough when it ends.) My...
A Patient’s View
These thoughts are sent into the dentistry realm not from a dental practitioner or researcher but from a patient. I presume to do so based on two facets of my history. First, I have far more than the average level of dental problems (although perhaps not...
The End of Our World
Having wandered Earth for 200,000 years, it may be time for Homo sapiens to consider that destiny did not intend its occupancy for eternity, and perhaps far short of that as such things go. Faced with certain eventualities, humans could shuffle off this mortal coil...
2022 The Northern Route – Aarhus Cathedral
17 October: In Aarhus I discover another giant old cathedral and spend some time there. Parts of it are several hundred years old and it has more nooks, crannies, and mysteries than most. I’m not a “believer” and never will be, having evolved out of that 60 years ago,...