Superb Owl

Subscribe via Substack:

Two Paths out of Hell

The Benefits of Anger and Shame
Mon Mar 25 2024

Mix Math and Morality in Moderation

Quantifying morality is helpful, but we need to be careful
Mon Mar 04 2024

The Intersubjective Continuum

Belief and truth interact in strange ways
Thu Feb 29 2024

Ego Death by Any Other Name

Dissolution, de-reification, depersonalization, non-dual experience, the oceanic state, psychic death...
Sun Jan 28 2024

Exegesis: The Paintings of Hilma af Klint

The spiritualist roots of abstract art
Sat Jan 20 2024

Suffering = Pain × Resistance

Meditative techniques for coping with physical and emotional pain. Also, math.
Wed Dec 13 2023

Navigating Manic Psychosis

Some advice on a wild mindstate, from experience and observation
Sun Nov 05 2023

How to Start a Meditation Practice

It's not as hard as you think
Thu Sep 28 2023

Exegesis: Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain"

George Clinton's masterpiece of semi-Satanic psychedelic Afro-futurism
Thu Aug 31 2023

The Link Between Meditation and Inner Work

Psychological maturity is a requirement for bliss
Sun Aug 27 2023

Behavioral Theology

Quantifying the effects of belief
Sat Aug 05 2023

Exegesis: Stalker and Roadside Picnic

Dissecting Tarkovsky's masterpiece and the novel it was based on
Sun Jul 23 2023

One Year of Superb Owl

Lots of gratitude and a few announcements
Fri Jul 21 2023

How to Enjoy Things

Cultivating "wide attention" with Marion Milner, Colin Wilson, and Alan Watts
Sat Jul 08 2023

The Nitrous Revelation

Eight hours with a tank of laughing gas
Thu Jun 29 2023

Why does Depression Suck so Much?

Some answers and advice from personal experience
Sat Jun 10 2023

Church of Reality: Ernst Mach on Mind, Matter, and the Illusion of Self

"The ego must be given up."
Fri May 19 2023

Contra Ozy Brennan on Ameliatarianism

Constructing an ethical diet is hard. Utilitarian morality isn't the answer.
Thu May 04 2023

The Science of Emergent Phenomena

Why I'm joining the EPRC
Fri Apr 28 2023

Ayn Rand Will Kill Us All

Greed, Logic, and AI Doom in Atlas Shrugged
Sat Apr 22 2023

You Don't Always Have to be Rational

Really. It's OK. Take a break. You'll feel better.
Sun Apr 16 2023

The Shapes of Stories with ChatGPT

Investigating classic literature with a Large Language Model
Sat Mar 18 2023

Taoism, Minus the Nonsense

A beautiful ontology, brilliant semiotics, and practical ethics. Also sex magic.
Sat Mar 11 2023

Beware the Variable-Maximizers

Optimizing for a single metric is bad, whether it's clicks, shareholder value, or paperclips
Thu Mar 02 2023

Who will be first AI to earn legal personhood?

Do androids dream of human rights?
Fri Feb 17 2023

Active Dreaming: Methods, Habits, and Drugs

Ways to improve dream recall, awareness, depth, and engagement
Sun Feb 12 2023

Jungian Psychology, Minus the Nonsense

Making sense of an esoteric theory of mind
Sat Jan 28 2023

Church of Reality: Max Planck on Idealism and the Role of Faith in Science

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness."
Mon Jan 16 2023

Free Will, Willpower, and Randomness

Highlights from some recent conversations
Tue Jan 03 2023

Time is a Wheel, Time is an Arrow

Linear and cyclical views of time have competed for millennia
Thu Dec 15 2022

Causal Explanations Considered Harmful

On the logical fallacy of causal projection
Sun Dec 04 2022

The Psychosocial Beauty of r/AmITheAsshole

Social norms are hard. AITA is the new Emily Post.
Wed Nov 30 2022

Active Dreaming is More Powerful than Meditation and Safer than Psychedelics

Active Dreaming is an underrated way to introspect, combat mental health issues, and access exotic mindstates
Tue Nov 22 2022

Can we Trust Self-Reported Mystical Experiences?

Some heuristics for evaluating experience reports
Mon Nov 07 2022

Church of Reality: Barbara McClintock on Scientific Mysticism and Plant Consciousness

"Every time I walk on grass I feel sorry because I know the grass is screaming at me."
Sat Nov 05 2022

Links for October

A day late!
Wed Nov 02 2022

You Awaken in a Room

Sun Oct 30 2022

A Different Kind of AI Risk: Artificial Suffering

Avoiding moral catastrophe as artificial intelligence evolves
Sun Oct 16 2022

Church of Reality: Cantor on Infinity and Divine Freedom

Cantor uncovered the nature of infinity, but both mathematicians and theologians accused him of blasphemy.
Thu Oct 06 2022

Church of Reality: Schrödinger on Free Will and Pantheism

Schrödinger was a world-class physicist who wrote a great deal about philosophy, theology, and metaphysics
Sat Sep 24 2022

Links for September

Another month on the internet
Tue Sep 20 2022

Psychedelics are Becoming a Touchpoint Between Science and Religion

After centuries of conflict, science and religion are starting to communicate via psychedelic research
Sun Sep 11 2022

The U.S. military is growing concerned about UFOs. Should we worry?

Trying to make sense of a subject rife with nonsense
Sat Sep 03 2022

Digging into the Drake Equation

Or: how I learned to abuse mathematics and make wild assertions
Fri Sep 02 2022

The Future of Art is Artificial

AI will enable creative people to do amazing things
Tue Aug 23 2022

Religion is an Ego-modulator

William James, Aldous Huxley, and the functions of religion
Thu Aug 18 2022

Split Brain Psychology

The strange interactions of Selfhood and Multiplicity
Fri Aug 12 2022

Links for August 2022

Wed Aug 10 2022

The Mysticism of Scott Alexander

A prominent rationalist flirts with spirituality
Mon Aug 08 2022

What is Mysticism?

A working definition for skeptics
Wed Jul 27 2022

Links for July 2022

Things I've recently found interesting
Sun Jul 24 2022

Book Review: Facing the Dragon

Sat Jul 23 2022