It’s a Book!

20 April, 202226 July, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 6 Comments

In which I announce that I'm going to write a book. Read more (3 min, 700 words).

7 Hang-ups To Hang Up On

23 February, 20222 February, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 3 Comments

I discuss the seven facets of perfectionism I need to get under control if I want to become a more productive writer. Read more (12 min, 3000 words).

Looking Back on ’21 and Forward to the Rest

6 January, 20224 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 6 Comments

I sum up last year, look back on six years of blogging, and decide that it's probably time for some crisis and change. But how, and what? Read more (11 min, 2800 words.)

The Importance of Being a Slog

19 November, 202117 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 8 Comments

Why are supposedly serious and profound fiction often difficult and boring to read? Is there a necessary connection between the two? I argue yes, a bit, but it's hard to tell when the connection is illusory and fake.
Read more (23 min, 5700 words).

A Hundred for the 100th

21 September, 202117 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 5 Comments

To celebrate my 100th post, I wrote 100 haikus as summaries of each post so far. Read more (8 min, 2000 words).

Hindsight in 2020

29 December, 20208 March, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 4 Comments

I sum up 2020 and digress a little about writing, creativity and how things become part of the past. Read more (14 min, 3500 words).

Notes on Notes

24 September, 202017 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 6 Comments

A tale on the nature of footnotes, writing in general, and other things, told almost entirely in footnotes. Read more (18 min, 5500 words).

Leftovers from Last Time

22 May, 202017 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 17 Comments

I pick up and elaborate on some parts that were cut from my review of "The AI Does Not Hate You", including some riffing on mind dumps, weirdness, tensions between the rationalist community and polite society, my conservatism-free youth, the conservatism of Star Trek and my hopes for AI stagnation.
Read more (17 min, 4300 words).

The End of 2019

30 December, 201917 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 5 Comments

I try to sum up 2019, a year that started out well but took a weird turn about a third of the way through. Read more (6 min, 1400 words.)

In Favor of Sometimes Sounding Like a Robot

24 July, 201917 January, 2022 ~ John Nerst ~ 12 Comments

If we want to sound friendly and appealing when presenting thoughts about human behavior we should avoid analytical, distancing language. But what if the value of an analytical and distancing perspective is part of what you want to communicate? Read more (11 min, 3500 words).