Author Archives: acorwin

An Incomplete List of Reasons I Failed To Understand An Explanation

I didn’t know enough to follow it I didn’t care enough to follow it I was too drunk to follow it It relied on unstated context that I didn’t have It relied on unstated context that I had but didn’t … Continue reading

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The Peter Principle Is Necessary

Author’s note: not sure why I decided to let this languish in drafts. It seems both basically true and basically complete. Perhaps I had more thoughts, now forgotten, that I hadn’t managed to fit in? Maybe it felt too obvious? … Continue reading

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On Skills and Learning

Authors note: Publishing this because I’m publishing drafts today. This post is entirely true and many people would benefit substantially from internalizing its ideas. It reads more like the intro to a post though – a sequence on skills and … Continue reading

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The Two Buckets Theory Of Gender

Author’s note: This was written years ago. I still think it’s mostly true, but I never published it because it didn’t feel like a full explication of why this is worth thinking about. I’ve since seen similar models gestured at, … Continue reading

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Assorted Thoughts on Dragon Quest XI

Note: I wrote this a few years ago and never published it because it’s super negative and probably nobody cares. But rereading it now is kind of fun so I’m putting it out there. I liked the game but god … Continue reading

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Performance Optimizations In Rust

Note: I wrote this a couple years ago, and abandoned it because it didn’t have a satisfying conclusion. It’s not a great story narratively but I still think it’s interesting, so here it is! Some years ago, my coworker Zack … Continue reading

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How The Principle Of Charity Feels From The Inside

Read something that sucks. It’s super bad, and it’s about something important to you. Your blood pressure goes through the roof, you can’t wait to show all your friends how fucking stupid this moron who doesn’t even understand the in-group … Continue reading

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Invisible Segmentations

People who learn about aphantasia tend to be shocked that there are people out there with a vastly different imagination than theirs; and, moreso, they are shocked that they didn’t know. Everyone understands the general meaning of the phrase “imagine … Continue reading

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They Should Have Sent A Movie Director

Final Fantasy 7 Remake* is a decent movie, telling a good story, awkwardly bolted onto an okay but frustrating game. It suffers from, in my opinion, two primary flaws that have similar impacts on the player, but was a pretty … Continue reading

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Another False Eschatology

You know how light always travels the fastest path, even though that’s obviously impossible and makes no fucking sense? Also, how the many-worlds interpretation is true? Bear with me, I’m going somewhere with this. The you that experiences has to … Continue reading

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