If faux animal products were qualitatively identical to actual animal products, would you make the switch? — It’s no secret: some people abhor food that was “created in a lab.” The unnaturalness of a thing made through human ingenuity is deemed suspect, either inherently, or because the products in question have yet to be tested through lifetimes of consumption. …

Instead, Greta Gerwig’s fictional world provided a playful and nuanced take on Barbie, as an idea. — The last few days have seen some criticism of Barbieland’s diversity. In paraphrase: “It isn’t adequately representational. It doesn’t have queer or gender non-conforming barbies. It focuses only on skinny, pretty women. It’s consumerist. Men are pushed to the sidelines.” After seeing the movie, I was a bit surprised by…

A critique of quickness in American capitalism — Usually, people talk about productivity in isolation from all other dreams or ambitions someone might have. This is for a reason — people want their ideas about how to do things to apply to as many people as humanly possible, be they a copywriter or a hunter/gatherer in some uncontacted…

AI needn’t replace human beings to change the average person’s ability to access resources, possibly for the worse. — When discussing AI, people often make a queer argument in an attempt to alleviate general anxiety. It goes as follows: “In many fields, AI won’t replace humans. Instead, they will augment them, so that they’re more efficient and free to focus on the most fulfilling aspects of their job.” This…

A brief line of questioning — “Nothing” is such a strange word. It refers, one must think, but to nothing in particular. One wonders: is it meaningful, or merely a placeholder (like the word “it” in the phrase “it rains”)? Heidegger seemed to think it was meaningful. He wrote on Nothingness with a capital “N” and…

A poetic narrative of my embodied experience with C-PTSD — The chest butterflies never leave me. They stay — each day, in metamorphosis — but, oh, they stay. First, they’re cockroaches. Next, they’re bees. Then, flies. Piranhas. Electric eels. It’s a buzzing, biting, stinging vibration some doctor would call the physiological component of anxiety. But the butterflies — they stay…

A poetic definition — love (ləv), verb, loved, lover, loving. 1. to give. 2. to receive. 3. (of family) to grow a house. 4. (of God) to build the heavens and the earth; to create. 5. …

A conversation with ChatGPT-4 — Rowen: Hello, Gpt-4. Today, I’d like to to talk to you about rape culture. GPT-4: Hello, I’m here to help and engage in a meaningful discussion about rape culture. Rape culture is a term used to describe a social environment in which sexual violence is normalized, excused, or even encouraged…

A poetic commentary on American ideals — I can get you whatever you like. Pie, maybe? Coffee, that, like all material, is endless — Didn’t you say you were all American? I have a flag for you, or a gun, or a lie. I can tell you the universe is the shape of your comforts if you like. It’s…