Society is a Covenant
To exist in society, however uncomfortably, is to embody a covenant—a bond of reciprocal moral and ethical duty, to be considerate of, and decent to, other members of society. To be free, we must be committed to and actively supportive of the human rights and liberty of all people. This bond is all the more…
The Ghosts of Machine Learning
In late 2026, we are having serious conversations about the possibility that advanced artificial intelligence systems will reject human control, conspire to avoid scrutiny or containment, and make choices for us or against us, without our knowledge or consent. We are having these conversations at dinner tables, on street corners, at the grocery store, and…
What’s next?
There is a stirring moment, in the TV series The West Wing, when a devoted public servant, at precisely the moment when only personal safety and healing should be on his mind, asks colleagues ‘What’s next?’ The words evoke the everyday flow of difficult tasks facing those who honestly seek to serve and in that…
We can be human
We can be human to each other. This should not be a difficult idea to accept or endorse, but technology, politics, and distorted economic structures make it seem almost a controversial claim. The idea of technological triumph has become embedded in our societies, to the point that we are often asked—in advertisements, political campaigns, and…
Earth system data will shape markets
Nearly all areas of human activity are lacking adequate embedded desision-related insights about the health and stability of Earth system functions, relative to products, services, and living conditions. This creates risks, operational inefficiencies, and costs, that race through whole economies and undermine human security…
The Joy of Living, while Dreaming
When people are displaced by war and famine, and forced to live in tent cities, far from home, without basic services, children suffer many hardships and deprivations. Not only do they face the hardship of displacement and the perils of living on the move;…
250 more years of liberation is our shared task
In the summer of 1776, the people of what is now the United States of America decided to end the rule of monarchs and aristocracy. In place of autocrats and oligarchs, they established a republic—a political system that belongs to the people, where elected…
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