I’m Jamie Freestone, a writer and researcher based in Canberra. The Stark Way1 is for my original, unfiltered writing. My rules are simple.
No wishful thinking.
No forecasts.
No censorship or vested interests.2
For years, I’ve been investigating big topics:
the science of meaning
consciousness
the fundamental nature of narrative
Darwinian evolution
a human future in a world of Big Tech
whether we could reboot society following a global catastrophe.
I’m fortunate to live in a time and place with free access to most knowledge. I have greedily imbibed the flood of information. I haven’t shared much. Most of what I’ve created languishes in the academic publishing pipeline, or rots as a draft on my drive, or is in a purgatory of maybe getting made as a podcast or TV series. This newsletter is a way to force myself to share my original ideas about the topics above.
This is an opportune moment for me:
I’m trying to find a publisher for my book, How to Free Time, and I want to share some ideas from it here.
For many, the current AI boom is a hinge point, with the advent of impressive, if not general, artificial intelligence.
I have an incredible postdoc position at the Australian National University, where I’m embedded as a philosopher of science within the School of Engineering. I’m surrounded by people with much greater technical knowledge about robots, algorithms, & AI. I’ll share some insights here.
I’m aiming to produce my long-gestating audio documentary series Reboot, which is an investigation into the efforts (some ingenious, some insane) to set up an insurance policy for civilisation following an apocalyptic event.
Anyway, that’s me. Now sit back, curl up, draw the blinds, remove the wedding ring, and enjoy my absurd analysis of the mindblowing implications of recent science and technology.
The stark way is a metaphor from my book. Navigating the difficult and oftentimes scary terrain of modern knowledge, we can take many routes. Most people find a relatively scenic way of climbing the landscape: some kind of worldview that would be nice if it were true. I take the stark way: erring on the side of killjoy, cynical explanations. It’s an intellectual approach to avoid wishful thinking. Maybe I go too far. That’s fine. Most people do the opposite. So I hope to be a useful corrective, even if I’m wrong. Hey, I’m definitely wrong about almost everything.
I have an employer, a respectable institution with the usual PR concerns and vacillations. And some of what I discuss will emanate directly from my day job. But even though they currently pay my salary, I’d give that up in a second if it meant being gagged in any way. Am I some free-speech-lovin’, gun-totin’, libertarian hero? Nope. But as I find myself deep into my fourth decade, with no assets, little cash, and questionable career prospects, it’s with more flinty resolution than morning-affirmation joy that I say: I have my intellectual integrity. This newsletter is a new attempt to share my original thoughts.