David Chapman
@meaningness.bsky.social
I write and podcast at https://meaningness.substack.com/ about:
* Understanding meaning, purpose, and culture
* Leveling up technical work by going beyond formal rationality
* Vajrayana: the life-affirming branch of Buddhism
* Understanding meaning, purpose, and culture
* Leveling up technical work by going beyond formal rationality
* Vajrayana: the life-affirming branch of Buddhism
Reposted by David Chapman
🆕 You do not have to be someone special to be noble. Nobility can appear in wildly diverse forms—as illustrated in myth, fantasy fiction, and Vajrayana Buddhist practice. You can be noble however is natural for you—not conforming to some socially fixed idea. meaningness.substack.com/p/vajra-prid...
Vajra pride and the diversity of natural nobility
Just as you are, not anything special
meaningness.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
🆕 You do not have to be someone special to be noble. Nobility can appear in wildly diverse forms—as illustrated in myth, fantasy fiction, and Vajrayana Buddhist practice. You can be noble however is natural for you—not conforming to some socially fixed idea. meaningness.substack.com/p/vajra-prid...
🆕 Nobility in current circumstances depends on an unusual way of perceiving, understanding, and acting. You BECOME the kingdom, and positive visions emerge from your mythic engagement in it. meaningness.substack.com/p/seeing-lik...
Seeing like a Good King
Vision for nobility in an era of chaotic decline and unexpected possibilities
meaningness.substack.com
July 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
🆕 Nobility in current circumstances depends on an unusual way of perceiving, understanding, and acting. You BECOME the kingdom, and positive visions emerge from your mythic engagement in it. meaningness.substack.com/p/seeing-lik...
࿇ 📺 @petermcewen.bsky.social and I will co-lead a zoom discussion / Q&A on deity yoga, relational yogas, and the nebulosity of identity:
Sunday the 20th (weekend after this coming one). Register here! lu.ma/22iop35g
(Peter is very scary but fortunately for you I am a girl. Tea will be served!)
Sunday the 20th (weekend after this coming one). Register here! lu.ma/22iop35g
(Peter is very scary but fortunately for you I am a girl. Tea will be served!)
David Chapman + Peter McEwen · Zoom · Luma
David Chapman and Peter McEwen will be in open conversation about deity yoga, relational yogas, and the (potential) collapse of fixed identity. David writes at…
lu.ma
July 10, 2025 at 12:56 AM
࿇ 📺 @petermcewen.bsky.social and I will co-lead a zoom discussion / Q&A on deity yoga, relational yogas, and the nebulosity of identity:
Sunday the 20th (weekend after this coming one). Register here! lu.ma/22iop35g
(Peter is very scary but fortunately for you I am a girl. Tea will be served!)
Sunday the 20th (weekend after this coming one). Register here! lu.ma/22iop35g
(Peter is very scary but fortunately for you I am a girl. Tea will be served!)
🆕🎙️ New podcast with @jimrutt.bsky.social! We discussed All The Things—honor, courage, confidence, dignity, decency, and magnificence for example—and had a lot of fun. www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
EP 308 David Chapman on Rethinking Nobility - The Jim Rutt Show
Jim talks with David Chapman about rethinking nobility for the modern age through his recent “nobility tetralogy” of essays. They discuss character & virtue as “risible” concepts, noblesse oblige & el...
www.jimruttshow.com
July 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM
🆕🎙️ New podcast with @jimrutt.bsky.social! We discussed All The Things—honor, courage, confidence, dignity, decency, and magnificence for example—and had a lot of fun. www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
Reposted by David Chapman
I looked into the claim that chess grandmasters burn 6000 calories a day and found it was made up by popular author Robert Sapolsky
open.substack.com/pub/strandbe...
open.substack.com/pub/strandbe...
Chess Grandmasters Do Not Burn 6000 Calories Per Day
A Note on the Production of Facts
open.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 5:16 AM
I looked into the claim that chess grandmasters burn 6000 calories a day and found it was made up by popular author Robert Sapolsky
open.substack.com/pub/strandbe...
open.substack.com/pub/strandbe...
Reposted by David Chapman
If you're among the 17 million Americans likely to lose your health coverage (like me), now is the time to act.
- Deal with any existing health issues you've been putting off while you still have coverage. 1/
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
- Deal with any existing health issues you've been putting off while you still have coverage. 1/
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
At least 17 million Americans would lose insurance under Trump plan
GOP legislation would set back years of progress in expanding health care coverage, unwinding key parts of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 3, 2025 at 6:21 PM
If you're among the 17 million Americans likely to lose your health coverage (like me), now is the time to act.
- Deal with any existing health issues you've been putting off while you still have coverage. 1/
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
- Deal with any existing health issues you've been putting off while you still have coverage. 1/
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by David Chapman
First time a judge has decided a case based on hallucinated case law in the US that I've encountered.
caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ga-cou...
caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ga-cou...
July 3, 2025 at 11:35 PM
First time a judge has decided a case based on hallucinated case law in the US that I've encountered.
caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ga-cou...
caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ga-cou...
Reposted by David Chapman
🎙️ w/ David Chapman on rethinking nobility.
Character & virtue as “risible” concepts, nobility as intention vs status, the failure of elite universities, Tolkien’s models of nobility, Vajrayana Buddhism’s life-affirming approach, meta-rationality & tech, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
Character & virtue as “risible” concepts, nobility as intention vs status, the failure of elite universities, Tolkien’s models of nobility, Vajrayana Buddhism’s life-affirming approach, meta-rationality & tech, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
EP 308 David Chapman on Rethinking Nobility - The Jim Rutt Show
Jim talks with David Chapman about rethinking nobility for the modern age through his recent “nobility tetralogy” of essays. They discuss character & virtue as “risible” concepts, noblesse oblige & el...
www.jimruttshow.com
July 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
🎙️ w/ David Chapman on rethinking nobility.
Character & virtue as “risible” concepts, nobility as intention vs status, the failure of elite universities, Tolkien’s models of nobility, Vajrayana Buddhism’s life-affirming approach, meta-rationality & tech, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
Character & virtue as “risible” concepts, nobility as intention vs status, the failure of elite universities, Tolkien’s models of nobility, Vajrayana Buddhism’s life-affirming approach, meta-rationality & tech, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/david-chapman/
🆕🎙️ New podcast with Charlie Awbery!
An unexpected question, and then we work out an answer together. meaningness.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
An unexpected question, and then we work out an answer together. meaningness.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
June 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
🆕🎙️ New podcast with Charlie Awbery!
An unexpected question, and then we work out an answer together. meaningness.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
An unexpected question, and then we work out an answer together. meaningness.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
🆕 Strategies and tactics for overcoming the typical emotional and relationship difficulties faced by software engineers and other STEM-ish people! meaningness.substack.com/p/leveraging...
June 19, 2025 at 2:13 PM
🆕 Strategies and tactics for overcoming the typical emotional and relationship difficulties faced by software engineers and other STEM-ish people! meaningness.substack.com/p/leveraging...
Reposted by David Chapman
Academia will form these little pockets -- people whose theorizing is outrageous & supported by methods outdated since the 90s -- but once it reaches a critical size those people just review each others papers & grants, form societies, hand out awards etc, like a self-contained parallel society.
June 3, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Academia will form these little pockets -- people whose theorizing is outrageous & supported by methods outdated since the 90s -- but once it reaches a critical size those people just review each others papers & grants, form societies, hand out awards etc, like a self-contained parallel society.
Reposted by David Chapman
A few thoughtfully-chosen excerpts from my "How to be a wise optimist..." essay:
Just finished reading @michaelnielsen.bsky.social's essay "How to be a wise optimist about science and technology?"
I really enjoyed this, as I feel Michael and I share a lot of the same worries. I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. Here are 5 lines that stood out to me:
(1/5)
I really enjoyed this, as I feel Michael and I share a lot of the same worries. I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. Here are 5 lines that stood out to me:
(1/5)
May 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
A few thoughtfully-chosen excerpts from my "How to be a wise optimist..." essay:
🆕 Nobility is the wise and just use of power. Software engineers have recently gained enormous power—and are not always using it wisely or justly. We can do better—and so can you, regardless of occupation or position. meaningness.substack.com/p/software-e...
Software engineers are eating the world
In ignorance of nobility.
meaningness.substack.com
May 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM
🆕 Nobility is the wise and just use of power. Software engineers have recently gained enormous power—and are not always using it wisely or justly. We can do better—and so can you, regardless of occupation or position. meaningness.substack.com/p/software-e...
"Sometimes ritual doesn’t just demand that we hold ourselves in, but instead that we loosen ourselves up."
I spent this afternoon putting together a few thoughts on Confucius, and the art of not being annoying.
www.willbuckingham.com/confucius-no...
www.willbuckingham.com/confucius-no...
Confucius on the Art of Not Being Annoying | Will Buckingham
A note on the proper use of ritual
www.willbuckingham.com
May 15, 2025 at 1:26 AM
"Sometimes ritual doesn’t just demand that we hold ourselves in, but instead that we loosen ourselves up."
Reposted by David Chapman
This essay is about the *teachable* "systematic" part, which is failing in Western Civilization despite being load bearing. If we lack systematically noble/benevolent/good leaders, the future for humans is very dark.
🆕 Nobility is the wise and just use of power. What counts as noble? How did nobility become a myth? What have we lost as a consequence? How will we recover it? meaningness.substack.com/p/ofermod
Ofermōd
Building a bridge across postmodern nihilism to nobility
meaningness.substack.com
May 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
This essay is about the *teachable* "systematic" part, which is failing in Western Civilization despite being load bearing. If we lack systematically noble/benevolent/good leaders, the future for humans is very dark.
Reposted by David Chapman
David Chapman @meaningness.bsky.social provides fascinating insights into meaning and purpose and how it intersects with the personal, to social and the political. He's one of our key thinkers for modern times, and the attached essay provides a fine sample! I encourage all to "like and subscribe!"
🆕 Nobility calls for secular authority to limit the oppressive power of priests and courtiers. When kings fail in that duty, it may fall to churls—or, better, ceorls.
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
To keep priests in check: prefer nobility to churlishness
When secular authority fails to restrain virtue experts, vice signaling becomes tempting
meaningness.substack.com
May 12, 2025 at 6:41 AM
David Chapman @meaningness.bsky.social provides fascinating insights into meaning and purpose and how it intersects with the personal, to social and the political. He's one of our key thinkers for modern times, and the attached essay provides a fine sample! I encourage all to "like and subscribe!"
Reposted by David Chapman
I enjoyed this insight, by way of @meaningness.bsky.social (meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...).
It seems obvious in retrospect that the people who rise to leadership in any organization will be those who feel greater duty to the organization than to the purpose of the organization.
It seems obvious in retrospect that the people who rise to leadership in any organization will be those who feel greater duty to the organization than to the purpose of the organization.
May 5, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I enjoyed this insight, by way of @meaningness.bsky.social (meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...).
It seems obvious in retrospect that the people who rise to leadership in any organization will be those who feel greater duty to the organization than to the purpose of the organization.
It seems obvious in retrospect that the people who rise to leadership in any organization will be those who feel greater duty to the organization than to the purpose of the organization.
🆕 Nobility is the wise and just use of power. What counts as noble? How did nobility become a myth? What have we lost as a consequence? How will we recover it? meaningness.substack.com/p/ofermod
Ofermōd
Building a bridge across postmodern nihilism to nobility
meaningness.substack.com
May 13, 2025 at 1:31 PM
🆕 Nobility is the wise and just use of power. What counts as noble? How did nobility become a myth? What have we lost as a consequence? How will we recover it? meaningness.substack.com/p/ofermod
Reposted by David Chapman
New post: An island of stability in a sea of chaos
Zooming in on a patch of white space inside a chaotic image. What's going on in there?
https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2025/05/04/island-of-stability/
Zooming in on a patch of white space inside a chaotic image. What's going on in there?
https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2025/05/04/island-of-stability/
May 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
New post: An island of stability in a sea of chaos
Zooming in on a patch of white space inside a chaotic image. What's going on in there?
https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2025/05/04/island-of-stability/
Zooming in on a patch of white space inside a chaotic image. What's going on in there?
https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2025/05/04/island-of-stability/
🆕 Nobility calls for secular authority to limit the oppressive power of priests and courtiers. When kings fail in that duty, it may fall to churls—or, better, ceorls.
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
To keep priests in check: prefer nobility to churlishness
When secular authority fails to restrain virtue experts, vice signaling becomes tempting
meaningness.substack.com
May 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
🆕 Nobility calls for secular authority to limit the oppressive power of priests and courtiers. When kings fail in that duty, it may fall to churls—or, better, ceorls.
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
I explain the mystery of vice signaling: meaningness.substack.com/p/to-keep-pr...
🆕 📺 Checks and balances between secular and religious power often make for functional societies. That isn't working for us now—maybe for the opposite reason than you'd expect? meaningness.substack.com/p/priests-an...
Priests and Kings
The uneasy power balance between two elite classes, justified by virtue and nobility respectively
meaningness.substack.com
May 1, 2025 at 11:53 AM
🆕 📺 Checks and balances between secular and religious power often make for functional societies. That isn't working for us now—maybe for the opposite reason than you'd expect? meaningness.substack.com/p/priests-an...
Reposted by David Chapman
Most meta-analyses are bad, some are useful
April 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Most meta-analyses are bad, some are useful
Reposted by David Chapman
I'll always remember the way he'd respond to someone claiming 'I think in my head'. Jeff would retort: "I think in the bath, in my car & sometimes in my office at BU, but I've never thought in my head".
April 30, 2025 at 5:18 AM
I'll always remember the way he'd respond to someone claiming 'I think in my head'. Jeff would retort: "I think in the bath, in my car & sometimes in my office at BU, but I've never thought in my head".
🆕 📺 New video!
Nobility is not moral virtue. They are not in conflict; they may correlate, but they don't always coincide.
Nobility is the proper matter of politics.
meaningness.substack.com/p/nobility-a...
Nobility is not moral virtue. They are not in conflict; they may correlate, but they don't always coincide.
Nobility is the proper matter of politics.
meaningness.substack.com/p/nobility-a...
April 28, 2025 at 1:52 PM
🆕 📺 New video!
Nobility is not moral virtue. They are not in conflict; they may correlate, but they don't always coincide.
Nobility is the proper matter of politics.
meaningness.substack.com/p/nobility-a...
Nobility is not moral virtue. They are not in conflict; they may correlate, but they don't always coincide.
Nobility is the proper matter of politics.
meaningness.substack.com/p/nobility-a...