"The idea of golden ages of empire leading to technological and cultural progress, and the fall of empires as leading to regression is, at best, mistaken."

From Kemp "Goliath's Curse"

We're are likely heading towards systemic change and history can help us see what to expect.

As if the regular quantum mechanical measurement problem wasn't enough.

Today's University of Rochester Physics Dept colloquium.

It's worth noting that in the poll associated with the last everymansuniverse.com post most people wanted more opportunities to use "enshittification" in a sentence.

Very happy to share this new paper we've recently published. Do biospheres use information in the same way organisms do? Can we think of biospheres as agents?

"Exo-Daisy World: Revisiting Gaia Theory through an Informational Architecture Perspective"

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Hey Everybody, very excited to be starting the "Everyman's Universe" newsletter via @beehiiv in a few weeks. Official announcement to follow soon.

If you are interested in consciousness and have not gotten @annakaharris.bsky.social Light's On you are missing out.
Lots of VERY interesting conversations on what is and what is not that strange feeling of "what its like to be..."

New EXCELLENT Astrobiology textbook by Lingam and Balbi.

Aimed at upper undergrads (or anyone with some math and science training) it is destined to become a standard for the field. I want to teach a course at the UR with it.

I love my Mets but $750 million dollars is too much to pay anybody who isn't helping sick people, teaching young people or running into burning buildings to save people. We are weird society for where we place value.

Just sayin'

Also, we going to da Series in 2025 baby! Screw you Yankees 😀.

Good bye Florence. We love you.

This from Steven French's book nails it. In their 1939 "little book" on measurement and quantum mechanics London & Bauer saw exactly how the new theory forced physicists to consider their own role in knowledge construction.

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #2,783,726!

Been watching "Moneyball". Great baseball movie and one of Brad Pitt's best performances.

And the Mets... the Mets! They producing!

We need to talk about how extraordinary Alan Wake II is. It's the video game as high art and philosophy (as well as being just a great game). There is nothing else like it in terms of ambition and reach.

Hey Everyone,  I’ll be on Science Friday today around 2:20 pm ET talking about, what else, aliens!  The scientific search for life in the Universe.  What we may find, how we’ll look and what it all means. Plus, maybe something UAPs.

No, you are not living in a simulation. Why? Because brains are not meat computers and you are not a machine. Sheesh. What's wrong with people?😀