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The Land Ethic for AI

We have long drawn a dividing line between technology and humans, imbuing one with ethical responsibility and treating the other as merely contingent— therefore, technologies are “neutral” and it’s simply…
July 1, 2025

The Abolition of the Human

AI is a technology that eliminates process. It offers the grail without the quest.

Birmingham in June

Colby said the two men settled their dispute like men, but they looked more like buffoons than men to me.

An Agrarian Prayer

If you have ever prayed the Lord’s prayer, then you have prayed for the soil and its earthworms—even if you didn’t intend to.
June 27, 2025

Happy are Those who Know the Causes of Things: Recovering Aristotle’s Four Causes 

Science can only provide partial truths because it does not consider form or end.
June 26, 2025

Bringing Up Emil

Kids are good in a theological sense, always. Sometimes, however, their behavior is not what adults would call good.

Thoreau and the Eco-Puritans of Concord

While Thoreau was by no means a Puritan, I think that similarities regarding the human occupation and the goodness of creation are evident in both.

What Do Clare Morell and Chuck Magill Have in Common?

Chuck dreams of overcoming his allergy so he can reenter normal society. We reject the status quo because we want something better for our kids.

Root For The Home Team

A team is from somewhere. Owners sell, players leave, but the place and the fans make up the fabric of the team.

An Economist’s Take on the Age of AI: A Review of Robert Skidelsky’s Mindless

Skidelsky’s expertise is on full display as he tells the story of the impact of machines on the human condition.

Despair Is Part of Life, but Not All of Life

Her heartfelt lament may sound like despair, and in a way it is, save for a crucial difference.

What We Forgot About Death (And Life)

Without the Incarnation, the philosopher’s death remains incomplete.

Compound Interest in an Attention Economy

There is something life-giving about rooting oneself in a single community—about investing ourselves in a mutual fund, so to speak.

The Quiet Divide

The rift isn’t just about politics. It’s about pace, and place, and respect.
June 14, 2025

Identity, Mundanity, and Vaccines

Matthew Crawford points out that much new technology today only adds layers of friction rather than actually solving a problem.

Brethren of the Same Principle: A Few Words Toward a Better Politics

They, for the first time, saw each other’s faces. They shook hands. They gave each other cigarettes, beer, champagne. Exchanged buttons from their coats. One German gave an English soldier…
June 13, 2025

Holden Caulfield and the Ducks of Central Park

Holden Caulfield, the 16-year-old “hero” of The Catcher in the Rye, goes to the park mentally or physically on seven separate occasions in the course of the relatively short novel.

The Grammar of Enchantment

Despite the surplus of enchantment discourse these days, the excellent parts of the book are indeed excellent.

Chemical-Drenched Corn is Not MAHA-Friendly

Mine is not a left-wing voice of animal rights idealism or return-to-the-land idyllicism. This is just plain old real science.
June 10, 2025

Nature in Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, the nature many of us live so close to is a different thing from the concept of “nature” we have internalized.

What is a Good Life?

A happy life is not something out there in the future. It’s not something you make, even.

Ivan Illich, Byung-Chul Han, and Cloning

Bianca Bosker dives into the weird and disturbing world of making creatures.

A Formidable Formative Institution – The Fair Marches On

You have to cut through the glitzy, loud elements—the carnival rides and the tractor pulls and the cotton candy—to see the heart of the fair...

Fuel, Food, and Fault: Rethinking the Emissions Debate

If we are serious about sustainability, we need to rethink where and how we apply pressure.