Oliver Meredith Cox – 'Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.'

How to Think about the Coronavirus: Non-Linearity, Uncertainty, Branching Histories

Take direction from people who understand exponential trends, wash your hands and, when it’s over, remember which branch of history we went down.

Posted on: March 15, 2020 March 15, 2020
Author: Oliver
Categories: Essays, Personal Philosophy
Tags: coronavirus, covid-19, nassim taleb, naval ravikant, nicholas a. christakis, sam harris
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The Accidental Tyranny of User Interfaces

The potential of technology to empower is being subverted by tyrannical user interface design, enabled by our data and attention.

Posted on: February 27, 2020 March 15, 2020
Author: Oliver
Categories: Essays
Tags: GNU/Linux, Ted Nelson, YouTube
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Four Lessons from My Father

Four of the lessons that my late father taught me.

Posted on: June 3, 2017 January 25, 2019
Author: Oliver
Categories: Personal Philosophy
Tags: bill gates, Christopher Hitchens, landrover
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Stop Looking at and Sharing Internet Memes

Stop memeing. Memes are fun but ultimately they’re mental junk-food – throw them out in favour of actual nourishment.

Posted on: May 3, 2017 June 3, 2017
Author: Oliver
Categories: Personal Philosophy
Tags: Christopher Hitchens, Dilbert, Downing Street, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Martin Amis, The Simpsons
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On Working Class Tories (a Response to a Meme)

Has being called a playground insult by a 478 pixel-wide internet meme ever convinced you of anything?

Posted on: April 27, 2017 May 4, 2017
Author: Oliver
Categories: Essays
Tags: conservatives, Labour, The Guardian, the sun, the times
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The Definition of Things, Re: the Sexes

When things get very complex, our categories can break down. Should we get rid of the categories?

Posted on: April 22, 2017 May 4, 2017
Author: Oliver
Categories: Essays
Tags: blair white, contra points, ring species, sexes
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On Linguistic Trickery

The purpose of language is to exchange ideas, linguistic trickery turns words into disinformation.

Posted on: November 26, 2016 November 26, 2016
Author: Oliver
Categories: Essays
Tags: Communism, douglas hofstadter, emmanuel sander, english, Feminism, jessica valenti, language
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The Layers of Terror Beneath and Above the Video of Mother Berating Child for Trump Vote

Have you seen this video? Why did you watch it? Why did she record it? Why do we share things like this? Could the video actually have helped the boy?

Posted on: November 23, 2016 November 23, 2016
Author: Oliver
Categories: Musings, News
Tags: trump, us election
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Against the Petition to Shut Down Liverpool University Pro Life Society

The call to shut down the Pro Life Society is philosophical and linguistic anti-Jujutsu.

Posted on: November 22, 2016 November 26, 2016
Author: Oliver
Categories: Academia, Essays, News
Tags: liverpool university, liverpool university pro life society, pro choice, pro life
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Photos from St Louis I: Art, Roads and the Tracks

Some photos from the beautiful city of St Louis.

Posted on: October 30, 2016 November 2, 2016
Author: Oliver
Categories: Musings
Tags: erika diettes, michael tracy, museum of contemporary religious art, saint louis, st louis, stl
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