[The Index] Critical Software Update - v2.0 of The Human Ingenuity Feed
Changes are afoot in The Human Ingenuity Feed. An in-depth look into the process and its endpoint. An index of content produced and predicted.
This post is meant to be an Index for The Human Ingenuity Feed: a living record of what’s been published and has been predicted to be published. It will be permanently free, even changing with time and within the Archives themselves.
The Human Ingenuity Feed is deeply changing. You could ask how much “change” can happen in a dormant publication - one that saw a single post in the last 10 months. It already seems like it’s dead: what exactly is still alive there that can be changed?
Well, that’s part of the reason why The Human Ingenuity Feed is changing. You see, I was limited.
One of the difficulties I’ve faced as a “creator” is that I haven’t been able to fit my entire range of interests within a single delivery system. Perhaps you’ve dealt with that as well; you only need to be interested in exploring both visual and written work to find that you’re limited by existing platforms. Instagram cares about pictures (and now mainly video, which is a gatekeeping problem all by itself); it’s not the place to share writing. So you share your writing on Medium; and now you’ve got disparate communities you’re attending to, across different applications, each with their interface and quirks. I don’t know about you, but just thinking about that drains me of all energy. I don’t know how others do it. I tried, and couldn’t keep up with it. And the fragmentation is just cumbersome, while potentially bottlenecking your growth as a creator. The world is hard enough to navigate as is: we don’t need to sabotage ourselves on top of that.
I believe Substack just gave me the tool to fix that, however. The solution is Sections.
Substack Sections gives me a way to create multiple channels through which I can share my perspective of the world. Because Sections can be segmented into separate newsletters, it’s also fair to you and your time and energy: you get to follow the newsletter for the niche you’re interested in. If you don’t care about creative writing (in the short-story or poetry form), you can unfollow that publication. You’ll just keep receiving The Human Ingenuity Feed you know - the one focused on tech, science and humanity. But perhaps you’re interested in photography or travel writing as well; if so, I can tell you right now there’ll be a Section for those too.
The bet I’m making (and everything in life is a bet in one way or another), is that you’re here because you too have a vagabond curiosity - you like to think about a number of different things, and you’ve found it hard to share (and perhaps find) that generality of thought. Yes, you can be interested in both quantum computing and poetry and Orwell’s 1984. At least I am. And for me, this solves another issue; it’s not that I’m inconsistent at producing content: I’m simply inconsistent at producing it within the confines of a single creative theme.
Perhaps there’s even a chance you’re interested in what I have to say. The chance is low, my shadow tells me; but life is all about maximizing chance, isn’t it? The universe itself is probabilistic, after all. How can we expect to play by different rules?
Giving substance to this metaphysics we’ve been talking about: The Human Ingenuity Feed is now the spinning center of whatever creative output I produce. To be clear, The Human Ingenuity Feed remains the main publication. Nothing is changing for those who subscribed to it. But sister publications (Substack’s Sections) will sprout around it, each of these Sections being centered around different areas I create or are otherwise interested in.
For now at least, The Human Ingenuity Feed will look like this:
Main Publication: The Human Ingenuity Feed (Tech & Science; Non-Fiction; Journalistic; Speculative; Investigative; Preferred communications channel)
Sister Section: Vicarious Visions (Creative Writing; Fiction; Poetry)
Sister Section: Road Less Traveled (Photography; Travel Writing; Documentary; Fiction; Non-Fiction)
Sister Section: The Foam of the Universe (Anything and everything; self-exploratory)
Sister Section: Saudade (Slowly collecting my writings in Portuguese)
Sister Section: Ingenuity (Centralizing completed projects under a single section)
Sister Section: Reader Letters (Attributed thoughts and essays hosted free-to-access within The Human Ingenuity Feed)
As you’re reading this Critical Update, these Sections have already been created and are populated with a few entries as well (take that, Cristopher Nolan). Click the titles above anytime to tunnel into the respective page, or find them through our Home. You’ll also find our About section to have been updated as well.
For you to better get a feel for what you can actually expect from each of these other Sections, here’s the content you’ll already find within each of them, and a brief description of what it is:
#1: Welcome to The Human Ingenuity Feed
Introduces V.1 of the Newsletter.
#2: Web3 and Crypto as the Anti-Spam, or Phishing with Nigerian Princes
How spam and phishing destroy the openness of the Internet; Blockchain as the unlikely hero of attrition.
#3: Introducing "Software Updates"
Catch-ups to the world within and without. Collect and provide commentary on some of the latest work/reads across various areas of human ingenuity.
#4: True Democracy Can Only Be Achieved Through Blockchain
An argument for how the tedious democratic process can be trustlessly handled by systems such as encrypted ledger. Blockchain as a transparent, decentralized account of governance.
Quantum computers, electric memory therapy, psychedelics, a masterpiece, and scraps of flash.
On entangled brains, language, income inequality, education and everything.
New Laws of Physics, AI, Ghosting with the Black Swans, and The Universe.
#8: The Misguided Race Against AI Bias
An exploration into how AI’s bias is actually a window into our own, and how that should inform public policy.
The Universe! Memory! Dieting! AI Exterminators! Stoicism. Ethereum! But wait: what the hell is Quantum Computing anyway?
#10: The Curious Case of LK-99
An approachable post-mortem on the world's most recent "hype wave".
Explorations into creative writing, fiction, poetry... And writing about writing.
Flash Fiction #1: La Différence
A photograph of asymmetric chairs shows the beauty of life.
Flash Fiction #2: Active Idling
An exploration onto digital communication, anonymity, and womanhood.
Flash Fiction #3: The Crownless King
An exploration onto duty, honor, fatherhood, and morals. Dark territory.
Flash Fiction #4: Could is as Distant as the Sun
What stories can be told from the image of a “canary yellow bus”?
Flash Fiction #5: Behind Closed Curtains
One photograph, three stories: on distant lovers, editing, and how editing changes with you.
I’d really love if you were to stop reading this post now, explore a bit at your leisure, and return when you have time. All you see and feel will color and inform what follows in the wrap-up. And emails don’t require you to finish them on a single readthrough.
Photography. Sometimes interrupted by bouts of travel writing and documentary. Fiction may occur, from time to time.
Road Less Traveled #1: Man Meets Nature
A small series of photographs illustrating the passage of time.
Road Less Traveled, #2: Morocco, Dear Morocco
Morocco was hit by a 6.8 Richter-scale earthquake on September 8th, 2023. Photographs allow us to look into the past, and here, I look at some photographs I took; holding them up as mirrors to an ever more beautiful future.
Thought Experiment #1: How Language Creates the World
A look into the nature of Humanity as a collective entity, single patterns of understanding connected through language. On being a god and not enjoying it.
Thought Experiment #2: Breaking the Gridlock on Free Will
A more useful framing for the debate on free will, and how to compute our way towards an answer. On applying the Metaphysics of Quality towards understanding the world. On the relative difficulty and easiness between each of our lives.
With me being practically bilingual and considering how easy it is to translate something nowadays, this section contains content in my native Portuguese. A língua em si limita e expande horizontes criativos, e há coisas que escrevo em Português que não escreveria (ou não me lembraria de escrever) em Inglês. Pode incluir poesia, ficção, não ficção... O que surgir.
Caixa de Fósforos #1: Brunch
Shadows of what was emerge; mundane objects turn symbols.
Caixa de Fósforos #2: Receita para um Romance Infinito
The narcissist’s guide to the romance galaxy.
Caixa de Fósforos #3: Fim à Sociedade do Espectáculo
Cutting free from the expectations and energy around us.
As you can see, not all sections are represented yet. But I have Drafts that will feature within Ingenuity (for in-progress and completed projects and how I’ll be sharing them) and The Foam of the Universe (self-explorations around memory and experience) at some point in the close future.
On Wrapping Up and Evergreen Publications
The Human Ingenuity Feed now has a number of Sister Sections that you can separately subscribe or unsubscribe to. Life demands that we are fluid; and I am now understanding that the way I categorize and share my work needs to dance along with it.
Depending on how my output goes, I’ll also be looking into turning The Human Ingenuity Feed into an evergreen publication. That means that while all newsletter posts (including sister sections) will be free for all subscribers, access to our Archives will only be available to supporters - Substack’s Paid Subscribers. I feel this provides a just way of keeping access to whatever value is to be had from this publication free for everyone who wants it. Whatever I write is delivered freely through email, in the end. And whoever gets it gets to build their own permanent version of the Archives, free of charge. And because we’re not a news publication - we’re a commentary one - there’s always value to be had from our Archives.
I think that’s a nice way of having my work shared towards those who care enough to get it. I feel this arrangement truly turns subscribers into supporters, if they wish so; and because of that, there’s something else I want to talk to you about.
When I’m comfortable with the amount of work I’ve put out into The Human Ingenuity Feed and its satellites, I may have something to discuss with you about turning some of what’s here into a physical form. Both my “extra” time and the number of subscribers are ultimately the limit to how much I can dedicate to content over here.
My idea is that at the end of a cycle (I still have to think that far), all paid subscribers (supporters) to The Human Ingenuity Feed receive a physical edition containing work featured in this newsletter. This could be an entire project brought to life, or an amalgam of different work from different sections… A book, a magazine, or a completed project. And it’ll be free of charge. A virtuous cycle of exploration.
I love to try new things, and knowing others care is a huge dopamine source. If you have any ideas (I’m thinking a magazine-style edition), or want to say something about that, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment, reply to this email… Anything is fair.
While this may seem like a torrent of content, I’m confident I have a good enough system that I can work and distribute whatever I have (and can write) in a relatively consistent manner without reaching burnout. And anyway, having already explored those blackened shores, my main focus now is to simply be functional. Consistency doesn’t demand perfect attendance, and rest is part of work as well.
Once again, thank you for your time and for being a part of this exploration. Onwards we go.
Keep being curious, keep thinking, keep being human.
Francisco
P.S.: It took me around 20 hours of active work to create this turn-around for The Human Ingenuity Feed. I don’t know, and can’t quantify, the number of articles and content and hours my mind worked with and through in the background. That data sounds somehow important to me.