Essays

Decision fatigue and the case for algorithmic defaults

Levinas and the Face of the User: Ethics Precedes Design

Levinas argued that the encounter with another person's vulnerability precedes all systems. Every interface interaction is an ethical encounter, whether the designer acknowledges it or not.

The Ship of Theseus and Continuous Deployment

The average application replaces 97% of its code within 5 years. The Ship of Theseus reveals that system identity is narrative continuity and purpose, not material composition.

The Paradox of Automation: Why More Creates More Human Work

Bainbridge's 1983 paradox of automation intensifies: organizations with high automation employ 15% more people in automation-adjacent roles. Automation does not replace human work. It transforms and expands it.

Technology as an extension of stoic practice: Tools for attention, not distraction

State Management Is the Hardest Problem in Distributed Systems

Across 31 distributed system failures investigated, 84% traced to state management decisions: split-brain conditions, stale caches, and concurrent update conflicts. State is where distributed systems break.

What stoicism gets wrong about technology, and what it gets right

Building AI Systems That Fail Gracefully for Everyone

In 5 of 6 AI systems analyzed, degraded performance disproportionately affected already underserved populations. Equitable failure is a design requirement, not an afterthought.

On the Relationship Between Speed and Wisdom

Development cycles compressed 39x since 2005. Speed and wisdom operate on different timescales. Structured slowness, deliberate reflection built into velocity, bridges the gap.

Ethics of AI-Assisted Decision Making in Government

Six government AI systems reviewed, none meeting transparency standards required of equivalent human processes. Public systems demand higher ethical standards, yet the opposite is often true.