The notion that things “happen for a reason” is a powerful idea. It is also a dangerous one. The concept of “agency” is so central to our under­standing of ourselves and our world that we apply it even where there is no agency to be found.

I can tell a sauropod from a theropod and I know the difference between dark matter and dark energy, but I’m no paleon­tol­ogist or physicist. Not by a long stretch. But I do so love listening to such specialists talk about what they do. Because I’m not one of them.

No matter how deeply we feel connected to a group that shares any given identity, the fact remains that on an individual level, we will always be more unalike than alike.

On the first day, Bit created the one and the zero. And Bit said, “Go forth and copy and paste thyself ad infinitum.”

Convenience makes our lives easier, and it lets us enjoy some of the finer things in life. But is that the whole story—can conve­nience go too far?

It’s a useful concept that deserves to be in everyone’s mental toolbox. If both sides of a debate adhere to it, that levels the playing field for a true exchange of ideas, instead of a battle of opinions.