The Postcard and the Thing Itself (On Falling in Love with Ideas)
My meditation teacher said something that stopped me cold: "We fall in love with the idea of a person, and then we fight so hard to keep it alive."
InterconnectednessSimone Salis
AI Creative Director & Production Engineer bridging Italian aesthetics with American pragmatism. Founder of Hoomane: broadcast quality at machine speed.
Learn MoreThe Mirror With No Reflection
From lovers to spouses, from employers to parental approval, we search for ourselves in others' eyes--creating perhaps the most elaborate illusion ever sustained: that validation exists outside the self that seeks it.
InterconnectednessConsumerism: The First Universal Religion Humans Actually Practice
From Apple's glass cathedrals to unboxing rituals and tech prophets, we replaced religious behavioral patterns with product worship without acknowledging it--creating perhaps the first truly global faith.
Meaning and PurposeWhat If We Made Advertising Illegal?
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it--abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Freedom and ConstraintThe Antiportfolio: Counter-advice for Aspiring Artists
Why ten years ago I quit my passion as a job to follow my passions as just passions.
Freedom and ConstraintYour Teenage Self is Not a Bug, It's a Feature
Between middle-class stability and creative resistance, there's a teenage part of us keeping watch. Maybe it's right.
Meaning and PurposeWhy I Make Smart Devices Dumber: A Privacy Advocate's Reflection
When you replace a vacuum robot's proprietary brain with open-source firmware, you are not just modifying a device--you are making a statement about ownership and control. Sometimes the smartest choice is to make devices dumber.
Freedom and ConstraintThe Attention Wars: Why Creative Time Is Now Contraband
In a world of endless pings, every creative act becomes rebellion. This isn't about time management--it's about protecting your spark in a system designed to extinguish it.
Freedom and ConstraintAI 'Street Photography' Isn't Photography: What We Lose by Simulating Experience
When we pretend AI generation is street photography, we're not just misusing terms--we're surrendering authentic engagement with reality.
Meaning and PurposeBeyond Borgmann: Single-Task Tools and the Future of Meaningful Technology
Single-task tools complement modern devices by combining technological capability with intentional constraints. From offline cameras to e-ink readers, these tools preserve human agency while embracing progress. How thoughtful friction and focused design create more meaningful engagement.
Freedom and ConstraintThe Productivity Paradox: Why Doing More Leads to Less
In a world obsessed with optimization, what if the most productive strategy is to stop maximizing productivity? Discover how strategic inefficiency might be the key to reclaiming your work, your time, and your sanity.
Freedom and ConstraintIn Praise of Inconvenience: The Hidden Costs of a Convenient World
Explore how devotion to convenience reshapes human experience, and why embracing the friction of inconvenience might restore depth and meaning to your life.
Change and Impermanence