Bill Friend

Imagine if humanity received notice that a superior extraterrestrial intelligence was arriving in five years. We would unite immediately. We would pool resources. We would prepare.

But because we are building that intelligence ourselves, we are doing the opposite: fragmentation, secrecy, and zero-sum competition.

In ‘The Silicon Fulcrum,’ I argue that we are racing on a knife’s edge, dependent on a single island for the hardware that will power the most transformative event in human history. The window to fix this is closing.

The modern technological landscape presents a paradox: we possess the advanced artificial intelligence necessary to process and analyze massive data dumps almost instantly, yet few major players are willing to publicly deploy these tools on one of the most discussed document archives in recent history—the Epstein files. The hesitation is not due to a lack … Read more

Many households with multiple people and multiple pets notice a curious pattern: the cat seems devoted to one person, the dog to another. It’s tempting to explain this in terms of gender—my cat prefers women, my dog listens better to men. The idea feels intuitive. But intuition isn’t evidence. So does gender—yours or your pet’s—actually … Read more

Why We Pretend Massive Document Releases Can’t Be Analyzed Efficiently When the Department of Justice releases terabytes of court filings, exhibits, and depositions—whether in the Epstein matter or other high-profile cases—a familiar narrative emerges: “No one can possibly read all this.” Commentators describe the disclosures as “a document dump,” implying deliberate obfuscation through volume. Pundits … Read more

On stretching time in an age of compression We arrive at midlife facing a quiet paradox: time seems to accelerate just as we grow most reluctant to disrupt the routines that make us feel safe. This isn’t a flaw in aging—it’s a signal. We live in an age that prizes pattern recognition above almost all … Read more

In today’s hypercharged cultural climate, nearly every interaction carries the risk of becoming a skirmish. Modern life trains us to respond reflexively in one of three ways: to escalate, to perform, or to withdraw. We are coached—by social media, by political theater, by algorithmic incentives—to sharpen opinions into weapons, to brand ourselves through belief, or … Read more

If data centers are just “sharks,” they are simply doing what sharks do—eating. You can’t blame a shark for being hungry. But you can blame the lifeguard who unlocks the gate to the beach and invites the shark in because he was promised a cut of the concession stand sales. We are told we live … Read more

The United States is the wealthiest nation in history, yet it treats basic elements of a secure life—healthcare, paid family leave, childcare—as privileges rather than rights. This isn’t a story about a lack of resources, national generosity, or economic capacity. It is a story about choices, structures, and timing—a series of decisions made at critical … Read more

How Immersive Media Can Both Stifle and Spark Creativity Have you ever emerged from a virtual reality game, blinking in the sudden reality of your own room, feeling as though you’ve returned from another world? Or perhaps you’ve found yourself scrolling endlessly through a cascade of short-form videos, each one a vibrant, fleeting universe of … Read more

Nearly a century ago, in his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley imagined a future where movies weren’t just seen and heard, but felt. He called them the “feelies”—a form of entertainment that delivered instant, all-encompassing sensory experiences. For Huxley, this was a warning: a society that chooses easy sensation over deep thought might be … Read more

The Old World: A Kingdom of Text For centuries, the written word has been humanity’s most reliable companion. It has carried our stories, our laws, our dreams, and our nightmares across time and space. It has been the foundation of education, the spark of revolution, and the quiet solace of lonely nights. It has been … Read more