Jessie Elland

With each additional abstraction from uncertainty, the easier it is to find answers, and the more confident those answers sound. It’s too much work to look in a reference book, so you can just search on Google or Wikipedia—but these draw on reference books, condensing several to assert something even more confidently. Then ChatGPT again makes... See more

Every adult senses that their attention is slipping, that their thinking is flattening, that their world is flooded with noise, no neutrality, and that no institution really exists to protect them. Your brain is for sale, my guy - as your attention goes, so does your cognition, so does your sense of depth and certainty.

Confidence, optimism, and... See more

What are we doing as adults, anyway, if not descending from our battles with God and Death to resist everyday depression and alienation from meaning.

“What’s behind the back of thought.” She used words to try to reach beyond words, to surpass them. She wrote to destroy words. That’s why she wasn’t interested in her image as a writer.

“Why do I drink water?” I ask, stalling for time. And answer myself, “Because I’m thirsty.” I should have held my tongue. Then, Clarice laughs. Not a laugh of relief, but of barely contained irritation. And she says to me, “You mean you drink water so you won’t die.” Now she seems to be speaking only to herself, “Well, me too. I write to stay... See more