I’m Dave Stucky. You might like other things I made. Follow my updates here. My terms and conditions here.

Essays

The Networks in All Things

Perception’s Recursive Layers

The Machine Gods

What Got Us Here:

1. What Got the West Here
2. What Got America Here
3. What Got Modern Society Here

The Technical Idiot

A. Philosophy

Philosophy (aka History of philosophy, Philosophy’s use)

Glossary of philosophy terms

List of universal laws and axioms

Thought experiments and paradoxes list

B. Metaphysics

Metaphysics (aka Reality, Facts, Truth, Ideas, Environment, Nature, Numen, Tao, Natural law)

Religion

• Religions’ answers to the ultimate questions

How things spread in networks (external)

Humanity (aka Soul, Human Nature, Ego, The human animal)

• List of human universals
• Gender (aka Sex, Sexuality)

C. Epistemology

Epistemology (aka Understanding, Experience, Wisdom, Skill, Learning, Education)

How we learn

The depth of our understanding

Animal knowledge (aka Trust, Implicit trust, Faith, Belief)

• Trauma and PTSD (aka Offense, Past Pain, Regret, Tragedy)
• Feelings (aka Sensations, Emotions, Sentiments)
  • Happiness (aka Joy, Contentment, Satisfaction)
  • Sadness (aka Grief, Sorrow, Loss)
  • Disgust (aka Distaste, Disapproval)
  • Surprise
  • Fear (aka Pain, Death, Scarcity, Survival, Fight-or-flight, Restlessness)
    • List of phobias
  • Anger (aka Rage, Fury, Ire)
  • Shame (aka Regret, Dishonor, Inferiority)
• Safety (aka Security, Risk Management, Risk assessment)

Subconscious knowledge (aka Certainty, Luck, Boldness, Beliefs, Bias, Hope)

• Cogitive bias and fallacies list
  • The forms of neurodivergence
• Purpose (aka Desire, Wants, Amusement, Games, Play, Work)
  • Meaning (aka Fulfillment, Satisfaction, Enjoyment)
  • Games (aka Competition, Play)
• Symbols (aka Patterns, Rhythms, Connections)
  • Myths phenomenology list
  • Humor (aka Comedy, Levity, Amusement)
• The Unknown (aka Mystery, Chaos, Void, Darkness, Shroud)

Habits (aka Routine, Ritual, Muscle Memory)

• Addiction (aka Worship, Obsession, Idolatry)

D. Axiology

Axiology (aka Values, Grouping, Chunking, Abstraction, Order)

Conscious thoughts

• Image (aka Perception, Impression, Phenomenon)
• Stories (aka Narrative, Connections, Tales, Lore, Sequence)
  • The form of stories
• Maturity (aka Growth, Development, Youth, Aging)

Processed thoughts

• Stock values
• Power (aka Ownership, Capability, Control)
• Language (aka Communication, Expression, Speech, Text)
• Identity (aka Focus, Association, Affiliation)
• Logic (aka Analysis, Rationalization, Sense)
  • Math (aka Quantity, Calculations, Statistics, Number Theory)
  • Science

Aesthetics (aka Quality, Beauty, Art, Value)

• Creativity (aka Formation, Inspiration, Muse)
• Creations (aka Creation, Work, Design, Building, Developing)

Decisions (aka Choices, Selection)

• The calculus for how we make decisions
• Personality (aka Essence, Core Self)
  • The Big 5 personality traits
• Inner Conflicts (aka Cognitive dissonance, Turmoil, Indecision)
• Imagination (aka Predictions, Expectations, Forecasting, Estimation)
• A list of bad predictions

E. Society

Actions and consequences (aka Results, Consequences, Effects, Diminishing return)

• Ethics (aka Morality, Virtue, Goodness)
  • List of virtues
  • Evil (aka Malice, Wickedness, Corruption)
• Why people change (aka Changes, Inner transformation, Adapting)
• The Good Life (aka Ideal life, Intentionality, Satisfaction, Living well)

Interpersonal (aka Friendship, Human connection, Companionship, Marriage)

• Love (aka Affection, Adoration, Sentiment, Interests)
• Boundaries (aka Rights, Privileges, Coexistence)
  • Contracts (aka Agreements, Exchanges, Payments)
    • Various types of contracts
  • Conflicts (aka Altercations, Arguments)
• Conversation (aka Connection, Teaching, Interacting, Communication)
• Influence (aka Social change, Sophistication, Leadership)
  • List of power types
  • List of image distortion methods
  • Education (aka Pedagogy, Teaching)
• Hacking (aka Exploit, Cleverness, Social engineering)

Culture (aka Tradition, Customs)

• Cultural dimensions
• Human legacy (aka Lineage)
• Group membership (aka Religious/club association, Organizations)
  • Family (aka Parenting, Generations)
• Rules (aka Norms, Laws, Policies, Taxes, Impositions)
  • Justice (aka Rights, Equality, Fairness, Liberty)
  • Taboo (aka Heresies, Impropriety, Violations)
  • Slavery (aka Oppression, Subordination)
• Storytellers (aka Gossip, News, Lore)
  • Historical eras
• Technology (aka Tools, Techniques)

Small-scale conflicts and politics

• Small group leadership (aka Management, Group Dynamics)
• Specialization (aka Niches, Population density’s effects, Why cities exist)
• Social risk (aka Entrepreneurship, Pioneering)
• Cults (aka Fanaticism, Mass Formation Psychosis)

Large-scale groups

• Social classes (aka Classes, Divisions)
• Economics
  • Macroeconomics
  • Economics graphs (external)
  • Economic downturn indicators
• Social trends (aka Transitions, Fads, Adoption, Cycles, Memes)
  • The stages of a trend
• Utopia (aka The perfect society)

Large-scale conflicts and politics (aka War, Espionage, Battles)

• How wars are defused
• Engagement in a large-group conflict
• Large group leadership
• Conservative and liberal (aka The political spectrum)
  • Political systems list
  • Leftism (aka Social Justice, Egalitarianism, Marxism, Communism, Socialism, Democratic Socialism)
    • Sustainability factors
• Why bad systems persist (aka Bad Systems, Bureaucracy, Impotence, Mega-Corporations, Government Overreach, Corruption, Enshittification)
  1. Causes
  2. Growth
  3. Conflicts
  4. Decline

Modern complexities

• List of monopolies and oligopolies
• List of modern conveniences
• Modern laws
  • Legal doctrines and principles list
    • Criminal
    • Civil
    • Multi-entity
    • Miscellaneous
  • Legal glossary