A Candle Before the Sun

We are creatures of a narrow band of perception: a thin strip of light, a brief pulse of sound, a fleeting present tense. Beyond these limits lie immensities—structures and dimensions we cannot see, forces we cannot feel, perhaps even forms of order we cannot imagine. To claim that our minds, evolved to read faces and gather fruit, can chart the whole of existence is to mistake the flicker of a candle for the sun.

To know that our knowing is partial is to step back from the arrogance of being “right”. It allows us to recognise that truth may not fit within our categories, that reality may spill beyond the grammar of thought. What we call knowledge might be no more than a set of translations—useful, elegant, but never complete.

There may be higher orders of reality folded invisibly into the one we inhabit, as impossible for us to perceive as colour is to a creature born without eyes. We cannot grasp them, but we can sense the outline of our own blindness. In that awareness lies a kind of reverence.

Perhaps, then, not-knowing is not a failure but a discipline. It teaches us to meet the world without reducing it, to dwell with mystery without trying to own it. To live properly may mean precisely this: to stand before the enormity of what is, not with certainty, but with wonder—letting the unknown be vast, and letting ourselves remain small within it.

On Education

Grading systems are markers along the road—necessary to measure progress, to give shape and accountability to structured learning. Yet they are not the destination. To mistake the grade for the goal is to confuse the map with the journey.

The deeper purpose of learning is not the accumulation of marks, but the cultivation of an enquiring mind. True education ignites curiosity, a hunger to explore, to question, to discover. It is about seeing the world as a source of wonder: finding joy in the rhythm of poetry, the patterns of mathematics, the power of stories, the elegance of physical laws. It is about recognising the profound connections between art and science, between philosophy and lived experience.

To learn is to enter into a lifelong dialogue with culture and creativity. It is to contribute, however modestly, to the shared human endeavour—whether through the making of art, the pursuit of truth, the solving of problems, or the deepening of compassion. The finest learning is not merely about what is known, but about who one becomes through the knowing.

The test worth living for is not the one written in examination halls, but the one written in how we think, create, and contribute to the unfolding story of knowledge.

Random Thoughts

I’m a night owl, an early bird, and a ghost haunting the hours in between.

My dark night of the soul has been lodging with me for years now. To be fair, it does the washing up sometimes, but it really ought to start looking for somewhere else.

Consciousness is the relation between inner and outer, observer and observed. It’s not just the result of matter interacting; it is the loop where the distinction between subject and object folds in on itself.

Meaning arises because the universe, through us, temporarily has a mirror. That mirror gives rise to art, ethics, despair, beauty, absurdity—all the phenomena that define human experience.

The fact that we seek meaning—and can construct it—suggests our role is not passive. We’re feedback. And perhaps, just perhaps, that feedback is what allows reality to mean at all.

What We Choose

Every mark you make, word you speak, or choice you act upon is a vote for the kind of world that will exist tomorrow. Culture, politics, ecosystems, economies—these are not fixed structures. They are the accumulation of our daily decisions.

You are the mechanism. A sculptor shapes stone; a society is shaped by millions of tiny gestures—how we treat strangers, where we place our attention, what we choose to support, what beauty we cherish.

If you choose cynicism, you strengthen it. If you choose generosity, you plant it like seed.

Despair whispers that you are powerless. But that’s a lie peddled by those who profit from your apathy. In truth, everything depends on your attention—what you notice, what you nurture, what you refuse to let die.

You don’t need to change the whole world. Just stop feeding the version you don’t believe in. That alone is the beginning of something else.

And if enough of us do that—then the world shifts. Not all at once. But unmistakably.

Small Choices

Every time you reach for your phone when your’e bored, your’re rehearsing distraction. Every time you choose silence over honesty, your’re reinforcing fear over connection.

These aren’t grand decisions. They’re micro-choices—so small they slip beneath your notice. Yet together, they shape your character, your body, your relationships, your work.

The danger is that habits hide. They blend into the wallpaper of your day. You don’t decide to become impatient, or lethargic, or unfulfilled—you drift. Day after day, letting unconscious routines steer the ship.

But the opposite is also true. You can interrupt that drift. The smallest deliberate act—standing up instead of scrolling, a breath instead of a reaction, one honest sentence instead of silence—can be a microscopic course correction.

And over time, those course corrections become your compass, helping you to find your way.

Notes in the Margins

Criticism is valuable—no work is ever perfect. But its usefulness depends entirely on its quality. Poor criticism often says more about the critic than the work; all too often, it’s just petty nastiness, driven by jealousy or some other nonsense, oblivious to how absurd it appears. Middling criticism is little better: it might vaguely gesture at areas for improvement, but it lacks clarity, suggesting either a failure to engage or a grim fixation on the negative. Good criticism stands apart through its specificity—it identifies real issues and invites meaningful improvement. The best kind, however, goes further: it offers thoughtful prompts that ignite ideas and open new paths for creative exploration. Expert teachers, coaches, managers, and directors are masters of this—they are able to challenge and inspire. A lack of criticism, contrary to what some might think, is not kindness; it breeds blandness and paves the way for tediousness. This is the slow decline often suffered by those who rest on status or past acclaim, rather than confronting the true quality of their present work.

AI

Every aspect of a person could be sampled, scaled, and extrapolated by AI. Not just voice, features, movement, but also personality and way of thinking. In other words, there could be multiple automated versions of you interacting with the world and acting on your behalf.

AI would then start adapting these avatars as characters encountering generated digital scenarios, either as entertainment in a game, or for gathering data from the interactions and outcomes.

The philosophical questions posed in sci-fi are: What if the avatars were sentient? What if you are actually such an avatar experiencing a scenario? How do you know reality isn’t a single player game and everything you experience isn’t a computer simulation?

The answer is we don’t conceptually understand the nature of reality and maybe it would spoil the point if we did.

Journal 2021-11-13

To be open with yourself and the world, and not concerned with how that is perceived, is freedom from a prison of mental constructions; however there is a lack of empathy, poetry and charm in being blunt with people, or saying anything that comes to mind. The happier circumstance is to connect beyond words.

Random Thoughts:

AI assistants combined with augmented/virtual reality will transform human experience. Artists could create paintings digitally and 3D print the paintings into the physical world, automating the textured brushstrokes with the help of AI. Exact textured cloning of existing masterpiece paintings would be available as home printouts.

I’ve met some real idiots in my time, most of whom were in the mirror.