Things Under My Hat

Thanks for reading: I’ll make as much of it free as I can.

This is a grab-bag of things I think about, learn about, sometimes teach about.

My real passions and interests are in the intersection between the imagination and the truth, and consequently how people shape ideas of the world for themselves and others. Sometimes that’s a bleak object of study. But I hope it can be as exhilarating and clarifying as it is, often, depressing. I’m not much fun to be around, and writing is my way of coping with all the things I can’t say without losing valuable friends.

Fair warning: when I write in “lecture mode,” I use really weak verbs. I am also deplorable in other ways.

—Otter

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