Takes

• Not Really a Fan of AI
• Not Really a Fan of Productivity (coming)
• Not Really a Fan of Optimism (coming)

Not Really a Fan of Black Holes

I’m not really a fan of black holes — not because they’re frightening, but because of how comfortable we’ve become with them.

They’re introduced as mystery, but they don’t behave like one for long. Very quickly, “black hole” becomes a conversational full stop. A place where explanation ends, where curiosity is allowed to admire itself and stop.

We use the term everywhere now.
A black hole of information.
A black hole in the budget.
A black hole in understanding consciousness.

In each case, it means the same thing: something vast, impressive, and no longer worth pressing on. The unknown becomes decorative.

There’s nothing wrong with not knowing. What’s stranger is how easily we canonize it. Mystery hardens into posture. Awe replaces inquiry. The question remains open, but only ceremonially.

Black holes feel less like unanswered questions and more like monuments to unansweredness. We circle them, gesture toward their scale, and agree — implicitly — not to look too closely.

I’m not really a fan of that.
I prefer questions that stay alive.
Questions that resist explanation without becoming sacred.