Odin Halvorson

AI

From Vibe Coding to Agentic Engineering

Finding the balance in AI-assisted development.

4 min read Mar 5

Philosophy

Stoicism, Community, and the Reality of Freedom

We often treat individual liberty as a state of being completely untouched by reality. But as Herbert Read and the ancient Stoics understood, true freedom is how we respond to the systems we live in.

2 min read Mar 5

Mental Models

Applying the Laws of Physics to Human Connection

Why siloed thinking is a trap, how Newton's Third Law dictates our relationships, and the power of embracing what you don't know.

4 min read Mar 4

Sci-Fi

A Babylon 5 Retrospective: The Magic of the 24-Episode Season

Revisiting J. Michael Straczynski's sci-fi masterpiece decades later. Why the lost art of the 'filler' episode and passionate acting created a universe we'll never see again.

5 min read Mar 3

Film Review

A Fanboy's Retrospective: The Earnest Cult Classic That Sabotaged Itself

Revisiting the 2009 comedy 'Fanboys'. It had a sweet premise and a stellar cast, but does the cruel, predatory humor of the early 2000s hold up today?

3 min read Mar 2

Society

Carnegie's Myth of "Useful Knowledge" Broke Modern Education

From 19th-century union busting to the 21st-century literacy crisis, tracing the deliberate marginalization of the liberal arts.

4 min read Feb 27

Society

The Carnival Game of Meritocracy

Why the "self-made" myth ignores who pays for the tickets, who gets to throw the darts, and who works the booth.

2 min read Feb 25

Movies

"Work the Problem": Returning to The Martian Ten Years Later

How Andy Weir's sci-fi masterpiece continues to inspire a sense of wonder, practical problem-solving, and a vision for space exploration beyond the profit motive.

3 min read Feb 24