I started in Economics at Reed College and later was a student in Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Science and Technology.

My thesis was a minimalist theory of infrastructures for collaboratively producing our world, with ethical orientation toward radical demographic inclusion: how we can live in a society much like ours but where the neurosurgeon and the toilet-cleaner have equal power and participation.

I'm passionate about doing more with less, searching for the points with the most leverage, and applying principles of software development (such as "refactoring") to everything in the world. I like to consider the usability of any system by its real users, long chains of effects, and ultra-minimalist responses to any problem.

I love looking at every scenario, no matter the scale, as collections of costs (of money, time, attention, rigidity, etc) that could be slashed or redistributed. And I consider it my duty to fiercely and valiantly oppose the common sense that says Us Simple Folk™ are incapable of working on society-scale problems. I think every person with the desire to liberate a society should look at the total sum cost of everything it does and use their unique creative mind to figure out how to chop 50% off the top.

I like the ideas of Bruno Latour, Christopher Alexander, and Yochai Benkler.