Doing research entertains me, and I’d like to think I have some skill at creatively synthesizing disparate sources into something coherent and accurate. Here I’ll be writing up some of my thoughts, findings, and theories on a range of topics, none of which I will have any “qualifications” to discuss. I was planning to start off with some essays on neuroscience and consciousness, but I went on a long detour into the world of marine invertebrates, and then another long detour into human population history, so I’ll start there instead. According to my notes, I’ll eventually have things to say about mucus, sunscreen, metformin, why people have dreams about their teeth falling out, how cheap Chinese take-out is like ketamine, why yawning is contagious, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, the nature of suffering, rat erections, the jhanas, and aesthetic experience as viewed through the very cringe-y lens of different Hogwarts houses.