Archive of Sam's Digital Forest [Return Home]

Reflections, notes, resources, and ideas on things that currently interest me. Updated monthly since August 2025.

January 2026

Maximizing Human Flourishing through a New Process for Basic Research and Development I was recently doing a thought experiment about what I would do if I have a large amount of capital I was able to deploy. This is what I came up with (albeit, in a cursory manner). I want to maximize human flourishing by funding high impact research and development. I imagine this is just a function of identifying potentially high impact individuals and their teams and letting them work on whatever they want with little interference The sustainable structure around this is to build a development company that has some profit sharing agreement with the independent research teams that allow us to monetize the research both on short and long term time horizons. This both incentivizes the development phase of research and the sustained goal of funding basic research.
Prediction Markets I originally became interested in prediction markets a number of years ago when I heard about an early Ethereum project called Augur. I then read a good amount Furturachy from Robin Hanson. I am remiss that I think current prediction market implementations do not match the theory -- they might just be a "Sportsbook++". This does not mean, however, that there is not anything interesting there from an intellectual curiosity perspective.

NFL Playoffs The NFL season is winding down, however my New England Patriots have made a somewhat surprise run to the Superbowl!

The Extremes of the Human Condition What situations can drive one unfathomably far from their normal mode of behavior? This question was inspired by listening to a large volume of stories about the horrors of WWI and the suffering it caused on the civilian populations.

College Basketball College Basketball is in full swing and for most teams already into conference play. It is by far my favorite sport and I have been enjoying watching a ton of games on television and going to a number of UConn games in person.
The Holidays I have been taking this month somewhat easy in terms of my usual slate of activities. I have been enjoying time with family and friends, relaxing, and eating far too much. I Encourage you all to do the same,.

Advantaged Sports Betting and Prediction Markets I recently started positive EV sports betting again. It is interesting time due to recent tax change imposed by the BBB (hopefully repealed soon) and the rise of prediction markets.

Volleyball Softball season has ended, but adult social volleyball league is upon us. After a steep learning curve (I have never played organized volleyball before), I have now gotten the hang of it, and am having a blast.

Optimization Function How does one select a proper optimization function when analyzing trade-offs in policy proposals? Unconstrained utilitarianism-esque seems unrealistic and perhaps incoherent, while uber-individualistic functions also seem equally unappealing. What is an acceptable happy medium for building a just and flourishing society?
Reality-aligned Governance (x3) What would it look like to build policy frameworks that optimize for empirical outcomes and scale for the variation in constituents' abilities, motivations, and risk tolerance? I will write on this soon.

Home Labs As I have mentioned, I just moved into a new place and have started enjoying home automation. I now have moved on and want to have a home server setup. I am looking for something in a micro form factor.
Slow-Pitch Softball I have recently joined a slow-pitch softball team. We take it seriously (e.g., keep statistics -- including advanced ones), but we also have fun (e.g., drink some beers in the dugout). I'm having a blast and getting some exercise.

Abstraction What is the proper level of abstraction that I need to model things I actually care about to make better decisions? How to do I measure the most impactful features to include? How can I ensure my models can be efficiently computed?
UAV (Drone) Detection (x2) I am interested in exploring how to effectively monitor both benign and potentially adversarial UAV traffic, especially in urban envrionments.
Reality-aligned Governance (x2) What would it look like to build policy frameworks that optimize for empirical outcomes and scale for the variation in constituents' abilities, motivations, and risk tolerance? I will write on this soon.

Home Automation I have just moved into a new place and have started enjoying home automation. I have started simple with security cameras, lights, and an air quality monitor. I am somewhat concerned with security and privacy. I may explore this topic more deeply in an upcoming blog post.
Cars Yes -- the Pixar franchise. I have never actually seen any of them in full, and watched all three recently. I found them quite fun.

UAV (Drone) Detection I am interested in exploring how to effectively monitor both benign and potentially adversarial UAV traffic, especially in urban envrionments.
Pot Limit Omaha I'm a hobbyist poker player. I have a good amount of experience playing No Limit Hold'em, but have recently become fascinated by PLO and its strategy.
Reality-aligned Governance What would it look like to build policy frameworks that optimize for empirical outcomes and scale for the variation in constituents' abilities, motivations, and risk tolerance? I will write on this soon.

Balatro I have not really played a video game since I had a slight CSGO addiction during my early undergraduate years. However, this one has really hooked me.
Golf I have started playing golf. I am still very much a weekend hacker, but I am gaining more confidence on the course. I also enjoy the challenges and the long outdoor walks that come with playing a round.
For All Mankind I just found this series, but it is excellent. A great mixture of alternative history, hard sci-fi, and drama.