This is the archival version of Ribbonfarm, a blog active from 2007 to 2024, with 1,133 posts by Venkatesh Rao and a rotating cast of guest contributors. Sarah Perry was a regular co-writer for several years. A starter sampling of posts can be found below, chosen for significance, representativeness, or variety. To read all 73 essential posts in order, follow the Highlights Tour. You can search and filter the full archive on the Archive page, and find thematic exploration tools under the Explore menu.

Spotlight

The Gollum Effect (2011)

Venkat

Throughout the last year, I’ve been increasingly troubled by a set of vague thoughts centered on the word addiction . Addiction as a concept has expanded for me, over the last few months, beyond its normal connotations, to encompass the… Read →

By Venkatesh Rao

The Parrot2007 Bargaining with your Right Brain2008 The Rhetoric of the Hyperlink2009 The Epic Story of Container Shipping2009 The Crucible Effect and the Scarcity of Collective Attention2009 The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to "The Office"2009 The Turpentine Effect2010 The Eight Metaphors of Organization2010 A Big Little Idea Called Legibility2010 Ancient Rivers of Money2010 The Gollum Effect2011 The Return of the Barbarian2011 A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 21002011 The Calculus of Grit2011 The Milo Criterion2011 Welcome to the Future Nauseous2012 The Locust Economy2013 You Are Not an Artisan2013 The Economics of Pricelessness2014 How to Fall Off the Wagon2014 Crash-Only Thinking2014 On the Design of Escaped Realities2015 How to be a Precious Snowflake2015 Can You Hear Me Now?2015 We Are All Architects Now2015 Immortality Begins at Forty2016 King Ruinous and the City of Darkness2016 Blockchains Never Forget2017 The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial2017 CEOs Don't Steer2017 The Key to Act Two2018 The Internet of Beefs2020 The Retiree2021 Salt-Seeking2023 Ribbonfarm is Retiring2024

By Guest Contributors

Navigating the Holey PlaneDrew Austin (2012) Anthropology of Mid-Sized StartupsKevin Simler (2012) The Economics of Social StatusKevin Simler (2013) I and Thou and Life in AspergerstanMike Travers (2013) UX and the Civilizing ProcessKevin Simler (2013) Algorithmic Governance and the Ghost in the MachineSam Bhagwat (2013) Technical Debt of the WestKevin Simler (2014) We Have Them Surrounded in Their TanksJordan Peacock (2014) The Rhythms of Information: Flow-Pacing and SpacetimeRyan Tanaka (2014) Ritual and the Consciousness MonocultureSarah Perry (2015) The Heroine's JourneyHaley Thurston (2015) What Is Ritual?Sarah Perry (2015) Gardens Need Walls: On Boundaries, Ritual, and BeautySarah Perry (2015) The Essence of PeoplingSarah Perry (2015) Weaponized SacrednessSarah Perry (2015) A Children’s Picture-book Introduction to Quantum Field TheoryBrian Skinner (2015) Samuel Beckett's Guide to Particles and AntiparticlesBrian Skinner (2015) Quasiparticles and the Miracle of EmergenceBrian Skinner (2015) Productivity for Precious SnowflakesTiago Forte (2016) Minimum Viable SuperorganismKevin Simler (2016) Artem vs. PredatorArtem Litvinovich (2016) Goodhart's Law and Why Measurement is HardDavid Manheim (2016) The Daredevil CameraArtem Litvinovich (2016) Welcome to NixonlandCarlos Bueno (2016) Startups, Secrets, and Abductive ReasoningJoseph Kelly (2016) Crowds and TechnologyRenee DiResta (2016) The Cyberpunk SensibilitySonya Mann (2016) The Strategy of (Subversive) ConflictAdam Elkus (2016) A Brief History of Existential TerrorTaylor Pearson (2017) Why Books Are FakeSarah Perry (2017) Near-DeathnessMathew Sweet (2018) Tarpits and AntiflocksCarlos Bueno (2018) The Digital Maginot LineRenee DiResta (2018) Worlding Raga: 2 - What is a World?Ian Cheng (2019) Being Your Selves: Identity R&D on alt TwitterAaron Lewis (2020) Alamut, Bosch, Gaddis: Introduction to Epochal ArtMónica Belevan (2020) Wittgenstein's RevengeMike Elias (2020) Here's why we don't understand heavier-than-air flightBrian Skinner (2021)