Updates and Insults

Hello seabreams,

I actually wanted to greet you as Boops Boops, which is in fact a totally real species of fish, but it felt weird. I imagine being a Boops Boops feels pretty weird too. Well, they probably think being a human is rather strange, walking around on the land, eating fast food, getting a bit depressed and so on? Maybe you know What Is It Like to Be a Bat. It's an incredibly unique philosophy paper in that it's actually readable. It deals with exactly that question – could we even understand what it's like to be a bat? Or a Boops Boops? Or an octopus or an ant? Likely not, the paper argues. Honestly, I'm not sure if bats are the problem – I wonder if I can even begin to understand what it's like to be you, or you to be me? I just had cake for breakfast and I'm considering doing the same for lunch, should probably draft a paper on What Is It Like to Be a Diabetic if I keep this up.

Anyway hello. This isn't a notification you're being charged or anything like that, just an attempt to check in and ruin your day. To those of you who are new here, this is the bit where I make a few vague promises about what's coming up next, break maybe half of them, and throw out some pointless recommendations. I hope you at least didn't hate the new video. There's a wonderful mania I'm sure you've felt too when you get sucked into an idea or scheme and more or less stop sleeping until you at least know the end is near – of the project, not your life, though in this case both felt applicable.

In housekeeping news, the new book finally has a cover, and I'll do my best to release the ebook version at the same time as the paperback. The ebook version, as always, will be sent out here to anyone who wants it for free, as the least I can do for your kind and frankly inexplicable support. I'll try my jolly damndest to finish everything by Christmas. I won't spoil anything, but if The Fifth Science was up your street then I hope this might also appeal. Lots of time-jumping, lots of sad people on isolated planets trying to make sense of their odd lives. Also, new videos coming shortly I hope – I've spent the last year or so working on scripts, screaming at scripts, burning scripts, and using scripts to supply my cat's litter tray, but a few things sort of worked out and I'll be uploading them relatively soon if you don't mind hanging tight just a little while longer.

As is tradition, I'll make a few recommendations of stuff I've been enjoying of late.

I'll start with an anti-recommendation. My friend Mitko and I (if you saw the thing I made about Sea of Thieves, you'll know who I mean) got rather obsessed for a time with the game Rust. It has, without contest, the most toxic and strange players I've ever come across, and I'm not sure I mean that as a negative mark against the game itself. The basic premise is that you mine the environment, try to build a resilient base, and just accept that after working on a base for four days straight, the second you log off someone's coming with explosives to blow all your efforts to dust, steal all your resources, and probably leave insulting signs outside inviting you to touch grass and engage in intercourse with yourself for when you try to log back in. It is simply the most brutal, soul-crushing, and weirdly enjoyable experience I've had digitally in a while and I reckon you'll probably hate it just as much as I did.

Also, Riven. I played the thing when I was 10 or so and assumed it'd been largely forgotten. Not at all. It's been resurrected, revamped, and restored to former glory, and I can confirm it's a masterpiece. Imagine spending days exploring gorgeous parallel worlds and solving puzzles after accidentally eating a few too many edibles – that's as close as I can land a description.

If you're following my stuff, I bet you'd enjoy the Mindscape podcast. It's hosted by Sean Carroll, personally my favourite science communicator and living physicist. He usually gets on historians, scientists, and philosophers, and has the most incredibly down to earth conversations about the weirdest possible cutting edge shit in physics and metaphysics. I bet you'd get a kick out of it too.

Well, just thought I'd drop in and say hi and insult you a bit. To satisfy the conditions of that last one there: your hair is terrible, your shoes are ridiculous, and everyone agrees you smell just ever so slightly of McDonald's fries.

New stuff on the way, promise. Very much looking forward to sharing the new book with you when it's done baking, and hope all's well in your corner of the world. The feline sends her regards and I'll go ahead and attach the photos she'd be most proud of.

Big love as ever,

Ex