Explore Sean’s Essays:
Decentralized from Birth – the Origins of the Web.
The field of Computer Science can trace its origins to war. The United Kingdom funded the development of Alan Turing's early computers to break the German Enigma Code and help win the war. We generally view this as the birth of modern computing. As WW2 ended, the Cold War began...
2020: We Eloped — Not Pregnant
As I read my vows, I got a stark view of the future. My soon-to-be husband’s snow-covered hair gave me a glimpse into our future. I was marrying a Silver Fox, and I was so excited to take this next step and marry the person I wanted to grow old with. In the middle of a...
Open Finance — Reducing CC Fees by 99% with Blockchain
A large part blockchain's promise is around creating open financial systems. By this I mean: Removing intermediaries Enabling peer to peer transaction Reducing coordination costs Creating high trust transactions Reducing fees and wait times At ETH Denver, one of the largest...
The Guggenheim Effect
The Guggenheim is the worst major museum in the world — the main exhibition space is on a 3° slope. Before being constructed a group of 21 leading artists petitioned the city of New York — expressing concern that they wouldn't be able to display their work in a level setting....
Creative destruction
800,000 acres of Yellowstone was destroyed in the 1988 fires. That's 1/3 of the park — burnt in the span of three months. Many feared the park was destroyed. A national treasure turned memory. But 30 years later, the park is thriving. How? Serotinous pine cones. As it turns out...
Microscript Rules
If the glove doesn't fit... Even though I didn't type it out, your brain probably said "you must acquit." Why is that? Your brain 'hears' the rest of the sentence as if I wrote it out because of audiation, the process by which our brain complete words/music that it already...
The Stranger
"Any man who does not weep at his mother's funeral runs the risk of being put to death." - Camus In The Stranger Albert Camus explores his philosophy of the absurd - existentialism - through the story of Meursault. He's a man who's mother dies, gets involved in a murder, and...
Cato
What does it mean to be a virtuous citizen in a republic? America's founding father's were designing a system of government in reaction to the English Monarchy. They studied political theorists from Aristotle to Locke. And it was the history of the Roman republic, and it's...
No one cares about what you want.
Are you looking for a new job? Building a product? Selling something? Beware of the common trap of selfishness. It is so easy to get caught up in what you want, how good you are, or why you deserve something. Why it matters to you. But don't fail to remember a crucial lesson —...