Posts on Matt Hambro

Jill Lepore - The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 14:53:41 -0800

The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State by Jill Lepore describes itself as an “inquiry into what humans mean and intend in abandoning constitutional democracy, the liberal nation-state, and even humanity itself for rule by automation, government by machine, and replacement by artificial intelligence.” The book attempts to outline the growing influence of automation, statistical prediction, and future-oriented thinking on the state. The first half focuses mostly on historical analysis, which starts in earnest with the 19th century. This part of the book looks at the demystification of the world by science and technology and the changes in belief that accompany that new knowledge, especially as concerns government. To me, the main focus of this portion seems to be the impact that statistics and prediction have had on elections. The second half of the book looks at science fiction narratives, both utopian and dystopian, tracing the ways they are understood and brought to life by people using technology. In this later half, the focus turns more to the shifting balance between animals, humans, and machines, outlining how machines take on the roles that humans previously ascribed to nature and biology.

Computer Networks: The Dry, Invisible Magic of the Internet - Part 1: The Hourglass

Sat, 03 Jun 2023 21:40:16 -0700

The Dry, Invisible Magic of the Internet

Over the Spring of 2023 I took a course on computer networks. In this series I explain for a lay audience how some of the most mundane, yet magical, aspects the internet work and why you should care.

Part 1: The Hourglass Shape of the Internet

What happens when you send an image on the internet

The Internet is shaped like an hourglass. But what could that possibly mean?

Notetaking with Markdown and EPUBs for E-Readers

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 10:23:27 -0800

Hello World!

This is my first post on this blog and I’m excited to share one of my favorite workflows for learning, notetaking, and study/review.

I’m primarily a visual learner, and I remember things by reading them, thinking about them, and writing them down. Sometimes this sucks. It’s slow and time consuming, results in a ton of cluttered files, and of course not everything is available as written text. On the other hand, some advantages of being a notetaker are the ability to save and process information over a very long period of time. Notes that you took years ago can be brought up and can remind you of important facts or lessons you would never remember today. Additionally, notes can be shared with friends, colleagues, or students, which multiplies the value of the work put into taking the notes considerably.