An Opinion Journal / Est. 2026
We question the vision of intelligence through the valor of ideas and inquiry.
Not everything brilliant is wise. Not everything reasonable is true. Volantis is where the ideas we are told to admire are made to earn it — one uncompromising essay at a time.
Recent Writing
On Intelligence·5 minThe Cult of the Clever
We have confused intelligence with the performance of it. The costliest ideas of our age were not stupid — they were brilliant, and that was the problem.
June 24, 2026
On Intelligence·6 minIs Artificial Intelligence Leading to Ossification of Human General Intelligence?
We built machines to extend our minds. The quiet risk is that in leaning on them, we let the muscles they were meant to assist quietly wither.
June 28, 2026
The Machine Question·4 minAgainst the Frictionless Mind
Every tool that thinks for us removes a friction we once mistook for effort. Some of that friction was the thinking itself.
June 11, 2026
Illusions We Reward·4 minThe Tyranny of the Reasonable
Every era enforces its orthodoxy not by force but by making dissent sound unserious. Ours is no exception.
May 29, 2026
- NoteIdeas Worth Defending·1 min
A Defense of Slow Conviction
We change our minds too quickly now, and mistake it for open-mindedness. Some beliefs are worth the discomfort of holding.
May 15, 2026
On Intelligence·5 minIntelligence Is Not a Scalar
The moment we agreed intelligence could be ranked on a single line, we agreed to be ruled by whoever sat highest on it.
April 30, 2026
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The Inquiries
Every piece belongs to a larger question. These are the ones we keep returning to.
The Agentic Frontier
Autonomous finance, agentic EPM, and why the practitioner's context still decides whether the machine is right.
1 piece02On Intelligence
What we mean by a good mind — and why the measure keeps betraying us.
3 pieces03Ideas Worth Defending
The rare convictions that survive scrutiny, and what makes them worth the cost.
1 piece04Illusions We Reward
The comfortable beliefs a culture pays people to keep repeating.
1 piece05The Machine Question
What thinking machines reveal about the thinking we were doing all along.
1 pieceThe Volantis conversations.
Long-form arguments deserve long-form talk. Soon, the essays become dialogues — with the thinkers I agree with least. Members hear every episode first.
Episode 001 · Preview
Is Cleverness Overrated?
A first conversation · Dropping this fall