I think you’ve answered Owen’s question?
From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Nicholas Thompson Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 11:12 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Dead Stack? Ok, so here is an example of the KIND of thing we might have discussed at a FRIAM meeting in the old days: NICK: iF friction is negligible between two layers, how in fact do two layers come to affect one another? FRIAM MOB:: (affectionate exasperation) When you have read a physics book, a philosophy book, and 8 math books, come back and we'll explain it to you. NICK TO MOB: Nuthn' doin'. If you are so smart, you should be able to explain it to me NOW. MOB TO NICK: Oh, God. Do we have to? OH, OKAAAAAAAAAAY. SUB MOB 1 TO NICK: Any idiot knows that THIS is how it works SUB MOB 2 TO NICK: Any idiot knows that THAT is how it works. NICK TO MOBS: Any idiot knows that THIS and THAT can't both be true. ETC. I learned almost everything I know from those conversations. I miss them terribly. Nick On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 11:32 AM Gary Schiltz <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: My feeling is that there was a bubble of activity in Santa Fe about complexity in the late 1990s (see Wired’s article about “Silicon Mesa”) that burst in about 2001. Many who were there are now old farts 😆 On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:47 PM Jon Zingale <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I know I came to this group in what appears to be its twilight. The in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I feel pressed to ask if it is the case that everyone is either: 1. on vacation/ too busy 2. too depressed / failing to find inspiration 3. moved on to greener forums 4. preferring the company of LLMs ... N. waiting for someone frail to post Sometimes I trawl reddit or whatever discord, but I cannot help but feel like beacons of inspiration are becoming fewer and further between. This group has managed to inspire me, keep my interest, for over a decade. In that time, I pushed myself to understand perspectives that I would never have dreamed existed. I hope there is still something to talk about. .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ -- Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology Clark University [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson https://substack.com/@monist
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.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
