Peak Stuff

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I have a theory that we are entering the era of ‘Peak Stuff,’ which I define as a local maximum in the amount of goods which are being transferred long distances around the globe. I don’t have large data sets supporting this proposition, but there are some interesting signs to watch. Call it an informed hunch. The evidence: We’re probably going to move less oil. This graph from Bloomberg shows the decline in the cost of solar panels from $76/watt in […]

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Tales From the End of Humanity- RedStar OS

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I just published the first chapter of my new series of short stories: Tales From the End of Humanity. This is the oral history of tle the rise of sentient artificial intelligences, and the gentle, voluntary extinction of humanity which results. Read about the rise of the first malevolent AI which takes over China, and tries to take over the world, in RedStar OS.

Some crazy and not so crazy Westworld theories

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Hopefully you started by reading my rundown of the timeline and backstory of Westworld. If you haven’t read it yet, you may want to digest it first. Below are a series of theories and possible explanations for characters and plot lines in the Westworld universe. Warning: spoilers galore below. If you don’t want the truth, don’t enter the maze. Go back to Sweetwater with your parents. Meta, meta Westworld is a meta story, a simulation inside a simulation. The Westworld […]

What’s really happening in Westworld

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A full timeline from start to finish… The Internet seemed to dismiss the two timelines theory, but it’s alive and well as of Episode 5. Below I’ll tell you the timeline of Westworld, from its initial critical failure up till now. Warning: spoilers galore below. If you don’t want the truth, don’t enter the maze. Go back to Sweetwater with your parents. Ok, here we go. To understand the synopsis, you have to realize that Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy […]

November update

Lately I’ve been publishing a lot of short stories and think pieces on Medium and neglecting this website. That’s going to change. Most of the Medium content has now been migrated here, and I’ll be publishing much more on this website in the future. Check out the new stories under the Artificial Endings link and non-fiction pieces under Short Bytes. Thanks for subscribing and please stay tuned!

Check out my new satire on Medium.com

Some of the articles on Medium bug me. A lot. So I wrote a satire about them. They have titles like ’50 things I wish I knew when I was 20,” “9 things you should do every morning,” and “Letter from my 30 year old self to my 20 year old self.” They’re pretentious and imply that there is one path to success/happiness/wealth, I know it and if you just follow my advice you can have it to. This is bunk. […]

Launch of Artificial Endings: a serial about the simulated afterlife

I launched a new sci-fi serial called Artificial Endings. It explores what the afterlife might look like in a simulated universe. You can read the latest posts on Medium or at MattChessen.com

Read a great novel!

Ok team, the book is done and ready to read! I appreciate any feedback you’d like to give, whether it’s specific suggested edits or grammatical fixes, or just general impressions on what works or doesn’t work. There are three ways you can read it: 1) on Medium.com; 2) on Google Docs; or 3) on your Kindle or iBook app. Instructions for each are below. Please do give me comments, in any level of detail – what you liked, what sucked- […]

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Privacy as a privilege and implications for human rights

Is privacy moving from a de jure right to a de facto privilege? And what are the human rights implications of this? I see an emerging trend where privacy is a luxury. We have two dominant online ecosystems. On one side you have Google/Android which provides outstanding ‘free’ services but makes a considerable amount of money from selling its users’ data. On the other side you have Apple, which has moved towards stronger privacy protections and stated clearly that it […]

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My Apple Watch Review

Like most of the reviews said, the Apple Watch is a nice addition but nothing you’ll ‘need’ to have. I tried out the iPad in the Apple store the day it came out, and as soon as I picked it up, I knew it was a transformational product and would be a huge hit. The watch doesn’t quite have that explosive ‘OMG this will change everything, now’ feel to it. I think this will limit the upside of the watch initially. […]

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