Welcome to Elf Theory!

Most Elf Theory posts deal philosophically with science and tech, but not all of them. I have a love/hate relationship with institutionalized knowledge, but the love is strong enough that even my most critical pieces were inspired by corny, wide-eyed curiosity re: whatever I’m on about.

Not long ago, I was a traditional academic. In 2025, I quit a tenure-track professorship, effectively ending a career that started in 2017. In that time span, I taught over a thousand students at four different universities (Virginia Tech, NYU, Villanova University, and SUNY Farmingdale). I also did a lot of publishing, conference talks, and administration. The story behind my decision to leave academia is complicated — I hope I can do it justice one day. For now, I’ll say that the term “scholarly” still describes much of my work, including what you’ll find here.

Sometimes I plug things, like public speaking events and publications. When I do, I try not to be crass about it. Occasionally I post original fiction. I like the mystical, but I’m not here to be mystical. Not yet!