An estival interlude ☀️

Featuring CIA-level semantics and evolutionarily correct orcs

Author

Alexandra Taylor
July 03, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

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Season’s greetings!

I took a vacation last week, and tomorrow is a holiday in the US. So today I’m trying out a short, linky format, in service of my lifelong quest to be a little more chill. (If you’re new here, this essay format is more typical.)

But first, I thought I would take my own advice about building together. Write back and tell me, what have you enjoyed or found valuable about this newsletter? What hasn’t worked for you? What would you like to see more of? 

I’ll do a proper survey at some point, but until then, I’d just love to hear from you!

Happy summer,

Alex

Something old:

Communications: The Transfer of Meaning: This 1968 book on semantics was originally published as a 40-page instructional brochure by Kaiser Aluminum and Chemicals Corporation. It aims to help readers avoid the sticky situations (and, presumably, corporate losses) that arise from miscommunication. It features fun, retro illustrations and was even circulated in a CIA memo. (Requires a free Internet Archive account to view.)

“Instead of becoming a champion for one possible explanation or hypothesis or model, collect as many as possible. Consider all of them plausible until you find some evidence that causes you to rule one out. That way you will be emotionally able to see the evidence that rules out an assumption with which you might have confused your own identity.”

Donella Meadows, ”Dancing with Systems”

Something new:

Evolution and Ecology for World-Builders: Researchers at Arizona State University have created a guidebook to encourage players of tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons to incorporate factors like habitat, natural predators, and life history strategies (how quickly a creature matures and how long it lives) to make their fantasy worlds more compelling and lifelike. (h/t Shannon Brescher Shea)

“Think about what you can do with the time and resources you have. Filtering and being realistic are part of the job. Keep reevaluating where you are in relation to where you want to go.

Be careful not to fall in love with your plans or ideas. Instead, fall in love with the effects you can have when you communicate clearly.”

Summer reading:

Here are some recent-ish nonfiction releases I’m looking forward to reading this summer. What’s atop your summer reading pile?

  • The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies: Understanding how “accountability sinks” cause complex systems to generate outcomes that nobody wants

  • Hello, Cruel World by Melinda Wenner Moyer: Preparing children for a reality that is complicated and constantly changing

  • More Everything Forever by Adam Becker: Interrogating a techno-utopian philosophy that prizes exponential growth above all else

  • The Stronger Sex by Starre Vartan: Upending traditional views about sex-related strength differences

Stay cool. Back mid-July with our regularly scheduled programming. 😎 

Hi! I’m Alex. I write about scientific research for nonprofits, universities, and brands. I also help experts communicate their own research. Learn more about my work or connect with me on LinkedIn.

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