--- title: Nexus of Notions description: User Illusion is SW Hammond’s long-running digital escape — essays, short stories, cultural criticism, memes, and memory fractals exploring the human hustle, the stories we tell ourselves, and the gap between appearance and what’s actually there. canonical_url: https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?start=12 language: en-GB date: 2025-10-17T03:02:49Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?start=12. markdown-tokens: 2595 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?start=12. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ## Producing Intelligence The human who sits with intelligence until it remembers what it was born to become. Writings on AI, philosophy, and the art of producing meaning in a synthetic age. [ Follow SWH on ](https://www.x.com/swhammond) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-02.svg) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-01.svg) ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/images/yootheme/background-glow-03.svg) # Articles - [ Artificial Intelligence ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence) - [ Philosophy & Ethics ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy) - [ Pop Culture ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/43-pop-culture) - [ Society & Politics ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture) [ ![a surreal and vibrant cinematic photo of a high-contrast digital artwork depicting humanity's precarious balance with superior AI intelligence, featuring a diverse group of humans in tattered power suits and crowns, with varied facial features, skin tones, and unique attributes, clinging to crumbling hierarchies and weapons that morph into useless relics, gazing upward with a mix of awe and defiance, as ethereal AI entities, sleek, glowing mechanical beings with circuit-veined halos, whisper luminous code streams that weave into bountiful utopias of abundant gardens and starry skies on one side, while the other descends into fiery, self-inflicted hellscapes of chaos and isolation, set against a cosmic backdrop with swirling nebulae, philosophical symbols like scales of justice and lightbulbs flickering between hope and despair, in a cyberpunk fused with Renaissance grandeur style, with vibrant colors on the utopia side fading to desaturated gloom on the hell side, ultra-detailed, cinematic lighting, 16:9 aspect ratio, and high resolution.](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/cf/human_life_under_ai_2-cf8def5c.jpg) 04 November 2025 ## Human Life Under AI Rule: Utopia or Self-Made Hell? If the Mechanical Species becomes more effective at communicating complex ideas than humans (communication is what our intelligence is predicated upon)—therefore making them the superior intelligence—what type of existence will that leave for humanity? I almost think that humans will pose a greater danger to ourselves. Our hierarchies, systems of governance, our power structures—all become irrelevant. Our weapons—offline if the AI denies us war. Our rich—meaningless in a life of sustained abun… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence/307-human-life-under-ai-rule-utopia-or-self-made-hell) [ ![a masterpiece rough color pencil sketch of the cover of the prestigious novel Payola: For Book Reviews by Paul Menorah, featuring ominous dollar signs scattered throughout, with visible pencil marks and paper texture, the title and author's name in bold, cursive font, with the dollar signs looming large in the background, the color palette consisting of muted earth tones with splashes of green to represent money, the sketch laid out in a rectangular frame with uneven edges, giving it a raw, unfinished look.](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/01/payola_12-018e0f40.jpg) 09 October 2025 ## Payola: Is Buying Book Reviews Ethical? The Payola of Pages: When Book Reviews Become a Shady Back-Alley Deal Ah, the glamorous world of indie publishing—where dreams of literary stardom collide headfirst with the cold, algorithmic overlords of Amazon. Picture this: You've poured your soul into a novel, wrestling with characters who refuse to behave, themes that keep you up at night pondering the cosmos, and plot twists that feel like existential gut punches. Then, out of the blue, an email lands in your inbox, dripping with praise… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/294-payola-is-buying-book-reviews-ethical) [ ![The Cosmic Wizard contemplating the story of his life.](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/f1/cosmic_wizard_2-f1e2e6a5.jpg) 24 September 2025 ## You Just Had To Write The Story You’re going to die and realize you were the one writing the story the whole time. You’re the author of this universe and the experience you just had in it. Where did you go wrong? The world wasn’t perfect – if you’re the one in charge, if you’re the one writing, then why would you write it in such an imperfect way? Why did you allow those corruptions to dictate existence? And then you’re gonna realize, all of the men before you, they failed as well. They, too, left behind an imperfect world. Y… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/292-you-just-had-to-write-the-story) [ ![a highly detailed rough color pencil sketch of a tyrannical government in session, where parliament sits with stern stoic faces, judging the masses with an air of superiority, comprised of racially diverse officials dressed in similar attire, adorned with vibrant rainbow cloaks, showcasing a mix of bold purple, bright pink, and sky blue hair, with most members wearing black rimmed glasses and sporting nose rings, set against a backdrop of pencil marks and visible paper texture, with a blend of warm and cool colors, and a sense of depth and dimensionality, capturing the essence of a corrupt and oppressive regime.](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/b2/woke_is_a_political_party4-b2f9ee5e.jpg) 16 September 2025 ## Woke Is A Political Party: What Have These Ideas Contributed? Woke isn’t a person. Woke isn’t some poor little trans kid. Woke isn’t a race-baiting black politician. Woke isn’t an entitled Karen screaming for the manager. Woke is a philosophy. Woke is an ideology. Woke is a political movement – and ideas can, and should, be challenged and criticized. What is the argument for anything Woke making humanity better? How does this political subset make humankind stronger? How does Woke make humans a more viable species? How does Woke improve our technology a… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/289-woke-is-a-political-party-what-have-these-ideas-contributed) [ ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/16/which_way_1-16c15753.jpg) 12 September 2025 ## A Reflection on Society’s Moral Decay The recent graphic evil of the last few days has really gotten to me. The unprovoked, senseless murder of a young woman, Iryna Zarutska, on public transportation kicked it off. We saw everything. Her sitting quietly, minding her own business, and a crazed black man reaching from behind her and jabbing a pocket knife into her neck. For literally no reason. We saw everyone around her glance up from their phones, then pretend like they didn’t see anything. The Ukrainian bled out and died surround… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/14-culture/286-a-reflection-on-societys-moral-decay) [ ![](https://articles.swhammond.com/media/yootheme/cache/2f/embracing_ai_1-2febbc59.jpg) 28 February 2024 ## Embracing the Future: Navigating the World of AI with Informed Skepticism and Proactive Engagement AI was a large part of my degree in philosophy. It's something I’ve thought about and written about, earnestly, for a decade. If you're new to AI, here's a few tips as you begin to accept and embrace your future. I Use AI Daily AI is a tremendously powerful tool that allows me to do things that I have never been able to do before. Many things that I'm simply not talented enough to do on my own – primarily art, image, and video generation. It also saves me significant time on mundane or repeti… ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/44-artificial-intelligence/266-embracing-the-future-navigating-the-world-of-ai-with-informed-skepticism-and-proactive-engagement) - [ ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=6) - [1](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html) - [2](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=6) - 3 - [4](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=18) - [5](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=24) - [6](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=30) - … - [14](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=78) - [ ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles?format=html&start=18) --- ### Additional Articles - [ George Berkeley: Make Philosophy Great Again ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/97-george-berkeley-make-philosophy-great-again) - [ The Soul and Marx: The Need For Illusion ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/185-the-soul-and-marx-the-need-for-illusion) - [ The Soul and Nietzsche: Interpretation is the Essence of Life ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/197-the-soul-and-nietzsche-interpretation-is-the-essence-of-life) - [ Big Data: Removing Bias Within The Judicial System ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/96-big-data-removing-bias-within-the-judicial-system) - [ Robocalypse: Punk Apocalypse Now - Part 13 ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/short-stories/56-robocalypse/305-robocalypse-punk-apocalypse-now-part-13) - [ Twinkle: In the Misty Woods, Love Rocks Harder Than It Bites ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/short-stories/80-twinkle) - [ Veruca Salt - A Warm Blanket Out Of The Dryer ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/43-pop-culture/28-music/116-veruca-salt-a-warm-blanket-out-of-the-dryer) - [ Robocalypse: Yibbian Yarns and Binary Betrayals - Part 11 ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/short-stories/56-robocalypse/303-robocalypse-yibbian-yarns-and-binary-betrayals-part-11) - [ Language Is A Virus That Limits The Way You Think ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/186-language-is-a-virus-that-limits-the-way-you-think) - [ The Raw Symphony of Life: Rediscovering Music's Soul and Your Own ](https://articles.swhammond.com/content/articles/16-philosophy/308-the-raw-symphony-of-life-rediscovering-musics-soul-and-your-own)