If the best way to learn to succeed is to fail as fast as possible, then the second-best way is to watch someone else fail as fast as possible. Watching someone else screw up is a kind of rehearsal for your own eventual downfall. A close observation of someone else's attempt to resolve a difficulty is a great way to acquire real-world insight into whether and when to deploy their method in your own times of trouble.

It's part of a cycle of stories I'm writing where I deconstruct classic science fiction.

Universal access to human knowledge is in our grasp, for the first time in the history of the world. This is not a bad thing.

The fact is, almost everything you do is collaborative. Somewhere out there, someone else had a hand it it.

We have a name for things that don't copy themselves: dead.

The accolade of your peers is very exciting, always. There's lots of good stuff on the ballot.

I don't know anything about press conferences." "Oh, just Google it. I'm sure someone's written an article on holding a successful one. I mean, if the President can manage it, I'm sure you can. He looks like he can barely tie his shoes without help.