Writing and talks
I make VR worlds, and I also write, speak and teach. This page collects the writing, some of which started in a notebook, and the talks I can point to.
An essay in four parts
Precipicism
We are at the threshold.
Is the end of Moore’s Law the start of stagnation, or of something faster? The central thesis of this work is that we’re at a precipice. The future could take a radical turn for the better, or worse, as a result of technological and memetic progress.
- Hard take-off. A new computational paradigm sends the curve vertical.
- The complex middle. Plateaus, S-curves and slow declines as the limits to growth bite.
- Catastrophe. A brick wall: an abrupt, unforeseen drop-off.
It’s important to note that I am not a fence-sitter. I think the “hard take-off” scenario is the most likely.
More writing
- If Braindances Were Real
A long thought experiment: if Cyberpunk 2077’s recordings of experience existed today, what would people use them for, and who’d do the recording?
- State of Play: A Sense-Check for November 2026
A PEST check on where things stand, from escapism and horror to AI, the AI stocks, oil and politics.
- An Open Letter to Festival Directors and Curators
A friendly gripe and a simple ask: accept emailed entries, keep the form short, and let curation decide what gets in.
- Neuromancer in Joburg
Picturing a solarpunk, post-singularity Africa, starting with my home city. Gritty, hopeful, and nothing like Terminator.
- Choose Slow Dopamine
On being present: feeds and notifications all want a piece of you, and a good VR world asks for the moment you’re in.
- Sixteen Is Too Few
Myers-Briggs written as a scale, a middle setting that takes 16 types to 81, and the maths I got wrong.
- Left brain, right brain
Three brains as a rough model of how people get persuaded, and the three ways past critical thinking. The neuroscience is pop-science.
- Appeal to Emotion
The seven appeals I kept seeing, from tribalism to justice, and what makes people stop responding.
- Sales Technique
My sales routine from a 2014 notebook: seven steps from preparation to close.
- Content Marketing in a Nutshell
Notes on headlines, read-through rate and vanity metrics, and why only about 15% of readers reach the end.
Notes on other people’s methods
- Advanced Learning Techniques
Two lists from a Brian Tracy course: eight conditions that help you learn faster, and seven types of intelligence.
- Jordan Belfort Sales Technique
My notes on his approach to selling: eleven steps on one straight line, from rapport to follow-up.
Medium
My tutorials and essays are on Medium, including guides to VRChat worldbuilding, stencil shaders and planning a VR project. Precipicism was first published there.
Talks and teaching
- An Optimist’s Guide to the Singularity
The talk written up, in its four parts: context, risks, opportunities and next steps.
- Phones Out, Please
My slides for that talk were a web app, so one QR code turned the audience’s phones into a second screen for live polls.
- CFO Day ↗ opens in a new tab
I guided the opening session, a walk through the metaverse, and demonstrated a virtual TV studio.
- Voices of VR ↗ opens in a new tab
Kent Bye talked to Adam Lieber, Alex Bossman, Egbert Harm Westra and me about making Strangeways.
- Future Cities Africa ↗ opens in a new tab
How the metaverse could change the purpose and feel of cities.
- The Africa XR Report
A 326-page study of XR in Africa, co-led with Judith Okonkwo (Imisi 3D), with surveys across 20 countries. Announced at Meta’s XR exhibition in Lagos in October 2022.
- weAReVR.Jozi
The WE ARE VR meetups in my hometown.