This issue is the first since McCarthy's surprise publication of an essay in the science magazine Nautilus. Titled “The Kekulé Problem,” the essay explores the relationship between language and the unconscious and wonders “why … the unconscious [is] so loathe to speak to us” in words? “Why the images, metaphors, pictures? Why the dreams, for that matter.” It's McCarthy's first published nonfiction work (with the exception of the mission statement of the Santa Fe Institute, where his interests in these kinds of evolutionary systems and complexity science have been nurtured and honed by rich conversations with his colleagues.) As always, we welcome new writing with enthusiasm and great interest of our own, and this will no doubt fuel some similarly long and rich conversations.
In this issue, Joshua Jackson uses McCarthy's knowledge of theoretical science and his work at SFI to frame his “distance reading” of what he calls...
