Darkening sky

In the midst of passing thunderstorms, the sky turns almost completely black as I sit in the living room, trying to schedule thesis seminars for January 2026. Last night was absolutely awful – I seem to have picked up some kind of stomach bug, and William is also at home with a cold. So yes, it is clearly “vobb” season again. At least that probably explains why yesterday’s 10k rowing session at the gym felt so excruciating.

Usually not much for joggers, I spent my lunch on the sofa, reading a few pages in Nick Bostrom’s latest Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World. It was a reminder of how stimulating it can be to engage with people who really think, even if one does not always have to agree.

Before finishing this post, I should say something about what happened in Poland a couple of days ago. The more I think about it, the only plausible explanation for Russia’s actions is that it wanted the countries of Eastern Europe to hold back more of their air defence and other military resources at home – fearing further aggression – rather than sending them to Ukraine. The fact that no NATO bases, such as the one in Rzeszów, were struck (even though some drones apparently were heading in that direction) suggests that Russia’s aim was less to provoke direct conflict than to trick NATO states into diverting resources away from the actual ongoing war.