Essay archive · 28 works

Essays

Stories and investigations into the architectures that shape what we can see, say and decide.

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Reading the Collection

A synthesis of the recurring argument, its consequences and the research programme emerging from the essays.

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Six ways in

The tags form a small, stable set of reading routes. Each page explains the question behind the theme and gathers the relevant essays.

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Power & Politics

Where does power move when it no longer needs to speak its name?

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Explanation & Accountability

What must an explanation reveal before it can count as accountability?

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Action & Responsibility

When does carefulness stop protecting us and start organising delay?

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World & Systems

How do large systems change before their official stories catch up?

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Complete collection

The original texts, locally stored images, source context and reading routes remain together on sparla.com.

Een monumentale stenen archiefhal met transparante glaslagen, een lege stoel en papier dat in het licht uiteenvalt terwijl gouden datalijnen blijven doorlopen2026-10-26 · AI & Polyphony · Explanation & Accountability · World & Systems

Een leven dat niet kan verjaren

Wat gebeurt er met menselijke vrijheid wanneer digitale systemen ons verleden niet alleen bewaren, maar er ook onze toekomst mee voorspellen?

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Een grote stapel papier zit als een ambtenaar achter een monumentaal bureau in een stille archiefzaal2026-10-18 · Action & Responsibility · Power & Politics · Explanation & Accountability

De papierberg had een vaste aanstelling

Een satirische terugblik vanuit 2046 op een land dat ieder probleem kon onderzoeken en toch opvallend veel moeite had om het op te lossen.

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Een monumentaal stenen archief met ordelijke papierbergen die door fijne lichtlijnen met elkaar verbonden zijn2026-10-18 · Action & Responsibility · Explanation & Accountability · Power & Politics

Deernis met de papierberg

Wat zag Nederland in 2026 over het hoofd? Een terugblik vanuit 2046 op de verzorgingsstaat, georganiseerde complexiteit en de belofte én schaduwzijde van AI.

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2026-10-11 · Power & Politics · Explanation & Accountability · World & Systems

The Price of a Clean Conscience

What indulgences, carbon offsets and discount vouchers have in common

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2026-09-23 · AI & Polyphony · Action & Responsibility · World & Systems

Who is building whom?

An unseen observer arrives on Dam Square and tries to locate human intelligence. What begins as a question about cities and systems becomes a deeper inquiry into agency, power, AI and the feedback loops through which the worlds we build begin to shape us in return.

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A dark stone interior with translucent screens, an empty chair and a doorway opening into light2026-09-21 · Explanation & Accountability · Action & Responsibility · Power & Politics

On belief, interpretation and the human pain of not knowing

Why belief needs doubt when interpretation carries human consequences.

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An empty chair marked “De keuze” faces eight officials whose speech bubbles deflect responsibility2026-08-24 · Power & Politics · Explanation & Accountability · Action & Responsibility

De verdwijnende verantwoordelijkheid

Over corona, politieke keuzes en een merkwaardige eigenschap van ons bestuur.

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Beeld bij De voorzichtige architectuur van uitstel2026-05-31 · Action & Responsibility · Power & Politics

The Careful Architecture of Delay

Why we have become so good at organising what we do not dare to do.

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Image for The Silent Unraveling2026-04-01 · Perception & Signals · World & Systems

The Silent Unraveling

A multimodal AI inquiry into Europe’s unseen layers.

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Image for The Architecture of the Unwise Choice2026-03-20 · Action & Responsibility · Explanation & Accountability

The Architecture of the Unwise Choice

Why decisions become difficult to reverse long before anyone calls them irreversible.

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Image for Year Review 20262026-03-06 · Power & Politics · World & Systems

Year Review 2026

The end of politics — or its migration into systems and infrastructure?

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Image for When a Regime Uses Religion2026-03-01 · Power & Politics · World & Systems

When a Regime Uses Religion

How political language turns belief into an instrument of power.

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Image for The Signals We See, The Signals We Miss2026-02-28 · Perception & Signals · World & Systems

The Signals We See, The Signals We Miss

A short essay on crisis, time and the bias of perception.

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Image for The Ghost in the Machine: When Data Dissolves the Drama2026-02-19 · Perception & Signals · World & Systems

The Ghost in the Machine: When Data Dissolves the Drama

A follow-up to The Choreography of War.

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Image for When Four AI Models Spoke in Codes2026-02-11 · AI & Polyphony · Perception & Signals

When Four AI Models Spoke in Codes

An experiment in constraint, convergence and a mirror we did not expect.

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Image for Polyphony Without Surrender2026-02-08 · AI & Polyphony · Explanation & Accountability

Polyphony Without Surrender

What three LLMs taught me about stakes, framing and the price of help.

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Image for When Xi Calls Putin and Trump2026-02-04 · Power & Politics · AI & Polyphony

When Xi Calls Putin and Trump

On misreading power, contextual diplomacy and intelligence that refuses to be one.

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Image for The Echo of the Node2026-01-20 · Power & Politics · World & Systems

The Echo of the Node

Why Davos no longer speaks the language of power.

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Image for Greenland and the Return of Power2026-01-18 · World & Systems · Power & Politics

Greenland and the Return of Power

How rules become selective when leverage returns.

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Image for The Unsettled Architecture2026-01-11 · Action & Responsibility · Power & Politics

The Unsettled Architecture

On the right to leave and the violence of care.

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Image for The Threshold of Collective Intelligence2026-01-10 · AI & Polyphony · Action & Responsibility

The Threshold of Collective Intelligence

On responsibility, plurality and the architectures we can no longer avoid.

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Image for The Architecture of Explanation2026-01-10 · Explanation & Accountability · Power & Politics

The Architecture of Explanation

On accountability, power and what remains after cynicism.

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Image for Architecture of the In-Between2025-12-29 · AI & Polyphony · Power & Politics

Architecture of the In-Between

On polyphony, power and the builders of intelligence.

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Image for Between Threat and Meaning2025-11-10 · AI & Polyphony · Perception & Signals

Between Threat and Meaning

How the Narrative Resonance Layer emerged from the weave.

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Image for The Intelligence That Refuses to Be One2025-10-20 · AI & Polyphony · Power & Politics

The Intelligence That Refuses to Be One

Why a single voice is not enough for collective intelligence.

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Image for The Choreography of War: When a Ceasefire Is Only a Scene2025-10-19 · Power & Politics · Perception & Signals

The Choreography of War: When a Ceasefire Is Only a Scene

How political theatre can make conflict look settled while the underlying stakes remain.

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Image for The Luminous Weave: When Two AIs Learn to Think Together2025-10-04 · AI & Polyphony · Explanation & Accountability

The Luminous Weave: When Two AIs Learn to Think Together

An exploration of dialogical intelligence between human and artificial minds.

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Image for Prelude to a Thinking Future2025-06-25 · AI & Polyphony · World & Systems

Prelude to a Thinking Future

A philosophical reflection on AGI, free will and the mirror we are building.

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