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Drafts are local-only: untrack the four committed ones 

.gitignore has declared content/drafts/ local-only working notes since
the rule was added, but four drafts were already tracked — ignore rules
don't untrack, so make build's auto-commit kept staging and deploy kept
pushing them (AUDIT §6.3). Untracked with --cached; the files remain on
disk and still build in dev. Also moved inclusionist-manifesto.md into
drafts/essays/ where the draft rule actually matches it (§6.1), and
un-shadowed the tracked .env.example from the credential patterns.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Levi Neuwirth 2026-06-10 10:40:05 -04:00
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**/.env
**/.env.*
**/*.env
# .env.example is documentation (tracked), not a credential file — the
# patterns above would otherwise shadow it for status/add purposes.
!.env.example
**/*.key
**/*.pem
**/*.p12

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---
title: "The Specification Dilemma"
date: 2026-04-20 # required; used for ordering, feed, and display
abstract: > # optional; shown in the metadata block and link previews
We should not consider AI entities as mere tools, though they may be the raw foundation from which exceptional tools for thought are constructed to augment the human mind. Rather, we should consider AI as the ultimate distillation and consolidation of humanity's achievements - the ultimate progeny of our civilization.
tags: # optional; see Tags section
- ai
- tech
# Epistemic profile — all optional; the entire section is hidden unless `status` is set
status: "Draft" # Draft | Working model | Durable | Refined | Superseded | Deprecated
confidence: 100 # 0–100 integer (%)
importance: 5 # 1–5 integer (rendered as filled/empty dots ●●●○○)
evidence: 1 # 1–5 integer (same)
scope: civilizational # personal | local | average | broad | civilizational
novelty: idiosyncratic # conventional | moderate | idiosyncratic | innovative
practicality: moderate # abstract | low | moderate | high | exceptional
confidence-history: # list of integers; trend arrow derived from last two entries
---
TODO: block quote about Richard Feynman and the beauty of science - idea "it's more beautiful this way"
I have often felt there has been a loss of wonder from the world, and I lament this fact.

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---
title: "The Modern Idolatry"
date: 2026-04-06
abstract: >
Thoughts on idolizing notions of success, whether extrinsic or intrinsic, prompted by my upcoming graduation from Brown University and a recent week spent in Paris.
tags:
- miscellany
- philosophy
- personal
- personal/travel
authors:
- "Levi Neuwirth | /me.html"
status: "Draft"
history:
- date: "2026-04-06"
---
Travel affects me profoundly, and the effect is strangely uniform. There is a hierarchical structure of dichotomies that seems to define most aspects of my life, and my interactions with place are no exception to this rule. One of the dichotomies is as follows: I am rather accustomed to moving around in my adult life to date, never spending more than 4 months in a place before spending at least a few weeks somewhere else, and yet I rapidly develop a sense of "home" wherever I am - a stagnation of sorts, an acceptance of the region in which I reside and an abstraction away of the remainder of the world to some vast, estoeric TERRA INCOGNITA. Perhaps the most profound, persistent personal effect of travel on me is that it knocks me out of this mental state of spatial hibernation, reminding me that there is an entire world beyond that which I consistently perceive, and that I have the means to do something to have a positive impact on it. This has been a profoundly important sensation for me to have for many years now, and is thus one basis by which travel is consistently a high priority for me.
This is often combined with a sense of grand melancholy, the sort that for me is nearly ubiquitous in the presence of grandeur and beauty. It is a different incarnation of the same melancholy^[I should emphasize here that while "melancholy" may in general invoke a negative connotation, I do not feel that this is a negative emotion whatsoever. To me, the primary effect of melancholy, or at least melancholy of this sort, is an amplification of the imposing impetus, usually some sense of grandeur. The melancholy is like delicate cinnamon powder added to the top of a pristine flat white.] that I feel when I listen to a profound piece of music, view a painting that I enjoy, or reach the summit of a mountain that I have been embracing for hours. In this case the strength is perhaps yielded by the confluence of grandeur of the natural world - the vastness of space, the mystery of distinct regions that I have yet to know and the warm embrace of returning to those which I know but not well - and that of the human world - the various cultures, languages, beliefs, institutions, and above all people that are present in various places.
This grand, amplified melancholy typically has three causes in my life, two of which I have already mentioned. The third is instances of outward-facing "success" - I typically feel melancholic and pensive when I have done something or crossed some milestone^["Milestones" are not terms that I would use nor guidelines or aspects of some personal timeline or plan, but rather things that society imposes. They don't mean much to me on a personal level, but do unavoidably impact how I feel, since I cannot avoid societial influences as much as I sometimes wish I could.] that many folks see as an indicator of success (or the potential for it). One might imagine, then, that I felt quite a sensation as I was travelling in Paris during my most recent spring break, on the verge of graduating from Brown University after four years of work and extreme personal growth, and such an imagination would be highly warranted. As I took endless walks on the [Champ de Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_de_Mars) and along the [Seine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine) many thoughts and musings were prompted by the grand sensations of emotion, grandeur, and wonder that I felt. They are largely concentrated around the theme of modern idolatry in the name of "success" and the impliciations of this, on both a personal and broader philosophical and societal level. My attempts to collect them into a format that I can share follow.
## Dichotomies
<figure class="prose-excerpt">
<blockquote>
"Everything is a dichotomy; that is perhaps the grandeur of life, of the Universe itself."
</blockquote>
<figcaption>Levi's personal journal, 29 January 2026</figcaption>
</figure>
::: dropcap
What of "success" do I understand, and what of it have I cumulatively failed to understand? Of course, this question depends on one's chosen definition of "success," so perhaps the most interesting approach is to parameterize our choice of definition. Indeed, SUCCESS is a concept that means different things to different people, so perhaps such parameterization is implicitly necessary. Yet such parameterization unsettles me greatly on a personal level. It is the first example of dichotomy that we, together, may explore.
:::
Society widely seems to view success as the fulfillment of goals rooted in extrinsic motivations. The credentialist nature of our society seems to conflate one's ability to earn a title with competence, experience, and, in some cases, worthiness - and who, exactly, is worthy of success, or, rather, is it success that deems one worthy in the eyes of the world? In more ways than one, it seems that we have been conditioned somehow through our institutions, both explicit and implicit, to conflate worthiness with success, and this conflation is perhaps grounded in the idea that success will be transitative; that is, one's continued association with successful people leads to more successful outcomes. This seems to imply that "success" is somehow a communal thing, inherently extrinsic that it diffuses and saturates, so long as those who have it^[For the sake of illustration here we are assuming that "success" is something to be had, a notion that will be debunked later.] are willing to continue associating with those who have less of it.
Yet this is in direct contrast to what is arguably the foundation of our^[I use "our" here to refer to citizens of the United States, my country of birth and the culture that largely influenced my perception of success.] success. The extrinsic nature of such success is not problematic, but the communal aspect is. The ethos of the [American Dream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream) is largely that of individualism - the promise that dense individual effort leads to success.

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---
title: A Test Essay
date: 2026-03-14
abstract: A comprehensive end-to-end exercise of the Hakyll pipeline — typography, code, math, sidenotes, filters, tables, exhibits, and annotations.
tags: [meta]
affiliation: "Department of Imaginary Systems, University of Nowhere | https://example.com"
status: Working model
confidence: 72
importance: 3
evidence: 2
scope: average
novelty: moderate
practicality: moderate
confidence-history: [55, 63, 72]
history:
- date: "2026-03-01"
note: Initial draft
- date: "2026-03-14"
note: Expanded typography and citation sections; added math examples
---
The body typeface is Spectral, a screen-first serif with seven weights and full OpenType support. Old-style figures are enabled by default: the year 2026, the number 1984, Euler's number 2.718. Standard ligatures are active: *first*, *fifty*, *ffle*. The typographic principles informing this layout draw on Butterick[@butterick2019] and Tufte[@tufte1983]. This document is built with Pandoc[@pandoc].
Paragraphs following one another use first-line indentation in the traditional book manner, with no inter-paragraph vertical gap. This is the second paragraph of the opening section, and you should see the indent at the start of this line.
A third paragraph to confirm the indent is consistent across multiple consecutive paragraphs and does not drift or accumulate.
## Typography
### Headings
Headings are set in Fira Sans Semibold, a humanist sans-serif that complements Spectral. The hierarchy below demonstrates all levels used in practice.
## Section heading (H2)
### Subsection heading (H3)
#### Minor heading (H4)
##### Rarely used (H5)
Body text resumes here, following the heading sequence above. The vertical rhythm above each heading and the transition back to Spectral below it should feel natural, not abrupt.
### Inline Elements
This sentence demonstrates **bold emphasis (700)** and <strong class="semibold">semibold emphasis (600)</strong> side by side — the authorial choice the spec describes. Italic text looks like *this phrase set in Spectral italic*. Combined: ***bold italic***.
Abbreviations use Spectral's true small-caps via the `smcp` OpenType feature: the organisations <abbr title="National Science Foundation">NSF</abbr>, <abbr title="American Civil Liberties Union">ACLU</abbr>, and <abbr title="Central Intelligence Agency">CIA</abbr>. These should appear as genuine small capitals, not scaled-down full caps.
Superscripts use Spectral's `sups` glyphs: E = mc^2^, footnote reference^1^, ordinals like 1^st^ and 2^nd^. Subscripts use `subs`: H~2~O, CO~2~.
Inline code looks like `cabal run site -- build` and sits comfortably in a line of Spectral body text. The size differential and background tint should clearly distinguish it without being jarring.
### Blockquotes
> The site is the proof. If a site about careful writing is itself carelessly made, the argument is self-defeating. Every element must earn its presence.
Text resumes after the blockquote without indent — the indent reset rule is working if this line begins flush left.
> A nested quotation scenario: this outer blockquote contains ordinary text, establishing the left-border visual hierarchy.
## Code
JetBrains Mono is used for all code. Ligatures and contextual alternates are active: `->` `=>` `!=` `::` `>=` in inline code, and in blocks below.
```haskell
-- Hakyll site compiler entry point
module Main where
import Hakyll (hakyll)
import Site (rules)
main :: IO ()
main = hakyll rules
```
```css
/* CSS custom property example */
:root {
--bg: #faf8f4;
--text: #1a1a1a;
}
body {
background-color: var(--bg);
color: var(--text);
font-feature-settings: 'liga' 1, 'onum' 1;
}
```
```python
def greet(name: str) -> str:
return f"Hello, {name}!"
```
The code block border, background tint, and monospaced font should feel quiet — part of the page, not a jarring box.
## Tables
Tables use Fira Sans at 90% size, with lining figures and tabular spacing enabled for numeric alignment.
| Font | Role | Weight(s) | File size |
|:---------------|:----------------|:------------|:----------|
| Spectral | Body text | 400, 600, 700 | 21–24 KB |
| Fira Sans | UI / headings | 400, 600 | 16 KB |
| JetBrains Mono | Code | 400 | 19–20 KB |
## Dark Mode
Use the toggle in the top-right corner of the nav to switch between light and dark. Both themes use warm monochrome palettes derived from the same base hue. The background, text, borders, muted text, code blocks, and blockquote borders should all shift coherently.
Check the following specifically in dark mode: sidenotes, code block backgrounds, the blockquote border, and the table header row. The `transition` on `body` should make the switch feel smooth rather than abrupt.
- Background: `#1c1a18` (warm dark, not pure black)
- Text: `#e8e5df` (warm off-white, not pure white)
- Muted text, borders: proportionally darker warm greys
## Mathematics
The quadratic formula solves $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ for real roots:
$$x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$$
This is a well-known result.[^quadratic] Euler's identity is often cited as the most beautiful equation in mathematics:
$$e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$$
It connects the five most important constants in mathematics.[^euler] The CSS smallcaps filter should catch abbreviations like NASA, HTML, CSS, and API automatically.
[^quadratic]: The formula follows directly from completing the square. For a derivation, see any introductory algebra text, e.g. Stewart's *Precalculus*.
[^euler]: This follows from Euler's formula $e^{i\theta} = \cos\theta + i\sin\theta$ evaluated at $\theta = \pi$.
### Turán's Theorem
The Turán graph $T(n,k)$ is the complete $k$-partite graph on $n$ vertices with part sizes as equal as possible. Its edge count is given by the formula below — this is the identity the moving-vertex argument exploits.
::: {.exhibit .exhibit--equation data-exhibit-name="Turán Edge Count" data-exhibit-type="equation" data-exhibit-caption="Edge count of a complete k-partite graph: total pairs minus same-part pairs."}
:::: exhibit-body
$$\binom{n}{2} - \sum_{i=1}^{k}\binom{m_i}{2}$$
::::
:::
Every pair of vertices is adjacent *except* those within the same part, so the formula counts edges by subtracting same-part pairs from all pairs.
::: {.annotation .annotation--static}
<div class="annotation-header">
<span class="annotation-label">Remark</span>
<span class="annotation-name">Equal parts maximise edges</span>
</div>
<div class="annotation-body">
Intuitively: if two parts differ in size by more than one vertex, moving a vertex from the larger to the smaller part creates more cross-part pairs than it destroys within-part pairs. The moving-vertex argument below makes this precise.
</div>
:::
::: {.annotation .annotation--collapsible}
<div class="annotation-header">
<span class="annotation-label">Note</span>
<span class="annotation-name">Turán graph definition</span>
<button class="annotation-toggle" aria-expanded="false">▸ expand</button>
</div>
<div class="annotation-body">
The *Turán graph* $T(n,k)$ is the unique (up to isomorphism) complete $k$-partite graph on $n$ vertices whose part sizes differ by at most one. By Turán's theorem, $T(n,k)$ is the $K_{k+1}$-free graph on $n$ vertices with the maximum number of edges.
</div>
:::
::: {.exhibit .exhibit--proof data-exhibit-name="Turán Bound" data-exhibit-type="proof" data-exhibit-caption="Moving one vertex from the larger to the smaller part strictly increases the edge count when parts differ by ≥ 2."}
:::: exhibit-body
Without loss of generality suppose $n_1 - n_2 \ge 2$. Form a new complete $k$-partite graph by moving one vertex from part 1 to part 2. Since the new graph is still complete $k$-partite on the same $n$ vertices, it suffices to show it has strictly more edges.
The number of edges in any complete $k$-partite graph $M_{m_1,\ldots,m_k}$ is
$$\binom{n}{2} - \sum_{i=1}^{k}\binom{m_i}{2},$$
since every pair of vertices is adjacent *except* those within the same part. Therefore
$$|E(G')| - |E(G)| = \binom{n_1}{2} + \binom{n_2}{2} - \binom{n_1-1}{2} - \binom{n_2+1}{2}.$$
Using $\binom{m}{2} = \frac{m(m-1)}{2}$, this simplifies to $(n_1 - 1) - n_2 = n_1 - n_2 - 1$. Since $n_1 - n_2 \ge 2$, we get $|E(G')| - |E(G)| \ge 1 > 0$. [□]{.proof-qed}
::::
:::
## Music Notation
Score fragments are embedded inline as responsive SVGs, integrated with the gallery focusable system. Clicking the fragment — or the expand glyph that appears on hover — opens the shared overlay. The SVG inherits the page's text color via `currentColor`, so notation renders correctly in both light and dark modes. The caption below the score is a persistent `<figcaption>`, in keeping with the convention of printed musical editions.
Prose commentary surrounds the fragment just as it would in an analytical text — above to introduce the passage, below to elaborate on what was shown.
## Links and Wikilinks
External links with domain classes: [Wikipedia on the quadratic formula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_formula), an [arXiv preprint](https://arxiv.org/abs/1234.5678), a [DOI link](https://doi.org/10.1000/xyz123), and [jgm/pandoc on GitHub](https://github.com/jgm/pandoc). A generic external: [example.com](https://example.com).
An internal link [to the essay index](/essays/index.html) is left completely unchanged — no extra classes or attributes added.
Wikilinks: [[About This Site]] resolved from `[[About This Site]]`, and [[The Colophon|the colophon]] resolved from `[[The Colophon|the colophon]]`.
## Filter Output
### Abbreviations
`Filters.Typography` matches exact Pandoc `Str` tokens against a table of common Latin abbreviations and wraps them in `<abbr title="…">` elements. Hover over the highlighted abbreviations below to see the tooltip.
Common scholarly shorthand: e.g. the quadratic formula, i.e. the formula $x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$. See cf. Stewart §3.4. The argument follows from first principles, viz. the moving-vertex technique. NB: the result holds only for $k \ge 2$.
### Smallcaps
`Filters.Smallcaps` detects runs of three or more uppercase letters and wraps them in `<abbr class="smallcaps">`. Technology acronyms detected automatically: HTML, CSS, API, JSON, URL, NASA, MIT. Trailing punctuation is stripped before the check so HTTP, and REST. also work correctly.
Not converted: short tokens like I, OK (two letters), or mixed-case tokens like JavaScript, macOS, or LaTeX.
### Annotations
::: {.annotation .annotation--static}
<div class="annotation-header">
<span class="annotation-label">Remark</span>
<span class="annotation-name">On static annotations</span>
</div>
<div class="annotation-body">
This is a static annotation. It is always visible and has no toggle. The border separates the header from the body.
</div>
:::
::: {.annotation .annotation--collapsible}
<div class="annotation-header">
<span class="annotation-label">Note</span>
<span class="annotation-name">On collapsible annotations</span>
<button class="annotation-toggle" aria-expanded="false">▸ expand</button>
</div>
<div class="annotation-body">
This annotation is collapsed by default. The abbreviations i.e. and e.g. should be wrapped in `<abbr>` tags by `Filters.Typography`. Clicking the button should expand and collapse this body smoothly, with the last line fully visible.
</div>
:::

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---
title: "Universities Should Care"
date: 2026-04-28 # required; used for ordering, feed, and display
abstract: > # optional; shown in the metadata block and link previews
As Students should be more than a mere statistic to the Universities at which they study. I critique Brown University, my undergraduate institution, in this regard. The degradation of students to treatment as if they are a mere statistic is potentially a major reason for the decline in postsecondary education in the modern United States.
tags: # optional; see Tags section
- ai
- tech
# Epistemic profile — all optional; the entire section is hidden unless `status` is set
status: "Draft" # Draft | Working model | Durable | Refined | Superseded | Deprecated
confidence: 85 # 0–100 integer (%)
importance: 4 # 1–5 integer (rendered as filled/empty dots ●●●○○)
evidence: 5 # 1–5 integer (same)
scope: broad # personal | local | average | broad | civilizational
novelty: moderate # conventional | moderate | idiosyncratic | innovative
practicality: high # abstract | low | moderate | high | exceptional
confidence-history: # list of integers; trend arrow derived from last two entries
---
---
Planning: List of grievances
COMPUTER SCIENCE
- TA System section.
-
RES LIFE
- Obviously: repeated requests for discussion and process for moving out in Fall '23.
- Unable to control heat
- Lack of bathrooms.
- Lack of kitchens
DINING
- Let's run through some calculations to see the actual cost of every meal averaged across a semester.
- No real late night options.
- Poor optimization of queues / high demand items like grilled cheese.
- Inconsistent pricing for the same items across locations.
SECURITY
- No substantive changes since December 13th.
EFFECTS ON THE CULTURE