The Archive

Notes, essays, and occasional detours.

A running collection of Francis Sopper’s writing on cognition, attention, work, relationships, and the curious ways our minds make sense of the world.

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Francis Sopper 6/8/26 Francis Sopper 6/8/26

Watching Our Brains at Work

Catch 3 to 5 instances of your making an instantaneous response to avoid a potential threat.

Francis Sopper 5/25/26 Francis Sopper 5/25/26

Carrying Contradictions

What is my experience but a random sample of one?

Francis Sopper 5/18/26 Francis Sopper 5/18/26

All Journeys Have Secret Destinations

I always take the stairs.

Francis Sopper 5/11/26 Francis Sopper 5/11/26

Cognitive Labor

Our brains operate on about 20 watts of power. A candle operates on about 80 watts. An AI data center consumes about 1 billion watts..

Francis Sopper 5/4/26 Francis Sopper 5/4/26

Win Friends

What would it mean to our current condition if we leaned into "won" over "winnem?"

Francis Sopper 4/27/26 Francis Sopper 4/27/26

I'm Right. You're Wrong.

What if the anger is an expression of a stage of grief?

Francis Sopper 4/20/26 Francis Sopper 4/20/26

Change

"100 years? All new people."

Francis Sopper 4/13/26 Francis Sopper 4/13/26

Ten Years

The good news is: I still have a lot to learn.

Francis Sopper 4/6/26 Francis Sopper 4/6/26

Simple -- Not at all easy

"Be born to different parents," my psychiatrist said.

Francis Sopper 3/30/26 Francis Sopper 3/30/26

Our Brain Barely Works

How wrong we often are about some life experience.