Birthday Reflections 2026: Contemplating the Half-Century Mark

 

The Orion Nebula (from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, also my favorite Metallica song)

When I was a kid, I loved The Cosby Show. I hesitate to mention this, lest I give the criminally immoral creator of that show any attention, yet it was a huge part of my childhood. Such are the incongruities of life (but on the other hand: RIP Malcolm-Jamal Warner). I remember an episode when the main character is turning 50. His kids make an amusing presentation of “things that are older than Dad” to commemorate their father for “reaching the half-century mark.” 

A half-century!? My young mind reeled! Intellectually, of course, I knew people that old or older, but something about stating it as a “half-century” reconceptualized for me just how long that might be—if only I could conceive of an expanse of time five times longer than I had been alive at that point! What would life be like for me at that age? It was unimaginable. 

The unimaginable, dear reader, has a way of becoming reality. I reach my own half-century mark this week. That it is real makes it no easier to imagine, although now it feels unimaginably short rather than unimaginably long. 

Star Trek Reminds Us We Can Do Better: Thoughts on Star Trek's 60th Anniversary

 

My 60th anniversary popcorn bucket from AMC Theaters

The first time I realized I loved Star Trek was while watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a memory I relived yesterday at my local theater for Star Trek's 60th anniversary. 

Captain Kirk and crew go back in time from the 23rd century to 1986 San Francisco to bring some whales back to the future in order to avert a cataclysm via mysterious whale-song aliens (most Star Trek fans refer to this as The One With The Whales!). When they arrive in 1986 and Starfleet-out-of-water shenanigans unfold, Kirk remembers, "they're still using money."

My ten-year-old mind reeled! They don't have money in the future? What? How could something that caused so much drama and heartache in the lives of all the adults in my life simply .... not exist?

2026 Hugo Ballot!

 

The Hugo Award Ceremony is happening next week on Sunday, August 30! Sadly, I won't be traveling to Los Angeles for this year's Worldcon. I did plenty of conference travel in the last year (I maxed out my 25-26 travel budget to go to last year's Worldcon in Seattle and then went through a lot to fund a trip to India in May). Also, this year's Worldcon also happens after school starts, which makes it even trickier for me than usual.

Despite these excuses, I bought a supporting membership, which entitles me to vote. I've been voting for the Hugos since 2017, and it's always a fun experience. I usually discover some things I may not have experienced otherwise, which was especially true this year. 

Back in 2017, I figured out Three Principles of Hugo Voting (riffing on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics):

1. Works that are more ground breaking in the field in their construction, plot, characters, setting, ideas, etc. are to be preferred as are works that are neither sequels nor works by authors who have won Hugos in recent years.
2. Works that delve more deeply into philosophical content are to be preferred.
3. Works that are just plain fun and enjoyable are to be preferred as long as such preference does not conflict with the first or second principles.

I don't know if I've ever consistently applied these principles any more than Asimov's robots ever consistently apply the three laws (maybe my "zeroth law' is "just have fun with it"). Still, I do have these principles in the back of my mind when I vote. I do find myself leaning more into my general preference for science fiction over fantasy as of late. Is that fair? I don't know, but we do seem to be tipping back toward an ascendance of fantasy the last few years, so maybe I'm trying to maintain a balance in the force of my fellow nerds.

I've already posted reviews of this year's Hugo nominees for Best Novel as well as Best Novella, Novelette, and Short Story. But inquiring minds like yours want to know: how did I vote? See below in my full Hugo ballot! I'll find out if I picked any winners on August 30!

2026 Hugo Novels

 

I have voted for the 2026 Hugo awards! I'll post my full ballot soon, but before that, here's what I thought about the six novels nominated this year. You can find these and other reviews on my Goodreads Hugo Finalists bookshelf. An overall takeaway this year is that one thing I love about reading the Hugo nominees is that it encourages me to read things I may not have otherwise picked up. And sometimes I end up loving those things. Thanks, Hugos, for keeping me an open-minded reader!

2026 Hugo Novellas, Novelettes, and Short Stories

 

I'm not quite done with my Hugo ballot (one more novel to finish...), but I wanted to take a break and make a post about the shorter fiction finalists for this year's Hugo awards. I don't think I'll rank them here. In fact, making this post is part of my process for the rankings. In any case, I'll post my entire Hugo ballot later. Happy Hugos! These and other reviews can also be found on my Goodreads 2026 Hugo shelf.

Spoiler Alert: It's okay for movies to be fun!

 

I've had a busy summer, starting with a trip to India in May and then a few trips visiting family in Minnesota (including CONvergence, where I was on a panel on the Foundation TV show) and some fun witch tourism in Salem, MA with friends. I don't want to be that asshole who complains about having too many travels, so instead I'll say that I haven't had much time or energy for blogging as of late. I haven't made a post in about two months!

To rectify this horrific calamity, I thought I'd write about something that has been rattling around in my head as I've tried to keep up with this summer's busy movie season: it's okay for movies to be fun! 

I've seen a lot of excellent "serious" movies (especially Disclosure Day, The Amazing Digital Circus, and the horror movies grinding up records and getting actual young people into theaters: Backrooms and Obsession). I'll have more to say about those in another post. I also want to get this out there before The Odyssey takes over the summer blockbuster space (I've heard a lot of hype for it, and it will probably live up to it).

These summer 2026 movies have reminded me that movies can be fun: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Masters of the Universe, and Supergirl. (Special mention of one I saw at this year's Chattanooga Film Festival: Jump Scare).

Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy 2026 in Manipal, India

I'm extremely excited to be traveling to Manipal, India for this year's Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Conference!

Here's what I posted as an update on the Science Fiction and Philosophy Society website:

Society Co-founder Manjula Menon and Society President Ethan Mills will be on a panel, "Remembering Anand Vaidya," at the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Annual Conference in Manipal, India, May 19-22, 2026! Manjula will be reading Anand's paper, "The (In)Significanct of Sentience," and Ethan will be presenting a paper, "Robo-Buddhas, Suffering, Moral Standing: A Conversation with Anand Vaidya."

Here's an abstract for my talk:

The late Anand Vaidya (1976-2024) argued that machines can have moral standing in light of his claim that sentience is not a necessary condition for moral standing. After considering his examples of zombies, Vulcans, and robots, I focus on Vaidya’s mention of Buddhism through a deeper analysis of the role of suffering in Buddhist philosophy and whether what Mark Siderits referred to as “Robo-Buddhas” would meet Vaidya’s criteria for moral standing. Could Buddhism’s commitment to healing through ending suffering make sense without phenomenal consciousness? Are consciousness and suffering both ultimately illusory? Might Vaidya’s concept of preferentially-tied computational intelligence explain suffering—a being aims to satisfy their preferences, which fails, and suffering arises? But if the Buddhist path requires eliminating preferences entirely (the very thing that allows for moral standing), are we left with the surprising conclusion that Buddhas lack moral standing? Does the healing promised by the Third Noble Truth require eliminating one’s own moral standing? Is this form of healing worth the price of such radical transformation? Is this a reason to reevaluate Vaidya’s theory, Buddhist philosophy, or both? I sketch some possible answers to these questions; by doing so, I hope to encourage others to continue the philosophical conversations that Vaidya began.

Since I'm flying halfway around the world, I figured I'd do a bit of tourism as well. I'll spend a few days in Delhi before the conference and then head to Kolkata after the conference. I'll also head to Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha became enlightened and where I studied abroad as an undergrad many years ago.

While in Kolkata, I'll be giving a talk at Presidency University: "Rethinking 'Scepticism' with Vandubandhu and Ratnakīri" on Thurs. May 28 at 3:30pm.

I'm a bit less excited about the travel time involved, but I have some good books to keep me busy while I can't sleep on the plan (Machinehood by S. B. Divya, The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, Selfless Minds by Monima Chadha, and A Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel). I'm excited to see what books I may find in India as well! I even get to stop in Toronto on the way there, which as a huge Kids in the Hall fan makes me happy, and Frankfurt on the way home with just enough time for a pretzel.