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Contemplations on the Tree of Woe
Personal blog · treeofwoe.substack.comphilosophypolitics
Contemplations on the Tree of Woe is a personal blog at treeofwoe.substack.com about philosophy and politics. Since 2021, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 20 times, most often “When Orcs Were Real”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-28, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (3) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this Substack for speculative prehistory essays, such as the idea that Neanderthals inspired orc and ogre myths, and for a critique of GDP as a measure.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 3 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Occasional meditations on depressing topics.
Most-linked posts?
- When Orcs Were Real3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2021-06-30
- Is AI Alignable, Even in Principle?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-04-06
What Hacker News says?
GDP is a flawed measure, and that's especially true when you look at the 70% figure in detail. For details see https://treeofwoe.substack.com/p/gross-domestic-fraud
Comment linking /p/gross-domestic-fraud
on “Trump wins presidency for second time”Submitted When Orcs Were Real as a story · 201 points
HN discussionI kind of like the theory that Neanderthals were basically orcs. https://treeofwoe.substack.com/p/when-orcs-were-real?s=r Europeans maintained stories of ogres 10s of thousands of years after the last Neanderthal walked the earth, it’s plausible that the Lio in the article maintained myths about small humanlike creatures that fuelled the imaginations of the people who claim to have seen them in the same way.
Comment linking /p/when-orcs-were-real?s=r
on “Opinion: Another species of hominin may still be alive”Submitted The Idealization of Youth as a story · 3 points
HN discussionAre you sure? There is a convincing argument that Neanderthals were the original boogeyman, and carried down to the present through the stories we tell our children and works like Beowulf: https://treeofwoe.substack.com/p/when-orcs-were-real
Comment linking /p/when-orcs-were-real
on “'The Invention of Prehistory' Review: Facing Deep Time”Submitted The A+B Theorem as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Against Free Trade as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is AI Alignable, Even in Principle? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted When Magic Was Real as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Conservatism Is Dead as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted When Orcs Were Real as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted World War 100 as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Parable of the Seasteader as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is AI Alignable, Even in Principle? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Postmodern, Modern, Medieval, and Ancient Typologies of Villainy as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Epistemology Is a Puzzle as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Wisdom of Naram-SIM as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fast Food for the Mind as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Absurdity of Income Tax as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Dietary Theory of Morality as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
