“Some things that aren’t worth doing are worth overdoing.”

I write about physics, language, and history, or whatever interests me at the moment, with an overarching theme of spending way too much effort analyzing useless topics. Here’s some of my favorites:

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-wago... I derive an expression for number of donkeys needed to move an army a distance L, and discuss its relationship to the tyranny of the rocket equation.

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/guinea-pigs-are-fermion... I postulate that Guinea pigs are fermions, and simulate the quantum dynamics of multi-pig states.

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/a-statistical-analysis-... I attempt to answer the timeless question of whether the characters in Wheel of Time sniff in disapproval more than average.

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/i-taught-chatgpt-to-inv... ChatGPT and I invent a slime language.

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/an-offering-for-the-dea... I teach you just enough Middle Egyptian to read some of the hieroglyphs on most museum artifacts.

https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/the-great-kings-of-assy... I share my technique for annoying text spammers by pretending to be Assyrian Royalty.

Mostly up to date index of posts: https://maximumeffort.substack.com/p/coming-soon

Hope you enjoy!