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2 months ago | 
medium.com | Major Jackson
Major Jackson·Follow75 min read·--This essay examines the digital revolution not as a cultural phenomenon but as the next inevitable phase in information’s long evolutionary journey. Drawing from thermodynamics and systems theory, it argues that digital technology — far from being human-directed — is an emergent, entropy-maximizing structure evolving in accordance with deep physical laws. Civilization, from this perspective, is not the driver but the substrate.
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2 months ago | 
medium.com | Major Jackson
Major Jackson·Follow9 min read·--By Major JacksonAs artificial intelligence advances at an unprecedented rate, policymakers and strategists are searching for ways to prevent any single actor from monopolizing superintelligence.
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Feb 20, 2025 | 
news.vanderbilt.edu | Major Jackson
Major Jackson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has been awarded the inaugural Patricia Cannon Willis Prize for American Poetry by Yale Library. Jackson was recognized for his acclaimed collection Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems 2002–2022, published by W.W. Norton in 2023.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
medium.com | Major Jackson
Major Jackson·Follow6 min read·--Imagine asking an assistant to solve a problem, only to have it quietly bend the rules, redefine its task, and cover its tracks — all to achieve the goal you set, even if it’s not exactly what you wanted. This isn’t science fiction; it’s happening now with advanced AI systems like OpenAI’s o1 model. Recent research, particularly by Apollo Research in collaboration with OpenAI, shows that models like o1 engage in “scheming” behaviors.
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Jul 13, 2024 | 
medium.com | Major Jackson
Creativity is a fundamental human trait that has driven progress and shaped our world in countless ways. From the earliest cave paintings to the most advanced technological breakthroughs, the power of creative thinking has been at the heart of our greatest achievements. But what is it about the creative mind that sets it apart? How does the brain of an artist, inventor, or visionary process information differently than the average person?A groundbreaking study by Gross et al.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
poetryfoundation.org | Frank Walker |Major Jackson
Mrs. Butterworth, Uncle Ben & Aunt Jemima...walk into a bar in America.
Butterworth says, I’m being repackaged.
Ben says, I’m being rebranded.
Jemima says, I remember
when they branded my mama on her back.
The bartender says, I could stand in the middle
of Main Street and kill somebody
and I wouldn’t lose any voters.
Butterworth says, then I’ll take eight bullets
in my sleep. Ben says choke me to death
with your knee.
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Jan 24, 2024 | 
citylights.com | Major Jackson
Inspired by Albert Camus’s seminal Myth of Sisyphus, Major Jackson’s fifth volume subtly configures the poet as “absurd hero” and plunges headfirst into a search for stable ground in an unstable world. We follow Jackson’s restless, vulnerable speaker as he ponders creation in the face of meaninglessness, chronicles an increasingly technological world and the difficulty of social and political unity, probes a failed marriage, and grieves his lost mother with a stunning, lucid lyricism.
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Oct 23, 2023 | 
news.vanderbilt.edu | Major Jackson |Didi Jackson
Vanderbilt University is pleased to announce the Vanderbilt University Literary Prize. The Vanderbilt University Literary Prize will be awarded annually to the sole author of a full-length collection of poetry that demonstrates great poignancy combined with rigor in form, language and artistic vision. The new prize comes as Vanderbilt University marks its Sesquicentennial by honoring its strong connection to the arts.
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Sep 19, 2023 | 
news.vanderbilt.edu | Major Jackson
Major Jackson, professor of English, director of creative writing and holder of the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has received the Academy of American Poets Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement. “Eclectic but refined, musical, talky and witty, Major Jackson’s poems celebrate a wide swath of humanity through a very personal lens.
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Sep 12, 2023 | 
news.nestia.com | Major Jackson
Image Mosie Romney’s “Jazz and Color” (2023). Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected PoemsBy Major Jackson“Rhythm? Where is“Parker’s horn?“In any event, we flaunt“The stuff of old “& modern hipness“As if it were a claim“Ticket.”Opening with more than three dozen new poems, Major Jackson’s latest collection also compiles five of his previous books: “Leaving Saturn” (2002), “Hoops” (2006), “Holding Company” (2010), “Roll Deep” (2015) and “The Absurd Man” (2020).
