Sounds fascinating, Benjamin. And you are indeed an intellectual monk, with nothing but time to pursue your interests, whereas I have all kinds of people insisting on my time. My favorite activity these days is publishing Fourth Wave, but since we generally put out four stories a day that takes up most of my life--proofreading/copyediting, formatting to match FW style, interacting with contributors, scheduling for publication, reading and responding to submissions, etc. I love it and I'm proud of it and think it's important work, but it leaves little time for my own writing and intellectual pursuits, Then there are all my family obligations, which I also love. So...I envy your parking lot kiosk, in a way. But also, I am who I am and I like myself. All of this is by way of saying I probably won't read your massive essay, my friend. My specialty is getting right to the point of things. That's what I'm always trying to do in my essays and what I do best-- simplify rather than elaborate. But I see your meandering has resulted in profound connections. I absolutely BELIEVE that everything is connected, but I couldn't begin to prove it. It sounds like you can... Bravo!!!