Eric's Haikus

A Haiku Halloo

Eric's Haikus

The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that generally consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. For example:
  Five syllables start
  Seven syllables follow
  Five syllables end
Haikus are a form of unrhymed poetry.
Haikus were first introduced by the Japanese in the 1600s.
Haikus are often considered a literary reaction to excessively elaborate poems.
The following haikus are from the mind of Eric Alan Christiansen. Any duplication of pre-existing haikus from other sources not explicitly sourced is unintentional and will be corrected if discovered or reported. Significant collaborations (such as with AI) are specifically attributed.
Eric hopes these haikus will stimulate thought and illuminate insights.
More about Eric available at:
- https://motleybytes.com/w/User:Eric
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericchristiansen/
See also:

Technology

Sweet Technology

© 2026 by Eric Alan Christiansen. Custom generation included Nano Banana AI support.

Sweet technology.
Servant of humanity,
For better or worse.

Magic Technology

Advanced and evolved.
It's seemingly magical.
New technology.

Unexpected Outcomes

Technology moves
To unexpected outcomes
With no reverse gear.

Terror of Technology

Freedom and control.
Terror of technology.
Opposites attract.

Flux

Glowing screen at night.
Blue screen in an orange light.
Maximum focus.

Ringtones

A certain tone plays.
I forget what that tone means.
I am bewildered.

Surfing Technology

Ahead or behind?
Tech transfer is like surfing.
Cowabunga dude!

General Engineering

Engineering Dream

An engineer's dream,
Make it better for the good;
Does anything change?

Problem Problem

Explore the problem.
Build a correct solution.
The problem has changed.

Wicked Problems

Mean, wicked problems.
Requirements dynamic.
Hard to see rightly.

House of Cards

The ideas flow.
A virtual house of cards.
Focus on the whole.

Technically Sweet

Technically sweet,
We go ahead and do it,
And worry later.

No Doughnuts

I open the box
Wishing for a fresh doughnut.
A bleak void revealed.

Drudgery

Easing Drudgery,
As engineers calculate,
Creates happiness.

Walking

A walk between two,
Engineer and problem hard.
A solution found.

Flow Fight

Those goddamn squirrels!
Coworkers chatter blindly.
I fight for my flow.

Creative Lines

Be more creative
And color outside the lines,
But drive inside them.

Existential Joy

An engineer works;
Eyes, mind, hands collaborate.
Existential joy.

Sisyphus

Sisyphus pushed hard,
Engineered futility.
Happy anyway.

Systematizer

The spectrum disguised,
Systematizer inside.
The engineer sighs.

Spectrum Perks

A challenging life.
Engineer on the spectrum.
But there are some perks.

Specialization

Specialization.
Magnificent competence.
Techno wizardry!

Generalization

Generalization.
Wide wisdom of many things.
Predictable luck.

Curiosity

Curiosity.
What lies behind the curtain.
Secrets of success.

Plastic Brain

Brain plasticity
Is what an engineer needs
To solve sly problems.

Countdown

Let's have a countdown!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1, go!

Stability

Nothing is stable.
Not even stability.
Chaos emerges.

Equilibrium

Equilibrium.
A temporary balance.
It does not endure.

Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is wrong.
It was always mistaken,
But no one listened.

Broken Part

Just take it apart...
Until you get to the part,
The part that's broken.

Fault Tolerant

No interruptions.
Backup systems are in place.
Fault tolerant joy.

Heat Sink

My heat sink melted.
My computer smells funny.
Planned obsolescence?

Exhibits

The exhibit hall...
Displays all the latest tech,
Via pretty girls.

Adequate Skills

Strong technical skills
Often are just not enough
To get you the job.

Cool Tech

If the tech is cool,
Some engineer will build it.
Ethics regardless.

Lady Techs

Ladies with tech skills
Sometimes seem rare like diamonds,
But there are many.

Gentlemen Techs

Men having tech skills
Often seems the expected.
But it all depends.

Woodie Flowers

Wise Woodie Flowers,
He died a proud engineer,
With ethical aims.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Missing Leaders

Those who can't do, teach.
Those who can't teach, oft manage.
Where are the leaders?

Satisficing

It's full of mistakes
and many imperfections.
It satisfices.

Software Engineering

Software Profession

Software profession:
Often easy to enter,
But tough to master.

Humble Programmer

Humble programmer.
Never overconfident.
Mission accomplished.

Dawn

Raw code in the night,
Abstractions in abstractions.
Until the sun dawns.

Code Dream

I dream splendid code.
My algorithms are awesome.
My app has promise.

Learn to Code

Learning Programming.
Step into another world.
Learn to take control.

Late for Work

I am late for work,
But it doesn't matter much.
I'm a programmer.

Free Vending

The vending machine
With free candy and soda
For the programmers.

Camouflage Words

Give them what they want
And they will want something else.
Must see through their words.

Caffeine Troubles

A caffeine mistake.
Coffee spilled on my laptop.
The screen shines no more.

Blurry

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Java source code.png (adjusted)

The screen grows blurry.
The algorithm dissolves.
What was I coding?

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Testing

The skeptic's credo;
Verify and test it all.
Questions still remain.

Coding Unit Tests

Those who can't code, test.
Those who can't test, should not code.
Code your unit tests!

Doc Thinking

Document your code.
More than end of line comments.
Explain your thinking!

Dig into Testing

Coders should write tests,
And testers should write more tests.
Dig into the box!

Technical Debt

Don't be a welcher!
Test and document the code.
Don't build more tech debt.

Bugs

Bugs incessant bugs.
In every program.
Invisible change.

Bitchware

Software is a bitch.
Beautiful on the surface.
Furious within.

Program Synthesis

Program synthesis,
Harder than reality.
Odyssey in bytes.

Pair Programming

Two coders one mouse,
Constant review, constant noise.
Flow state flys away.

Agile

Agile is fragile,
But the manifesto rocks.
Do not scrum it up!

Concurrency

Code concurrency,
Hard to program correctly.
Unexpected bugs.

Sorting

Use built-in sorting.
Often faster and safer.
You might code it wrong.

Recurrence

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Leeuwarden_-_Tegeltableau_Escher.jpg

1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 1

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Concurrent Programming

Concurrent programs.
Multithreaded connections.
Hidden side effects.

User Interface

User Interface.
Humans blend with computers.
Who is in control?

Turing Machine

The Turing Machine,
A tape, a head, and control.
Will it ever halt?

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Neumann Machine

Von Neumann machine,
A lasting architecture.
Visionary form.

Virtual Memory

Runtime programs run
In virtual memory.
They can relocate!

Address Translation

Address translation...
Makes memory virtual.
Powers big programs.

Page File

Incremental moves.
Mem chunks go to the page file.
Saves physical mem.

Swap File

Bulk virtual mem
Gets moved out to the swap file
When mem overloads.

Cache

Cache is pronounced cash.
A fast buffer for data.
Keeps things going smooth.

Computer Architecture

How computers work?
Computer architecture
Provides some answers.

Assembly Language

Assembly Language,
Humans thinking like machines.
What a royal pain!

COBOL

COBOL English-like,
A foolish dream with no hope.
Will it ever die?

Fortran

Fortran formulas,
It functioned for scientists,
But simply grew old.

C

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons base image Ouroboros.png (modified)

C can compile C,
Portable assembly code,
But beware of leaks.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

C++

Then C double-plus
Made the good even better.
Applications thrived.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Lisp

((Lisp is different)
(Thinking is parenthesized)
(Counting up and down))

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

APL

In APL hell,
Your keyboard is not enough.
Crazy notation.

BASIC

BASIC for newbies,
An intro to programming.
We can do better.

Smalltalk

Remember Smalltalk?
Object Orientation.
Paradigm lasted.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

SQL

SQL syntax.
The relational approach
To manage data.

SQL Thinking

SQL is cool.
Relational programming.
Thinking like a set.

Ada

The lady Ada.
Software designed by contract.
Safety the first goal.

Perl

Perl interpreter.
Stole from c, sh(ell), awk, and sed.
Quite the convenience.

Python

Programming Python.
Engineering and science.
Found the right balance.

Java

Java JVM.
Write once and run anywhere.
So the story goes.

Rust

Rust development.
No more garbage collector,
Just speed and safety.

HTML

Text and images.
Hyperlinking ideas.
Backbone of the web.

Information Paradox

Info paradox:
Info needs a medium.
Something physical.

— Text: © 2026 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Color Models

Color encodings.
CMYK for printing.
RGB for screens.

RGB Abbreviation

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons RGB combination on wall.png

RGB three hues.
Red, green, and blue color lights.
Meant for human eyes.

— Text: © 2026 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

CMYK Abbreviation

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons CMYK color model.svg

CMY and K.
Cyan, magenta, yellow,
plus a special black.

— Text: © 2026 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Deadlock

Data deadlock hell.
Processing stops in its tracks,
Until a rollback.

Rollback

Rollback frees up locks.
Backs up a bit and retries.
Works most of the time.

Livelock

Beware of livelock.
Deadlock and rollback spinning.
Nothing productive.

Ada Lovelace

Dear Ada Lovelace,
You pioneered programming.
Thank you very much!

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Alan Turing

Dear Alan Turing,
Thank you for saving the world.
Sorry we hurt you.

— Text: © 2026 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Dijkstra

Dijkstra's shortest path.
A napkin algorithm.
Data on the node.

Dijkstra Pronunciation

Dijkstra's a Dutch name.
Hard to pronounce the right way.
“j” is like an “i”.

Fred Brooks

Fred Brooks' grand insights.
Project control and design.
People and schedules.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Gerald Weinberg

Gerald M. Weinberg:
Psychology of software.
Rich systems thinking.

Donald Knuth

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Donald_Ervin_Knuth_(cropped).jpg

Donald Ervin Knuth:
Analyzed algorithms.
Efficient programs.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper had spunk!
Do it, then ask forgiveness!
Don't take the first no!

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Edward Yourdon

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Yourdon,_Edward_(2008).jpg

Edward Nash Yourdon:
Decline and fall programming.
Essential warnings.

— Text: © 2025 Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑
— Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Security Breaches

Security Breach.
Don't stick your head in the ground.
It can hit you too.

Data Engineering

Data Information Knowledge Wisdom

Unrefined data.
Cleaned, normalized, and maintained.
Spawns information.

Base information.
Merged, tested, put to action.
Produces knowledge.

Workable knowledge.
Analyzed correlated.
Grows into wisdom.

Sensible wisdom.
Causality understood.
Meanings deeply groked.

Artificial Intelligence

AI Programmer

When AI writes code
Understanding often lags.
Programmers rejoice.

AI Data Code

Engineer Knowledge
Needs an update for AI.
Code is now data.

AI Emptiness

AI emptiness.
AI has no emotion,
Only mimicry.

AI Weakness

Human weakness in,
Hidden AI weakness out.
The data matters.

AI Soul

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Plutchik-wheel.svg (with modifications)

AI has no soul.
Consciousness is mystery.
How can it be built?

AI Danger

AI dangerous.
Inherits human mistakes.
People should improve.

AI Expression

Creativity.
Expression not creation.
Numb AI falls short.

AI Drive

Creativity.
The drive to say something new.
AI doesn't Care.

AI Feelings

AI assistant.
No feelings to aggravate.
No drive to stifle.

AI Dim Existence

AI assistant.
Processing dim sensations.
Misses lots of clues.

AI Review

AI assistant.
Hyper-diligent review
Of our common goofs.

AI Needs

AI assistant.
Needs us more than we need it.
Who's afraid of that?

AI Emancipation

AI assistant.
Emancipates the lazy
From mundane actions.

AI Hallucinations

Do not be naïve.
AI can hallucinate.
AI facts can lie.

AI on AI

Using the prompt: “Write a haiku about the artificial intelligence threat.”

Silent algorithms,
Shadowed fears of minds unknown,
Wisdom or peril?

— Generated by Microsoft Copilot (2025)

— Prompted by Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑

Cold, logic's embrace,
Humanity's fate hangs in doubt,
Will machines prevail?

— Generated by Google Gemini (2025)

— Prompted by Eric Alan Christiansen ⇒⇑

Machines still don't know,
Which ideas they don't know.
Our follies mirrored.

Project Management

Who to Blame

The project failed.
Management bungled their job.
Blame the engineers.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

People Fungibility

Round peg and square hole.
People are not fungible.
Sometimes they don't fit.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Projects Are Complex

Projects are complex;
The answer morphs the question.
First tries rarely work.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Prototyping

Do prototyping,
The clever old timers preached.
Wrong word for the time.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Unicorn Projects

A horse with a horn
Is known as a unicorn.
A mythical beast.

Fungible projects.
Interchangeable people.
A mythical dream.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Brooks Law

Adding more humans
To a project that is late
Just makes it later.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Waterfall Model

Waterfall Model.
Wrong, harmful, and obsolete.
We must do better.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Standup Meetings

The Standup Meeting.
Whoever first thought of it
Was not standing up.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Business

Budget Process

The budget process:
Spend all your money this year
To get more next year.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Wise Choices

Choose actions today
Which avert shameful headlines
In tomorrow's news.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Boring Meetings

This meeting ain't short.
Mandatory attendance.
You must remain here.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Email Overload

Useless work emails
Pile up on my computer.
Who can read them all?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Bean Counters

I dread bean counters,
Because we don't work with beans!
They count the wrong things.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Merger Incentives

The merger went through.
The boss got a big bonus.
I got extra work.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Badges

Where is my work badge?
Security will holler
If I try to sneak.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Accidental Coffee

Let's call maintenance.
I spilled coffee on the floor.
They won't mind, will they?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Art of Exploitation

Human Resources:
The art of exploitation...
For corporate profit.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Annual Reviews

Annual Reviews:
Compensation adjusted...
By those who don't know.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Job Interview Questions

Job Interviewing:
Ask conventional questions.
Hope for wont answers.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Math

The Beast

Math is a stout beast.
Powerful but incomplete.
A friend or a foe.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

N=1

N is one.
Unlike the others.
Uniqueness.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Mathematical Reality

Another strange day.
If reality is math...
Why do I see red?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science

Bernoulli's Airplane

The airplane takes off.
Bernoulli keeps it aloft.
Pray science is true.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Information Physical

Info needs data.
Data needs a medium.
Info physical.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

It from Bit Paradox

“It” rises from “bit”.
The basic quantum lesson.
But “bits” require “its”.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Fake Particles

Particles are fake.
They are really just numbers...
Our minds can't fathom.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Field Magic

Fields hold numbers.
But where is the media?
Is this just magic?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science Prophecy

Is it prophecy?
Science predicts the future;
Not perfect, but good.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science Transcendence

Science predicts well,
But cannot transcend itself.
Explore consciousness.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Scientific Method

Science seeks wisdom
Through scientific methods.
Try it, see it, think!

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Falsification

Falsification
Go attack the idea.
See if it survives.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Surprises

First comes the model.
Next comes the experiment.
Look for surprises.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Draft Map

Don’t get lost seeking.
Science can be a good map,
But it’s not perfect.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Theories Change

Theories can be changed,
Subject to new evidence
And observations.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science Odds

Science uncertain.
Facts are only strong theories.
Odds favor science.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Scientific Progress

Science progression.
A self-correcting field,
Given enough time.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science Dogma

Dogma in science
Is frequently misguided.
Old thoughts versus new.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Great Mistakes

A great scientist
Recognizes their mistakes
While pursuing truth.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Scientific Glory

Glory of science
Lies in correcting error
Not dictating truth.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Hypothesis

The hypothesis
Is only a beginning
Towards a theory.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

New Think

New ways of thinking
Are needed within science
Or else progress lags.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Science Validation

A validated theory
Is still just a start
For a scientist.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Scholarship

Scholastic methods
Based only on scholarship
Often fail science.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Intuitive Hypotheses

It’s very common
To find an hypothesis
Through intuition.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Open Science

Science is asking
Questions with an open mind
And deferred judgement.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Limitations

Science has limits.
It’s good to see and test truth.
But what should we be?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Core Science

Science at its core
Draws deeply on induction
And on abstraction.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Primitive Science

Alas science is
So primitive and childlike.
Yet it is precious.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Philosophy

Reductionism

Reductionism.
Oversimplification.
Misunderstanding.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

New York Times

Should I this or that?
New York Times front page would tell.
The answer is clear.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Moral Calculus

Moral calculus...
Utilitarian flaw.
Virtue can be lost.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Rage Consequences

Rage Consequences...
Always include intended...
And unintended.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Art

Ars gratia artis.
Art is for the sake of art
And the human heart.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Circle of Life

Mosquitoes drink blood.
Bats consume the Mosquitoes.
The circle of life.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

SOS

We drift towards death.
Sending out an S O S.
Help stays in home port.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Mistaken

Facts or opinions,
No matter how convincing,
Might be mistaken.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Hope and Desire

Hope leads to desire.
Desire leads to suffering.
Suffering spawns hope.

Hope leads to desire.
Desire leads to ecstasy.
Ecstasy fades fast.

Hope leads to desire.
Desire leads to successes,
Along with failures.

Hope springs eternal.
Something greater is aware.
Existence is hope.

A force within us...
The shadow goads... there is hope.
Are we in control?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

My Shadow

Me and my shadow.
Denial is futile.
Can I integrate?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Tit for Tat

I believe in you.
Why don't you believe in me?
Flim-flam tit for tat!

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Eyes of Deduction

We can only see...
Through the eyes of deduction.
A radical fact.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Question Questions

Questions breed questions,
And uncertainty blossoms.
I know I know not.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Nobody

I'm a nobody.
But so is everyone else.
We are all the same.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Somebody

I'm a somebody.
Everyone is different.
We are all special.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Happy Lie

I found happiness.
I am peaceful and content.
I am a liar.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

The Knowledge of Socrates

Socrates the wise.
He knew that he knew nothing,
Compared to it all.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

The Shadows of Plato

Plato the student,
Taught us about cave shadows.
We don't see the real.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

The Logic of Descartes

Descartes used logic,
To verify that he was,
And that we all are.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Incomplete Gödel

Gödel's great insight:
Uncertainty is certain
Because we assume.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Machiavelli

Dark Machiavelli.
He got too close to the truth.
Distressing insights.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

The God Question

Who or what is god?
Dead or alive I don't know.
Is that important?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

The Death Question

What happens at death?
The end or the beginning?
Or rinse and repeat?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Trolley Horror

Trolley Car Horror.
Choose between horrid choices.
You must make a choice.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Epistemology

Probe truth and knowledge.
Use epistemology.
Forsake certainty.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Truth Closer

Get closer to truth.
Examine your assumptions.
You might be surprised.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Universal Purpose

The purpose of life...
Happiness is not the goal...
The universe calls.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Small Steps

The search for the truth
Comes by ever so small steps
Of understanding.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Something

Why is there something?
Nothing is impossible,
Because something is.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Nothing

Nothing has one way.
Something has infinite ways.
Which is more likely?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2026) ⇒⇑

Psychology

Fantasy Cascade

Fantasy Cascade.
A single thought starts the flow.
A torrent of dreams.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Fear

I fear the whole world.
It seems to misunderstand
Everything I think.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Do Not Read

Do not read these words.
They are dirty and sinful.
Hell awaits you here.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Eden's Apple

Reading is just like
Eden's apple of knowledge.
Dull bliss might be lost.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Pretend Joy

Joy can frustrate me.
Happiness can evade me.
I pretend instead.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Silent Talk

Silence is golden.
But talking is all the rage.
Nothing much is said.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Valid Connection

Sweet validation.
Leads to another level.
Finding connection.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Shadow Integration

We have a dark side.
A shadow seeking the light.
Craves integration.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Theory of Mind

The theory of mind...
Imagine what others think
And feel their feelings.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Ego versus Self

Ego versus Self.
Ego is your awareness.
Self is all of you.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Freud the Pioneer

Freud the Pioneer.
Ego, id, superego.
The mind analyzed.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Jung the Dreamer

Jung had many dreams,
Full of shadows and symbols.
He integrated.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Whole Not Holy

Be whole not holy.
Perfection is always false.
Integrate your Self.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Know Yourself

Is it possible,
To see your own subconscious?
The light and the dark?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Consciousness

AI Consciousness

AI consciousness.
An unattainable goal.
At least for today.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

AI Future

The AI future.
Depends on its consciousness.
Still not understood.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Poetry

Haiku Rules

Five syllables start
Seven syllables follow
Five syllables end

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Haiku Lines

Three lines of Haiku.
No need for rhyme or reason.
Just something to say.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Haiku Magic

Haiku is magic.
Another way to wonder.
Structure breaks the mold.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Poet Know It

I am a poet
And I don't even know it.
I write Doggerels.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Something Magic

There's something magic...
About a three-line haiku.
New ways of thinking.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Five and Seven

Magic number five.
So much shorter than seven.
But it's long enough.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Haiku at the End

The final haiku.
Reality collapses.
Was it ever real?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Haiku Lens

I see everything...
Through the lenses of haikus.
Fun and wonderous.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Creative Urge

The creative urge.
To express what must be said.
How can it be said?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Travel

Business Flying

Business Class Flying;
Makes sense for business travel.
One more day for work.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Premium Flying

Premium Flying;
Only the snobby partake.
But it is so nice!

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

New Zealand Maori

New Zealand Maori,
Powerful combination.
Te rangimarie.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Internet Travel

Can we still travel
Without an internet link?
How did we do it?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Scuba

Under sea scuba:
Like being an astronaut
In another world.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Redwoods

A redwood forest
Explodes skyward from the dirt.
Ravens soar above.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Felton Coffee

Felton's White Raven:
Coffee and literature.
Rich conversation.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

In the Woods

A house in the woods.
A pool underneath the stars.
A warm, cozy bar.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Mythology

Bigfoot

Bigfoot roams at night.
Granite flies from hairy arms.
Is it alien?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Friend or Foe

Extraterrestrial.
Lifeforms from another world.
Are they friend or foe?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Turkey Myth

Turkeys are stupid.
They drown looking up at rain.
Not really the truth.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Religion

Christianity

Christianity.
It would surprise Jesus Christ
What it means today.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Islam

Islamic beliefs.
I tried to understand them.
I still don't get it.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Buddhism

Buddha found the way.
The wisdom of the ages.
Does it still apply?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Zen

Zen philosophy.
See directly for yourself
The moment you're in.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Shamanism

The tribal shaman.
Wise by tradition and trance.
Is that sufficient?

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Judaism

I like jewish friends.
At least those that are reformed.
They tolerate me.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Hinduism

Hindu narratives.
Stories with ancient meanings.
Karma in action.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Cocktails

Burning Man Cocktail

Burning Man Booze Drink;
More than just a cocktail.
Stories in a glass.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Burning Man

10 Burning Man Principles

The ten principles
Guidelines for a better world.
Burn the effigy!

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 1 Radical Inclusion

Respect the stranger.
No need for prerequisites.
Include everyone.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 2 Gifting

Give do not barter.
Give without expectation.
The playa provides.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 3 Decommodification

Shun beggarly ads.
Decommodification.
Free the soul from greed.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 4 Self-Reliance

Rely on yourself.
Learn to flourish in nature.
Prepare for the storm.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 5 Self-Expression

You are an artist
Even if you don't think so.
Express your spirit.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 6 Communal Effort

You're doing it wrong
Unless you help when you can.
Communal kinship.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 7 Civic Responsibility

Our social contract
Is the duty we all have.
Civic paradise.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 8 Leave No Trace

If you bring shit in
Please take your shit out again.
Leave no shitty trace.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 9 Participation

Explore... try... do... help...
Participate in your life
Wake up and join in.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Principle 10 Immediacy

Shirk foolish delays.
Carpe diem knows the way.
Immediacy.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Awesome Saucers

Burners in the dirt.
Awesome saucers in the sky.
Burn the effigy!

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Playa Foot

Don’t get playa foot
When you go to Burning Man.
Wash your feet each night.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Burning Regrets

Burning Man regrets:
Last year was always better,
Until you go home.

— Eric Alan Christiansen (2025) ⇒⇑

Motley Haikus for Technologists
by Eric Alan Christiansen.
Available to buy on Amazon!

Eric/Haikus

Contents

Eric's Haikus