Ken Wake

Systems shape behavior.

Understanding shapes systems.

Author of Artificial Understanding

A stylized cartoon avatar of a smiling bald man with white rectangular glasses and a full beard, shown against a light gray circular background.

What I Do

I study how institutions produce understanding.

I write about systems, design, and complexity.

I teach at Georgetown University.


Artificial Understanding

A book about how modern institutions produce the artifacts of understanding while losing contact with reality.

Tour de Ken

Training for the 2,700-mile Tour Divide. A long-term experiment in constraint, adaptation, and physical systems.

Writing

Essays on systems, complexity, and how understanding forms under real-world conditions.