Between the River and the Mountains
Between the river in the Mesilla Valley and the Organ Mountains sits our home in the foothills.
The series is done. The climb is over. The map is folded and put away. My family and I are looking at the stars.
I’ve been typing away over the last few months… a book, Break the Chain, and these article series. I desperately want to share this ontology with you. Not as something I created but as something I discovered. We’re going to build it together.
As I’ve been typing and typing, and researching and fact-checking, my family has been right here, beside me. Giving me the grounding I need, giving me the purpose for each line, providing me with reminders to rest, stop, go, be, wait.
The wisdom of my wife, Nayomi Valdez, is a hidden force in not only the writing but in naming A ≤ E. It was in quiet conversations with her that the road to Digital Physics became clear to me. I didn’t know I was on the road until I came to the first rest stop. On a date at the Lumineers concert.
The gifts she has given me are not mine to keep all to myself. They are absolutely meant for sharing with all of you. These gifts are for our girls and for the seven generations of people after us. We hope you build Blue Zones. We hope you study Digital Physics and share what you learn, create, and build.
She reminded me in a conversation I’ll never forget. We were on our way to early vote right around the time I was wrapping up the book. I felt it was still incomplete. I asked her, knowing her ability to see through multiple paradigms, what she thought the book needed. She hadn’t read it at that point but she knew what it said. She responded with (my translation):
We must recognize our shared humanity. In a world of digital abstraction, it is easy to forget that on the other side of every screen, every support ticket, and every threat alert is another human being. We must see the humanity in our teams, our partners, and even our adversaries to make wise decisions.
We must take responsibility for the systems we create. Our digital world is not a force of nature; it is a series of human choices made manifest in code. We have a profound responsibility to be thoughtful architects of these systems, not just reactive firefighters.
Sometimes, to go faster, we must first slow down. The relentless pressure for immediate response leads to burnout and poor decisions. True speed comes not from frantic activity, but from the deliberate, reflective practice of learning and adaptation.
I think about these three things every day now. I ask myself if what I’m working on, thinking, doing, or not doing aligns with these.
She reminded me of what I had forgotten… or perhaps never really grasped. I’ve always thought in terms of “end-user experience” and “human-centered design,” but I think I was still missing something. It clicked for me shortly after our conversation. The next day, I added her words to the book, which gave it its soul and changed the way I consult my clients.
I’m grateful you are reading this and read my series on Medium and Substack.
The GitHub repository is our place to keep everything straight. My plan with this is to have it become an IETF RFC standard and whatever else it becomes.
If you would like to collaborate or contribute to the project, please get in touch. Let’s build together.
Break the Chain is still a draft. I’m planning to set up a Kickstarter in Q1 2026 to raise money for creating physical copies! Kickstarter backers will be able to access the PDF immediately. If there are any proceeds, they’ll go to New Mexico Cyber Intelligence & Threat Response Alliance (NMCITRA), a nonprofit established in New Mexico.
I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to some pozole and tamales smothered in red chile.
As we wind down 2025, I’ll be spending time with family, eating delicious food, and listening to the people around me. Listening to their dreams, their ideas, their laughter, and their crazy stories.
I will be slow.
Because when we get going in 2026 it will be fast-moving. Innovation will come every day. New ideas, new products, new ways of doing something the old way.
2026 won’t be just another year, it is the beginning of a new chapter: agentic AI. A future that is exhilarating and terrifying. A future that will demand more from us, not less.
We will go fast.
I believe that in order to build these systems that are truly human-centric, we must first be fully human. We must remember what we are building for and for whom are we building it. It is for this. For family. For the smell of little candles, sand, and paper bags at sunset. For the freedom to be still.
Last night, I stood in my backyard and looked up. There, the big sky. Immense, silent turning of the stars. They teach us to find our way by looking up, not down. They remind us that even in the face of an overwhelming future, the old ways of navigating still hold true.
“The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. We must withstand whatever comes our way.” - Voviette D. Morgan
This quote also sticks with me and I think about it every day. It is my reminder that the future is coming and I’m not going to wait to see what it does. We are going to prepare.
Again, I want to thank you for reading and I hope the holiday season brings you and your family joy and peace.
From my family to yours,
Chris
Doña Ana County, City of Las Cruces, State of New Mexico, the United States of America, Earth.