About This Website
Launched in 2001, this website has been Peter Small’s experimental test ground for ideas that span science, business, and technology. Much of its foundation lies in the books he wrote before 2001, works that explored enduring themes of systems, biology, and strategy, and continue to shape his later projects.
Early Formation
Peter’s path began with five years at the UK government’s Radar Research Establishment, where he was trained to bridge communication between scientists and engineers. This gave him the outlook of an experimental scientist—an approach that later defined his entrepreneurial ventures. Guided by a fascination with probability and game theory, he entered diverse business fields less to chase profit and more to test ideas in practice.
Nature’s Blueprint: From Ants to the Internet
His writing often looked to biology for models of human innovation. A striking example is stigmergy—the way ants use pheromones to self-organise their environment and build complex nests without central direction. Peter recognised a parallel in how humans collectively structure and expand the internet: both are systems that grow in complexity without formal planning.
The Mind’s Architecture: Hilbert Space and AI
To understand the brain, Peter turned away from the old “filing cabinet” model, which sees thoughts as rigidly stored items. Instead, he used the conceptual framework of Hilbert Space: a fluid, multi-dimensional landscape where thoughts overlap, shift, and combine until context resolves their meaning.
From this perspective, Large Language Models (AI chatbots) are not replacements for human thought but extensions of it—tools that can expand memory, accelerate creativity, and enrich understanding. This idea underpins his latest book, Synthesque Literature, written for fiction writers and teachers. It explains how AI can transform both authorship and publishing. More details are available at synthesqueliterature.com.
Navigating the Archive
This archive collects over two decades of such explorations, sometimes arranged loosely, always reflecting the spirit of experimentation in which they were made. Please make allowances for the site’s vintage design and occasional quirks: it is both an archive and a living record of continuous inquiry.