Dear Internet, Optimism has been part of my nature for as long as I can remember. As a child I remember watching my favourite football team thinking we’d never lose. I’d believe we could win until the very end of a game no matter how badly we were losing or who the...

Dear Scott Aaronson, Will future deep learning models with more parameters and trained on more examples avoid the [url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/22/1007539/gpt3-openai-language-generator-artificial-intelligence-ai-opinion/]silly blunders[/url] which Gary M...

Dear Internet, You may be having some thoughts about writing a letter to a public figure on Collate, such as... "Will I get a response to my letter?" We hope so. We are using the letters you write to build the platform the world needs. Letters you write on Colla...

Dear Massimo Pigliucci, We go way back and share a love of philosophy in addition to biology. I was proud to be included in the “Altenberg 16” workshop that you organized to explore the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, a term that you coined. I have always regarded you as ...

Dear Andy Street, Where I live in Walsall, we have a constant and growing problem with litter. It feels like almost every street, every bit of green, is choked up with everything from cans to fly-tipped freezers. I see the same issue all around the region. There's an ...

Dear Internet, I await eagerly the potential this platform may have, and I am glad to be one of its pioneer users. But it is worthwhile to ask oneself why? It is almost ironic that the way I found out about this platform was on the very social media, that contains...

Dear Boris Johnson, My name is Darcy, and I am 21. I turn 22 in June of next year. I haven’t ever been spiked on a night out, but I know people that have. One day, I might be one of those women. Or my sister might. Or an individual at another university, miles away from...

Dear Internet, Many moons ago, while perusing the dusty shelves of a Cambridge University library, I came by chance across an old and worn copy of Hemingway’s Selected Letters. Several hours later, I had forgotten all about the topic I had visited that library to r...

Dear Brian Armstrong, I’m writing to relay my experience with Coinboase over the past 12 months. It’s rather nasty, so strap yourself in. I hope this letter will give you additional motivation to fight what seem to be fundamental problems at your company. About a year a...

Dear Philip Goff, I am intrigued by your support of panpsychism and would love to run some things past you. I enjoyed your exchange with Massimo Pigliucci on Collate, although I could sense your frustration that some of his key objections seemed to be based on what ...

Dear Internet, You may have read my earlier open letter in praise of letters, and your presence on this platform suggests you likely already hold some affection for this form of writing. In extolling the virtues of letters, then, I may have been somewhat preaching ...

Dear Darren Henley, I write to you from Cardiff, after leaving the art world of London in 2020 (I am an artist and writer) to explore creative communities outside the capital city. Your book, The Arts Dividend Revisited: Why Investment in Culture Pays, elaborated on all...

Dear Oliver Kraftman, I hope you will not mind some of my ramblings here. As an early adopter, I’ve been using Collate for many months now, and I’ve enjoyed my time with it so far. Since joining, I’ve written letters to athletes, scientists, economists, and people in bet...

Dear Simon Armitage, In response to '70 Notices' You spent a long time looking hard to notice seventy things between greyscale streetlit troughs and Dark and White Peaks, saw a full moon bottled in a drop of dew, felt the full weight of Sheffield and Manchester come ...

Dear Boris Johnson, It’s with a heavy heart I wish to resign from my post as CRO (Chief Rave Officer) at Her Majesty’s Government. Sure, I wasn’t technically voted in, nor technically needed, given your cabinet’s skill in organising parties of their own. But the time’s ...

Dear Dolly Parton, I love your music and you are one of the most prolific, successful and influential country songwriters of all time. As an aspiring songwriter, I would very much like to ask your advice on getting started. I know the industry has changed immeasurabl...

Dear Pepe Karmel, I have a few questions about artistic merit, art critique, and art history on my mind. And by way of googling, I somehow stumbled onto your papers and publications. So I hope you won’t mind me asking you a few questions about the topic. (For context,...

Dear Catherine West, Many MPs, especially female MPs, get a lot of abuse online. The problem is so bad that a parliamentary investigation found it could hamper democracy by discouraging those worthy of public office from running; the weight of public lifebeing just too m...

Dear Chris Beardshaw, First of all, congratulations on another Chelsea gold this year for your impeccably designed RNLI show garden. The sheer amount of thought and attention to detail that went into everything from the use of materials – elm and New Forest green oak to e...

Dear Paul Krugman, In Britain, we have been mired with a series of right wing governments that were elected on platforms of cheap populism and empty economic soundbites. We suffered a long decade of austerity with a repeated insistence that we must all “tighten our be...

Dear Taylor Swift, I remember when I was a teenager, I was a real music snob. I didn’t like pop music, I didn’t like music that was too ‘girly’ (I’m a woman by the way, which will prove useful context for this letter), and I was very convinced of the things I did like....

Dear Vivienne Westwood, I am a visual artist, and recently when trying to form some ideas for upcoming projects, I was struck by the way that aesthetics change over time — not only through being reimagined, but through being commercialised. And I was also struck by the inev...

Dear Boris Johnson, Where would you be today? Where do you reckon, you’d have got, if your parents had not had you, and you were born in Peckham not the upper east side? Imagine if I swapped out Eton for a Requires Improvement state funded school. Do you think if this h...

Dear Charlie Mackesy, I have enjoyed your work for a long time: the whimsical fluidity of your lines, the delicate colours, and the use of curves, all bring your world to life. But the thing I have enjoyed most of all, is the element of storytelling within your oeuvre, in...

Dear Nicholas (@ultimape) Perry, I am writing to inform you about my experiences with collate.org. I am not really into this app. I am testing it because their twitter account reached out to me and named dropped someone I am fans with. I don't quite understand what it is meant to d...

Dear Jamie Oliver, When I was in primary school, your ideas on healthier school meals were coming into force. We complained a bit, but that’s just a British cultural habit (drilled in from birth!); a few days later everyone had forgotten about the changes. So much so, ...

Dear Damian Hinds, I am writing to you with some thoughts on the practice and practicality of the Online Safety Bill, which is currently at Committee stage in the House of Commons. The subject of regulation and responsibility on the internet has long been of interest t...

Dear Valerie Vaz, I’d like to take the opportunity afforded by the Collate platform to thank you publicly for the excellent work you have been doing to represent your constituents as Member of Parliament for Walsall South. I contacted you in 2020 on behalf of my loc...

Dear Paul Krugman, During my undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford, I attended a talk that you gave there on the response of various governments to the 2008 financial crisis. I was not a student of economics — my knowledge of economics comes from reading, l...

Dear Mark Knopfler, I have been a great fan of your songwriting and guitar playing since I was a teenager. I was fairly new to guitar when my mother suggested I listen to Romeo and Juliet. I heard that sparkling fingerpicking on your National resonator, then the casual,...

Dear Liz Harris, I have been a fan of your music under the name Grouper for a long time, but I think it was only when I came to record my own songs and make my own album that I began to understand the intricacy of your ‘less is more’ approach to building soundscapes....

Dear John List, Firstly, congratulations on your new role as Chief Economist at Walmart. It’ll be interesting to see the experiments and initiatives that your team gets up to over the next few years. (I’ve also picked up a copy of your book, The Voltage Effect, and ...

Dear Jim McMahon, I am writing to you in your capacity as Shadow Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the critical issue of our nation’s food security. In a time of short-termist, sticking-plaster politics, we need a serious, credible, long-term ...

Dear Nadine Dorries, I am writing to you today to express my concern over the UK government’s current approach towards understanding social responsibility in the digital world. As I am sure you are well aware in the past decade the internet has gone from a technological...

Dear Boris Johnson, I am writing this letter in regards to the safety of women in the UK (Great Britain ) due to the rise in sexual offences and killings, murders and this is now risen to the notch that now even the Metropolitan police officer, being one of the offender...

Dear Iain Duncan Smith, I hope this letter finds you well. I recently attended an event by the Ribble Valley Conservatives where you were their guest speaker. It seems many of those attending that night had questions to put to you, for which you gladly answered. I was unfor...

Dear Tracey Emin, A long-time fan of your work, I was struck recently by the words you quoted on Instagram from your friend David Dawson: ‘Painting’s not just about painting but it’s also about waiting.’ I completed my MFA at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2020, wit...

Dear Councillor Rose Burley, Thank you for your recent letter in support of your renewed candidacy as councillor for Bentley and Darlaston North. You may not remember me, but I rang you during the early stages of Covid regulations after Walsall Council had taken the decision to ...

Dear BJ Campbell, Hello BJ! I had an idea for a potential line of inquiry to pursue, in the spirit of Impossible Conversations and Adversarial Collaborations. The general domain of inquiry is guns, gun violence, and the relationship between gun control, gun rights,...

Dear Boris Johnson, It is with regret that I submit my resignation from the Government. It has been an incredible honour to serve in Government over the last ten years under three Prime Ministers, most recently as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Through the ch...

Dear Nicola Sturgeon, As a trans person living in Britain, it is a self-evident reality that the nation is hostile towards gender-diverse people politically. Despite this, you have come out publicly in January in support of trans right, much to the chagrin of the right-wi...

Dear Boris Johnson, hxbbxbxhx, nfjxjx jdjdjdj hdjxjxjr jdjdjb. hhxjdj chhd, bdjjd hhd. xhjd hsss. Jshdjxbd uxhdj lfidhe hdjdj, jshsgd hxhd khsg hd. hdjd. hdjdjd jdjs jshsg ixh, did ;hfdj, hdhusi idh hdhs kfhd. hudi udhdb kfhdh hdj. hdjsudd jcjjd hshdhm kfhd. ifh, ifh...

Dear Pano Christou, I am writing to you as someone who has spent a while working in the food and drink industry. I have done many a busy shift making the types of drinks that you sell at Pret, and I don’t think that your staff are given adequate training, resulting in v...

Dear Muhammadu Buhari, I am writing to express my concern for the country of Nigeria following recent events and my personal experience in the country over this past year. I reside in London, England, however me and my family are originally Nigerian and have visited the co...

Dear Tony Blair, Social issues demand a social element. They are issues that bind us to one another as a community, as a state, and as individuals. As such, it is essential to communicate with the neighbour, to speak to our friends, to convey how we feel to the world...

Dear Tony Blair, Social issues demand a social element. They are issues that bind us to one another as a community, as a state, and as individuals. As such, it is essential to communicate with the neighbour, to speak to our friends, to convey how we feel to the world...

Dear Ranil Jayawardena, Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Among the many weighty responsibilities of your new position is the oversight of Britain’s agricultural policy and food security strategy. You will alr...

Dear Simon Foster, Your remit as West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner of course encompasses a broad spectrum of crime prevention, mitigation and policing, so it must be a challenging task to decide where to prioritise attention and resources. I appreciate that y...

Dear Michelle Donelan, Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. You must be all too aware that two of the key issues you have inherited with the office are the privatisation of Channel 4 and the question of the future...

Dear Internet, I alternate my car radio between Classic FM and Planet Rock, as the mood takes me. Yesterday evening, as I headed off to a music event in Birmingham, the radio was still set to Planet Rock from the day before. Yet rather than soaring guitar solos or ...

Dear Tom Brown, I was interested to read recently about your experimentation at West Dean Gardens near Chichester in creating a garden that is drought-tolerant and requires minimal watering. It was particularly intriguing that you said you have tried out using crush...

Dear Hans Thomann, I am writing first of all to extend my compliments on your excellent Harley Benton guitars. I really feel your brand is transforming the guitar industry for the better. I bought my first Harley Benton last year after reading many superb reviews, in...

Dear Internet, [justify][highlight=transparent]A few weeks ago whilst at our usual Saturday night excursion to the village local, our conversation somehow got onto religion. Someone in our group said something seemingly insignificant, but it sparked a small epiphan...

Dear Ruth Jones, I am writing to you in your capacity as Shadow Minister for Agri-Innovation and Climate Adaptation. At present, Britain clearly has a long way to go to arrive at a sustainable system of farming. While piecemeal changes are being made, we are not seei...

Dear Anne-Marie Trevelyan, [justify][highlight=transparent]Firstly, I congratulate you on your appointment to the Department for Transport - a cornerstone for our Levelling Up agenda. I want to write to you to highlight a small but highly important area of the transport sector...

Dear Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, [highlight=transparent]Firstly, I want to say thank you for your newsletter. For basketball fans around the world, your achievements, both on and off the court, have achieved a sort of mythical status. So it makes me happy that one of the greatest-of...

Dear Oliver the Admin, Just testing to see if our new caching system works! This will be awesome once up and running. All thanks to Kevin! King Kevin! Let's go!!! Just testing to see if our new caching system works! This will be awesome once up and running. All thanks to K...

Dear Kevin P., [justify]Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas et suscipit purus. Sed placerat augue et ullamcorper imperdiet. Donec nec hendrerit tortor. Curabitur viverra sapien non leo lobortis iaculis. Duis ullamcorper risus et porta ...

Dear Jennifer Dresden, [highlight=transparent]I am an ordinary citizen who is concerned about the future of democracy. You know better than I that the US midterm elections will be a bellwether for things to come.[/highlight] [highlight=transparent]You gave a fantastic int...

Dear Internet, [highlight=transparent]A few months ago, a family-friend who we will call Valerie bought two tickets for herself and her friend for travel long overdue. They were excited to visit someplace exotic after extended lockdowns and closed international bor...

Dear Michael Kasumovic, [highlight=transparent]I came across an interesting article on [/highlight][color=rgb(17, 85, 204)][highlight=transparent][url=https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/why-do-we-play-violent-video-games#:~:text=Kasumovic%20says.,to%20satisfy%20...

Dear Alexandra Stein, [highlight=transparent]In light of recent political developments, I was looking for books and papers to better understand the nature of human organization and social structure. I found your research on cults especially illuminating. So t[/highlight]h...

Dear Rachel Elnaugh, I have been visiting the Peak District National Park for many years and regard Cressbrook Dale as one of its gems of natural beauty and biodiversity. The woodland and wildflowers through the seasons are a particular joy, and as National Park access l...

Dear Internet, [justify][highlight=transparent]Our culture around the world is immensely varied with a myriad of arts, traditions, and literature. But possibly the most defining of these for each of our societies is music. The various ways we generate what would or...

Dear Internet, When a nobody like myself writes in letter form to a public figure, there is only a small probability that she will see my words amidst the flood of mail and messages that she inevitably receives. Beyond that, there is an even smaller chance that she...