With the end of the summer approaching, as I am preparing for my fall classes, I found this note I wrote to myself back in June. Good job, me.
Joshua Bowman
@thalesdisciple.bsky.social
Associate professor of mathematics. Hymn aficionado. Large absent-minded spirit. Resist simple narratives. Cultivate an abolitionist imagination.
As "Cathy" so aptly put it: "The thing that is a good tool for the skilled people is being sold as a thing to reduce the number of skilled people hired": bsky.app/profile/cath... 51/
Cathy@cathyby.bsky.social · 3d agoIt's almost like a Greek myth. The thing that is a good tool for the skilled people is being sold as a thing to reduce the number of skilled people hired.
Composition: Light Color Planes with Grey Contours, 1919 #pietmondrian #mondrian
"I don't understand why you, a fantasy writer, don't appreciate the value of making bargains with the fae."
John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 2d agoEvery now and then someone takes a run at me along the lines of "I don't understand why you, a scifi writer, don't appreciate 'AI'," and I'm all, motherfucker, it's *because* I'm a science fiction writer I have the positions I have, how many times do we have to fucking yell "torment nexus," my dude
I deeply annoyed a non-academic colleague by saying the answer to their methods question is "It depends on which field you ask and your goal. Some do X and some do Y. Mine does Z, but there are also people that do A, B, or C. None are really wrong, just different" And WOW was that the wrong answer.
It requires expertise to be able to say, “I do not know the answer to that question, and that is becauae thus far scholarly consensus is that we do not have the knowledge needed at this time to answer that question.” Sometimes “I don’t know” is a far more rigorous answer than people might think.
How should we think about undergraduate math theses - expository or otherwise - in the age of AI? (This is on my mind as the Fall semester approaches)
i think a lot about this thing thurston says in "on proof and progress in mathematics" 🧮 arxiv.org/pdf/math/940...
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
I am seeing “is prison abolition feasible” discourse today and so I want to contribute that I have tried to answer the question of what we do about violence in an abolitionist future, in my FAQ here: christiansforabolition.org/faq/
FAQ
But what about “violent predators”? This is the question we get most often. “What about serial killers? What about murderers? What about rapists and abusers? How do…
christiansforabolition.org
"Those who treat Omelas as a utilitarian allegory wish to view the child as a concession, a 'gotcha' moment illustrating the ethical quandary alleged to inhere in all joys and comforts. But such a reading is erroneous."
Three Walks Back to Omelas: On Suffering and Happiness
"Meaningless" cruelty implies the possibility of meaningful cruelty.
typebarmagazine.com
We know almost nothing for sure except that each of us will die.
They do what now
Jeff Groh@jeffgroh.bsky.social · last wk.Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Anyone have ideas on how to make the visuals of For All Mankind Season 5 less dark? We’re constantly squinting at the screen and asking each other what happened.
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
There’s a story in this painting. Several stories, actually.
René Magritte@renemagritte.bsky.social · last wk.Les travaux d'Alexandre / The labours of Alexander - c. 1958 #artbots #magritte
Noticed more websites related to artificial intelligence (especially statements about gen AI) using .ai domain names. So I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it turns out that is the country code for Anguilla: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ai As a result, the economy of Anguilla is benefitting!
Naming a mathematical object “chromodromy” (as a parallel to “monodromy”): good idea or bad idea?
We watched this in the spring (thanks to the efforts of one of my great colleagues, Elizabeth Thoren, who set up the viewing). Highly recommended! It’s about how numeracy and mathematical (especially algorithmic) literacy are becoming increasingly important for informed citizenship.
Dave Kung@dtkung.bsky.social · 2w agoIf you haven't seen #CountedOut (documentary about mathematics education), here's your chance - from the comfort of your own home! (Aug 8, 4pm) watch.eventive.org/countedout/p...
If you haven't seen #CountedOut (documentary about mathematics education), here's your chance - from the comfort of your own home! (Aug 8, 4pm) watch.eventive.org/countedout/p...
