Feeling pretty good that this is the year we finally get the definitive understanding of what Aristotle's views were.

treat your body like a data center. consume as much water, art and literature as possible. upset local municipalities with your existence.

Since we've defunded science I now know that climate change is an obvious hoax. But the huge uptick in mosquitos in SD and the impending maybe permanent loss of many SoCal beaches this weekend seems like a really elaborate plan to make the old hoax seem real.

Can confirm: students still don't read the syllabus.

UC faculty who are concerned about this can do something: sign this petition, which is about getting us back to the student/faculty ratio UCOP committed to in 2005, which is still way above similar public universities like UMich (names made public only if 1000 sign) members.cucfa.org/sign-the-pet...

Sign the Petition - UC Faculty Association

members.cucfa.org

Carolyn Dicey Jennings@cdj.bsky.social · 5d ago

A well reported article that shows the pressure facing UC faculty in recent years. Student body has grown considerably (almost 30% in last 15 years), while faculty growth has been stymied due to “funding shortages,” all while senior management has “more than doubled” www.sacbee.com/news/local/e...

Academic friends: are there interesting and/or standard critiques of Henrich's account in WEIRDEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD? Recs gratefully accepted.

Who doesn't love Fall in San Diego? Balmy in the mid-90s with limited AC. So awesome!

In case anyone is wondering, San Diego‘s chronically mild weather has become chronically mildly unpleasant, what with this annoying humidity.

I used to be one of those people who said things like "I don't understand how San Diego weather can get boring." Lo:

It would be awesome if the main result of rogue AI was simply that it made the internet and connected devices totally unusable.

This paper is now out! If you're interested in politics on the internet, 4chan, and the intersection of politics, sociology, and philosophy, give it a read! journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article...

Andrew Lopez @andrulus.bsky.social · last yr.

I have a new paper coming out in Ergo on what I think is the relevance and usefulness of Mexican philosopher Jorge Portilla for thinking about politics and social dynamics on the internet. Linked here: A short thread: philpapers.org/rec/LOPIJA

Yes, but does this mean at least one person gets the ability to echolocate?

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.

Rabies cases in the U.S. from July to August increased 17 percent compared to the same period last year, following several “high-profile rabies outbreaks,” the CDC said. The disease spreads primarily through bites or scratches from an infected animal.

It's scandalous that for-profit companies like SpringerNature and Elsevier rent-seek from academic publishing and profit off of our labor. I'm also convinced by @hiphination.bsky.social that it's just as scandalous that for-profit digital infrastructure companies do the same in higher education.

College campuses need to be liberated from their administrators

Higher ed is being strangled by absurd and costly rules. What message is that sending to students?

globecollegetown.substack.com

Would this summer have been a bit more chill if back in the day SCOTUS was like, "Actually, we pick Gore?"

The alarms are all flashing red.

I can't believe we're talking about renaming NM. We've got to save "New America" for the moon, obviously. Also, the solar system needs to be renamed the American System, and the Milky Way is . . . wait for it . . . THE AMERICAN WAY.

A crisply stated overview of my current-ish views about free will, by George Semaan at The Daily Neuron. dailyneuron.com/moral-respon...

Moral Responsibility Doesn't Need Free Will to Do Its Job - Daily Neuron

Blame and praise can keep working even if nobody was ever free to choose otherwise. The philosophical case for keeping them, and what it costs.

urldefense.com

If AI stayed down, how long would it take to see a discernible improvement in student learning?

Philosophers and furniture stores fighting about what it means to define a room.

In the absence of any real knowledge about what happened, I'm blaming the stalled out inter webs on AI, stupid wars with enemies and allies, and all the enemies of free will revisionism.

This is awesome. cailinoconnor.substack.com/p/nara-smith...

Nara Smith is a Performance Artist, Not a Tradwife

A close textual reading of the work of Smith

cailinoconnor.substack.com

It would be funny if Nolan reviewed Emily Wilson's new book, focusing on its putative shortcomings concerning imagistic, musical, and generally cinematic elements. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/b...

For Emily Wilson, Translating the Ancients Requires a Dash of Cardi B

A new book of essays by the celebrated classicist captures her excitement for her subject matter and the surprising range of her references.

nytimes.com

I wonder how much would it cost to get an executive order stipulating that Manuel Vargas' philosophical views on any given topic must always be referred to as "the true view."

Stares in revisionism (at the original headline).

Kevin Zollman@kevinzollman.com · 2mo ago

I find these claims ridiculous. It's like asking if math is right wing or left wing. A method can be used for many purposes, and that's as true of analytic philosophy as anything.

Ozymandias shoulda made two monuments so he could have told people to look upon his works ye mighty and de spare

Am desk rejecting the Parton news. She had remarkable grace for someone who lived her life in the fishbowl of celebrity.

TIL I learned the long-deleted "Voice Memos" app on my phone provides transcription, thus allowing me to transcribe paper ideas worked out while hiking.

Yeah, well since we are all using pretty loose notions of "potential," I'm pleased to announce that the potential revenue opportunities for investing in me is $30 QUADrillion.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 2mo ago

Exclusive: Anthropic is likely to tell investors its potential revenue opportunities are above $30 trillion, topping SpaceX’s $28.5 trillion estimate. on.wsj.com/4zBs69V

Turns out that knowledge of how coaxial cables screw on to coaxial ports is also no longer general knowledge for youngsters. It feels like the beginning of Battlestar Galactica where only folks using ancient tech survive the AI uprising.

Wisdom of the ages: impressing daughter and her roomie w/ my practical knowledge of how portable dishwashers from the 1980s work