"We must stop thinking that just because somebody agrees with us on some superficial point, that they are in fact in some deeper agreement on principles and values." olivia.science/entryism/

Entryism

AI entryism subverts anti AI critique.

olivia.science

What helps me contextualize so much of the weirdness of people's reactions during and since Covid is how we reacted to the last one. The flu pandemic of 1918-19 killed more people than World War I in half the time. And it barely appears in popular media EVER, ANYWHERE.

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.

People don’t get to forget this. I’m sorry, they don’t. We can’t let them forget.

JQ 🐆@jmq.bsky.social · 2d ago

Our ICUs were so busy that they redeployed some of my food service workers and myself to turn ventilated patients because the nursing team was so busy. Do not let them rewrite history.

"[…] a structure of feeling that I would call exhausted vigilance. Not despair; despair would have been simple. This was the permanent, draining alertness of those who must translate themselves into a language designed not to recognise their words." www.equator.org/articles/mor...

Gaza and the Problem of Moral Stupidity • EQUATOR

Forty years after Edward Said demanded ‘permission to narrate’, the truth from Palestine has never been more widely known. And yet the annihilation continues.

equator.org

All of this —from the prelude on emotional/affective labor, to the understanding of what academia is and is for, to the underlying morality and humanity causing her "anxiety", to the calling out of corporate takeover, to writing it all out— is why i love and value folks like @olivia.science

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ@olivia.science · 3d ago

If useful, here's my attempt to process my feelings about how I feel sadly kinda — or rather very — sick from all this AI fascist nonsense as an academic. 😶‍🌫️ I'd be pleased if even one person finds something useful because there's something to be said for processing this all together, so, um, enjoy?

If useful, here's my attempt to process my feelings about how I feel sadly kinda — or rather very — sick from all this AI fascist nonsense as an academic. 😶‍🌫️ I'd be pleased if even one person finds something useful because there's something to be said for processing this all together, so, um, enjoy?

Anxiety

Reasoning (and crying) my way through fascist AI-induced anxiety.

olivia.science

c++ devs love to invent dynamically typed DSLs because that turns out to be way easier than devising a static type system that doesn't absolutely suck ass, but then they treat the dynamic typing as a sort of inadvertent mistake you should pretend isn't there

He had a strong pre-existing ethical code that transferred over. Traditional Jedi ethics, however, are based on “this is bad BECAUSE it’s Dark Side,” not “it’s wrong to Force Persuade people to give you footrubs because it violates their minds” so once you fall, you have no internal moral compass.

Arguing Star Wars canon is, of course, an exercise in futility, but I point out Darth Vectivus, who was not trained as a Jedi, and devoted himself to a life of study after falling, was uninterested in power or cruelty, and eventually died at home, surrounded by family and friends.

I maintain that this is because of the Jedi’s religious teachings and that they instill in young Jedi that if you get even moderately irritated, you will immediately begin buying black robes and shopping for a double-sided lightsaber.

Is everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.

General Motors streetcar conspiracy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

> The second justification for censoring me was [...] that science and politics should be kept separate. [...] Setting aside the moral angle – that is, is it right or wrong to separate research from politics – I will challenge the underlying assumption: that such a separation is even possible.

> And if any[body] didn't want to be confronted with the reality of anti-Indigenous genocide because it made them uncomfortable, I would say to them exactly what I am saying now: that to close your eyes in the face of abject evil is an immense privilege that you cannot and should not be afforded.

for me, the most devastating closure in portland in the last 5 years was the chickpea ice cream place. that ice cream was dope. it was an actually rich and creamy vegan ice cream that made you full really fast and also weirdly satisfied any protein cravings. like what the fuck

"I would hit bugs of this severity often enough to make me question the correctness of any moderately complex computation in Julia. … I can no longer recommend it. I thought I’d write up my reasons why." yuri.is/not-julia/ hat tip @mietek.bsky.social

"The process is the punishment" is said a lot in the criminal legal world.

Scapegoats are emotionally cheaper than systems. Blaming the left asks nothing of you. It feels good and righteous and right. Asking whether your institutions and your party failed you requires dismantling beliefs you have spent your lifetime building. That is emotionally expensive.

It really really really bugs me how many people simply do not understand what it means when the government tries to convict you even IF THEY FAIL TO DO IT. Do you know how many thousands of dollars in legal fees it costs? You will most likely lose your job. You might lose your home.

reading (and enjoying) this as a partial explanation of what you could call the general unsubtlety of his work

whether or not nolan christianized the odyssey i think he's using his adaptation of it to respond to some extremely christian (protestant) ideals and shortcomings, in a really instructive way

"I think we live in a world where the concept of xenia, the concept of mutual respect, is more challenged than it's ever been, in more obvious ways than ever. I think we see the negative effects of that in terms of what defines civilization and what binds us together."

regular meghan 나영지 🇵🇸@ruemcclammyhand.bsky.social · 4d ago

saving this for later but a lot of people are bringing this up as a good example of academia engaging with the arts youtu.be/wa4I8Ch2TRo?...

The #BronzeAge #UptonLovellShaman​'s burial in Wiltshire has long been considered an important religious figure & metalworker. It's been barely questioned someone of such status must be male. But now #aDNA analysis revealed that the body is in fact: a woman. 🏺 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on ancient DNA: a female shaman exposes our flawed assumptions about the past | Editorial

Editorial: Thanks to new technology we are are acquiring insights into earlier times, and realising how little we truly know

theguardian.com

"genuine neurodevelopmental disorder" and "a social construct" are not mutually exclusive? money is a social construct yet no one debates whether it's "real"

Scott Bryan@scottygb.bsky.social · last wk.

Channel 4 has announced documentary “The Great ADHD Myth?” It “seeks to determine whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct.”

Oh buddy just to be aware .. this gives them a metric of how good users are at spotting Ai…. So they can improve AI

The Verge@theverge.com · 6d ago

As part of a series of updates to reduce the volume of AI slop on the platform, LinkedIn is introducing an actual button that lets you flag a post as something that “Seems like AI slop.”

We need to move IPV experts into every section of tech, I’m so dead ass

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d ago

Companies are all in on selling folks the idea that it’s in your best interest for your products to “know you” as if you are getting a dedicated servant but what you are really getting is a spy.

The EU can now transfer asylum seekers to countries where they have no personal ties. Supporters call it necessary reform; critics warn Europe is outsourcing refugee protection. Nima Ghadakpour examines what the new rules mean. www.theamargi.com/posts/eu-wil...

EU will now expel refugees to foreign countries

Until recently, asylum seekers could generally be transferred to a country outside the European Union only if they had a meaningful connection to it, such as previous residence or close fmily ties.…

theamargi.com

Amnesty have issued an apology to JK Rowling and the rest. Adjust your expectations, and donations, accordingly www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/an-ap...

An Apology for A Growing Threat briefing, published on 8 July 2026

Amnesty International UK has made a public apology for the publication of the briefing “A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK”. Click here to read it in full.

amnesty.org.uk

but my favorite part of the class, the part where i felt my brain getting bigger, was thinking about the relationship of wage labor and the clock, and how living with time in the way we experience it is extremely modern and deeply shaped by the factory and the railroad

i don't know if there is a pearl of objective reality in the center of the concept but i think work is extremely socially constructed in what counts as it and what kinds are valued