www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
25.02.2026 01:17
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Computing began as a scientific revolution, to be sure, but these days it is primarily, exhaustingly, an economic one, wrapped in an aura of utopian mysticism. The chieftains of AI reject humanism not because it is anti-scientific, but because it is anti-business; workers are expensive. That’s why the recent marriage of big tech and right-wing politics might strike some as a relief. It’s simply more honest.
Love this quote:
If the Minnesota resistance has an overarching ideology, you could call it “neighborism”—a commitment to protecting the people around you, no matter who they are or where they came from. The contrast with the philosophy guiding the Trump administration couldn’t be more extreme. Vice President Vance has said that “it is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their next-door neighbors and say, ‘I want to live next to people who I have something in common with. I don’t want to live next to four families of strangers.’” Minnesotans are insisting that their neighbors are their neighbors whether they were born in Minneapolis or Mogadishu. That is, arguably, a deeply Christian philosophy, one apparently loathed by some of the most powerful Christians in America.
Every paragraph @adamserwer.bsky.social writes in this piece is worth reading but here's a taste:
This has to be our orientation. Allow people to change their minds. Then let's argue about the other really important stuff tomorrow.
Repeatedly warning us. Listen.
Trump’s America.
We’ve decided to make this story free for all readers, forever. We hope you’ll support this reporting by sharing it.
Screenshot with following text highlighted: "NEH funding will underwrite nine fellowships for college graduates and three senior writer-in-residence opportunities at the Institute on Religion and Public Life and its journal, First Things;"
Not surprising on the one hand, but also, wow...talk about naked politicization of NEH grants.
My heart is with my hometown. Add to the list business owners and accountants I know who are getting involved. They aren't taking any of this laying down.
A 35 year old letter to the editor, written by a very ballsy 15 year old, about the Rodney King verdict.
Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.
Ad with headline "Eat Like the Apostles" "40 days 12 ingredients 1 transformation" "Printable meal plan." There are four very white people depicted eating.
I am so confused. Please send help.
Purity, certainty, control: these characteristics are toxic regardless of ideology.
No Kings Grand Rapids. Hands down the largest protest I've seen in our 15+ years here. Plus Garfield!
Adam absolutely ethering Yudkowsky in the third paragraph of the review. You love to see it.
Y'all. @adambecker.bsky.social reviewed the new Eliezer Yudkowsky book for the Atlantic and he *does not miss.*
www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
Here is where A.I.’s agreeability — so crucial to its rapid adoption — becomes its Achilles’ heel. Its tendency to value short-term user satisfaction over truthfulness — to blow digital smoke up one’s skirt — can isolate users and reinforce confirmation bias. Like plants turning toward the sun, we lean into subtle flattery.
Everything that's wrong with chatbot ai in one paragraph.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...
A great article that shows how historians weigh evidence (or at least how they should), revise received history, and sometimes remain stubbornly wrong for all too human reasons.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/m...
DOGE owns every one of these now whether or not it's directly the result of their actions
Highlighting the Voice of America (important as it may be) is totally burying the lede. If successful, Trump's executive order will also end IMLS, which will decimate rural libraries.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/u...
Christians are already going overtime telling us to forgive our fascist neighbors but let me tell you defeating them successfully means we cannot ever forget about their lack of care for the planet, the community, and human rights. Never. Our survival depends on it.
I asked the Gemini assistant to "show me my screenshots." It said "sure" and then restarted every saved timer on my phone.
Screenshot with the following text from a CNN article: “I’m in close contact with the CDC. They have about what, 13,000 employees, 13,000 employees at the CDC. In the last couple years, those probationary people, which is about 10% of their employee base, about 1,300 people, which you’re referring to. A lot of the work they do is duplicitous with AI,” McCormick said. The mention of AI led to “no’s” and murmurs from the crowd, leading the Republican representative to say, “I happen to be a doctor. I know a few things.”
Best malapropism ever.
So, my day job is at a public library where we take pride in being a place where all are welcome... regardless of anything, including housing status. Yet even here we too easily turn people into problems to solve. This is an important dose of rehumanization.
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
the reason why i hate weimar analogies or hungary analogies or whatever is because they lead people to treat contingent phenomenon as iron clad rules and to ignore critical details like, for instance, the structure of a political system
New hypothesis: most political discourse today is driven by a search for "authenticity." Those who control the framing of what counts, and doesn't count, as authentic, win the game.
This is amazing
Relatedly, please read this from @joshtpm.bsky.social
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-m...
Glad it was helpful and congrats on the book!!
www.404media.co/facebooks-al...
