Chris
@csteinbach.bsky.social
If we play our cards right, we could yet build an earthly paradise of mutual shame and self-loathing.
One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential
December 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
If we play our cards right, we could yet build an earthly paradise of mutual shame and self-loathing.
My spirits are always lifted by finding people who don't pursue a fight-fire-with-fire, tooth-for-a-tooth politics.
You have to work for the symmetries you want to see in society.
You have to work for the symmetries you want to see in society.
There are so many moral boosts you can’t find that don’t go through lying. at least I think so. And more to the point, I think the people who are generating the propaganda are deeply untrustworthy and should lose status.
December 9, 2025 at 6:28 PM
My spirits are always lifted by finding people who don't pursue a fight-fire-with-fire, tooth-for-a-tooth politics.
You have to work for the symmetries you want to see in society.
You have to work for the symmetries you want to see in society.
Reposted by Chris
Glad to see people talking about Penn Jillette. The 2024 interview was done by me. I found him to be a refreshingly reflective, self-critical individual who has remained curious and willing to evolve.
December 8, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Glad to see people talking about Penn Jillette. The 2024 interview was done by me. I found him to be a refreshingly reflective, self-critical individual who has remained curious and willing to evolve.
This also exemplifies a more general trend, with no single political home, where a symmetry of hate is nurtured.
A common theme is that punishment is promoted to an end in itself.
A common theme is that punishment is promoted to an end in itself.
We're at the point where it's tacitly acknowledged that this is a vendetta.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 AM
This also exemplifies a more general trend, with no single political home, where a symmetry of hate is nurtured.
A common theme is that punishment is promoted to an end in itself.
A common theme is that punishment is promoted to an end in itself.
We're at the point where it's tacitly acknowledged that this is a vendetta.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
December 5, 2025 at 3:56 AM
We're at the point where it's tacitly acknowledged that this is a vendetta.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
It's not about claiming some moral high ground, but savouring someone else's trauma.
Reposted by Chris
The burden of proof for "kids these days are cooked" is *incredibly* high because, like, literally every generation as far back as we have written records has believed that so our prior should be extreme skepticism. And instead people on here are like "a professor wrote a blog post! It's proven!"
November 30, 2025 at 3:12 AM
The burden of proof for "kids these days are cooked" is *incredibly* high because, like, literally every generation as far back as we have written records has believed that so our prior should be extreme skepticism. And instead people on here are like "a professor wrote a blog post! It's proven!"
Some nice Stoppard plays online
On The Razzle
youtu.be/I_aRC0YaL6o?...
Professional Foul
youtu.be/D5MYDrWGobg?...
R&G
youtu.be/-f6gON_OMcQ?...
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
youtu.be/pQmbJn-DkBU?...
On The Razzle
youtu.be/I_aRC0YaL6o?...
Professional Foul
youtu.be/D5MYDrWGobg?...
R&G
youtu.be/-f6gON_OMcQ?...
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
youtu.be/pQmbJn-DkBU?...
On the Razzle (1983)
YouTube video by grimportents
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Some nice Stoppard plays online
On The Razzle
youtu.be/I_aRC0YaL6o?...
Professional Foul
youtu.be/D5MYDrWGobg?...
R&G
youtu.be/-f6gON_OMcQ?...
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
youtu.be/pQmbJn-DkBU?...
On The Razzle
youtu.be/I_aRC0YaL6o?...
Professional Foul
youtu.be/D5MYDrWGobg?...
R&G
youtu.be/-f6gON_OMcQ?...
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
youtu.be/pQmbJn-DkBU?...
Reposted by Chris
RIP the greatest British playwright of our time on.ft.com/4anfEQJ
British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard dies
[FREE TO READ] Czech-born author of witty, cerebral plays was also an award-winning screenwriter
on.ft.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
RIP the greatest British playwright of our time on.ft.com/4anfEQJ
I have a soft spot for Feyerabend...
November 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I have a soft spot for Feyerabend...
Reposted by Chris
Well, that Charli xcx John Cale collaboration has just wiped everything else off the 2025 table. They should do an entire album.
November 11, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Well, that Charli xcx John Cale collaboration has just wiped everything else off the 2025 table. They should do an entire album.
Nietzschean affirmation
November 3, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Nietzschean affirmation
History! Sure, let someone else do all the hard work of collecting, evaluating and synthesising.
November 3, 2025 at 9:52 PM
History! Sure, let someone else do all the hard work of collecting, evaluating and synthesising.
Yes, shaming is cheap, and when a price is too good to be true you should check the labels carefully.
One thing that I think we need to talk about around shame is that shaming is the lowest stakes and most acceptable option for handling this kind of behavior, and if you're going to ignore shame you're really not going to like the other options for how societies handle this stuff.
November 3, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Yes, shaming is cheap, and when a price is too good to be true you should check the labels carefully.
Reposted by Chris
An easy way to be less miserable is to switch from being anti-things-you-hate to pro-things-you-like.
November 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
An easy way to be less miserable is to switch from being anti-things-you-hate to pro-things-you-like.
A nice way to secularise "There but for the grace of God go I"
The moral clarity you gain by seeing all of humanity as being clones of yourself, and you are all helping each other out.
October 29, 2025 at 2:10 AM
A nice way to secularise "There but for the grace of God go I"
Did Arendt really say this? I'm trying to find the source.
October 25, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Did Arendt really say this? I'm trying to find the source.
Reposted by Chris
It should be totally okay to have a bad take. Nobody bats 1.000
October 17, 2025 at 4:08 AM
It should be totally okay to have a bad take. Nobody bats 1.000
Reposted by Chris
Its a lot better to be wrong about something being sentient than it being not sentient. Err towards kindness.
thingofthings.substack.com/p/reasoning-...
thingofthings.substack.com/p/reasoning-...
Reasoning under uncertainty about sentience
I am sentient: that is, I have experiences and feel both pleasure and pain.
thingofthings.substack.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Its a lot better to be wrong about something being sentient than it being not sentient. Err towards kindness.
thingofthings.substack.com/p/reasoning-...
thingofthings.substack.com/p/reasoning-...
Reposted by Chris
“Read the room” has long been my least favorite internettism because it implies failure to conform is embarrassing. “Posting through it” is getting high on the list for the same reason.
October 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
“Read the room” has long been my least favorite internettism because it implies failure to conform is embarrassing. “Posting through it” is getting high on the list for the same reason.
Random fact for you: 𝘤𝘰𝘸 (as in 'cowed into silence'), 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, and 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 all have different etymological roots.
𝘤𝘰𝘸 – Old Norse kúga ‘oppress’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 – Old French couard, based on Latin cauda ‘tail’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 – Middle Low German kūren ‘lie in wait’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸 – Old Norse kúga ‘oppress’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 – Old French couard, based on Latin cauda ‘tail’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 – Middle Low German kūren ‘lie in wait’.
October 4, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Random fact for you: 𝘤𝘰𝘸 (as in 'cowed into silence'), 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, and 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 all have different etymological roots.
𝘤𝘰𝘸 – Old Norse kúga ‘oppress’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 – Old French couard, based on Latin cauda ‘tail’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 – Middle Low German kūren ‘lie in wait’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸 – Old Norse kúga ‘oppress’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 – Old French couard, based on Latin cauda ‘tail’.
𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 – Middle Low German kūren ‘lie in wait’.
Reposted by Chris
In anarchist circles, this is what we call "rent seeking." Taking something that had nothing to do with you, or what you produced, but believing that you hold some valid property right over it. The implication here is Araki is only upset because he hasn't been paid for work they never created
September 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
In anarchist circles, this is what we call "rent seeking." Taking something that had nothing to do with you, or what you produced, but believing that you hold some valid property right over it. The implication here is Araki is only upset because he hasn't been paid for work they never created
Right off the bat, "Did the Science Wars Take Place?" conflates antirealism with relativism:
"antirealist positions of Postmodernism were always in fact much more closely aligned with the ultranationalist idea of different cultures-produce- different-truths promoted by historical fascism"
"antirealist positions of Postmodernism were always in fact much more closely aligned with the ultranationalist idea of different cultures-produce- different-truths promoted by historical fascism"
September 22, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Right off the bat, "Did the Science Wars Take Place?" conflates antirealism with relativism:
"antirealist positions of Postmodernism were always in fact much more closely aligned with the ultranationalist idea of different cultures-produce- different-truths promoted by historical fascism"
"antirealist positions of Postmodernism were always in fact much more closely aligned with the ultranationalist idea of different cultures-produce- different-truths promoted by historical fascism"
Reposted by Chris
what the fuck this is insane www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXjb...
The World's First Ultrasonic Chef's Knife for Home Cooks: Seattle Ultrasonics C-200
YouTube video by Seattle Ultrasonics
www.youtube.com
September 21, 2025 at 1:16 AM
what the fuck this is insane www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXjb...
The last quote lands like a thud. Feyerabend and Lakatos were drafting a dialogue, For & Against Method. Then Lakatos died. Feyerabend kept the promise to publish his half alone; a letter to a friend who could no longer answer. [1/2]
September 14, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The last quote lands like a thud. Feyerabend and Lakatos were drafting a dialogue, For & Against Method. Then Lakatos died. Feyerabend kept the promise to publish his half alone; a letter to a friend who could no longer answer. [1/2]