Matt Dinan
@mattdinan.bsky.social
Canadian dad, teacher, and writer (say it like “dine in”)
I have a new article called “Kierkegaardian Individualism and the Political” at the Canterbury Institute at Oxford’s PolUtica and Poetics journal
www.politicsandpoetics.co.uk/current-issu...
www.politicsandpoetics.co.uk/current-issu...
Current Issue | Politics & Poetics
A journal of the humanities.
www.politicsandpoetics.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I have a new article called “Kierkegaardian Individualism and the Political” at the Canterbury Institute at Oxford’s PolUtica and Poetics journal
www.politicsandpoetics.co.uk/current-issu...
www.politicsandpoetics.co.uk/current-issu...
I started to write something strident about the Harper's piece, then changed direction and did this instead: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Nein
In the beginning computer scientists made the internet.
substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I started to write something strident about the Harper's piece, then changed direction and did this instead: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Matt Dinan
“In the beginning computer scientists made the internet.”
@mattdinan.bsky.social with the creation story for our times.
mattdinan.substack.com/p/nein?utm_c...
@mattdinan.bsky.social with the creation story for our times.
mattdinan.substack.com/p/nein?utm_c...
Nein
In the beginning computer scientists made the internet.
mattdinan.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:35 PM
“In the beginning computer scientists made the internet.”
@mattdinan.bsky.social with the creation story for our times.
mattdinan.substack.com/p/nein?utm_c...
@mattdinan.bsky.social with the creation story for our times.
mattdinan.substack.com/p/nein?utm_c...
Reposted by Matt Dinan
"Now, human beings had long ago started to think that they were like packets of packets of data. And ChatGPT, being craftier than other applications, was actually packets of data."
@mattdinan.bsky.social with an excellent word this morning:
@mattdinan.bsky.social with an excellent word this morning:
Nein
In the beginning computer scientists made the internet.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
"Now, human beings had long ago started to think that they were like packets of packets of data. And ChatGPT, being craftier than other applications, was actually packets of data."
@mattdinan.bsky.social with an excellent word this morning:
@mattdinan.bsky.social with an excellent word this morning:
Reposted by Matt Dinan
Foreign interference and the viral “Pencil-gate” conspiracy theory at Canada’s polling stations are connected.
I wrote on shenanigans at the polls and how to do our part to keep elections secure for @thestar.com
(And, I successfully snuck in the word “pollercoaster”…big win!)
I wrote on shenanigans at the polls and how to do our part to keep elections secure for @thestar.com
(And, I successfully snuck in the word “pollercoaster”…big win!)
There are good reasons for not taking selfies while we vote. Here’s why
This writ period, Canadian electors have had to navigate a steeplechase of deepfakes, conspiracy theories, intimidation and foreign interference. Security measures have proved resilient, but a pair of...
www.thestar.com
April 25, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Foreign interference and the viral “Pencil-gate” conspiracy theory at Canada’s polling stations are connected.
I wrote on shenanigans at the polls and how to do our part to keep elections secure for @thestar.com
(And, I successfully snuck in the word “pollercoaster”…big win!)
I wrote on shenanigans at the polls and how to do our part to keep elections secure for @thestar.com
(And, I successfully snuck in the word “pollercoaster”…big win!)
Reposted by Matt Dinan
Use the provided pencil. Or bring your own pen. However you choose to mark your ballot, as long as it's just one mark, clearly in the designated circle, it will be counted, cross checked, & witnessed.
Our ballot counting is *very* secure contrary to conspiracy-theorising on X, Facebook & tiktok.
Our ballot counting is *very* secure contrary to conspiracy-theorising on X, Facebook & tiktok.
Pen or pencil? Elections Canada says it doesn’t matter when casting a ballot
OTTAWA - Elections Canada wants you to know your ballot will count whether you mark it with a pen or with a pencil.
www.thestar.com
April 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Use the provided pencil. Or bring your own pen. However you choose to mark your ballot, as long as it's just one mark, clearly in the designated circle, it will be counted, cross checked, & witnessed.
Our ballot counting is *very* secure contrary to conspiracy-theorising on X, Facebook & tiktok.
Our ballot counting is *very* secure contrary to conspiracy-theorising on X, Facebook & tiktok.
Reposted by Matt Dinan
It struck a chord because it's true. As I write in More Than Words, the chief benefit of LLMs to writing (and teaching writing) is it forces us to examine what we value in writing. We should be building statues of the students who remain proud to be themselves & encourage others to join them.
Here’s an observation that’s closing in on 80k likes on twitter:
April 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
It struck a chord because it's true. As I write in More Than Words, the chief benefit of LLMs to writing (and teaching writing) is it forces us to examine what we value in writing. We should be building statues of the students who remain proud to be themselves & encourage others to join them.
Here’s an observation that’s closing in on 80k likes on twitter:
April 17, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Here’s an observation that’s closing in on 80k likes on twitter:
Very proud of my ALMA MATER for its PRINCIPLED STAND
April 14, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Very proud of my ALMA MATER for its PRINCIPLED STAND
Whether it's winning the Masters, or bravely settling for Yale after not getting in to Harvard, people named Rory are inspirations to us all.
April 14, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Whether it's winning the Masters, or bravely settling for Yale after not getting in to Harvard, people named Rory are inspirations to us all.
Wrote a grumpy blog about this: substack.com/home/post/p-...
April 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Wrote a grumpy blog about this: substack.com/home/post/p-...
What do students use AI for in higher ed?
-cheating
-depriving themselves of developing higher order skills
-avoiding thinking
All along these tools have been sold as freedom from drudgery, but they're actually "freedom" from the ends of education.
-cheating
-depriving themselves of developing higher order skills
-avoiding thinking
All along these tools have been sold as freedom from drudgery, but they're actually "freedom" from the ends of education.
April 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
What do students use AI for in higher ed?
-cheating
-depriving themselves of developing higher order skills
-avoiding thinking
All along these tools have been sold as freedom from drudgery, but they're actually "freedom" from the ends of education.
-cheating
-depriving themselves of developing higher order skills
-avoiding thinking
All along these tools have been sold as freedom from drudgery, but they're actually "freedom" from the ends of education.
BE COOL! The Sicilians are backwards and dispersed, and the Athenian Empire will soon be greater than ever before!
April 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
BE COOL! The Sicilians are backwards and dispersed, and the Athenian Empire will soon be greater than ever before!
Could God impose a tariff so high that not even he could pay it?
April 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Could God impose a tariff so high that not even he could pay it?
One of the worst things about this is all of the boomers who are now going to wait even longer to retire
April 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
One of the worst things about this is all of the boomers who are now going to wait even longer to retire
I have been hard on Canada, but let's face it: there are two countries in North America that have had constitutional crises in 2024-5, and in only one of them did the constitution work exactly the way it was supposed to
April 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I have been hard on Canada, but let's face it: there are two countries in North America that have had constitutional crises in 2024-5, and in only one of them did the constitution work exactly the way it was supposed to
We're a month away from the beginning of Mark Carney Presents: Maple Abundance, and I, for one, cannot wait
April 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
We're a month away from the beginning of Mark Carney Presents: Maple Abundance, and I, for one, cannot wait
In truth I switched all my retirement savings to these "ethical" Canada first funds, heavily leveraged in green energy, etc., and, for once, being annoying is also producing some material gain
April 7, 2025 at 12:37 PM
In truth I switched all my retirement savings to these "ethical" Canada first funds, heavily leveraged in green energy, etc., and, for once, being annoying is also producing some material gain
I am writing a piece about a remarkable irony: the most famous work of Canadian political thought is George Grant's Lament for a Nation. In that essay, Grant argues that Canada's "Red Tory" tradition was in danger of being swallowed entire by American liberalism. Our current moment is producing a
April 7, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I am writing a piece about a remarkable irony: the most famous work of Canadian political thought is George Grant's Lament for a Nation. In that essay, Grant argues that Canada's "Red Tory" tradition was in danger of being swallowed entire by American liberalism. Our current moment is producing a
I'm emptying out my retirement accounts and leveraging myself completely in Canadian Trade War Victory Bonds
April 7, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I'm emptying out my retirement accounts and leveraging myself completely in Canadian Trade War Victory Bonds
The next season of White Lotus should be on the resort at Fogo Island in order to kick off The Canadian Century
April 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM
The next season of White Lotus should be on the resort at Fogo Island in order to kick off The Canadian Century
Reposted by Matt Dinan
BAN PHONE
NEW 🧵 Is human intelligence starting to decline?
Recent results from major international tests show that the average person’s capacity to process information, use reasoning and solve novel problems has been falling since around the mid 2010s
What should we make of this?
www.ft.com/content/a801...
Recent results from major international tests show that the average person’s capacity to process information, use reasoning and solve novel problems has been falling since around the mid 2010s
What should we make of this?
www.ft.com/content/a801...
March 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
BAN PHONE
Reposted by Matt Dinan
is on the surface of things. Ravelstein wants us to see that this surface is worthy of our attention. This, I think, it does through its abundant oddness." I commend to you this wonderful retrospective essay on 'Ravelstein' by @mattdinan.bsky.social: hedgehogreview.com/issues/after...
Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein
Ravelstein is not simply a reactionary call to return to characteristically premodern ways of life.
hedgehogreview.com
March 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
is on the surface of things. Ravelstein wants us to see that this surface is worthy of our attention. This, I think, it does through its abundant oddness." I commend to you this wonderful retrospective essay on 'Ravelstein' by @mattdinan.bsky.social: hedgehogreview.com/issues/after...
Reposted by Matt Dinan
Ravelstein's greatness "might come from the ambition of its goal, a goal at once radical and conservative, to help us read the 'occult gift' of the world, to 'reopen' what we thought was closed. . . . Chick, quoting Strauss without attribution, notes that the heart of things
March 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Ravelstein's greatness "might come from the ambition of its goal, a goal at once radical and conservative, to help us read the 'occult gift' of the world, to 'reopen' what we thought was closed. . . . Chick, quoting Strauss without attribution, notes that the heart of things