Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 15h

A systematic tension within consciousness studies concerning priors: those who prioritize computational definitions make the possibility of conscious machines thinkable; whereas those who prioritize “subcomputational biological realizers” do more to appreciate consciousness in simpler animals.

Ned Block @neddo.bsky.social · 4d

Can Only Meat Machines be Conscious? New paper in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, free download until November 26 with this URL: authors.elsevier.com/a/1luwh4sIRv...

authors.elsevier.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 15h

This chaos cannot stand! Time to send the National Guard into Mississippi! www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Shooting at Mississippi homecoming football game leaves 4 dead and others injured

The shootings happened in the downtown area of the small town of Leland

www.independent.co.uk

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 17h

A new order from the MAGA Dept of Education will require that, in order to have an ideologically balanced curriculum, the University of Houston also needs to offer a course on “Celebrating Oppression and Injustice.”

Alan Dettlaff @alandettlaff.com · 1d

Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum. This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 18h

I’d like to agree with the philosophical thrust of Kiran’s post — esp. his call for “a mix of rhetorical moderation & political ruthlessness” & his call for re-institutionalization — but he is vague on the key question, namely exactly what form that political ruthlessness should take.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 18h

R.I.P. Diane Keaton, yet another star from the 1970s goes down.

Keaton was great in Manhattan, the Godfathers, Reds, and above all in the title role of Annie Hall, which half a century on remains on the GOAT shortlist for comedies. youtu.be/lyKrCAgki-Y?...

Annie Hall (1977) Best Scenes

YouTube video by RYC

youtu.be

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Duncan Jones @manmademoon.bsky.social · 1d

I think that what we can infer is that insider trading is rampant, there is an expectation that if you are onside with the administration you will not be prosecuted for it, and there is a belief this admin will not be leaving, so YOLO.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine that

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

Plus, the immediate grift bsky.app/profile/robe...

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 1d

There's no other explanation that makes sense. And the people who think this won't come for them are the biggest bubble of all.

Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 1d

The autocrat's toadies destroy functioning governance and launch crisis after crisis in order to create a nation that runs on patronage in which he's the only one able to do anything for anyone.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

I just spent a week inhabiting a particular dystopian future — a place in which dealing with an unbearable exterior climate has been consigned to a class of rightless helots, while a gilded coterie of artless cosmopolitans glides through chintzy interiors, enjoying expensive but depthless luxuries.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

As a financial phenomenon, inflation is simple to explain: there is more money than goods.

But as a social-political matter, it is more complex: it signals a political inability to resolve the distributional conflict between competing social groups who expect more than the market is delivering.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

The U.S. & China are both internationally arrogant, but differently.

The U.S. believes that all foreigners, if they just try hard enough, can become Americans. (See below.)

China believes that no foreigners, no matter how hard they try, can ever become Chinese.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMEV...

Full Metal Jacket Born to Kill/Peace Button Duality of Man

YouTube video by mark brady

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · Aug 2

The guy Trump picked to lead the office that’s now investigating Jack Smith:

— said Niki Haley is ineligible to be president
— has neo-Nazi ties
— was Andrew Tate’s lawyer
— 2x Claremont fellow
— wrote for Gateway Pundit
— called for Pence to be hanged
— called for secession after 2020 election

Paul Ingrassia (lawyer) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

Bloomberg bubble charts the Bubble:

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

“President Donald Trump's threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials.”
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

www.reuters.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

To be fair, what else is a Tate-stanning incel supposed to do?

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

"30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination" cancelled his colleague's hotel room so she would be forced to stay with him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room.

Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

Everyone who is supporting 😡 because they think it's going to be good for their business should read this piece about what it's really like doing business in a state that claims "plenary authority": www.economist.com/business/202...

The sinister disappearance of China’s bosses

Detentions, public shaming and suicides intensify the country’s corporate gloom

www.economist.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

Indiana Jones is a fantasy about being a professor with no tenure clock

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

"Az ideológiai szembenállás helyét az energiaátmenet mentén húzódó törésvonalak veszik át." www.portfolio.hu/gazdasag/202...

Váratlan szövetség körvonalazódik az új hidegháborúban: Európa inkább Kínát választaná Amerika helyett

A világpolitika új törésvonala már nem az ideológia, hanem az energia lesz. A „zöld” és a „fosszilis” blokk szembenállása egy új, ökológiai hidegháborút hozhat, amelyben Európa Kína felé sodródhat, mi...

www.portfolio.hu

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

“We are as gods, so we might as well get good at it.” QED

Noema Magazine @noemamag.com · 5d

We are starting to witness tantalizing glimpses of the net good that can be achieved via genetic editing. How far will we allow it to go?

Aryn Baker explores.

#geneediting #crispr

Editing Nature To Fix Our Failures | NOEMA

Gene editing may enable us to prevent a species from ever becoming extinct in the first place. But should we?

www.noemamag.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

“Is you takin’ notes on a criminal fuckin’ conspiracy?!” youtu.be/hGo5bxWy21g?...

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

Let's be clear what this means:
- 😡 is doing government business on his own social media platform, creating a huge security risk & violating public records requirements
- 😡 is indeed pressuring the AG to weaponize the DOJ against political adversaries
- Bondi is game, but wants to do it on the DL

Blue Georgia @bluegeorgia.bsky.social · 3d

Chris Hayes: New reporting from the Wall Street Journal tonight, that message that Trump posted to Pam Bondi online was meant to be basically a DM that he accidentally posted publicly... Pam was surprised to learn it was public. Bondi, upset, called the White House aides.

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3d

This is Rev David Black, minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He was shot seven times in the head with chemical pellets by ICE agents as he was kneeling to pray at a protest. He's one of three clergymen that ICE shot in the head.

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 3d

Nothing good I've ever written anything longer than tweet length got that way without an editor; my best work absolutely all transformed by an engaged editor offering the right pushback and asking the right questions. Anyone who says they do best without an editor needs them double.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 4d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 4d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

An incident in Chicago took place that everyone in America should know about. Trump's ICE thugs shot a pastor in the head with a pepper bullet. He's suing. This man should be internationally famous. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Pastor shot in the head by ICE agents sues over First Amendment threats

David Black joins journalists and protesters in lawsuit to stop ‘pattern of extreme brutality’ from federal agents

www.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · Aug 1

"The AI infrastructure build-out is so gigantic that in the past 6 months, it contributed more to the growth of the U.S. economy than /all of consumer spending/" - @mims.bsky.social

My takeway is that The US has gone ALL IN BET OF THE 21st Century on AI, while China has gone all in on green tech

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · Aug 1

Original draft of syllabus is here - www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-politi... - still in need of a summary piece on the role of capital in shaping the AI economy

The Political Economy of AI: A Syllabus

As I’ve noted occasionally before, one of the most potentially useful things that academics do is preparing syllabi, and hence organizing information about the world.

www.programmablemutter.com

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