Toby Bartels
@tobybartels.bsky.social
Probably the only anglophone Toby Bartels. They/them. Mathematics instructor at a community college in Nebraska. Tolstoyan ex-Catholic. 🏴🚩🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ https://mathstodon.xyz/@TobyBartels/
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.
November 28, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
imho it would be borderline impossible to do it, and you'd get political resistance from basically everywhere, but signing on to the ICJ and ICC and actually letting them prosecute Americans without putting a thumb on the scale would go a big way in restoring international trust
November 29, 2025 at 3:31 AM
imho it would be borderline impossible to do it, and you'd get political resistance from basically everywhere, but signing on to the ICJ and ICC and actually letting them prosecute Americans without putting a thumb on the scale would go a big way in restoring international trust
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Beyond depraved: "Hours after her detainment, court documents obtained by ABC News show that a federal judge ordered the government not to remove the 19-year-old from the U.S. and not to transfer her outside of Massachusetts. But Lopez Belloza was deported to Honduras the next day."
November 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Beyond depraved: "Hours after her detainment, court documents obtained by ABC News show that a federal judge ordered the government not to remove the 19-year-old from the U.S. and not to transfer her outside of Massachusetts. But Lopez Belloza was deported to Honduras the next day."
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Hegseth - and the people carrying out his orders - need to be tried in The Hague for this
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Hegseth - and the people carrying out his orders - need to be tried in The Hague for this
Reposted by Toby Bartels
There's a part of learning, which generative AI completely turns into dogshit, which is *doing something you could not have done before*
Whether it's drawing, playing an instrument, solving a physics problem, organizing an essay, you find yourself doing easily what previously you found overwhelming
Whether it's drawing, playing an instrument, solving a physics problem, organizing an essay, you find yourself doing easily what previously you found overwhelming
November 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
There's a part of learning, which generative AI completely turns into dogshit, which is *doing something you could not have done before*
Whether it's drawing, playing an instrument, solving a physics problem, organizing an essay, you find yourself doing easily what previously you found overwhelming
Whether it's drawing, playing an instrument, solving a physics problem, organizing an essay, you find yourself doing easily what previously you found overwhelming
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?!
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
& more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Okay I'm feeling like a damn fool today so I'll contribute to the Machine Learning Discourse, Pat's standard rule of false dichotomy* nonwithstanding:
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Okay I'm feeling like a damn fool today so I'll contribute to the Machine Learning Discourse, Pat's standard rule of false dichotomy* nonwithstanding:
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Describe your favorite course as though NY Mag just found it.
*Modern Algebra.* How modern can it be when it stops around 1910? Students learn useless things like how to build an unsolvable quintic polynomial, all while writing papers about it in this very unserious liberal arts "math" class.
*Modern Algebra.* How modern can it be when it stops around 1910? Students learn useless things like how to build an unsolvable quintic polynomial, all while writing papers about it in this very unserious liberal arts "math" class.
ruin your thanksgiving by reading new york magazine's take on mathematics
![The Ten Most
Ridiculous-Sounding
Math Classes Currently
Offered at Liberal-Arts
Colleges
By Jessica Pressler, Janelle Zara, and Emily Watkins Rachel Stein andAviva Shen OCT. 19, 2010
Every year, liberal-arts majors anxiously scour their college's course listings looking for classes that will fulfill their math requirement but aren't so, you know, math-y. Here's what they're signed up for this year.
10. Topology: The Nature of Shape and Space: "In geometry we ask: How big is it? How long is it? But in topology we ask: Is it [Sarah Lawrence
9. The Mathematies of Chance: "Most topics are introduced ina case-study fashion, usually by reading an article in a current periodical such as the New York Times. [Bard]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreieq6gmwmropzlvjkaaxk6d2smd4tv4dy7qar66uoyv6mhs6naa3fu@jpeg)
![8. Mathematics in Many Cultures: "Mathematical ideas are found in many cultures, among both literate and non-literate peoples. This course examines both mathematics and the role it plays in the cultures. Examples chosen from the mathematical ideas of present-day peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, as well as historic Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Islam and China." [Pomona]
7. The Magic of Numbers: "This course will explore the beauty and mystery of mathematics through a study of the patterns and properties of the natural numbers 1, 2, [and] 3." [Harvard
6. Models of Life: In particular, we will ask such questions as: How do you model the growth of a population of animals? How can you model the growth of a tree? How do sunflowers and seashells grow?" [Kenyon]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreic3c4ox53ouwr3ij3wsmvetmuknu2u2jai7hlvuigco3ahppeoabi@jpeg)
![5. Mathematical Origamist's Toolkit: "Topics include modular origami and how this models the creation of polyhedra and coloring of graphs, comparison of origami-axiomatic constructions to straight-edge and compass constructions, the combinatorics of possible crease patterns, the mathematics of origami design (circle packing, optimization), matrix models for paperfolding, spherical geometry, Descartes' Theorem, and Gaussian curvature." [Hampshire]
4. Mathematics and Narrative: "Many literary works (Arcadia, Proof, and Uncle Petros and the Goldbach Conjecture) use mathematics as an integral part of their narrative. Movie and television narratives such as Good Will Hunting and Numb3rs are also mathematically based. Nonfiction works about mathematics and mathematical biographies like Chaos, Fermat's Enigma, and A Beautiful Mind provide further examples of the connection between mathematics and narrative." [Vassar]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreigyk5tqjszw3fodt7ivmszq7mozpta55o7c552oyzpbqyphl26x7m@jpeg)
![3. Borges and Mathematics: "Jorge Luis Borges was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Many of his short stories and essays were concerned with philosophical, metaphysical, and mathematical questions. The thesis motivating this course is that if we know the mathematies that Borges referred to, then we will read him differently, and we will read him better." [Bennington 2. Mathematics and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre: "Playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Rinne Groff, Michael Frayn, and others have effectively explored mathematical and scientific themes for artistic purposes. Through readings and exercises, and by conducting labs and staging scenes, this class will gain some first-hand insight into the complementary ways in which science and art aim to seek out their respective truths." [Middlebury]
1. Meaning, Math, And Motion: "Quoting a charming articulation by Kinsman (a mathematician-turned-oceanographer, in the preface to Wind Waves): "To the beginner, science is a conversation that has been in progress for a very long time. Our collective work is to catch up on the conversation. [Evergreen]
This is why Asia is winning, by the way.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5itm7jsyrdqdxizkb4cufqxl/bafkreihglx3kxej43i22j4vggyoutp2oyomivtmmvgp6uvslqemm4hhpci@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Describe your favorite course as though NY Mag just found it.
*Modern Algebra.* How modern can it be when it stops around 1910? Students learn useless things like how to build an unsolvable quintic polynomial, all while writing papers about it in this very unserious liberal arts "math" class.
*Modern Algebra.* How modern can it be when it stops around 1910? Students learn useless things like how to build an unsolvable quintic polynomial, all while writing papers about it in this very unserious liberal arts "math" class.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Since #Thanksgiving is this week, here's your mandatory listening, Alice's Restaurant
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
Alice's Restaurant - Original 1967 Recording
YouTube video by Stiletto
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Since #Thanksgiving is this week, here's your mandatory listening, Alice's Restaurant
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
Reposted by Toby Bartels
What are the mitzves of Thanks Giving, a festive meal, to eat the turkey bird, to hear the story of thepilgrim, to watch the football game. And some say to argue with an uncle.
November 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
What are the mitzves of Thanks Giving, a festive meal, to eat the turkey bird, to hear the story of thepilgrim, to watch the football game. And some say to argue with an uncle.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
this is pretty good but it still does not touch upon my crackpot theory about MALLRATS, which is that it's structured like a shakespeare comedy www.theringer.com/2025/11/24/m...
“The Little Movie That Couldn’t”: ‘Mallrats’ Turns 30
In the fall of 1995, Kevin Smith’s second film was a box office humiliation. Now, it’s become an embarrassment of riches. We chat with Smith about the movie and how it forever altered his career.
www.theringer.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:41 PM
this is pretty good but it still does not touch upon my crackpot theory about MALLRATS, which is that it's structured like a shakespeare comedy www.theringer.com/2025/11/24/m...
Reposted by Toby Bartels
ICE deported a woman who owned a home in the US for 30 years. A judge banned ICE from deporting her to Sierra Leone where she had been tortured, so it deported her to Ghana, which kidnapped her and sent her back Sierra Leone anyway. ICE is part of this illegal conspiracy.
November 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
ICE deported a woman who owned a home in the US for 30 years. A judge banned ICE from deporting her to Sierra Leone where she had been tortured, so it deported her to Ghana, which kidnapped her and sent her back Sierra Leone anyway. ICE is part of this illegal conspiracy.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Did, uh, anyone notice that when Carville claims in his NYT piece that “defund the police” was bad that the link takes you to an Appeal story about why ”fund the police“ was bad? Any editors, perhaps?
November 25, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Did, uh, anyone notice that when Carville claims in his NYT piece that “defund the police” was bad that the link takes you to an Appeal story about why ”fund the police“ was bad? Any editors, perhaps?
Reposted by Toby Bartels
One of the more interesting twitter fights I ever got into was when anti abortion laws were starting to ramp up, some folks who i don't know how well meaning they were, started posting herbal abortifacient recipes.
To which my response was a not at all measured NO DO NOT EVER DO THAT 30 tweet rant.
To which my response was a not at all measured NO DO NOT EVER DO THAT 30 tweet rant.
November 25, 2025 at 2:58 AM
One of the more interesting twitter fights I ever got into was when anti abortion laws were starting to ramp up, some folks who i don't know how well meaning they were, started posting herbal abortifacient recipes.
To which my response was a not at all measured NO DO NOT EVER DO THAT 30 tweet rant.
To which my response was a not at all measured NO DO NOT EVER DO THAT 30 tweet rant.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Trump Admin planning a rule to re-decide whether *every* refugee who entered under Biden meets their criteria for a refugee. That’s 230,000 people! And no appeals!
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Trump Admin planning a rule to re-decide whether *every* refugee who entered under Biden meets their criteria for a refugee. That’s 230,000 people! And no appeals!
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Toby Bartels
ICE agents tell citizens they don't care their citizens because citizenship doesn't mean anything in a world with racial and demographic profiling and no warrants or other 4th amendment protections. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
High school senior, a U.S. citizen, detained by ICE in Oregon
The 17-year-old was held more than five hours Friday in an ICE facility, his brother said.
www.oregonlive.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
ICE agents tell citizens they don't care their citizens because citizenship doesn't mean anything in a world with racial and demographic profiling and no warrants or other 4th amendment protections. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Q1: Which is heavier: a kilogram of gold or a kilogram of feathers?
Q2: Which is heavier: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?
Q3: Which is heavier: an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers?
(1/4, answers in next post)
Q2: Which is heavier: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?
Q3: Which is heavier: an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers?
(1/4, answers in next post)
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Q1: Which is heavier: a kilogram of gold or a kilogram of feathers?
Q2: Which is heavier: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?
Q3: Which is heavier: an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers?
(1/4, answers in next post)
Q2: Which is heavier: a pound of gold or a pound of feathers?
Q3: Which is heavier: an ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers?
(1/4, answers in next post)
Reposted by Toby Bartels
NEW: President Biden commuted the death sentences of most people on the federal death row before exiting office.
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for "Living Hell" Under Trump - Bolts
This story was produced by Bolts and published in partnership with The Nation. Inside the federal supermax tucked away in Colorado’s high desert, prisoners spend 22 to 24 hours a day... Read More
boltsmag.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
NEW: President Biden commuted the death sentences of most people on the federal death row before exiting office.
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
Reposted by Toby Bartels
So I was talking to Zooey and webcomics came up and I am realizing that I used to devour webcomics as a teen but haven't read them in years.
So bluesky, what are your fav webcomics I should get into? I like fantasy, sci fi, gaming, slice of life, comedy, supernatural, and interesting art.
So bluesky, what are your fav webcomics I should get into? I like fantasy, sci fi, gaming, slice of life, comedy, supernatural, and interesting art.
November 24, 2025 at 4:50 AM
So I was talking to Zooey and webcomics came up and I am realizing that I used to devour webcomics as a teen but haven't read them in years.
So bluesky, what are your fav webcomics I should get into? I like fantasy, sci fi, gaming, slice of life, comedy, supernatural, and interesting art.
So bluesky, what are your fav webcomics I should get into? I like fantasy, sci fi, gaming, slice of life, comedy, supernatural, and interesting art.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
I think we’ve all missed some obvious clues
From New England, has unholy appetites, doesn’t appear fully human?
RFK Jr is a Deep One hybrid
From New England, has unholy appetites, doesn’t appear fully human?
RFK Jr is a Deep One hybrid
November 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I think we’ve all missed some obvious clues
From New England, has unholy appetites, doesn’t appear fully human?
RFK Jr is a Deep One hybrid
From New England, has unholy appetites, doesn’t appear fully human?
RFK Jr is a Deep One hybrid
If Ryan Lizza can't write this, then someone else should.
it is very much Lovecraftian cosmic horror bc the horror isn’t something “scary” as much as an sense of deep violation upon the contemplation of a sexual act between a woman and a strange creature from New England that non-ironically hates human lives
has anyone pirated the Eldritch Horror post yet
November 23, 2025 at 11:34 PM
If Ryan Lizza can't write this, then someone else should.
Reposted by Toby Bartels
Does anyone know any good near-future and/or cyberpunk fiction?
November 22, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Does anyone know any good near-future and/or cyberpunk fiction?
Reposted by Toby Bartels
So yes, #POTUS IS giving the military
ILLEGAL ORDERS!
And I think even #SloppyPete knows this bc every tweet he sends announcing a “kinetic strike”, he makes sure to say it was Trump who gave the order.
Anyone wanna tell him abt the #JustFollowingOrders defense?
www.rawstory.com/trump-boats-...
ILLEGAL ORDERS!
And I think even #SloppyPete knows this bc every tweet he sends announcing a “kinetic strike”, he makes sure to say it was Trump who gave the order.
Anyone wanna tell him abt the #JustFollowingOrders defense?
www.rawstory.com/trump-boats-...
Trump administration turned to Pentagon after CIA lawyers nixed drug boat attacks: report
Donald Trump and adviser Stephen Miller’s grand plan to ramp up the war on drugs by blowing up alleged “narcoterrorists” in attacks from above did not pass legal muster with the lawyers at the CIA.So ...
www.rawstory.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:09 PM
So yes, #POTUS IS giving the military
ILLEGAL ORDERS!
And I think even #SloppyPete knows this bc every tweet he sends announcing a “kinetic strike”, he makes sure to say it was Trump who gave the order.
Anyone wanna tell him abt the #JustFollowingOrders defense?
www.rawstory.com/trump-boats-...
ILLEGAL ORDERS!
And I think even #SloppyPete knows this bc every tweet he sends announcing a “kinetic strike”, he makes sure to say it was Trump who gave the order.
Anyone wanna tell him abt the #JustFollowingOrders defense?
www.rawstory.com/trump-boats-...