jb
@captcelery.bsky.social
Mammal, still working on convincing the kid that they are a mammal, too.
When in doubt, right click.
When in doubt, right click.
Um... no, the Princess Bride should be much, much higher.
Unless you're claiming that it's a serious drama that shouldn't even be on a list of comedies, and I'll give that to you.
Unless you're claiming that it's a serious drama that shouldn't even be on a list of comedies, and I'll give that to you.
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Um... no, the Princess Bride should be much, much higher.
Unless you're claiming that it's a serious drama that shouldn't even be on a list of comedies, and I'll give that to you.
Unless you're claiming that it's a serious drama that shouldn't even be on a list of comedies, and I'll give that to you.
A movie that takes place where you're from - chronologically as well as spacially.
November 23, 2025 at 9:45 PM
A movie that takes place where you're from - chronologically as well as spacially.
I don't question the moral injury part - I just found the theorizing thin
November 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I don't question the moral injury part - I just found the theorizing thin
This was just my impression, as a reader with a fair bit of experience thinking about social structure, etc. it was an interesting idea but I just didn't feel as substantiated as his other work, particularly in how intentional the bullshitness was on the part of employers. It was punditry
November 23, 2025 at 9:39 PM
This was just my impression, as a reader with a fair bit of experience thinking about social structure, etc. it was an interesting idea but I just didn't feel as substantiated as his other work, particularly in how intentional the bullshitness was on the part of employers. It was punditry
I decided not to even read Collapse after I learned how very badly it describes what happened on Rapa Nui.
I'm still curious about the Norse in Greenland, but I'll look for something by someone specialized in that area
I'm still curious about the Norse in Greenland, but I'll look for something by someone specialized in that area
November 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I decided not to even read Collapse after I learned how very badly it describes what happened on Rapa Nui.
I'm still curious about the Norse in Greenland, but I'll look for something by someone specialized in that area
I'm still curious about the Norse in Greenland, but I'll look for something by someone specialized in that area
I probably should - but I've also changed jobs and now only comment on social structures anonymously on the internet, so I don't feel the same strictures as I did when I was trying to be academic.
(my desire for super-solid evidence undermined finishing research; sometimes it's just not there)
(my desire for super-solid evidence undermined finishing research; sometimes it's just not there)
November 21, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I probably should - but I've also changed jobs and now only comment on social structures anonymously on the internet, so I don't feel the same strictures as I did when I was trying to be academic.
(my desire for super-solid evidence undermined finishing research; sometimes it's just not there)
(my desire for super-solid evidence undermined finishing research; sometimes it's just not there)
I'm was also fascinated by the account of differing sociopolitical developments in precolonial California and the Pacific North West - similar environments but very different outcomes, showing the place of people's choices in how we build societies.
(Not everyone's choice, of course)
(Not everyone's choice, of course)
November 21, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I'm was also fascinated by the account of differing sociopolitical developments in precolonial California and the Pacific North West - similar environments but very different outcomes, showing the place of people's choices in how we build societies.
(Not everyone's choice, of course)
(Not everyone's choice, of course)
My area of study was Britain - specifically England - and there was never a time when the public transcript of hierarchy really convinced a lot of the labouring classes; they knew it was shite and that private transcript pops up all over the 14th-18th centuries if you know where to look.
November 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
My area of study was Britain - specifically England - and there was never a time when the public transcript of hierarchy really convinced a lot of the labouring classes; they knew it was shite and that private transcript pops up all over the 14th-18th centuries if you know where to look.
I really want to follow up on the Iroquois (and Iroquoian more generally) political stuff and the influence that may have had on European thought - it fits so well with what I know (again, no expert) of Iroquoian social organization.
Not that there weren't endogenous European ideas of equality --
Not that there weren't endogenous European ideas of equality --
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I really want to follow up on the Iroquois (and Iroquoian more generally) political stuff and the influence that may have had on European thought - it fits so well with what I know (again, no expert) of Iroquoian social organization.
Not that there weren't endogenous European ideas of equality --
Not that there weren't endogenous European ideas of equality --
It's a good discussion :)
November 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
It's a good discussion :)
Bullshit Jobs is a bit of a pop hack, but The Dawn of Everything isn't. It's a book of theory based on a lot of secondary research - which is important for pushing scholarship forward.
(I wanted Bullshit Jobs to be better - it was entertaining, but the theory wasn't well supported by the evidence)
(I wanted Bullshit Jobs to be better - it was entertaining, but the theory wasn't well supported by the evidence)
November 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Bullshit Jobs is a bit of a pop hack, but The Dawn of Everything isn't. It's a book of theory based on a lot of secondary research - which is important for pushing scholarship forward.
(I wanted Bullshit Jobs to be better - it was entertaining, but the theory wasn't well supported by the evidence)
(I wanted Bullshit Jobs to be better - it was entertaining, but the theory wasn't well supported by the evidence)
If this is true, that's terrific. If all the people at Davos read it, maybe our world would be a better place (and I don't just meant the summer hiking tourists).
Sadly, even if everyone in academia read it and took it to heart, that would not change the world. Power doesn't care about expertise
Sadly, even if everyone in academia read it and took it to heart, that would not change the world. Power doesn't care about expertise
November 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
If this is true, that's terrific. If all the people at Davos read it, maybe our world would be a better place (and I don't just meant the summer hiking tourists).
Sadly, even if everyone in academia read it and took it to heart, that would not change the world. Power doesn't care about expertise
Sadly, even if everyone in academia read it and took it to heart, that would not change the world. Power doesn't care about expertise
Now, I'm no expert on American indigenous cultures - but I do have graduate level training on early modern European socioeconomic development with an emphasis on social structures and ideas about class -- and I found their arguments about the making of inequality by elites very convincing
November 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Now, I'm no expert on American indigenous cultures - but I do have graduate level training on early modern European socioeconomic development with an emphasis on social structures and ideas about class -- and I found their arguments about the making of inequality by elites very convincing
It will never be popular with the powers that be, because it is a strident critique of them, and it will never be popular with the TedTalk set, because it's really long and complicated and engages with nuance.
for more on the reaction of the different area experts:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daw...
for more on the reaction of the different area experts:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daw...
The Dawn of Everything - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
It will never be popular with the powers that be, because it is a strident critique of them, and it will never be popular with the TedTalk set, because it's really long and complicated and engages with nuance.
for more on the reaction of the different area experts:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daw...
for more on the reaction of the different area experts:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daw...
Also: Graeber & Wengrow's book is AWESOME - not at all easy, seriously thought provoking and - most of all - does not present a universal theme of how societies develop but stresses that social relations are constantly being created and negotiated by people.
TLDR; Inequality IS NOT inevitable
TLDR; Inequality IS NOT inevitable
November 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Also: Graeber & Wengrow's book is AWESOME - not at all easy, seriously thought provoking and - most of all - does not present a universal theme of how societies develop but stresses that social relations are constantly being created and negotiated by people.
TLDR; Inequality IS NOT inevitable
TLDR; Inequality IS NOT inevitable
Sorry - mistyped a random "hello" in there.
I had Guns Germs and Steel assigned in a graduate class on Agrarian Studies - and the overall big picture stuff (geography matters for development of farming, etc) fits with more specific research
I had Guns Germs and Steel assigned in a graduate class on Agrarian Studies - and the overall big picture stuff (geography matters for development of farming, etc) fits with more specific research
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Sorry - mistyped a random "hello" in there.
I had Guns Germs and Steel assigned in a graduate class on Agrarian Studies - and the overall big picture stuff (geography matters for development of farming, etc) fits with more specific research
I had Guns Germs and Steel assigned in a graduate class on Agrarian Studies - and the overall big picture stuff (geography matters for development of farming, etc) fits with more specific research
Diamond's first big book (Guns, Germs, and Steel) wasn't that bad; in the relevant bits of academia, it was described as hello, inaccurate in some small ways but accurate in the big ones.
I have not heard good impressions of Collapse
I have not heard good impressions of Collapse
November 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Diamond's first big book (Guns, Germs, and Steel) wasn't that bad; in the relevant bits of academia, it was described as hello, inaccurate in some small ways but accurate in the big ones.
I have not heard good impressions of Collapse
I have not heard good impressions of Collapse
Nice thing about tulip bulbs is that if (when) you get bored of them, you can put them in the ground and they might become flowers! That's an excellent return on an investment.
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Nice thing about tulip bulbs is that if (when) you get bored of them, you can put them in the ground and they might become flowers! That's an excellent return on an investment.
We should make robots with four legs and two arms - like centaurs!
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
We should make robots with four legs and two arms - like centaurs!
As for re-reading as an adult: I have many times and still love them.
That said, when I read them I become 10 again. But I gave the first book to a couple of 40ish people and they said it was really good.
So yes to the re-read, though it might just make you 10 or 13 again.
That said, when I read them I become 10 again. But I gave the first book to a couple of 40ish people and they said it was really good.
So yes to the re-read, though it might just make you 10 or 13 again.
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 AM
As for re-reading as an adult: I have many times and still love them.
That said, when I read them I become 10 again. But I gave the first book to a couple of 40ish people and they said it was really good.
So yes to the re-read, though it might just make you 10 or 13 again.
That said, when I read them I become 10 again. But I gave the first book to a couple of 40ish people and they said it was really good.
So yes to the re-read, though it might just make you 10 or 13 again.