Stuart Watt
@morungos.bsky.social
Cognitive/social scientist and occasional coder. Umquhile Mancunian. Purveyor of Jurassic Park memes. Writes on modernization and technology. Consciously uncoupling from corporate shenanigans. Halifax, Nova Scotia
https://morungos.com/
https://morungos.com/
Reposted by Stuart Watt
America, It's Not You, It's...
November 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
America, It's Not You, It's...
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Another beautiful example of how archaeology and heritage knowledges and their unique deep time affordances can transform understanding and drive action. 🙌
Working on archaeological landscape regional studies and looking at the evidence over millennia really makes you appreciate the significance of how rivers form and inform how we live in the world. It also makes you passionate about not passing them on to future generations as abused open sewers
November 27, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Another beautiful example of how archaeology and heritage knowledges and their unique deep time affordances can transform understanding and drive action. 🙌
You’ve just died. 6th picture in your gallery is what killed you.
They also disposed of the body. Not a trace will be found.
They also disposed of the body. Not a trace will be found.
November 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
You’ve just died. 6th picture in your gallery is what killed you.
They also disposed of the body. Not a trace will be found.
They also disposed of the body. Not a trace will be found.
Welcome to Canada, yellow rain alerts.
Canada introduces new colour-coded system for weather alerts
Canada introduces new colour-coded system for weather alerts
Environment and Climate Change Canada is introducing a new colour-coded, tiered weather alert system, the department said in a press release.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Welcome to Canada, yellow rain alerts.
I miss this already. 🥲 — view from Port Charlotte, Islay.
November 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I miss this already. 🥲 — view from Port Charlotte, Islay.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
November 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Quick random thought. Is LLM coding “bricolage by proxy”?
I've seen a particular drop in quality of the code produced by my coworkers leaning on LLMs.
Code running is absolutely not the benchmark for code quality. Being able to read and understand the code so that you can fix problems when they arise is.
Any jackass can trial and error into running code.
Code running is absolutely not the benchmark for code quality. Being able to read and understand the code so that you can fix problems when they arise is.
Any jackass can trial and error into running code.
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Quick random thought. Is LLM coding “bricolage by proxy”?
Those who’ve never read Michael Reddy’s “The Conduit Metaphor” paper — strongly recommend it. First, it influenced Lakoff and Johnson. And second, it offers a completely different framing of language as a shared construction, not an information pipeline. LLMs don’t make sense in that framing.
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Those who’ve never read Michael Reddy’s “The Conduit Metaphor” paper — strongly recommend it. First, it influenced Lakoff and Johnson. And second, it offers a completely different framing of language as a shared construction, not an information pipeline. LLMs don’t make sense in that framing.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Such important lenses to apply when planning.
So many useful points that I could see apply to physics teaching.
Thanks @carlhendrick.substack.com
#iteachphysics
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-does-t...
So many useful points that I could see apply to physics teaching.
Thanks @carlhendrick.substack.com
#iteachphysics
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-does-t...
Why Does Thinking Feel So Hard?
Effort Feels Costly When the Brain Can't Detect Progress
carlhendrick.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Such important lenses to apply when planning.
So many useful points that I could see apply to physics teaching.
Thanks @carlhendrick.substack.com
#iteachphysics
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-does-t...
So many useful points that I could see apply to physics teaching.
Thanks @carlhendrick.substack.com
#iteachphysics
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-does-t...
Reposted by Stuart Watt
No income tax, no VAT
No money back, no guarantee
Black or white, rich or broke
We'll cut prices at a stroke
God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street
Magnifique, Hooky Street
No money back, no guarantee
Black or white, rich or broke
We'll cut prices at a stroke
God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street
Magnifique, Hooky Street
November 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
No income tax, no VAT
No money back, no guarantee
Black or white, rich or broke
We'll cut prices at a stroke
God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street
Magnifique, Hooky Street
No money back, no guarantee
Black or white, rich or broke
We'll cut prices at a stroke
God bless Hooky Street
Viva Hooky Street
Long live Hooky Street
C'est magnifique, Hooky Street
Magnifique, Hooky Street
Reposted by Stuart Watt
"Unfortunately, due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire 28-point peace plan was eaten by a small dog."
November 23, 2025 at 12:14 AM
"Unfortunately, due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire 28-point peace plan was eaten by a small dog."
Just made some home-pressed apple juice and it is delicious. But I think I need to up my scratting game.
November 22, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Just made some home-pressed apple juice and it is delicious. But I think I need to up my scratting game.
Hmmm. To me, the whole thing feels like an infinitely large lottery. The payout is pitched as so unbelievably astronomically immense that nobody can afford not to participate. That’s the “vibe” — a long-shot super-sized risk which can never, even in principle, be calculated on rational terms.
November 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Hmmm. To me, the whole thing feels like an infinitely large lottery. The payout is pitched as so unbelievably astronomically immense that nobody can afford not to participate. That’s the “vibe” — a long-shot super-sized risk which can never, even in principle, be calculated on rational terms.
So tell me again how bread price-fixing isn’t still a thing in Canada when crappy bread in a city store costs nearly double what it does on Islay in Scotland, with a few thousand residents and a three hour boat crossing away from an already remote mainland.
November 22, 2025 at 2:04 PM
So tell me again how bread price-fixing isn’t still a thing in Canada when crappy bread in a city store costs nearly double what it does on Islay in Scotland, with a few thousand residents and a three hour boat crossing away from an already remote mainland.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
this is more christmassy than your poxy ai drinks ad
CCTV captures fox and otter’s tour of Lincoln city centre
A wildlife expert says the footage of the animals wandering past shops and bars is
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
this is more christmassy than your poxy ai drinks ad
My considered opinion is that Halifax’s best first step towards a more livable city would involve enough blasting gelignite to reduce Bedford Commons mall to rubble (it’s 80% there already) and rebuilding it as livable housing.
November 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
My considered opinion is that Halifax’s best first step towards a more livable city would involve enough blasting gelignite to reduce Bedford Commons mall to rubble (it’s 80% there already) and rebuilding it as livable housing.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Amazing discussion right now in a small corner of doctor FB about the apparent enshittification of AI scribes. Especially the free versions.
This revolutionary time saver now requires extra time to fact check the note.
Don't lose your note writing skills, friends! Tech will not save us. #medsky
This revolutionary time saver now requires extra time to fact check the note.
Don't lose your note writing skills, friends! Tech will not save us. #medsky
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Amazing discussion right now in a small corner of doctor FB about the apparent enshittification of AI scribes. Especially the free versions.
This revolutionary time saver now requires extra time to fact check the note.
Don't lose your note writing skills, friends! Tech will not save us. #medsky
This revolutionary time saver now requires extra time to fact check the note.
Don't lose your note writing skills, friends! Tech will not save us. #medsky
Endorsed. And I’ve built AI in education, long time back.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
if I was advising AI-curious junior folks it'd 100% just don't use it at all, stay out of it, let the whole thing just pass you by. It's much safer (as well as frankly better for one's teaching).
November 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Endorsed. And I’ve built AI in education, long time back.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
#Halisky folks might be curious. This is how they do road crossings in the UK. Note the amazing bright bollards. I love them.
Put the burden of visibility on cars and infrastructure, not everyone else.
Put the burden of visibility on cars and infrastructure, not everyone else.
November 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
#Halisky folks might be curious. This is how they do road crossings in the UK. Note the amazing bright bollards. I love them.
Put the burden of visibility on cars and infrastructure, not everyone else.
Put the burden of visibility on cars and infrastructure, not everyone else.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
The famous cone on the Duke Of Wellington statue has been replaced with a pigeon reading a newspaper - and the pigeon has a tiny cone hat.
📸 by @the.rebel.bear
Story by Secret Glasgow Read it here: bit.ly/duke-of-wellington-cone-replaced
📸 by @the.rebel.bear
Story by Secret Glasgow Read it here: bit.ly/duke-of-wellington-cone-replaced
November 19, 2025 at 6:32 AM
The famous cone on the Duke Of Wellington statue has been replaced with a pigeon reading a newspaper - and the pigeon has a tiny cone hat.
📸 by @the.rebel.bear
Story by Secret Glasgow Read it here: bit.ly/duke-of-wellington-cone-replaced
📸 by @the.rebel.bear
Story by Secret Glasgow Read it here: bit.ly/duke-of-wellington-cone-replaced
Pro tip. Beachcombing finds might lead to awkward conversations with airport security. I was lucky — Heathrow security were awesome and tried to get me going on the Thames looking for Roman stuff. 👏
They deserve a prize for dealing with a sleep-deprived me.
They deserve a prize for dealing with a sleep-deprived me.
November 19, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Pro tip. Beachcombing finds might lead to awkward conversations with airport security. I was lucky — Heathrow security were awesome and tried to get me going on the Thames looking for Roman stuff. 👏
They deserve a prize for dealing with a sleep-deprived me.
They deserve a prize for dealing with a sleep-deprived me.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
This video is delightful (very Every Frame a Portrait energy), and I like the way that it breaks down *why* things feel weaker today, using cognitive psychology, rather than pointing to digital vs practical effects and similar.
Hier cette excellente vidéo sortait.
Aujourd'hui, le trailer absolument ABOMINABLE de Moana vient confirmer tout ce qui y était exposé.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=tvwP...
Aujourd'hui, le trailer absolument ABOMINABLE de Moana vient confirmer tout ce qui y était exposé.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=tvwP...
Why Movies Just Don't Feel "Real" Anymore
YouTube video by Like Stories of Old
m.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:48 PM
This video is delightful (very Every Frame a Portrait energy), and I like the way that it breaks down *why* things feel weaker today, using cognitive psychology, rather than pointing to digital vs practical effects and similar.
Passing the Dark Peak and you know what? it’s dark.
November 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Passing the Dark Peak and you know what? it’s dark.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
In today's @halifaxexaminer.ca Morning File, I reach back to Jerry Mander's book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, for a critique of gen AI. Also, stories by @suzannerent.bsky.social, @mmughees.bsky.social & @dartjam.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
Technologies are not neutral, and AI is no different - Halifax Examiner
"We have not yet learned to think of technology as having ideology incorporated into its very form."
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
November 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
In today's @halifaxexaminer.ca Morning File, I reach back to Jerry Mander's book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, for a critique of gen AI. Also, stories by @suzannerent.bsky.social, @mmughees.bsky.social & @dartjam.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
Reposted by Stuart Watt
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI