Useful Errors
@seth-bordeaux.bsky.social
Builds. Fixes. Thinks sideways. Writes things down. Has tools.
Pinned
What Will Save Us: A timeline of why elected Democrats might want to consider being a tad more assertive than just trying to hold a few hearings while waiting around for the midterms:
This is a VDA analysis: (attribute Higgins, Martin)
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
We need to turn that island into a prison.
February 5, 2026 at 11:41 PM
We need to turn that island into a prison.
Wake me up when it’s over…
February 5, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Wake me up when it’s over…
You should just all make me the king.
I’ll be a good king.
I’ll make Friday part of the weekend and give out chocolate eclairs.
You’ll give me legal authority to royally defenestrate anyone who has over 302 million dollars.
Mostly I’ll keep to zamboni driving , and kitten distribution duties.
I’ll be a good king.
I’ll make Friday part of the weekend and give out chocolate eclairs.
You’ll give me legal authority to royally defenestrate anyone who has over 302 million dollars.
Mostly I’ll keep to zamboni driving , and kitten distribution duties.
February 5, 2026 at 7:24 AM
You should just all make me the king.
I’ll be a good king.
I’ll make Friday part of the weekend and give out chocolate eclairs.
You’ll give me legal authority to royally defenestrate anyone who has over 302 million dollars.
Mostly I’ll keep to zamboni driving , and kitten distribution duties.
I’ll be a good king.
I’ll make Friday part of the weekend and give out chocolate eclairs.
You’ll give me legal authority to royally defenestrate anyone who has over 302 million dollars.
Mostly I’ll keep to zamboni driving , and kitten distribution duties.
The system is not longer in a self correcting mode. It requires calibration.
Basically ..
ship is going to sink.
Make lifeboat plans.
There is enough room for everyone. But not enough time if all you do is rearrange deck chairs.
Lash those lifeboats together to survive storms.
Basically ..
ship is going to sink.
Make lifeboat plans.
There is enough room for everyone. But not enough time if all you do is rearrange deck chairs.
Lash those lifeboats together to survive storms.
February 4, 2026 at 7:30 PM
The system is not longer in a self correcting mode. It requires calibration.
Basically ..
ship is going to sink.
Make lifeboat plans.
There is enough room for everyone. But not enough time if all you do is rearrange deck chairs.
Lash those lifeboats together to survive storms.
Basically ..
ship is going to sink.
Make lifeboat plans.
There is enough room for everyone. But not enough time if all you do is rearrange deck chairs.
Lash those lifeboats together to survive storms.
Not sure I like this circular firing squad and purity tests.
The moment you argue about intent, ideology, or character, scale collapses.
Successful scaling mechanisms require one sentence rules.
Bad: “Understand the theory, history, ethics.”
Good: “Fill the form or the process stops.”
The moment you argue about intent, ideology, or character, scale collapses.
Successful scaling mechanisms require one sentence rules.
Bad: “Understand the theory, history, ethics.”
Good: “Fill the form or the process stops.”
February 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Not sure I like this circular firing squad and purity tests.
The moment you argue about intent, ideology, or character, scale collapses.
Successful scaling mechanisms require one sentence rules.
Bad: “Understand the theory, history, ethics.”
Good: “Fill the form or the process stops.”
The moment you argue about intent, ideology, or character, scale collapses.
Successful scaling mechanisms require one sentence rules.
Bad: “Understand the theory, history, ethics.”
Good: “Fill the form or the process stops.”
Andor really is as good as they say.
Starwars is just the candy coating to give your brain ideological distance but still remain familiar enough that you can follow along.
You should watch it.
You should re-watch it.
Starwars is just the candy coating to give your brain ideological distance but still remain familiar enough that you can follow along.
You should watch it.
You should re-watch it.
February 3, 2026 at 7:52 AM
Andor really is as good as they say.
Starwars is just the candy coating to give your brain ideological distance but still remain familiar enough that you can follow along.
You should watch it.
You should re-watch it.
Starwars is just the candy coating to give your brain ideological distance but still remain familiar enough that you can follow along.
You should watch it.
You should re-watch it.
This is a VDA analysis: (attribute Higgins, Martin)
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
What Will Save Us: A timeline of why elected Democrats might want to consider being a tad more assertive than just trying to hold a few hearings while waiting around for the midterms:
February 2, 2026 at 3:56 PM
This is a VDA analysis: (attribute Higgins, Martin)
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
democratic processes remain visible and ritualized, but they stop producing learning or correction.
Each failed checkpoint does not trigger a change in strategy.
This is a longitudinal time axis and time shows it as a failure trace
Please stop trying to fight 2024 battles.
It’s unproductive and stupidly devicive when there are present and future things to do.
And much of these noisemakers are bots. So there’s that.
It’s unproductive and stupidly devicive when there are present and future things to do.
And much of these noisemakers are bots. So there’s that.
February 2, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Please stop trying to fight 2024 battles.
It’s unproductive and stupidly devicive when there are present and future things to do.
And much of these noisemakers are bots. So there’s that.
It’s unproductive and stupidly devicive when there are present and future things to do.
And much of these noisemakers are bots. So there’s that.
I think spy thrillers are now dead as a genre.
February 2, 2026 at 10:07 AM
I think spy thrillers are now dead as a genre.
Selection effects explain the observed pattern. High-turnout suburbs typically have strong procedural legitimacy. People believe their signal is counted, even if outcomes disappoint them. That belief suppresses protest because escalation feels unnecessary or counterproductive.
It is interesting how turnout does not always line up with protest or engagement. I live in a suburb and even though voting records show we have very high turnout where I live, nobody protests where I live. Ever.
Meanwhile some of the areas holding anti ICE protests have well below average turnout.
Meanwhile some of the areas holding anti ICE protests have well below average turnout.
February 1, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Selection effects explain the observed pattern. High-turnout suburbs typically have strong procedural legitimacy. People believe their signal is counted, even if outcomes disappoint them. That belief suppresses protest because escalation feels unnecessary or counterproductive.
1. Systems with ignorable signals will eventually experience failure modes that appear exogenous to insiders.
[signal suppression converting internal causes into external shocks]
[signal suppression converting internal causes into external shocks]
February 1, 2026 at 6:01 AM
1. Systems with ignorable signals will eventually experience failure modes that appear exogenous to insiders.
[signal suppression converting internal causes into external shocks]
[signal suppression converting internal causes into external shocks]
Dumpster fire!
Three options:
Put it out.
Starve it.
Or let it burn you.
You can’t argue with a dumpster fire.
Three options:
Put it out.
Starve it.
Or let it burn you.
You can’t argue with a dumpster fire.
January 31, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Dumpster fire!
Three options:
Put it out.
Starve it.
Or let it burn you.
You can’t argue with a dumpster fire.
Three options:
Put it out.
Starve it.
Or let it burn you.
You can’t argue with a dumpster fire.
Here’s my proposal.
We turn that evil island into a Scandinavian style prison.
We need them alive and willingly talking in order to fully document all the crimes, find literal bodies, fix the blindspots, and give people closure.
And the first guys who turn evidence get to have the bigger cells.
We turn that evil island into a Scandinavian style prison.
We need them alive and willingly talking in order to fully document all the crimes, find literal bodies, fix the blindspots, and give people closure.
And the first guys who turn evidence get to have the bigger cells.
January 31, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Here’s my proposal.
We turn that evil island into a Scandinavian style prison.
We need them alive and willingly talking in order to fully document all the crimes, find literal bodies, fix the blindspots, and give people closure.
And the first guys who turn evidence get to have the bigger cells.
We turn that evil island into a Scandinavian style prison.
We need them alive and willingly talking in order to fully document all the crimes, find literal bodies, fix the blindspots, and give people closure.
And the first guys who turn evidence get to have the bigger cells.
Authority that cannot be exercised narrowly will be exercised broadly.
January 31, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Authority that cannot be exercised narrowly will be exercised broadly.
Eventually, complexity starts to impersonate wisdom.
Proposals that make things clearer are treated as naive. Simpler explanations are dismissed as unrealistic.
The system confuses being hard to understand with being hard to challenge.
Proposals that make things clearer are treated as naive. Simpler explanations are dismissed as unrealistic.
The system confuses being hard to understand with being hard to challenge.
January 31, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Eventually, complexity starts to impersonate wisdom.
Proposals that make things clearer are treated as naive. Simpler explanations are dismissed as unrealistic.
The system confuses being hard to understand with being hard to challenge.
Proposals that make things clearer are treated as naive. Simpler explanations are dismissed as unrealistic.
The system confuses being hard to understand with being hard to challenge.
Being able to fix things is important.
Letting people see that you can fix things, before they need it most, is what allows you to be trusted
Letting people see that you can fix things, before they need it most, is what allows you to be trusted
January 31, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Being able to fix things is important.
Letting people see that you can fix things, before they need it most, is what allows you to be trusted
Letting people see that you can fix things, before they need it most, is what allows you to be trusted
People often think systems fail because no one saw the problem. More often, the problem was seen, but the system learned it could look away.
January 30, 2026 at 10:16 PM
People often think systems fail because no one saw the problem. More often, the problem was seen, but the system learned it could look away.
When support is shallow and time is short, coercion becomes blunt rather than covert.
Unsophisticated force is chosen because it’s fast, legible to loyalists, and does not require institutional buy-in.
This is a classic sign of a system operating past its coordination capacity.
Unsophisticated force is chosen because it’s fast, legible to loyalists, and does not require institutional buy-in.
This is a classic sign of a system operating past its coordination capacity.
January 30, 2026 at 3:11 PM
When support is shallow and time is short, coercion becomes blunt rather than covert.
Unsophisticated force is chosen because it’s fast, legible to loyalists, and does not require institutional buy-in.
This is a classic sign of a system operating past its coordination capacity.
Unsophisticated force is chosen because it’s fast, legible to loyalists, and does not require institutional buy-in.
This is a classic sign of a system operating past its coordination capacity.
Ethical language proliferates when ethical leverage is absent.
January 30, 2026 at 3:44 AM
Ethical language proliferates when ethical leverage is absent.
Stability achieved by suppressing feedback is indistinguishable from stability before collapse.
January 30, 2026 at 3:38 AM
Stability achieved by suppressing feedback is indistinguishable from stability before collapse.
Systems that cannot admit error must externalize it.
January 30, 2026 at 3:37 AM
Systems that cannot admit error must externalize it.
Trust is far easier to destroy than to build, and it is usually destroyed mechanically, not emotionall
January 30, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Trust is far easier to destroy than to build, and it is usually destroyed mechanically, not emotionall
WWMRS
(What would Mister Rogers Say)
Quote this and leave your ideas.
Here’s mine.
Some grown-ups are not taking good care of the rules right now. Other grown-ups are working to fix that. You are not responsible for fixing it.
(What would Mister Rogers Say)
Quote this and leave your ideas.
Here’s mine.
Some grown-ups are not taking good care of the rules right now. Other grown-ups are working to fix that. You are not responsible for fixing it.
January 29, 2026 at 6:25 PM
WWMRS
(What would Mister Rogers Say)
Quote this and leave your ideas.
Here’s mine.
Some grown-ups are not taking good care of the rules right now. Other grown-ups are working to fix that. You are not responsible for fixing it.
(What would Mister Rogers Say)
Quote this and leave your ideas.
Here’s mine.
Some grown-ups are not taking good care of the rules right now. Other grown-ups are working to fix that. You are not responsible for fixing it.
Seniority becomes a liability when conditions change.
January 29, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Seniority becomes a liability when conditions change.
Keep a short list of people you can be wrong with.
Truth requires relationships where correction is safe.
If you have none, you will drift.
Truth requires relationships where correction is safe.
If you have none, you will drift.
If you’re over 30, quote this with some life advice 🤌🏼
January 29, 2026 at 4:30 AM
Keep a short list of people you can be wrong with.
Truth requires relationships where correction is safe.
If you have none, you will drift.
Truth requires relationships where correction is safe.
If you have none, you will drift.