Tuomas Pernu
@tuomaspernu.bsky.social
PhD and all that. Lecturer in Philosophy of Science and Research Ethics at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Some things I'm responsible for:
http://www.tuomaspernu.london
http://www.tuomaspernu.london
Sure. This should not come as news to anyone. And as I've said (many times), the text is perfectly pertinent. Below is discussion on the point I've been trying to make.
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
Not my intention. And perhaps the situation is (radically) different in the US. But the discourse I've been witnessing would be perfectly on board with this text yet call much of hum/soc.science "silly". I do think this discrepancy is worth addressing.
November 26, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Sure. This should not come as news to anyone. And as I've said (many times), the text is perfectly pertinent. Below is discussion on the point I've been trying to make.
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
Yea, maybe. I do follow international educational politics (UK in particular), and the discourse is not maybe quite the same elsewhere (which raises interesting questions with respect to Finland). However, there is a general critical attitude towards hum/soc.sciences elsewhere too.
November 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Yea, maybe. I do follow international educational politics (UK in particular), and the discourse is not maybe quite the same elsewhere (which raises interesting questions with respect to Finland). However, there is a general critical attitude towards hum/soc.sciences elsewhere too.
Precisely. However, this is not just confined to Finland. Perhaps the current situation in the US is a bit special in the sense that there is populist criticism of the natural sciences too. But that's something that comes on top of this more widespread criticism of humanities & social sciences.
November 26, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Precisely. However, this is not just confined to Finland. Perhaps the current situation in the US is a bit special in the sense that there is populist criticism of the natural sciences too. But that's something that comes on top of this more widespread criticism of humanities & social sciences.
Not my intention. And perhaps the situation is (radically) different in the US. But the discourse I've been witnessing would be perfectly on board with this text yet call much of hum/soc.science "silly". I do think this discrepancy is worth addressing.
November 25, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Not my intention. And perhaps the situation is (radically) different in the US. But the discourse I've been witnessing would be perfectly on board with this text yet call much of hum/soc.science "silly". I do think this discrepancy is worth addressing.
Well yea, basic reseach in the natural sciences can be deemed "silly" by ignorant/politically motivated people, as I said. But there's a bigger issue with respect to humanties/soc.science. And I wonder if that needs to be addressed differently.
November 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Well yea, basic reseach in the natural sciences can be deemed "silly" by ignorant/politically motivated people, as I said. But there's a bigger issue with respect to humanties/soc.science. And I wonder if that needs to be addressed differently.
How anybody could invest a penny into this swindle is beyond me.
November 25, 2025 at 10:23 PM
How anybody could invest a penny into this swindle is beyond me.
I was not trying to criticise this piece; it's perfectly pertinent (especially in the US today). It's just a fact - at least when I've been witnessing this sort of a discourse - that it's basically never research in the STEM fields that gets to be called "silly". This is worth addressing.
November 25, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I was not trying to criticise this piece; it's perfectly pertinent (especially in the US today). It's just a fact - at least when I've been witnessing this sort of a discourse - that it's basically never research in the STEM fields that gets to be called "silly". This is worth addressing.
The focus is here on the natural sciences. Which is fine; much of natural science can also be deemed "silly" by ignorant (or in a certain way politically motivated) people. However, much of these accusations are directed at the social sciences/humanities. Perhaps we need a different story there.
November 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The focus is here on the natural sciences. Which is fine; much of natural science can also be deemed "silly" by ignorant (or in a certain way politically motivated) people. However, much of these accusations are directed at the social sciences/humanities. Perhaps we need a different story there.
Well yea, in many ways the renaissance of the humanities is here. But the humanities need to do their bit too.
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
This should be happening everywhere. With AI (machine learning, that is) tools starting to get more widely employed - whether we like it or not - the things that are closest to what makes us human should start rising in value. Oh, I'm ready for the renaissance of the humanities!
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Well yea, in many ways the renaissance of the humanities is here. But the humanities need to do their bit too.
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
bsky.app/profile/tuom...
Yes. But it's not just the university higher-ups and the policy-makers who need to get this. And it's not primarily down to them. It's primarily down to the humanities themselves. The humanities need to get to a new level to understand their own significance! Only then will the renaissance come.
November 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Yes. But it's not just the university higher-ups and the policy-makers who need to get this. And it's not primarily down to them. It's primarily down to the humanities themselves. The humanities need to get to a new level to understand their own significance! Only then will the renaissance come.
How about putting some serious effort on the humanities & social sciences side of the research on AI (machine learning, that is)? Before all this blows up in our faces..
November 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
How about putting some serious effort on the humanities & social sciences side of the research on AI (machine learning, that is)? Before all this blows up in our faces..
In other words: the biggest swindle in the history of mankind.
November 23, 2025 at 8:01 PM
In other words: the biggest swindle in the history of mankind.
Reposted by Tuomas Pernu
"Social-media influencers and anti-ageing entrepreneurs mingled with top US government officials, including the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), at an exclusive event steps from the White House last week."
The decline of western civilisation.
The decline of western civilisation.
November 23, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"Social-media influencers and anti-ageing entrepreneurs mingled with top US government officials, including the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), at an exclusive event steps from the White House last week."
The decline of western civilisation.
The decline of western civilisation.
"Social-media influencers and anti-ageing entrepreneurs mingled with top US government officials, including the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), at an exclusive event steps from the White House last week."
The decline of western civilisation.
The decline of western civilisation.
November 23, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"Social-media influencers and anti-ageing entrepreneurs mingled with top US government officials, including the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), at an exclusive event steps from the White House last week."
The decline of western civilisation.
The decline of western civilisation.
Reposted by Tuomas Pernu
This should be happening everywhere. With AI (machine learning, that is) tools starting to get more widely employed - whether we like it or not - the things that are closest to what makes us human should start rising in value. Oh, I'm ready for the renaissance of the humanities!
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This should be happening everywhere. With AI (machine learning, that is) tools starting to get more widely employed - whether we like it or not - the things that are closest to what makes us human should start rising in value. Oh, I'm ready for the renaissance of the humanities!
This should be happening everywhere. With AI (machine learning, that is) tools starting to get more widely employed - whether we like it or not - the things that are closest to what makes us human should start rising in value. Oh, I'm ready for the renaissance of the humanities!
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This should be happening everywhere. With AI (machine learning, that is) tools starting to get more widely employed - whether we like it or not - the things that are closest to what makes us human should start rising in value. Oh, I'm ready for the renaissance of the humanities!
Okay, interesting. Hopefully this will materialise in some form at some point - I do think there's a chance here to make some genuine progress.
November 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Okay, interesting. Hopefully this will materialise in some form at some point - I do think there's a chance here to make some genuine progress.
My understanding is that the spectrum talk emanates from the rainbow icon, the function of which was (is) ethical/political/cultural. No anisogamist (that I would take seriously) denies the idea of a spectrum/continuum in this sense (that is, the moral/political equality of all variants).
November 23, 2025 at 4:19 PM
My understanding is that the spectrum talk emanates from the rainbow icon, the function of which was (is) ethical/political/cultural. No anisogamist (that I would take seriously) denies the idea of a spectrum/continuum in this sense (that is, the moral/political equality of all variants).
Reposted by Tuomas Pernu
The solution would be to speak only in terms of "machine learning", LLMs being a proper subset of ML (so there wouldn't be a misleading dichotomy).
November 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The solution would be to speak only in terms of "machine learning", LLMs being a proper subset of ML (so there wouldn't be a misleading dichotomy).
Yea, I get what you mean. However, I've seen many people raising this point lately - I thought I was alone only a while ago. Maybe there's still hope!
November 23, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Yea, I get what you mean. However, I've seen many people raising this point lately - I thought I was alone only a while ago. Maybe there's still hope!