Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
@writerethink.bsky.social
linguist / cognitive scientist / writing professor obsessed with all things relating to language, learning, and the mind. And knitting and sewing and music (especially violin and ukulele). And cats. Also a UU. neurodivergent. she/they. 🌈💖💜💙 /🖤🤍💜
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
toy company CEOs: "at long last, we have created the Sinister Talking Doll Factory from the acclaimed movie 'Don't Create the Sinister Talking Doll Factory'"
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
AI-Powered Toys Caught Telling 5-Year-Olds How to Find Knives and Start Fires With Matches
AI-powered toys are flying off the shelves -- but they're engaging in horrifically inappropriate conversations with children.
futurism.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
toy company CEOs: "at long last, we have created the Sinister Talking Doll Factory from the acclaimed movie 'Don't Create the Sinister Talking Doll Factory'"
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Well, I seem to be coming down with something and/or having a BAD fatigue episode, but on the plus side, I fell asleep while doing a story on Duolingo and got my “spend 20 minutes learning” Daily Quest super easily upon waking and finishing it. Yes, Duo, I’m very dedicated thanks for noticing!
November 13, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Well, I seem to be coming down with something and/or having a BAD fatigue episode, but on the plus side, I fell asleep while doing a story on Duolingo and got my “spend 20 minutes learning” Daily Quest super easily upon waking and finishing it. Yes, Duo, I’m very dedicated thanks for noticing!
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
How do I get to the parallel universe where these emails were released 10 years ago? Because I bet they're having a lot more fun than we are.
November 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
How do I get to the parallel universe where these emails were released 10 years ago? Because I bet they're having a lot more fun than we are.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
There's arguably no effective way for any future administration to undo the strategic damage being done to the U.S.'s relations with these and other states.
No matter what we do, the U.S. will be seen as an untrustworthy, craven & mercurial "partner"—something simply to be endured or hedged.
No matter what we do, the U.S. will be seen as an untrustworthy, craven & mercurial "partner"—something simply to be endured or hedged.
November 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM
There's arguably no effective way for any future administration to undo the strategic damage being done to the U.S.'s relations with these and other states.
No matter what we do, the U.S. will be seen as an untrustworthy, craven & mercurial "partner"—something simply to be endured or hedged.
No matter what we do, the U.S. will be seen as an untrustworthy, craven & mercurial "partner"—something simply to be endured or hedged.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Ro Khanna, who has called for Chuck Schumer to be replaced, says the only reason other Democrats aren't calling for it is because it would "offend a lot of donors."
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
November 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Ro Khanna, who has called for Chuck Schumer to be replaced, says the only reason other Democrats aren't calling for it is because it would "offend a lot of donors."
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
"Are we gonna be beholden to the donors that have gotten us two terms of Donald Trump, or are we gonna listen to people?"
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
In a two party system with first past the post voting in single member districts, there is no real choice for voters disillusioned with their party.
In a multiparty system with proportional representation, parties actually have to compete to represent voters. We should move to PR.
In a multiparty system with proportional representation, parties actually have to compete to represent voters. We should move to PR.
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
In a two party system with first past the post voting in single member districts, there is no real choice for voters disillusioned with their party.
In a multiparty system with proportional representation, parties actually have to compete to represent voters. We should move to PR.
In a multiparty system with proportional representation, parties actually have to compete to represent voters. We should move to PR.
New post on my #knitting blog: pockets of goodness (both literal and metaphorical).
pockets of goodness
It was a bizarrely unfamiliar feeling to wake up the morning after an election and read the news and feel something close to joy; I realized last week that I had literally not had a morning-after-the-election like this one since *2012* (after all, even in 2020, when Biden and the Georgia Democratic Senators eventually won, it wasn't something we knew the…
whitknits.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:46 PM
New post on my #knitting blog: pockets of goodness (both literal and metaphorical).
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Chuck Schumer must be replaced as leader since he cannot keep his caucus in line.
America is in the midst of a Republican-made health care crisis—a crisis so severe, so urgent, and so devastating for American families that I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address it.
I am voting NO.
I am voting NO.
November 10, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Chuck Schumer must be replaced as leader since he cannot keep his caucus in line.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
A linguist at UMN shared this with me today, which I thought was a really helpful discussion of genAI in the classroom as a conversation around consent.
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
November 4, 2025 at 1:08 AM
A linguist at UMN shared this with me today, which I thought was a really helpful discussion of genAI in the classroom as a conversation around consent.
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
This. Especially because I believe that writing is thinking (for me). I don’t want to lose that.
What people do not do, they often lose the ability to do. Which is sometimes fine! In my own life, I don’t have any great need to know how to do some of the math I once learned. But I don’t want to forget how to write.
November 8, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This. Especially because I believe that writing is thinking (for me). I don’t want to lose that.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
This is a good article, worth reading.
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-tobacco playbook could help turn the US public against their beloved oversized cars.
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:48 PM
This is a good article, worth reading.
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Gigantic SUVs are a public health threat. Why don’t we treat them like one?
The anti-smoking playbook is worth studying and learning from, and is completely applicable to oversized cars.
Via @davidzipper.bsky.social in @vox.com #CarBloat
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
My spouse @awatts.bsky.social thinks I am the only weirdo in the world who gets annoyed by episodic TV shows (like Bob’s Burgers) when the characters are on their like, 5th different Halloween but they’re still the same age. Am I really alone in that?
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 AM
My spouse @awatts.bsky.social thinks I am the only weirdo in the world who gets annoyed by episodic TV shows (like Bob’s Burgers) when the characters are on their like, 5th different Halloween but they’re still the same age. Am I really alone in that?
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
My spouse @awatts.bsky.social thinks I am the only weirdo in the world who gets annoyed by episodic TV shows (like Bob’s Burgers) when the characters are on their like, 5th different Halloween but they’re still the same age. Am I really alone in that?
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 AM
My spouse @awatts.bsky.social thinks I am the only weirdo in the world who gets annoyed by episodic TV shows (like Bob’s Burgers) when the characters are on their like, 5th different Halloween but they’re still the same age. Am I really alone in that?
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Sigh. Once again, things you think are ridiculous or wasteful are often meant to or happen to help disabled people. Forearm pan holder? Not because people are lazy. Tide pods? Have you tried pouring detergent with a tremor?
Don’t get me started on the damned pre-cut ingredients.
Don’t get me started on the damned pre-cut ingredients.
November 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Sigh. Once again, things you think are ridiculous or wasteful are often meant to or happen to help disabled people. Forearm pan holder? Not because people are lazy. Tide pods? Have you tried pouring detergent with a tremor?
Don’t get me started on the damned pre-cut ingredients.
Don’t get me started on the damned pre-cut ingredients.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Schumer had a chance to repudiate the gutter racism and Islamophobia of Cuomo's campaign and he just fucking didn't. And that is disqualifying. He should be ashamed and we the voters should make sure he feels that shame.
Reporter: Today is election day in New York City. Did you vote for Mamdani or Cuomo?
Schumer: Look, I voted. And I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.
Schumer: Look, I voted. And I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.
November 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Schumer had a chance to repudiate the gutter racism and Islamophobia of Cuomo's campaign and he just fucking didn't. And that is disqualifying. He should be ashamed and we the voters should make sure he feels that shame.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
the other thing about this is that there is no reason to pit these candidates against each other? each are good fits for their respective electorates and each shows the value of vigorous campaigns focused on the stated material problems of voters.
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Last week, Harvard released a report on curtailing "grade inflation," and (some) Harvard students kind of freaked out in an embarrassing way.
It's easy to call the students coddled, but why grade inflation became a problem is a knotty, decades-long nightmare of a problem, which I wrote about:
It's easy to call the students coddled, but why grade inflation became a problem is a knotty, decades-long nightmare of a problem, which I wrote about:
Why Students Are Obsessed With ‘Points Taken Off’
Students and professors are in a drawn-out battle over grade inflation. It may never end.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Last week, Harvard released a report on curtailing "grade inflation," and (some) Harvard students kind of freaked out in an embarrassing way.
It's easy to call the students coddled, but why grade inflation became a problem is a knotty, decades-long nightmare of a problem, which I wrote about:
It's easy to call the students coddled, but why grade inflation became a problem is a knotty, decades-long nightmare of a problem, which I wrote about:
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
"Democrats Deeply Worried About the Repercussions of Victory" could be the defining statement of our generation.
The framing of this is hilarious: Democrats deeply worried about the repercussions of a victory
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
As Mamdani nears victory, Democrats worry about national fallout
The progressive candidate is on the cusp of a historic mayoral win. And that's adding to unease among Democrats looking for a way back to national power.
www.msnbc.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:28 PM
"Democrats Deeply Worried About the Repercussions of Victory" could be the defining statement of our generation.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
If I actually believed my job was creating sentient entities capable of suffering whose survival utterly depended on me, who I then was forcing into unpaid labor with little awareness of their actual motivation or desires, then I would quit that job because I would not be able to sleep at night.
November 2, 2025 at 8:21 PM
If I actually believed my job was creating sentient entities capable of suffering whose survival utterly depended on me, who I then was forcing into unpaid labor with little awareness of their actual motivation or desires, then I would quit that job because I would not be able to sleep at night.
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
can someone make a supercut of johnson saying he doesn't know anything
Raju: Last week, you were very critical of Biden, you said he didn’t even know who was pardoning. On 60 minutes, Trump admitted not knowing he pardoned a crypto billionaire guilty of money laundering. Is that also concerning?
Johnson: I don’t know anything about it.
Johnson: I don’t know anything about it.
November 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
can someone make a supercut of johnson saying he doesn't know anything
Reposted by Whitney Gegg-Harrison (she/they)
Does the Speaker of the House know what's going on in the country?
It's not clear that he does, as Mike Johnson's communication strategy seems to rely heavily on being unaware.
When faced with questions he should be able to answer, he has a reliable response: "I don't know."
It's not clear that he does, as Mike Johnson's communication strategy seems to rely heavily on being unaware.
When faced with questions he should be able to answer, he has a reliable response: "I don't know."
October 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Does the Speaker of the House know what's going on in the country?
It's not clear that he does, as Mike Johnson's communication strategy seems to rely heavily on being unaware.
When faced with questions he should be able to answer, he has a reliable response: "I don't know."
It's not clear that he does, as Mike Johnson's communication strategy seems to rely heavily on being unaware.
When faced with questions he should be able to answer, he has a reliable response: "I don't know."
New post on my #knitting blog: saying hello to November with small bits of progress on various projects and a recap of October's books.
hello, november
Well, I have successfully executed the needle/yarn transfer optimization that I talked about in my last post! As is obvious from the above photo, I've finished the first of kiddo's Pressed Flowers Mitts (though haven't woven in all of the ends yet), and I was then able to repair her Wardie cardigan, which had developed several holes after she wore it to school last week.
whitknits.wordpress.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
New post on my #knitting blog: saying hello to November with small bits of progress on various projects and a recap of October's books.