Lorenzo Belenguer

Queer artist | Curandero & tarot reader | AI ethics writer | Minimalism | Arte Povera | Editor Escapadas & The Irritant | #LGBTQ

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

What if AI had its own FDA, with systems tested before being unleashed online? I proposed a model for that in a paper published in February 2022. Now at 316 citations and 39k accesses, the case is only getting stronger. Time to take it further.
https://t.co/8teYtQDlXb
#AIGuarded

[Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla]

MPs, as you prepare to make history, know you do so on basis of a corrupt & illegal vote. Know that in any other election, the result would be set aside & election re-run. Below is will of the people - flipping at exact moment Cummings/Johnson unleashed their illegal ad storm

[Bubblejet @Bubblejet]

In the UK, there are:

1.2 million wheelchair users
3.5 million people receiving cancer treatment
340,000 people registered blind
&c
AND there are many people waiting for surgery.

Yet only 2.8 million people are in receipt of incapacity #benefits. A very low figure.

#Disability

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

Tarot Curandero by Lorenzo Belenguer #bayswater #nottinghill
https://t.co/rVhes3j4kO
#tarot #curandero #healer

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

I created this work in 2015 for an exhibition during the Venice Biennale, when many still believed Big Tech’s promise to “do no evil”. A premonition of algorithmic control, Manipulation the rise of the far right? Sometimes art becomes the present. #PoliticalArt #DigitalCulture

[Marina Purkiss @MarinaPurkiss]

Love that 20k people signed this on day 1

Why? Because we’re DONE

Tech companies profit from hate & disinformation every day & face zero legal liability because they’re classed as “platforms” not publishers

An insane loophole that needs closing NOW

PLS SIGN

https://t.co/Wuo3jvAIhM

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

"Tactical Voting could become the leading political preference in the UK" | Marina Hyde https://t.co/eMFeNGIrNP

[Count Binface @CountBinface]

Here it is: my 2026 manifesto for the #Makerfield By-Election. Makerfield Great Again! #VoteBinface #MakeYourVoteCount

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

Discover Lucía Sánchez Saornil and Mujeres Libres at our free Westminster Creative Social, 15 July, 5–7pm. Book: https://t.co/RpFbqK2dxF

[Shane Brown @shanebrown74]

Well, @Helen_Whately has tried very hard today to tell us about her disability benefits review - but be fully aware: Helen Whately is a fraud. She is doing a review but already decided how much money she is going to save. This is exactly where Labour screwed up so badly last year: they decided on the savings first, and then chopped away until they reached that sum, with no care for how those cuts would wreck lives. It is totally absurd. If savings are to be made, find them, add them up, explain why they can be saved, and then announce the amount. Going into a review with a figure already announced means you have absolutely no care for the people on the receiving end of the cuts, or how those cuts affect them, you're just going to find the amount anyway. But what do we expect from either of the major parties other than callousness and cruelty? Ms Whately was part of the govt that had mental health talking therapies with a 6 week wait in 2012 and two year wait in 2024. And now she's moaning about the amount of people claiming pip because of mental health issues. Well, Ms Whately, that's YOUR fault, not theirs/ours.
#disability #pip #benefits #mentalhealth

[Josie Long @JosieLong]

Everybody was told in 2010-15 that austerity was painful but necessary to improve living standards. And then no improvements came, ever.

[Lorenzo Belenguer @_belenguer]

‘Unbelievable’ waste and inefficiency at MoD, says ex-defence minister Al Carns https://t.co/SRPAEglZoP

[Culture Explorer @CultureExploreX]

Modern self-help looks original because it comes with sleek covers, podcast clips, TED Talk language, and expensive courses.

But underneath the polish, much of it is ancient philosophy.

“Master your thoughts.”
“Control your emotions.”
“Build discipline.”
“Live with purpose.”
“Understand human nature.”

These ideas sound modern because we hear them from coaches, therapists, founders, and bestselling authors.

But the Greeks, Romans, Buddhists, and Indian sages were wrestling with the same questions thousands of years ago.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a modern science-based psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol problems, and drug-related issues. On the surface, CBT is a modern scientific method.

The Stoics said this long before modern therapy gave it a clinical name.

Epictetus wrote:

“Men are not disturbed by things, but by their opinions about them.”

You fail a test, lose money, get rejected, or face criticism. The event hurts. But your interpretation can make it worse.

One person says, “This proves I am worthless.”

Another says, “This shows me where I need to improve.”

That is the Stoic foundation behind a lot of modern emotional resilience.

Positive psychology tells people to build strengths, find meaning, and develop character.

Aristotle said this more than two thousand years ago.

For him, happiness was not a mood. It was a way of becoming. A person flourishes by developing virtue, using his abilities well, and becoming excellent in character.

That is why modern advice about “purpose,” “strengths,” “habits,” and “living according to your values” often sounds like Aristotle.

Time management also has ancient roots.

Seneca warned that people guard their money more carefully than their time, even though time is the one thing they cannot recover.

Today we call it productivity. Seneca called it life.

The modern world says, “Protect your calendar.”

The ancient world said, “Protect your soul from being wasted.”

Even financial discipline goes back further than modern money books.

The old philosophers understood that wealth exposes character. A small-minded person becomes restless with more money. A disciplined person uses money without becoming owned by it.

That is why ancient wisdom often focused less on how to get rich and more on what kind of person money turns you into.

Modern self-help says, “Avoid cheap dopamine.”

Epicurus said something deeper: learn the difference between natural desires and empty desires.

Food, friendship, shelter, peace, and a stable mind matter.

Status, luxury, endless attention, and constant comparison can turn into traps.

Today we call this minimalism, dopamine control, or lifestyle design.

Epicurus was already asking the harder question: how much do you actually need to live well?

Even visualization has older roots.

The Stoics practiced imagining loss, difficulty, betrayal, illness, and failure before they arrived. They did this to prepare the mind, not to scare themselves.

Modern people call this mental rehearsal, risk planning, or resilience training.

The Stoics called it preparation for reality.

Socrates gave us another idea that modern self-help keeps repeating: know yourself.

Every personality test, therapy exercise, and “find your why” framework is circling that same ancient command.

A person who does not examine his motives becomes easy to manipulate.

He can be controlled by praise, fear, envy, money, beauty, shame, or public opinion.

This is why ancient philosophy went beyond motivation. It trained judgment.

Modern self-help often asks, “How can I become more successful?”

Ancient philosophy asked, “What kind of person should I be?”

The self-help industry often sells ancient wisdom as a new breakthrough.

But much of the new advice is old wisdom with a higher price tag.

Read the ancients.

If you want to see how ancient philosophy still hides inside modern self-help, subscribe here:
https://t.co/Hc731pNBLa

[Sean Jay @seanzjay]

@Shrink_at_Large uk has the lowest benefits in the developed world

uk is one of the highest spenders in defence globally much of it wasted by MoD

We are being conned

[Dr Jay Watts @Shrink_at_Large]

Tomorrow’s paper! This is utterly ridiculous! Every bloody day we get the same - Burnham today, Hunt tomorrow. Acting like they can slash the safety net that keeps us all safe willy nilly with invented jobs for suddenly cured conditions under the phantasy work is therapy.

[Dr Jay Watts @Shrink_at_Large]

Front page of The Times: Andy Burnham’s first big announcement about his approach to leading the country is that he would be willing to cut benefits to fund the defence budget, with the usual ‘rights and responsibilities’ fluff about more work opportunities. This terrifies me.

[Liz Webster @LizWebsterSBF]

The problem isn’t welfare @AndyBurnhamGM

It’s extraction.

The welfare state is magic self perpetuating.

The problem isn’t welfare.

The welfare state was one of the greatest engines of prosperity ever created: healthier children, educated workers, security that allowed people to innovate and take risks.

The problem is extraction, an economy where wealth flows upwards and away from the communities that create it.

A society cannot cut its way to prosperity if its productive foundations are being hollowed out.

[🇬🇧King 🇬🇧 @King0243_PJC]

This hasn’t gone viral the way it should.

Jamie Corry, an Irish lad from east Belfast, has lost his home of 13 years after masked rioters set fire to cars outside and it engulfed his house in last night’s violent chaos.

He stood right there and begged one of them:

“This is my house. This is my house.”

They didn’t care.

They burned it anyway.

“They’ve done it to one of their own.”

These racist, uneducated thugs and street urchins destroy everything in their path. They don’t care who gets hurt: locals, families, their own community. Just mindless arsonists ruining innocent lives with no excuse.

[Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @MayorofLondon]

Complaining about nightlife when you *checks notes* choose to live in Soho is like living in South Kensington and complaining about the museums.

Or moving to Hackney and grumbling about creatives. Living in Richmond and hating green space. 

It's all getting a bit silly, isn't it?

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 WATCH: Reform MP Richard Tice lists Keir Starmer's "failures" as he asks when he will resign

Starmer: "If he paid his tax, we'd have more money to deal with these issues"

#PMQs

[Parody Nigel Farage @Parody_PM]

After 14 years in power, the Tories decide that the right time to abolish business rates is when they can't.