VITAL THOUGHT

Philosophy // Culture // Tech Ethics
Human-centered Edtech
PhD-trained instructors
Platform coming soon

#futurism
founder @emilygillcrist

[Pragya Sharma @prags57]

I will be teaching a 4-week online course 'Needlework & Home Building' with @VitalThoughtOrg March 4-28. We’ll untangle the complexities between the crafts of hand-knitting & crochet and how they intersect with ideas of domesticity, labour & housework.

https://t.co/ZgjxCKyze3

[VITAL THOUGHT @VitalThoughtOrg]

Is visibility unavoidable? We are observed on an unprecedented scale by security cameras, data mining , and social media followers. What is left as private or anonymous? This course considers documentaries, influencers, and surveillance. #vitalthought
https://t.co/m4lMj5YS1V

[VITAL THOUGHT @VitalThoughtOrg]

@DavidPuder @NTFabiano @SportsPsychJ @CorlZhou Not asking for myself. Asking for ppl who are perhaps any combo of mentally ill, depressed, anxious, grieving, disabled, isolated, car-less, unemployed or otherwise not able to pop up and start a workout routine without human and/or financial support

[VITAL THOUGHT @VitalThoughtOrg]

it's still up, mirrors at least...

[molecular vernacular @vikkink]

legit fuming over libgen shutdown. especially in the light of meta training their ai on it. mining the most functional free library in the world to squeeze out these precious profits & turn the remains of the Internet into unusable sludge. then cutting out access to said library

[Michael Albertus @mikealbertus]

Very excited to announce the release of my new book today, Land Power! Based on 15 years of work, it tells the story of how land shapes societies, from racial hierarchy to inequality, development, gender & the environment.
In hardcover/eBook/audiobook. More in 🧵 @BasicBooks 🥳

[Juan José Ponce Vázquez @jjponcevazquez]

I saw this and had to share it.

[rax ‘levon honkers’ king @RaxKingIsDead]

hahahahaha this sucks man

[Ed Markey @SenMarkey]

AI’s growth cannot come at the expense our planet’s health. My AI Environmental Impacts Act sets the stage for sustainable AI by creating standards and voluntary reporting guidelines to measure AI’s environmental footprint. We must ensure that AI contributes to a livable future.

[Ed Markey @SenMarkey]

We can't change the channel on AM radio when millions of drivers tune in during emergencies. With automakers recklessly ditching this platform, we must pass my AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. https://t.co/LdQPn2ApE0

[Data & Society @datasociety]

“Tech is not supposed to be a master tool to colonize every aspect of our being," @mollycrabapple tells @bcmerchant. "We need to reevaluate how it serves us.” https://t.co/TGAV206Nhs

[@timnitGebru (@dair-community.social/bsky.social) @timnitGebru]

I can't emphasize enough my disdain for the whole AGI scam. Used to centralize & consolidate power by the already rich & powerful while selling a techno-utopia they promise will come any day now, if we just let them continue to kill the environment, exploit labor & steal data 👍

[Brian Merchant @bcmerchant]

I hope it makes sense to people now that the reason 2023 was one sustained howl of AI hype / bout of handwringing over whether AI could grow too powerful too soon was to pique the interest of potential clients like the Dept of Defense so OpenAI could ink deals like this

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

Here’s a quick roundup of highlights from research we published in 2023, on climate change, capitalism, colonialism, degrowth and post-capitalist futures. As always, free PDFs are available via the link at the end of the thread. 🧵

[@timnitGebru (@dair-community.social/bsky.social) @timnitGebru]

I forgot that I had written this in September. It was published in November. Since the its behind a paywall, I'll paste the text that you can't access in this thread.
https://t.co/H3suPcgvpH

[VITAL THOUGHT @VitalThoughtOrg]

@burroaks77 @DKThomp @jean_twenge @JonHaidt Yes, and tech/smartphones. These phenomena have the same roots.

[Dr. Émile P. Torres (they/them) @xriskology]

Meredith Whittaker is always so on-point. One of the most important voices in the contemporary conversation about AI. Brilliant stuff, as usual! 👇

[Brian Merchant @bcmerchant]

Great review of BLOOD IN THE MACHINE in @WIRED today ("Merchant's retelling of the Luddite cause is a gripping and detailed romp") that grapples with a central question the book poses—what it means to be a Luddite in 2023.

"Everyone Is a Luddite Now":

https://t.co/aqzGAqi7BO

[Brian Merchant @bcmerchant]

Well this is just wild. The New Yorker did a Talk of the Town on the book and the Luddite Tribunal—and I got the New Yorker doodle treatment

https://t.co/mkjN1O4DEe

[Dr. Émile P. Torres (they/them) @xriskology]

Oooof, this is brutal. Effective Altruism "turned its back on living people" by shifting toward longtermism, and "in their financial dealings with each other, the effective altruists were more ruthless than Russian oligarchs."--Michael Lewis

https://t.co/VfZ08s5MxH