Tim Hitchcock
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timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock
@timhitchcock.bsky.social
4.8K followers 3.7K following 520 posts

Historian of 18th century London; Professor Emeritus of Digital History at the University of Sussex. Just coughing in the ink to the end of time.

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Economics 31%
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Reposted by Adrian Vickers, Tim Hitchcock

wragge.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy
Tim Sherratt @wragge.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy · 11h
So Internet Archive, Open Street Map, and Zenodo all currently getting hammered by fucking AI bots. Core pieces of research infrastructure under threat. And those of us trying to keep resources online for the public become the unpaid servants of the mega-rich AI shysters.

timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 1d
Definitely, though speaking of Darwin, he really did just take half of Adam Smith and apply it to change in the natural world. We have been ignoring the internal contradictions ever since, so I am a little wary of using Darwinian evolution as a model.

timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 1d
Pretty much all originality and innovation in human culture comes from new combinations of existing ideas and practices - which is why the globalisation of culture has been so productive, and eventually, so damaging. AI is likely to speed up the journey to sterility.

timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 1d
I am working on celebrating the rise of cycling - it really is the answer to a lot of problems - while acknowledging that it brings in lots of inexperienced riders, and an inevitable proportion of arseholes.

timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 1d
It is depressing how quickly people have forgotten the work of people like Hans Roslin - though I know it is hard to maintain any sense of hope in the face of events.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Tim Hitchcock

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d
'Reading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers.'

Just make sure it's not reading English (instead of science) at university, say ministers.
Reading for pleasure has benefits at all ages – from improving health and wellbeing to staving off dementia – say scientists
Reading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, ...
www.eurekalert.org

Reposted by Tim Hitchcock

robertsnickc.bsky.social
Nicolas Robert @robertsnickc.bsky.social · 2d
From ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ by James Joyce (1916)

#Photography, Grave of Joyce & his family in Fluntern, Zurich, #sculpture by Milton Hebald,

Reposted by Tim Hitchcock, Catriona Seth

handhyorkshire.bsky.social
History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 2d
🧵Early subscription libraries in Yorkshire emerged in the 18th century. These libraries allowed middle-class members to pool money to buy and preserve books. The most important example is The Leeds Library, founded in 1768 and the oldest surviving proprietary subscription
The Leeds Library, founded in 1768 and the oldest surviving proprietary subscription library in the country. Image: Michael D Beckwith, Public Domain.