David
@davidelder.bsky.social
Bibliophile, logophile, cinephile, Sinophile, Anglophile, Tolkien lover, narrative obsessive, science & technology ponderer, science fiction aficionado, theology skeptic, capitalism questioner, climate worrier, note comparer, hug enthusiast
Reposted by David
the thing about therapy they never tell you is that you can learn all the skills and all the tricks and essentially be able to be your own best therapist but it doesn’t ever stop you from having to actually feel the things
October 4, 2026 at 4:07 AM
the thing about therapy they never tell you is that you can learn all the skills and all the tricks and essentially be able to be your own best therapist but it doesn’t ever stop you from having to actually feel the things
Reposted by David
Most riveting thing I've seen all week
September 25, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Most riveting thing I've seen all week
Reposted by David
We’re all forced to play the game but no one said you had to make sweet love to it in public.
June 21, 2026 at 5:18 PM
We’re all forced to play the game but no one said you had to make sweet love to it in public.
Reposted by David
if they're drinking nounwine it's fantasy. if they're snorting a verb it's sci fi
August 9, 2026 at 7:39 PM
if they're drinking nounwine it's fantasy. if they're snorting a verb it's sci fi
Reposted by David
It’ll never stop being funny to me that jailbreaking llms often looks like gaslighting the fae
June 22, 2026 at 7:44 AM
It’ll never stop being funny to me that jailbreaking llms often looks like gaslighting the fae
Reposted by David
Reposted by David
1. No person online owes you censorship from their jokes & ideas based on what could possibly be triggering to some but not all.
2. It's never okay to dissociatively curse at someone about your personal trauma. That's called "trauma dumping" & it's emotionally abusive and interpersonally harmful.
2. It's never okay to dissociatively curse at someone about your personal trauma. That's called "trauma dumping" & it's emotionally abusive and interpersonally harmful.
April 25, 2026 at 5:18 PM
1. No person online owes you censorship from their jokes & ideas based on what could possibly be triggering to some but not all.
2. It's never okay to dissociatively curse at someone about your personal trauma. That's called "trauma dumping" & it's emotionally abusive and interpersonally harmful.
2. It's never okay to dissociatively curse at someone about your personal trauma. That's called "trauma dumping" & it's emotionally abusive and interpersonally harmful.
Reposted by David
Also, it's an incredibly useful activity to spend time envisioning a day in the life in one, five, ten years from now for yourself, your loved ones, and random people on the street. Training yourself to imagine where life is taking you based upon where you're at is how you develop foresight.
March 29, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Also, it's an incredibly useful activity to spend time envisioning a day in the life in one, five, ten years from now for yourself, your loved ones, and random people on the street. Training yourself to imagine where life is taking you based upon where you're at is how you develop foresight.
Reposted by David
Firefly is one of those quintessential Whedon shows: It's full of stuff that individually are such brilliant ideas and thought provoking plotlines to explore... and then you take a step back and realize how all of it serves to deliver the most rancid, bigoted messages. He's the Lovecraft of pop TV.
March 15, 2026 at 5:59 AM
Firefly is one of those quintessential Whedon shows: It's full of stuff that individually are such brilliant ideas and thought provoking plotlines to explore... and then you take a step back and realize how all of it serves to deliver the most rancid, bigoted messages. He's the Lovecraft of pop TV.
Reposted by David
Immantizing as a business model.
February 26, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Immantizing as a business model.
Reposted by David
A key difference between today and past technology booms; Railroad barons in the 1880s did not think that the next mile of track might bring about the Eschaton.
Telco executives in 1999 did not expect that another line of fiber optic cable would possibly usher in the world-to-come.
Telco executives in 1999 did not expect that another line of fiber optic cable would possibly usher in the world-to-come.
February 26, 2026 at 2:06 AM
A key difference between today and past technology booms; Railroad barons in the 1880s did not think that the next mile of track might bring about the Eschaton.
Telco executives in 1999 did not expect that another line of fiber optic cable would possibly usher in the world-to-come.
Telco executives in 1999 did not expect that another line of fiber optic cable would possibly usher in the world-to-come.
Reposted by David
brb, working on a theory that large chunks of Zhuangzi were written by John Swartzwelder, at least in the inner chapters
February 25, 2026 at 4:45 AM
brb, working on a theory that large chunks of Zhuangzi were written by John Swartzwelder, at least in the inner chapters
Reposted by David
Presenting the BRAND-NEW season - @dimension20.bsky.social On a Bus! 🚌
DM'd by Katie Marovitch, and as players: Aabria Iyengar, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jasmine Bhullar, and Mark Mercer!
DM'd by Katie Marovitch, and as players: Aabria Iyengar, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jasmine Bhullar, and Mark Mercer!
July 14, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Presenting the BRAND-NEW season - @dimension20.bsky.social On a Bus! 🚌
DM'd by Katie Marovitch, and as players: Aabria Iyengar, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jasmine Bhullar, and Mark Mercer!
DM'd by Katie Marovitch, and as players: Aabria Iyengar, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Jasmine Bhullar, and Mark Mercer!
Reposted by David
Tech companies only have five ideas: robot slave (actually just human slaves), hallucinatory counter-reality, untaxable money, The Everything App, and Clippy
June 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Tech companies only have five ideas: robot slave (actually just human slaves), hallucinatory counter-reality, untaxable money, The Everything App, and Clippy
Reposted by David
Superhero movie progression:
- origin story
- multiple villains
- team up
- universes collide
- reboot
- origin story
- multiple villains
- team up
- universes collide
- reboot
February 20, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Superhero movie progression:
- origin story
- multiple villains
- team up
- universes collide
- reboot
- origin story
- multiple villains
- team up
- universes collide
- reboot
Reposted by David
Reposted by David
They don't have a problem with ASL.
They have a problem with DIFFERENCE that isn't about them, or for them and therefore is an attack upon them.
It's entirely about bigotry.
And it's faux outrage to fuel their actual outrage, that anything not white cishet 'AMERICAN' not serving THEM exist
They have a problem with DIFFERENCE that isn't about them, or for them and therefore is an attack upon them.
It's entirely about bigotry.
And it's faux outrage to fuel their actual outrage, that anything not white cishet 'AMERICAN' not serving THEM exist
January 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
They don't have a problem with ASL.
They have a problem with DIFFERENCE that isn't about them, or for them and therefore is an attack upon them.
It's entirely about bigotry.
And it's faux outrage to fuel their actual outrage, that anything not white cishet 'AMERICAN' not serving THEM exist
They have a problem with DIFFERENCE that isn't about them, or for them and therefore is an attack upon them.
It's entirely about bigotry.
And it's faux outrage to fuel their actual outrage, that anything not white cishet 'AMERICAN' not serving THEM exist
Reposted by David
Pretty amazing that nonprofit Watch Duty -- which says it has 150 volunteers working around the clock to track wildfires -- has become the most trusted source of information on LA fires. Operated by retired/volunteer firefighters, dispatchers, and reporters. Real people.
www.watchduty.org
www.watchduty.org
Watch Duty - Wildfire Maps & Alerts
Watch Duty, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, alerts you of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real-time.
www.watchduty.org
January 9, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Pretty amazing that nonprofit Watch Duty -- which says it has 150 volunteers working around the clock to track wildfires -- has become the most trusted source of information on LA fires. Operated by retired/volunteer firefighters, dispatchers, and reporters. Real people.
www.watchduty.org
www.watchduty.org
Reposted by David
We have to define what we mean by “AI.” Because the model that advanced our understanding of protein folding and the LLMs that churn out the nonsense slop that fills the internet both get called “AI.” And the latter is co-opting the usefulness of the former to create this exactly perception.
Do you think AI can be boycotted out of existence? What benefits are there to not using it? There are benefits to being thoughtful to how you are using it, yes. But rejecting it is like...I don't know...rejecting a life saving vaccine. Accept it or die a slow death.
December 25, 2024 at 10:18 PM
We have to define what we mean by “AI.” Because the model that advanced our understanding of protein folding and the LLMs that churn out the nonsense slop that fills the internet both get called “AI.” And the latter is co-opting the usefulness of the former to create this exactly perception.
Reposted by David
New to the Lady Astronaut Universe? Want a refresher before THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY releases on March 18? Join the free Lady Astronaut Book Club at maryrobinettekowal.com/book-club/ to (re)read the first books in the series in good company, including AMAs and fun bonuses. @torbooks.bsky.social
December 5, 2024 at 9:10 PM
New to the Lady Astronaut Universe? Want a refresher before THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY releases on March 18? Join the free Lady Astronaut Book Club at maryrobinettekowal.com/book-club/ to (re)read the first books in the series in good company, including AMAs and fun bonuses. @torbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by David
Because of how bad AI is at most of the tasks it's being used for, we've now reached the point where any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from incompetence.
November 29, 2024 at 9:54 PM
Because of how bad AI is at most of the tasks it's being used for, we've now reached the point where any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from incompetence.
Reposted by David
I grew up in a valley, hugged by hills in every direction. Flat lands make me feel unsettled, like gravity might stop working.
November 11, 2024 at 8:07 PM
I grew up in a valley, hugged by hills in every direction. Flat lands make me feel unsettled, like gravity might stop working.
Reposted by David
Of course, theres only one kind of music that is fittingly surreal for this footage
October 15, 2024 at 3:29 AM
Of course, theres only one kind of music that is fittingly surreal for this footage
Reposted by David
I once had a world-famous scientist privately confront me about nihilism. They had lost people recently to suicide. I had posted some stuff which I do not recall and so I found them in my DMs.
I don't think at the time, a decade ago and caught off guard in more ways than one, I had good answers...
I don't think at the time, a decade ago and caught off guard in more ways than one, I had good answers...
September 26, 2024 at 4:09 PM
I once had a world-famous scientist privately confront me about nihilism. They had lost people recently to suicide. I had posted some stuff which I do not recall and so I found them in my DMs.
I don't think at the time, a decade ago and caught off guard in more ways than one, I had good answers...
I don't think at the time, a decade ago and caught off guard in more ways than one, I had good answers...