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C. Thi Nguyen

@add-hawk.bsky.social
3.5K followers 248 following 58 posts

Philosophy professor. My new book is THE SCORE, about true play, the limits of data - and why scoring systems can lead to beautiful games and soul-killing metrics.

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Reposted by C. Thi Nguyen
Hagai Palevsky (he/him) @dialhforhagai.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Wile E. Coyote, despaired, takes a bucket of paint and a brush and paints a beautiful two-bedroom house on a mountainside. He paints a beautiful coyote wife in the window, and two adorable coyote kids running around in the yard. He tries to enter this new coyote life, but it is inaccessible to him
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Chris Plante @plante.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
If you read one book about games this year, make it The Score. Here’s my interview with its author, the brilliant philosopher @add-hawk.bsky.social
postgame.substack.com
Games Can Save Us from the Hell of Silicon Valley Optimization
Gamification culture was a mistake.
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Mel sez: “The nice thing about daylight savings time now is that everything clicks over automatically and you don’t even need to think about it. Only the oven remembers.” ONLY THE OVEN REMEMBERS
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
The final live book launch event for THE SCORE is tomorrow, in NYC: a New School/NYU. I'll be in conversation with Sam Anderson, author of Boomtown - which was one of my soul-inspirations for my book. Free, but you need to register. thescorebooktalk.splashthat.com
thescorebooktalk.splashthat.com
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
My buddy, who loved boxing, explains his new love of tango: “It’s like cooperative boxing.”
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out. As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class. Here's what happened:
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Jen Jennings @jenjennings.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
If your students need a reading on purpose - especially purpose beyond the metrics school rewards - I'd highly recommend C. Thi Nguyen's, The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game. @add-hawk.bsky.social, thank you for this gift of a book. Radiant and animated by joy.
nytimes.com
Why Keeping Score Isn’t Fun Anymore
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Always a good sign when you find yourself interrupting your reading to share a nugget with those around you. A rare thing when the author @add-hawk.bsky.social is a philosopher! Thanks to @dsquareddigest.bsky.social for alerting me. Great book!
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Embrace the Void @etvpod.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
New ETV is out for everyone! I'm joined by @add-hawk.bsky.social to discuss his new book The Score. Really fun chat on the nature of games, the challenges of society at scale, and whether the problem is bigger than just capitalism. Enjoy!
voidpod.com
The Score with C. Thi Nguyen — Embrace The Void
My returning guest this week is C. Thi Nguyen, a professor of philosophy at the University of Utah, and author of the new book The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game .  We discuss t...
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Natalie Alana Ashton @natalan.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
just had the idea "richard scarry tarot deck" and im utterly sick that it doesn't appear to already be a thing
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication! But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Never, in a million kabillion years, when I decided to say "screw it" to mainstream philosophy and started writing about the philosophy of games, could I have imagined that this road would take me down to having the goddamn NY Times profile me and my new book. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...
nytimes.com
Why Keeping Score Isn’t Fun Anymore
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Josh McCrain @joshmccrain.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
new paper by Sean Westwood: With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
OK: I have a new favorite topic to teach in intro philosophy classes: lottocracy. Literally half my class followed me back to my office because they *couldn't stop talking about it.* Lottocracy is the argument that elections don't work, and that the best way democracy is through lottery.
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
You sweat in your basement for years writing a book, working that nobody will ever read it - or that they will think you are a complete raving idiot, but then you read an astonishing, soul-warming, got-everything review like this and suddenly you feel like your whole life is not actually a waste.
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Pablo Torre @pablo.show · 06/01/2026
I needed to start the new year with this conversation with the remarkable philosopher C. Thi Nguyen (@add-hawk.bsky.social) about scoring systems; outsourcing values; and the game that you — and me — shouldn't be playing: youtu.be/7AdbePyGS2M?...
youtu.be
Why Data Doesn't Always Win, with a Philosopher of Art | PTFO
YouTube video by PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT
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Penguin Press @penguinpress.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
“In THE SCORE, @add-hawk.bsky.social combines an enthusiast celebration of games’ inner workings with a lament for the power of metrics to flatten our lives & capture our values. He helps us see how games transform instincts into something beautiful.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
How Keeping Score Makes Games Fun and Life Worse
A new book contrasts the meditative joy of games with the way metrics capture what we value, and how we judge ourselves.
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Justin Weinberg @dailynous.com · 15/07/2025
“I want to talk about the part of philosophy writing that comes after the argument… the very specific work involved in infusing your writing with energy and life” — C. Thi Nguyen (@add-hawk.bsky.social) at Daily Nous on the creative craft of writing philosophy.
dailynous.com
Beyond Argument: The Creative Craft of Philosophy Writing (guest post) - Daily Nous
"I want to talk about the part about the part of philosophy writing that comes after the argument part: the bit where you work on expressing your idea clearly, delicately, even personally. I want to t...
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