iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

For years, people have asked @tanuja.bsky.social and me how we built and sustained Understory, our spiritual and emotional support group for activists. So we made a toolkit to help others build spaces of their own.

organizingmythoughts.org

The Understory Toolkit

Creating spaces of reflection, belonging, and collective care

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

In closing, I’m reminded of Mary Oliver’s question from The Summer Day: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?" poets.org/poem/summer-...

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I cried because I was overwhelmed by the histories converging on the moment: family members who live and work at the farm organized the event; their friends created and performed the play with gravity and whimsy; they were living faithfully to the earth.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I watched from a grassy hillside, among friends and family, young and old, at Greenbush Growing Cooperative. The stage was a marsh nestled between crop fields. Puppets of cranes, a frog, a muskrat, and the marsh told what negligence and hubris do to our earth, and what is possible through repair.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

So, I cried when I heard of Wendell Berry's passing. I recognized the truth of his life’s example and felt dissonance and dismay at my not living that truth, not fully. The last time I cried was two weeks ago for similar reasons, watching The Lonely Marsh, a play by Julia Blair. thelonelymarsh.com

thelonelymarsh.com

The Lonely Marsh: Original Puppet Performance

A live puppet show with original music score inspired by Aldo Leopold's wetlands.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“A computer destroys the sense of historical succession, just as do other forms of mechanization. […] The best writing, even when printed, is full of intimations that it is the present version of earlier versions of itself, and that its maker inherited the work and the ways of earlier makers.”

Much is made of the ease of correction in computer work, owing to the insubstantiality of the light-image on the screen; one presses a button and the old version disappears, to be replaced by the new. But because of the substantiality of paper and the consequent difficulty involved, one does not handwrite or typewrite a new page every time a correction is made. A handwritten or typewritten page therefore is usually to some degree a palimpsest; it contains parts and relics of its own history—erasures, passages crossed out, interlineations—suggesting that there is something to go back to as well as something to go forward to. The light-text on the computer screen, by contrast, is an artifact typical of what can only be called the industrial present, a present absolute. A computer destroys the sense of historical succession, just as do other forms of mechanization. The well-crafted

A computer destroys the sense of historical succession, just as do other forms of mechanization. The well-crafted table or cabinet embodies the memory of (because it embodies respect for) the tree it was made of and the forest in which the tree stood. The work of certain potters embodies the memory that the clay was dug from the earth. Certain farms contain hospitably the remnants and reminders of the forest or prairie that preceded them. It is possible even for towns and cities to remember farms and forests or prairies. All good human work remembers its history. The best writing, even when printed, is full of intimations that it is the present version of earlier versions of itself, and that its maker inherited the work and the ways of earlier makers. It thus keeps, even in print, a suggestion of the quality of the handwritten page; it is a palimpsest.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“…my handwritten pages have a homemade, handmade look to them that both pleases me in itself and suggests the possibility of ready correction. It looks hospitable to improvement.” Hospitable to improvement!

The act of writing language down is not so insistently tangible an act as the act of building a house or playing the violin. But to the extent that it is tangible, I love the tangibility of it. The computer apologists, it seems to me, have greatly underrated the value of the handwritten manuscript as an artifact. I don't mean that a writer should be a fine calligrapher and write for exhibition, but rather that handwriting has a valuable influence on the work so written. I am certainly no calligrapher, but my handwritten pages have a homemade, handmadelook to them that both pleases me in itself and suggests the possibility of ready correction. It looks hospitable to improvement. As the longhand is transformed into typescript and then into galley proofs and the printed page, it seems increasingly to resist improvement. More and more spunk is required to mar the clean, final-looking lines of type. I have the notion—again not provable—that the longer I keep a piece of work in longhand, the better it will be.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

critiquing: “The body has limits that the machine does not have; therefore, remove the body from the machine so that the machine can continue as an unlimited idea.”

For many centuries there have been people who looked upon the body, as upon the natural world, as an encumbrance of the soul, and so have hated the body, as they have hated the naturalworld, and longed to be free of it. They have seen the body as intolerably imperfect by spiritual standards.

More recently, since the beginning of the technological revolution, more and more people have looked upon the body, along with the rest of the natural creation, as intolerably imperfect by mechanical standards. They see the body as an encumbrance of the mind—the mind, that is, asreduced to a set of mechanical ideas that can be implemented in machines—and so they hate it and long to be free of it. The body has limits that the machine does not have; therefore, remove the body from the machine so that the machine can continue as an unlimited idea.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“Do I, then, want to write faster, easier, and more? No. […] I would like to be a better writer…”

I acknowledge that, as a writer, I need a lot of help. And I have received an abundance of the best of help from my wife, from other members of my family, from friends, from teachers, from editors, and sometimes from readers. These people have helped me out of love or friendship, and perhaps in exchange for some help that I have given them. I suppose I should leave open the possibility that I need more help than I am getting, but I would certainly be ungrateful and greedy to think so.But a computer, I am told, offers a kind of help that you can't get from other humans; a computer will help you to write faster, easier, and more. For a while, it seemed to me that every university professor I met told me this. Do I, then, want to write faster, easier, and more? No. My standards are not speed, ease, and quantity. I have already left behind too much evidence that, writing with a pencil, I have written too fast, too easily, and too much. I would like to be a better writer, and for that I need help from other humans, not a machine.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Then he turned attention back to his writing process and its incompatibility with using a computer, an argument relevant to choices I am making today: e.g., if, when, and how to incorporate tools like large language models in my writing process? I'm including a few of my favorite quotes below. >

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

But this morning I was heartened reading his follow-up, "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine" (1989). He argued there is no special liberation in working outside the home, for a boss, for pay, and explained that the work he and his wife do for and with each other is grounded in mutuality and care. >

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Listening to "Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer” (1987), I was surprised how he spoke of his wife's unpaid support of his writing. Isn’t he able to avoid buying a computer because his wife provides editing and typing for free? I worried Berry lacked moral consistency. >

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Last year, after listening to On Being with Krista Tippett in which Nick Offerman spoke fondly of Berry, I listened to Offerman's narration of The World-Ending Fire, a collection of Berry's essays. onbeing.org/programs/nic... >

onbeing.org

Nick Offerman — Working with Wood, and the Meaning of Life

The spiritual thoughtfulness of the actor/comedian: on making by hand, solving puzzles with your wife, and sitting at the feet of Wendell Berry.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Wendell Berry's passing hit me deeply. I have not read him exhaustively, but I am aware how stubbornly he stood for what he believed: ~what we all have in common is the earth; we are too readily relinquishing and neglecting care for ourselves, each other, and the earth. >

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

... we have a duty, here in 2026, to maintain and defend spaces, systems and processes that center human connection, human expertise, and human communities against the powerful and well-funded push to "disrupt" all of these with synthetic text.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This sign is a great example for helping to explain why chatbots present such a potent illusion. A probably not short thread 🧵>>

Photo of a sign with a doorbell attached. The printed sign reads:

CURRENT GUGGENHEIM ACCES BY HUSKY CARD ONLY
[Logos for Amazon, FedEx, UPS]
DELIVERIES/VISITORS
PLEASE RING THIS DOORBELL

Delivery hours M-F 9:00am-(obscured)
University of Washington

Taped next to the doorbell is a hand written note that reads:
yes! it rang! Pelase wait 30 seconds before pressing again.
thanks!

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 06/08/2026

This is what my book is about! More or less! (I call it "advantageous agnosis.")

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

‼️ AHRQ is in the midst of a mass grant termination event. We (at Grant Witness) need your help to launch a tracker ASAP. If you received an AHRQ termination notice--or if you know of someone else who did--please submit information about the grant here: grant-witness.us/submit-nih.h...

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

han olliver @hanolliver.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

reading anything by Le Guin is an exercise in saying FUCK at varying volumes—incredulity at her skill, being again happily returned to one’s place in the world in which smallness is neither detriment nor remedy, awe at the incisive clarity of her language—how is she continually this good? etc etc.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 02/06/2026

Incredible! Scientists receive a rare standing ovation after announcing that a new treatment can double the survival time for pancreatic cancer, the deadliest cancer which was once considered “undruggable.” When we fund and support science, we can achieve anything! (Video: Dr. Wish Dhillon)

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Dr. Casey Fiesler @cfiesler.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

A common comment on my videos about LLM "hallucinations" is that this isn't as much of a problem because LLMs "cite their sources" now. This is a category error. Citing a source implies it was consulted. LLMs do not consult, even with RAG. A citation might be *included* but it's not *consulted*.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

ProPublica @propublica.org · 28/04/2026

NEW: A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities whose parents or relatives receive SNAP benefits.

propublica.org

The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families

A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who...

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Wilderness is invaluable and the Boundary Waters are precious. This makes my blood boil.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 19/04/2026

Lot of actually good writers have chimed in here already but what I find helps is to figure out the part that I'm surest of and feel the strongest about and write that part first, that usually clarifies what else needs to go in and how Then fix everything afterwards

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Reminded of the analogy, from Ted Chiang, of using a forklift at the gym

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Grace @gracekind.net · 01/03/2026

“We suggest guidelines for responsibly, relentlessly, and strategically foregrounding LLMs, especially in contexts where they have nothing to do with the authors' research contributions.”

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

This is inspired by my general avoidance of AI for writing, recent not-great experiences of suspected-use-but-no-disclosure, and surprise at how much I’ve heard colleagues feeling pressured to use AI for grant writing.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Do you ask your co-authors or co-investigators if/how they use AI in their writing? If we meet at #CHI2026, tell me about your experiences with collaborative writing and disclosure of AI use. I want to develop/calibrate my expectations and practices for this.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

YY Teng @yyteng.com · 12/04/2026

"Access Is Not Enough", we need a new frame. At #CHI2026, we share an opinion paper at Thursday’s poster session that reorients assistive technology toward “Developmental Flourishing.” The “access” frame has driven important advances, but measuring success by outcome equivalence overlooks (1/5)

front page of the paper titled "Access Is Not Enough: Toward Developmental Flourishing" by Yuanyang (YY) Teng and Darren Gergle, Northwestern University

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Still true for #chi2026

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

On my way to #CHI2026 in Barcelona! Reach out if you want to connect. I’ll be co-organizing the workshop on relationship-centered AI and attending the workshop on social and emotional uses of AI.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com · 10/03/2026

A little offended Grammarly didn't make a sloppelganger of me

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Jeff Linder @jefflinder.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

This isn't good. AHRQ Funding Opportunities for Primary Care, Demonstration and Dissemination, and Health Services Research cancelled. A reminder that #AHRQ, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is the only part of HHS strictly dedicated to studying and improving health care delivery.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26) Directorates to follow 1/10

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 21/02/2026

as the facct rebuttal period is in session, let me repeat what i've always said: critique is service! identifying & mapping the problem space is in & of itself a legitimate scientific contribution. we can’t proceed to “solve” a problem if we don't have a clear & comprehensive understanding of it 1/

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Reposted by Andrew Berry, PhD

Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies @cbits-nu.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Early career investigators!👋 Feeling overwhelmed by application requirements? We got you. Apply for The Future of Digital Mental Health Rising Star Award by Jan 30 with just 3 items and share your research with academic, industry & nonprofit leaders. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

We’ve also had different specialists make action plans for common situations, eg because respiratory infections are frequent. (This turned into an info dump, and I apologize if I’m missing what you needed. I’ve learned too many lessons the hard way, which motivated me to err toward oversharing.) 4/4

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I also learned a lot from asking after ED visits, Did we make the right decision to come in? What are the signs you would look for that would indicate the need to come in? eg, this helped me hone understanding of signs of respiratory distress, which is an automatic ED visit. 3/4

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Sometimes it’s available by text on their website or patient portal, but usually by phone. Virtual immediate care is also useful in this regard. I’m realizing I don’t have a good understanding of accessibility of these options. 2/4

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I’m father to a medically complex and disabled child (countless doctor visits), but I was also raised as a Christian Scientist (very few doctor visits growing up). So, my barometer for visiting doctor is oddly developed. Our health system’s nurse consulting service has served us well re:triage. 1/4

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

And @mollydb.bsky.social thank you for getting me into Becky Chambers!

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Tagging @spavel.bsky.social to thank you for putting a recommendation for Amatka on my skyline

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

If you’ve read either, I’d love to hear your recommendations for other good reads! Currently and finally starting Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis series.

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Andrew Berry, PhD @andrewberry.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Two favorite books I read this year: Amatka by Karin Tidbeck made me think hard (fearfully?) about limits to my ability to imagine different ways of being; A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (and the other three books in the series) expanded my ability to imagine hopeful futures.

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