Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöGavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 09/10/2026You know the xkcd strip about how all modern internet architecture is eventually built on something a hobbyist maintains for free? Someone went out and found them all. sheets.works/data-viz/hol... 12561275 561
Reposted by Tuomas Äystö Siobhan @siobhanh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Informa announced Tuesday that it will separate Taylor & Francis and pursue a £2.24bn deal for Clarion Events. The outcome of its review is due in March 2027. So who might buy / what might happen to T&F? 134 4
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöAntti Rasinen @ars.iki.fi · 02/10/2026I think this situation needs the characters reversed 112433 124
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026"We also work with big questions, gods, and such from time to time." 010 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026Pretty interesting hunt for legitimacy. Anthropic wined and dined theologians from variety of religious groups and people connected to writing the pope's encyclical. All in hopes that major religious figures would lend you legitimacy and support your views on artificial consciousness.nytimes.comReligious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them.In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious. 110 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/09/2026Ron Cobb’s original signage designs for Alien, made with felt tip pen and graph paper. humanoidhistory.tumblr.com/post/8286472... 71365377 1.4K
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöProf. Dr Beth Singler @bvlsingler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026static.klipy.comThis Is Fine MemeALT: This Is Fine Meme 063 6
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöTuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026AI-bros evoke the Terminator scenario, because they would rather talk about that than the regulation of data centres, non-consensual pornography, war stuff, propaganda, copyrights, mental health... "They ask to be regulated". Well, they want regulation for the Terminator. Not for the other stuff. 131 3
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026AI-bros evoke the Terminator scenario, because they would rather talk about that than the regulation of data centres, non-consensual pornography, war stuff, propaganda, copyrights, mental health... "They ask to be regulated". Well, they want regulation for the Terminator. Not for the other stuff. 131 3
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026Interestingly, I often disagree with Storm, but I almost always enjoy his writings. I'll need to check out what he's up to now. 010 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 19/09/2026EASR Bucharest schedule is finally published, it appears. See you there!religions360.euProgramme — Religions 360°Religions 360° — The 22nd Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions & Regional Conference of the International Association for the History of Religions. Bucharest, 20–25 Septem... 000 0
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 14/09/2026There should be an easy way to report these things to indexes. 140 4
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026Look. All I'm saying is that you should probably treat AI chiefs speaking about AI catastrophe with as much suspicion as you would treat oil executives' concerns about climate change. The crucial difference being, that the latter catastrophe is already happening, partially thanks to these guys.washingtonpost.comTop AI leaders unite to warn the technology is advancing too fastDario Amodei, Sam Altman and Elon Musk, long at odds with each other, found common ground in calling for a slowdown in the advancement of AI amid mounting fears about its dangers. 011 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026But I can see how, for example, people who are maybe a little bit too interested in Roko's basilisk -- a kind of Pascal's wager for the AI age -- might feel no dissonance to combine the two. (Supporting AI while terrified, or acting like it.) Investing/supporting it seems like the logical option. 110 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026Sure, there's something to be said about the existential risk scenarios. They have a long history in Western popular culture, philosophy and comp sci. Potential catastrophes deserve attention. However, AI bros absolutely draw from this cultural repertoire for their more immediate purposes, now. 120 2
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026Since when the whistleblower says the same things as the leaders of the organisations they supposedly blow the whistle on? 120 2
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026He could at least refrain from using our national anthem as the soundtrack. 010 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöDr. Chris @cperez.bsky.social · 27/08/2026"Principal investigators need cheap grad and postdoc labor to boost their own research profiles. Treating them like workers by allowing them to unionize disrupts the feudal lord-serf relationship that exists in most labs." There I fixed it for you 5395114 395
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöRussell T. McCutcheon @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social · 25/08/2026New book alert.: “Neoliberalism and authoritarian populism are some of the main forces endangering contemporary universities. This applies to the study of religion in several ways…” @teemutaira.bsky.social @equinoxpub.bsky.social @naasr.bsky.social 2125 12
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 26/08/2026My feeds are sure getting a lot of video clips on how to make living in a car better. 010 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöYale Classics Library @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social · 20/08/2026History of Religions Vol. 66, No. 1 (2026) www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hr/2026/... @chicagojournals.bsky.social Bruce Lincoln's Secrets, Lies, and Consequences: A Review Symposium @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social @adeler.bsky.socialjournals.uchicago.eduHistory of Religions | Vol 66, No 1 084 8
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 20/08/2026Imagine reading your own data. By yourself. /sarcasm 000 0
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 20/08/2026I've now seen some researchers, who use Atlas.TI to code their data (and it's a good software to do that) also state, that they did not use the new AI features but actually read the data and coded it themselves. I guess I need to start making a remark about this too, or swich to some other program. 110 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöGeoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026We have just witnessed an incredible A/B test showing how plagiarism allegations at Cambridge University play out depending on how racialized the subject of the allegations are and it says nothing good about our society or the state of "race relations". O'Reilly is still in post.varsity.co.ukPlagiarising professor stays in post and threatens student journalistsMore than twelve pages of an article published under O’Reilly's name had been lifted almost word for word from two essays by one of his students 10605277 605
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 07/08/2026So interesting @suscrockford.bsky.social !youtu.beWhy Climate Change Sounds Like Apocalypticism (feat. Dr. Susannah Crockford)YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast 110 1
Reposted by Tuomas Äystöwendy norris @wendynorris.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Good morning, scholars. 2259 25
Reposted by Tuomas Äystövideogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 28/07/2026church of scientology, print ad, your commodore, magazine (1986) archive.org/details/16-y... 37319 73
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöDr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 11/07/2026Saying universities have to allow AI because people are using it anyway is identical to demanding that mainstream TV stations show hardcore pornography. Like, yes, you can certainly make that argument. But only an absolute fool would see this response as the only viable course of action. 16314 63
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 02/07/2026EU politicians: what on earth are you still doing there? 021 2
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 13/06/2026This fits: "Tommy Robinson says Russia is not an enemy as he travels to meet Elon Musk’s father in Moscow."independent.co.ukTommy Robinson says Russia is not an enemy as he travels to MoscowRobinson posted a video of himself and Errol Musk in which he says ‘We are going to go and cause some trouble’ 011 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 11/06/2026New issue of Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion is out, open access. journal.fi/temenos/issu... Articles on topics such as environmentalism, indigenous activism, Asatru in Denmark, Jewish radicalism, and religious dreams from a cognitivist perspective. 010 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöAndrew Rogers @asr-cascadian.bsky.social · 07/06/2026I’m a little behind on my podcasts, even my favorite ones, but guys … @ardenthistorian.bsky.social and @adriandaub.bsky.social talking about Silicon Valley weirdness was so good. I could listen to them for hours. (I also recommend Adrian’s book.) www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/the...straightwhiteamericanjesus.comThe Sunday Interview: Governing Without Accountability: Silicon Valley’s Ideology with Adrian Daub 3269 26
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöJoel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 07/06/2026The new Department of Defense faith codes list also classifies Orthodox Judaism as a type of Orthodox Christianity and "Reformed Judaism" as a type of Reformed Christian, while classifying Messianic Jews as a type of Judaism. 84823285 823
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 05/06/2026No doubt. Though it would be interesting to know how they ended up with these 31. Surely size and prominence, but I'm curious if anything else factored in. 010 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 05/06/2026Also interesting that they kept agnostics but ditched atheists. 000 0
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 05/06/2026Pentagon removes 180 items from its internally recognized list of religions (related to chaplains etc.), leaving only 31. Did the US military facilitate the practice of, say, Wicca a lot before this change?independent.co.ukPentagon drops 180 religions from its recognized faiths listA former Army chaplain called the reported changes a ‘tragedy’ 231 3
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 26/05/2026"Anthropic's Olah appears alongside pope at Vatican."reuters.comAnthropic's Olah says AI must be guided from outside Big TechThe company's co-founder urged greater oversight from religious leaders, governments and civil society. 010 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/05/2026Results in brief: if you modify the items to a non-American context, then yes, some explanatory value is there. We also found that Christian nationalism splits into two dimensions, much like what Li and Froese (2023) argue in the US. 000 0
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/05/2026We are not really aiming to advance the concept of Christian nationalism as such (especially not in the normative sense), but we had the data to examine whether the concept would work analytically in a completely different context, so we took the opportunity. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... 110 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöJoel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 08/05/2026"The humanities are not a luxury. They are how a democracy understands itself." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/a...nytimes.comDOGE’s Termination of Humanities Grants Is Ruled Unconstitutional 6871286 871
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 17/04/2026I liked this one a lot! It's about how most of us have lived in some relationship with invisible actors. Bonus points for the author not presenting the (correct) argument as a counter-narrative to secularization theory.press.princeton.eduThe New Science of the Enchanted UniverseOne of the world’s preeminent cultural anthropologists leaves a last work that fundamentally reconfigures how we study most other cultures 110 1
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 16/04/2026I appreciate what Pope is saying, though it’s worth remembering that he and other leaders of European national churches refrain from political SPECIFICS. It’s a norm they all follow. Which ultimately makes them mostly harmless to the status quo. And that’s how politicians prefer them, too. 020 2
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 11/04/2026"employees seeking exemptions from using the [AI] technology because of their religion."news.bloomberglaw.comAI Religious Objections at Work Emerge as New Employer ConcernArtificial intelligence in the workplace has employers grappling with a new legal issue: whether to accommodate employees seeking exemptions from using the technology because of their religion. 010 1
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöSusannah Crockford @suscrockford.bsky.social · 10/04/2026This story smelled wrong from the start and I'm glad the report has been retracted. 071 7
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 07/04/2026Remeber the HBO's Silicon Valley series episode, where one co-worker was "outed" as a Christian, at that was the point of the whole episode? Things have changed a lot since mid 2010s, at least in terms of public discourse. 110 1