iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

"History" is great. "The past" sucked.

Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

If you can't write a 12-page term paper starting at 3 AM the night before it's due on nothing but 3 cups of WaWa coffee and Microsoft spell-check, are you even a college student?

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Real question: Does the phrase "self-medicated with alcohol" exist in countries that have functional healthcare systems where people have, like, actual affordable access to legit medication?

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Spoiler alert: Americans actually like monarchism. Lots of it is actually written into the U.S. Constitution.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Another university getting rid of things you could only ever do at a university and replacing them with stuff a 13-year-old can do on a phone

Post from Andrew A.N. Deloucas
@aandeloucas.com:

In line with discussion about the job market, the latest majors being closed at Syracuse University:

Nine majors "sunsetting":
• Classical civilization
• Classics (Greek and Latin)
• Digital humanities
• Fine arts
• German
• Latino-Latin American studies
• Middle Eastern studies
• Modern Jewish studies
• Russian
ALT

The First University in the Nation to Build a Center Dedicated to the Creator Economy
Syracuse University is creating something that doesn't exist anywhere else in higher education.
The Center for the Creator Economy is the first academic center of its kind on a U.S. college campus. Led jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin).
Whitman School of Management, the center reinforces Syracuse University's commitment to bold, forward-looking academic leadership.
By aligning strengths in entrepreneurship, media, communications, athletics and digital infrastructure, the University is charting how higher education can prepare students for the 21st-century economy.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Not a field trip, but after high school graduation and the all-night lock-in party, my friends and I watched the sun rise at Walden Pond.

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Gabe Waterhouse @gabrielwaterhouse.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I am very excited to announce that over the holidays, my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social) was published in Cognitive Science! Here, we describe a new illusion of *number*: The Crowd Size Illusion! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

The “Crowd Size Illusion” and the Relativity of Number Perception

When we investigate busy visual scenes, how do we estimate the number of objects that we see? Most work on number perception answers this question by focusing on properties of the to-be-estimated set...

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

On the anniversary of January 6, 2021, we should remember a little discussed issue: An overwhelming desire for NORMAL politics wound up DESTROYING normal politics. Here's what I mean... Congress could have impeached, tried, and removed Trump BY DAWN on January 7. It didn't.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

If your system is only as good as the virtue of the people running it, maybe your system isn't very good.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

This dumb idea was brought to you by the same people who have claimed that the "liberal media" (aka, giant for-profit corporate conglomerates) is "anti-capitalist" and "socialist" for the past 50 years.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Periodic reminder that the U.S. Constitution doesn't need to be "defended" or "interpreted correctly." It needs to be changed.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Sure, but recognize symbolism for what it is. What the candidates should really pledge is to dismember the entire imperial presidency that got us to this point. But they won't. Because they think the system was basically fine until Trump showed up.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

UNC-Chapel Hill has THREE Rhodes Scholars this year! Congratulations to Tiana, Rotimi, and Gabrielle!! Big thanks to Dr. Marc Howlett, Executive Director of our Office of Distinguished Scholarships, and to all faculty and friends who helped in the process. www.unc.edu/posts/2025/1...

unc.edu

3 Carolina seniors win Rhodes scholarships - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tiana Dinham, Rotimi Kukoyi and Gabrielle Moreau received the prestigious honor, matching Carolina’s record high for a single year.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Trippy experience today when the hotel elevator opened up and I was face to face with Britt Lower, aka Helly R. I was a little worried about losing my memory before the elevator got to the bottom floor!

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

This article is insipid and stupid, but the sub-head is worse. No one is "too young" to "fact check" things that happened before they can remember. Maybe too lazy or ignorant, but not too young. Entire professions exist to explain things you didn't live through. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/s...

nytimes.com

Remember When Things Were Better in the ’90s? A.I. Does Too.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I don't think people should be getting MBAs, but I would point out that there is nothing mutually exclusive about being a history major and going to business school.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

I lectured college students today about why Jefferson called farmers "the chosen people of God." I said it was like what a certain 90s movie said about stuff "from the earth... God put this here for me and you." Pretty sure no one caught the reference.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Favorite US history myth that needs to die a sudden and quick death, GO: "Small business is the backbone of the economy."

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

I love the idea that GMU originally wanted to call its law school the "Antonin Scalia School of Law" but realized the acronym was ASSoL.

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Gabe Waterhouse @gabrielwaterhouse.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

I am excited to announce my first ever paper (w/ @samiyousif.bsky.social ) about a new illusion of *number*: the “Crowd Size Illusion”. osf.io/preprints/ps...

osf.io

OSF

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

bet they wouldn't quit if they got paid more

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Just want to point out: If Trump proves, retroactively, that he was elected president in 2020, then, retroactively... he was ineligible to run in 2024. Stop the steal?

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Amusing reminder that the sloganeers are really maligning the concept of constitutional monarchy. I would happily trade the US system for the Swedish one. But that's not a hill I'm going to die on. So Happy No Kings Day, y'all.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

The reason we have historians is so that people don't delude themselves into thinking they can write the history of their own times based on their personal vibes. Like this schlock. It May Feel Like the 1960s, but It’s Worse www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | It May Feel Like the 1960s, but It’s Worse

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

People who get paid to do a thing are generally better at it than people who cannot get paid to do the thing. Or do you not agree with capitalism?

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

We shall be as a dumpster fire upon a hill.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Maybe the clearest case you'll here for increasing federal revenue...

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Good reminder from @bretdevereaux.bsky.social that liberal apathy, as much as conservative conniving, lay the groundwork for the awfulness we're all living through.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 02/05/2025

among the things i would do if i were king of america is outlaw MLMs

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

People who use the phrase "do your own research" should not be trusted on anything, ever. You are not serious people.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Folks: The pastor is an idiot, but please get this history right-- The 3/5 clause wasn't bad because it diminished enslaved people: SLAVERY did that. It was bad because it OVER-COUNTED unfree people to help ENSLAVERS. It should have been 0/5, not 5/5. Or there just shouldn't have been slavery.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Notably, those Latin American countries that turned into dictatorships had Constitutions modeled on the US Constitution.

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Sabine Pitteloud @sabinepitteloud.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

New book! Environmental Regulation and the History of Capitalism The Role of Business from Stockholm 1972 to the Climate Crisis Coedited with Janick Schaufelbuehl and Sandra Bott In open access here: www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

This is an important thing that people often fail to understand: Philanthropy is a necessary response to social failure. It is not a positive good in and of itself.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

This right here is why we can't have nice things. Yes, billionaires should not have private jets. But anybody who gives their kid a new bike every Easter should be paying higher taxes. Happy Festivus. Gift Article: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/b...

nytimes.com

Are Easter Baskets Getting Out of Hand? (Gift Article)

Social media feeds are awash in images of lavish baskets overflowing with expensive gifts. Some parents are giving their children bikes. Others are pushing back.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Me keeping up with current events...

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Seems weird to post personal accomplishments as the world burns but... My book is reviewed alongside @erikmbaker.bsky.social 's new release in The New Republic. Check us out! newrepublic.com/article/1909...

newrepublic.com

The Cult of the Entrepreneur

Why do Americans idealize people who found businesses?

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

As Ronald Reagan said: "Defense is not a budget issue. You spend what you need."

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Meanwhile, America is still in its First Republic period.

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Joshua Eaton @joshuaeaton.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

While we’re banning apps, Microsoft Teams is right there.

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Matt Salomone @matthematics.com · 01/01/2025

Once any space becomes less than 40% male, (straight) men tend to cede it entirely while shouting about how it “went woke”. Fascinating read:

celestemdavis.substack.com

Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping?

We would rather talk about literally everything else.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

That sound you heard from Morningside Heights was @rrjohnr.bsky.social's head exploding.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

The History Major: Come for the cool old stuff. Stay for the writing and thinking skills.

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

The greatest trick the tech industry ever pulled was convincing the world (and itself) that it wasn't "big business."

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Nute @nutedawn.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

You all MOCKED George Lucas and said this was boring or dumb but who’s laughing now???

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Ben Waterhouse @benwaterhouse.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

I find it helpful to remember that the US presidency is and mostly always has been a high-school popularity contest. Even when Democrats win.

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