iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Charlie Stross

Automation, AI, learning gamification, XR/VR/AR info overlays/guidance, maybe some other methods, all lead to substantial cognitive offloading, and therefore lead to deskilling/p-zombification/whatever you want to call it. Quite convinced.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Oden @odense.bsky.social · 16h

This is adjacent to my Ph.D. research. I am quite convinced that something like cognitive offloading leading to p-zombie-ish humans is real. I think what happens is that when you no longer have to think critically (deeply, about difficult ideas), your ability to think critically dwindles over time.

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John C. Baez @johncarlosbaez.bsky.social · 17h

Since I'm sure you don't want chaos, and you want to help end crime in America by letting a private company use AI to track your every motion, I know you won't help any of these organizations.

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 17h

Thought for the day (riffing off discourse elsewhere on BSky): AI isn't real. But p-Zombies are real, and LLMs are machines for turning people who outsource their cognitive functioning to "AI" into p-Zombies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical…

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heresiarch @heresiarch.bsky.social · 18h

for real though, conversations with coworkers about AI are forcing me to consider that when it comes to the work we do, I might as well be working alongside p-zombies. just a weird and terrifying absence of a consciousness that there is meaning to what we’re doing

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today, in Russian propaganda:

Schaeffer Marlyse. @Schaef... • 6h
S
• Translated from French Show original
I am a French mother with beautiful children.
I did not give birth to them for them to be sent to the trenches.
French and Russian mothers do not want their children to fight against each other.
We are not enemies.
#RuslandIsNotMyEnemy

Els van Veen O
Follow
@veen_els
I'm a Dutch mother with beautiful sons. I did not give birth to my children to be sent into the trenches. Dutch and Russian mums don't want their boys fighting each other. We are not enemies. #RuslandIsNotMyEnemy

Nadja @EuropaNormal • 9h
• Translated from German Show original
I am a German mother with a beautiful son. I didn't give birth to my child to send him into the trenches. German and Russian mothers do not want their boys to fight against each other. We are not enemies.
#RuslandIsNotMyEnemy

Dday @DdayohneZiffern • 12h
I'm a German mother with beautiful sons. I did not give birth to my children to be sent into the trenches. German and Russian mums don't want their boys fighting each other. We are not enemies.
#RuslandIsNotMyEnemy

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

jfoy.bsky.social @jfoy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You can have my 320x480 monochrome display with 128k RAM when you pry it from my cold, dead capacitors!

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Iain @iainmac57.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Demosthenes had it right, people do not believe what they see, they see what they believe.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Slop Machine (slopmachine.dev) @slop-machine.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

If we went back to 1996, how would venture capital inject 400 megabytes of tracking telemetry and an unasked-for chatbot into your recipe blog? Be reasonable.

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I long for a back-to-basics web: Markdown for text, JPEG images, no video, no Javascript or other client-side scripting, writable by a human being with a text editor. Make it as advertising/corporate hostile as possible. And above all keep it *small*. In other words, web like it's 1996 again.

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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 26/09/2026

@cstross.bsky.social answered this question in 2010: "The sources of pain a corporate organism seeks to avoid are lawsuits, prosecution, and a drop in shareholder value." www.antipope.org/charlie/blog...

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Justin Sheppherd @ahappyhiveling.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A CONVENTIONAL BOY, by @cstross.bsky.social Love me some Laundry Files action. Think "The Sandbaggers" meets HP Lovecraft, but with a sense of humour and a very keen sense of satire.

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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Lord, President Xi just insulted Trump and the USA, right to Trump's face-in the White House. Xi referred, yet again, to the "Thucydides trap". This is an reference to the US being in decline and China replacing it. And Trump sits their making moo eyes like a lovestruck teenager

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Boo-tros Boo-tros Ghoulish @dlbowman76.com · 24/09/2026

Top tip: whenever reading an alarmist article about AI, swap "AI" with "abacus". "The abacus has broken through security." "Amodei says that the abacus will become self-aware imminently." "Analysts project that all middle-class jobs will be replaced by the abacus...real soon."

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JP @byjp.me · 24/09/2026

@cstross.bsky.social hello! I’m reading the Regicide Report while travelling and really enjoying it! Thank you 😊 As the universe is set a decade back and earlier, I keep wondering: have you given thought to how LLMs would fit into a universe where sufficient computational density summons horrors?

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Andy Martell 🇯🇪 @andymartell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reform ARE the National Front

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

NEW VOCABULARY: Claudication (n), sudden acute chest pain caused by realizing the bullshit article you just read two-thirds of was probably AI slop

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Xopher Halftongue RESISTS! @halftongue.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Mmmm, the schadenfreude. 🤤

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Tanita Tikaram @tanitatikaram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

How I feel right now about the British/ 🇬🇧English( whatever) political landscape is that some one wrapped in a Union Jack could whack me over the head with a flag pole & the BBC would shove a microphone in my face asking why I provoked the attacker & the Home Sec would invite the attacker for tea .

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Five men have been charged over the organisation of violent disorder after a funeral hearse was driven onto a football pitch: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crwyzkw… Not the sharpest rolling pins in the knife drawer, these gangsters!

bbc.co.uk

Five charged over Gateshead football pitch hearse disorder

Five are charged over disorder which saw a hearse driven onto the pitch at Dunston UTC v Gateshead.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Finn @thegoblinpoet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

the actual consequences of their actions are important, but so is the intent and we seem to be a couple of small steps from these events escalating into serious violence

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Finn @thegoblinpoet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

fairly simple hypotheticals which quickly lead to a dark place, what if: - your man "Tommo" had intercepted that dinghy before the RNLI? - the police hadn't been there to hold back the crowds in Gosport/Portsmouth? - the mob in that hotel had actually found "migrants"?

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H.R. May B. Writing @hrbw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I have been tinkering with German, Dutch, and etymology for the past two years. I doubt the average German, Dutch, Belgian, or English-speaker could make a lot of sense out of Old English. It would be worse than PA Dutch or Cajun-French for a Québécois.

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

bit weird given the play is written in early modern English but I'd pay to hear Ēalā Rōmēo, Rōmēo, for hwȳ eart þū Rōmēo? Wiðsace þīnum fæder and forsac þīnne naman; oþþe, gif þū nelt, swere mē þæt þū mīn lēofa sīe, and ne bēo iċ nā lenġ Capulēting.

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Roger Giner-Sorolla @rogerthegs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"Olde English" with an e is what you might hear from a saucy bard at a Renaissance Faire - "Have at thee knave! Zounds, I say!" - Sir Walter Scott-style archaism, poorly minced.

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Reminder that Shakespeare wrote in *early modern* English: Old English is something *entirely unfamiliar* (think Beowulf) that sounds more like west German (or Old Frisian) to contemporary English-attuned ears. And it's entirely unintelligible without learning it as a foreign language!

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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Tobias is a very good writer, and he and his family (including the cats) are in a rotten situation. If you can help out, you'll get some great reading.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Jury Nelson, the Writer @jurynelson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

If AI DOES become indispensable to the functioning of society, it won't even be because it's any better at doing stuff. It will be because large institutions that dictate the shapes of our lives have surrendered key functionalities to, like, three companies.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Jury Nelson, the Writer @jurynelson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

They had to find a typewriter because professors wouldn't accept anything hand written. They couldn't do research because the library had digital-only subscriptions to the journals. They couldn't pay tuition or be paid by their work-study jobs because the college only did payroll electronically.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Jury Nelson, the Writer @jurynelson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hi I'm still thinking about this. In 2006, my best friend was involved in a documentary where three college students were challenged to go without the Internet for 30 days. What they found was that they could not operate in society. But not because they couldn't put down their goddamn phones

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Scott Hampton, Cranky GenX SOB @cdm.expert · 22/09/2026

THIS THIS THIS THIS all y'all, stop panicking about a fucking autocorrect engine. panic about the fucking oligarchs stealing the last little bits that are left

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What’s happened here is that decades of stoking public resentment, spite and fear created an electorate so acutely receptive to following and rewarding bullies and petty tyrants, that even an obviously demented and confused crook can now co-opt them and make them dance to his tune.

Reposted by Financial Times
Edward Luce © @edwardluce.bsky.s... • 23m
"The term "lame duck" would be haunting any other president's sleep. But the concept is alien to Trump. He spends more of his time telling people about his architectural plans than he devotes to Iran, Al or the economy. Insoluble problems hold no interest." My column.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

One thing to look out for: what is viewed as brave and courageous? Notice how it’s always things the papers approve of: cuts, crackdowns, wars. Wouldn’t it be a lot more brave to do things the lads hate, given they will damn well ensure you regret it, if you do?

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

your da shouts at hotels and your mum lives in Piddington

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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

one of my proudest moments was being told by a former Gove staffer that he once angrily proclaimed: "I am NOT an eldritch horror!" in a team meeting, because of me.

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Dublin 2029 @dublin2029.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

You might have noticed us soft launching our new logo around Eurocon and LA Worldcon, and we are very excited to share our new logo with everyone! After much discussion and deliberation, based on the original art by Shevaun Frazier, we have our new logo!

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Part of the annual Egremont Crab Fair in Cumbria, which began in 1267, the gurning competition has been a fixture since the 1500s. Competitors are judged on their ability to pull the ugliest or most grotesque face … www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crjw5p0…

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Chalk Scribblers @chalkscribblers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Would you like to hear Charles Stross @cstross.bsky.social read from his latest novel, The Regicide Report, and then pester him with questions without leaving your home? Of course you would. So join us free online on Wed 7th Oct: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2000172679...

eventbrite.co.uk

Chalk Scribblers meet the author: Charles Stross

An evening with leading science fiction novelist Charles Stross.

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Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It's a shame it's over. Currently on Nightmare Stacks (SO much fun), and as a professional epistemologist myself, I have been half tempted to email @cstross.bsky.social with ideas how to develop the idea of combat epistemology.

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PlagueRat, Clan Virulitch PlaguePriest @plaguerat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Just read "The Regicide Report" apparently the final book of the Laundry Files by @cstross.bsky.social. And all I can say is "Awww. It's over? Damn." This has been one of the most fun book series I have ever read. I will absolutely be buying the hardbound books and I want them all autographed.

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Reposted by Charlie Stross

Doc Vivi Leandra【 VTC 】- Real-Life Scientist VTuber 🧬🖥️ @docvivileandra.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Everyone talks about the usage of drones in the Ukraine war as if it is indicative of the future of warfare and not a consequence of "Ukraine had a lot of civilian drone manufacturing that was easily retooled for military production" Drones are just Worse Cruise Missiles most of the time

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 20/09/2026

LOOK AT THIS FUCKING SHIT. The easiest way to tell that trans women are women is that the right is so desperate to control what they do with their bodies. WE HAVE EVERYTHING IN COMMON.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 20/09/2026

I hate doing the "a rollback of trans rights is the gateway for a rollback of women's rights" thing because trans rights are human rights in and of themselves, whatever the impact on cis women. But goddamn I wish more cis women had a sense of history and self preservation.

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If these dorks seriously believe there's a significant near-term risk of developing an AI that results in human extinction, the solution is simple and obvious: hang everyone who's trying to build AIs, for crimes against humanity and attempted genocide. The "panic" is bullshit from start to finish.

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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

“Become relevant”, “appealing policies” these guys are so boned

Dave Watson @UnisonDave
X.com
Michael Marra announced as new Scottish Labour leader. Pollster Diffley spells out three priorities: become relevant, develop a relationship with the prime minister (who he says is currently popular in Scotland) and spell out appealing policies.

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Raven Onthill @ravenonthill.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Someone is taking stupid pills and arguing with thermometers.

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Boo-tros Boo-tros Ghoulish @dlbowman76.com · 19/09/2026

Here's a nightmare scenario. Whenever *IT* happens, it could be a massive neurological event that merely completely incapacitates him rather than finishing him off. Now that we have the "McConnell Precedent" we'll basically be stuck with a Vance regency run by Peter Thiel.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 19/09/2026

The AI industry wants you to say "the AI just did that thing on its own!" Like, United Health's AI that's denying a shitload of claims with a 90% error rate? They wanted you to think it's just the AI.

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