iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Is this for espresso (based)? If so, our favorite daily bean is Alchemy from George Howell. It’s robust yet flavorful (robust can lack subtle flavors).

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It's genuinely fascinating that the US president keeps announcing that he just flat out doesn't know what trade is, he legit doesn't appreciate the concept of exchange and instead views economic activity through the lens of a dragon attempting to maximise its gold hoard to sit upon.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

It’s also often fine to use premises one is very unsure about (not aligning with ones judgements/intuitions), to see where they would take us (in combination with other claims) or, at the extreme, use premises in order to provide a reductio.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I mean, the very intrinsic value she is interested in is not something that one only accesses (given her assumptions about what it is) when a student at university, but being a student is mainly instrumentally valuable with respect to it. Re depth: I want to hear more about the intrinsic values.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I agree it’s a good, interesting exchange. I think Frey makes some good points, but more clarity and depth is ultimately needed. For instance: is the intrinsic value realized when a student or later when using studies? If mainly later, then humanities study *is* mainly instrumentally valuable.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

It would be nice if it was a standard practice for CVs to have a “Work Not in Progress” section.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

University administrators: The philosophers have only observed the world, but the point is to rightsize it.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

“For too long, the university has ignored the wisdom of the donor class and hired based on academic excellence. Regrettably, this has led to the underrepresentation of discredited viewpoints in elite higher education.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/wer...

mcsweeneys.net

We’re Diversifying the University by Hiring More Crackpots

“For too long, the university has ignored the wisdom of the donor class and hired based on academic excellence. Regrettably, this has led to the underreprese...

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

I used to use an old Four Tet track that started with a glass breaking (the instrumental version of “Happy Now?”). It would certainly get my attention.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Fantastic interview that is very helpful for understanding the state of Israel and the extreme injustices it perpetrates. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Reckoning With Israel’s ‘One-State Reality’

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

bsky.app/profile/simo...

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

The original post referred to utilitarianism. Utilitarianism assumes we can do this. I’m not a utilitarian, but I also think we can do this, at least in certain crude ways.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Isn’t it obvious that if we compare the impact on their well-being of giving $100,000 to a person who has little or no money with the impact on Musk’s well-being of giving him $100,000 that we will think the first is much larger, and that there is a sliding scale for individuals in between.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I was disappointed (although not really surprised at this point) to see this morning that this is *the* article and headline that the NYT decided to run with. You might have thought they would have wanted to support any large demonstrations against these incompetent, malignant a..holes at this point

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Why wouldn’t some anxious grad students use these tools to write for them? And so far as submissions to journals are concerned, it will be true that AI generated papers will be rejected but it’s going to slow down refereeing even more and we already have a big problem there with efficiency.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Suppose you extend trust and then a significant percentage of your students simply cheat, using AI tools (much larger percentage than used to plagiarize texts). This is what many teachers (myself included) have experienced firsthand. What do you recommend in such circumstances? Turning a blind eye?

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Valentines’s Day recommendation: Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” in a superb new and complete recording conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Fun fact: Prokofiev originally gave the score a happy ending where Juliet wakes up before Romeo kills himself, but was forced to change it.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Check that they actually make all your corrections to the corrections because they may not handle that process properly either. It’s exhausting just to think about.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

How does he rationalize the free speech bit to himself, given the Trump administration is now doing its best to kill free speech in the US? Such a clown.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I’m finding it difficult to believe that these are both posts on the official White House .gov website, but they are.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

This is not really the right place for this post, but just came across this hilarious image based on a series of children’s books.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Yes. If she didn’t have such cautious and old fashioned parents she’d probably be a TikTok celebrity.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Or as my daughter likes to say, “Ugh, people!!!”

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

This is not really the right place for this post, but just came across this hilarious image based on a series of children’s books.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

My young daughter suggested that I include a photo of our dog in my class slides at the beginning of semester, “because then the students won’t realize you don’t have a life.” Ouch.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Is this a bit? In case it isn’t: Severance.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

A seventh OUP book cover featuring one of my photos. www.daniel-star.net/photos.html

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

You’re missing out on the best show on tv.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

But isn’t it unjust that many of us wouldn’t want him as a colleague. 🙄

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Yep. Or it’s as if we’re doing that. I’m not recommending this view, obviously.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I honestly fear some of the people who hold this view might respond by saying: this seemingly bad consequence only follows on the assumption we should have public regulations and public health policies, but we shouldn’t. Let people die if God wants them to die.

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Early morning photographs from Stowe, Vermont (taken in late December 2024). #photography

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Daniel Star @danstar.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

In the Boston centered novel “Moonlight Mile,” Dennis Lehane has one of his characters visit Neptune Oyster Bar in the North End for a meal and the character declares they have the best lobster roll in New England. I agree. Seminannual lunch after teaching is completed.

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