iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Matt Darling @besttrousers.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Lots of AI development has been aimed at software engineering, and a lot of tasks are not particularly like software engineering.

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Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 22h

We've already got Super Intelligence, they're called Professors. 😘

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Kelly Kennedy @kellyskennedy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

“The descendants of Hemings are also Jefferson descendants,” White said, adding, “There is no place on the mountaintop or anyplace in America where Black people should be barred.”

nytimes.com

A Black Jefferson Descendant Is Buried at Monticello for the First Time

The burial came as the Smithsonian released DNA research it said provides “extraordinary proof” that Thomas Jefferson had children with Sally Hemings.

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Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Monuments are temporary. Buildings are temporary. A people will decide who they will honor. And a people will decide who they will not honor. Look up the "spur of fame" about how the American Founders thought they would be remembered and how they chose to act in order to be well-remembered.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Brilliant mathematician Emmy Noether was initially barred from teaching at University of Göttingen because she was a woman. She taught for 4 years as a "guest lecturer" under David Hilbert's name. Hilbert, exasperated at the stupidity of the rule: "Gentlemen, this is not a bathing establishment."

artsci.tamu.edu

From Algebra to Airplane Crashes, Emmy Noether’s Lasting Influence on Mathematics

Emmy Noether, whom some consider the “Mother of Modern Mathematics,” continues to shape modern research and the studies of mathematicians today; including research into the investigation of airplane c...

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026

Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Notice who’s rejecting the “turn the page“ precedent? Trump himself, plus his Congress. Look at DOJ’s & Congress’ investigative targets (Comey, James, Fulton County, Fauci). Seems as though accountability is exactly what Trump is asking for.

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Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

AI proponents always say that “AI is already here, might as well embrace it.” But isn’t the opposite also true? If AI is already here, isn’t the rational response to put up guardrails to ensure that it doesn’t kill us all or violate privacy? We did the same with automobiles and airplanes

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

”Balance” is IMHO a poorly conceived ideal in academic hiring. It implies a bipolar ideological scale instead of a multidimensional perspectival space. I’m all for viewpoint diversity but not for fetishizing any one ideology. If you accept the polarity of ideology, you‘re conceding too much.

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Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

@drmichaeljtaylor.bsky.social Soldiers and Silver was one of the best books I've read in the past few years!

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Brian Honan @brianhonan.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Happy Skynet day to all those who celebrate

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 28/08/2026

yeah, the thing is that if you want to give jefferson credit for creating the conditions for abolition, you also have to give him responsibility for the rapid expansion of slavery and the concomitant growth of a massive domestic slave trade: see the LA purchase and the 1808 int’l slave trade ban.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 28/08/2026

this seems…insane? and on the face of it, a good example of how not to do historical thinking?

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Yes. 1) Semantically, “human nature“ implies immutable & intractable. 2) Rhetorically, invoking “nature“ lumps the phenomenon under discussion with pretty much all reality in the cosmos rather than analyzing the phenomenon in question. It’s an intellectual copout.

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Mike Madrid @mikemadrid.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The most important town in America for the coming midterms is a small dusty impoverished Texas town named Beeville. A city with a checkered racial past might be a harbinger of the future: greattransformation.substack.com/p/beeville-t...

greattransformation.substack.com

Beeville, Texas: The Most Important City In The Midterms For America

Why this small south Texas town holds the key to the balance of power in Congress and which party will dominate the next decade of American politics

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

What beautiful work in every way, in my home city.

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Dr. Rachel Schine @rachelschine.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

“Abishag the human binky“ is now a thought I’ve thought so you all have to know of it, too.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

1 Kings 1.1-4 came to mind this morning. For some reason a story about an old, declining king who needs a young woman companion seemed relevant.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

(The post being quoted is kind of odd given that most actual historians aren’t obsessed with dates—which I say as one of the more date-conscious of our species.)

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Maybe unpopular opinion: ”if a Dem president did X, think how the media would react!” is a counterfactual. At best counterfactuals are thought experiments that raise new possibilities but no new facts; at worst they’re wishful thinking. They vent outrage but persuade no one to change their mind. 1/

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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This is an important question but very difficult to answer. A thread on the Christianization of the Roman _State_ which by proxy gives us some insight on the Christianization of the Roman _World_

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Do dumb wars demand a smart takeaway? (FTR, I mostly avoid the terms "smart" & "dumb" bc they're analytically blunt. There are lots of ways to be "smart" or "dumb" & it's almost always more helpful to identify those ways than hurl the broad, shaming words. But here the "dumb" shoe fits perfectly.)

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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Not to pick on Bassin, but this is a common sentiment I see on here. And perhaps it is an accurate reflection of media coverage. But I don't think it captures public opinion accurately, which has indeed been savaging Trump. A few data points.

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Julia Azari @juliaazari.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

i can't emphasize enough how much the president isn't a CEO

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

When Rand Paul is right, he’s right. Also: I think both the families of our Service members and the parents of the Iranian schoolgirls killed in the US strike would say there’ve been “significant casualties.”

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

1) Not pronouncing the “r” In “February.” 2) Spelling the past-tense of “lead” the same as the present tense. 3) “the decline of the Roman Empire” placed anytime before the Seljuks 4) ”the fall of the Roman Empire” placed anytime before 1204

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

There are no laws of history. The analogous physical sciences aren't physics or chemistry, where there are laws, but evolutionary biology and historical geology, where you're explaining past events from partial evidence and so you can't simply model with equations or perform controlled experiments.

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Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 29/07/2026

Scientist falsifies hypothesis, film at 11

Fauci’s diary shows he thought Covid could be man-made. Now he’s telling Congress it was ‘molecularly impossible’

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

1) Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Loeb Classical Library edition (forgot I owned it, bought a second copy; later gave one to a friend) 2) Garry Wills, Reagan’s America (sold it back but needed it for another class) 3) Fergus Miller, The Roman Near East (gave it away for a relocation but needed it again)

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Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 26/07/2026

Americans have more confidence in higher education than in big tech companies, and the gap is growing rather than shrinking. The higher ed-doomsday pundits need to get on board with the real vibe shift in public trust that is happening right now.

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EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

There is a lot to say about the Nolan Odyssey movie. But one point that I think has not been emphasized enough is: this is a film about living in LA, as Nolan, my erstwhile British compatriot and age mate, has done for years. I gather it’s a strange place.

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eric gonzalez juenke @egojunk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

If you have Odyssey fever, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? is a great viewing. This is a review from a classicist friend after its original release. scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcont...

scholarworks.gvsu.edu

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Yes. Thermopylae was in fact a crushing defeat with zero upside for the Spartans. Hans van Wees, a top historian of ancient Greek militaries, proved this in 2018: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

researchgate.net

Thermopylae: Herodotus versus the Legend | Request PDF

Request PDF | On Nov 2, 2018, Hans van Wees published Thermopylae: Herodotus versus the Legend | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

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Morwenna Ludlow @morwennaexe.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I’m honoured & proud to be a new FBA — a member of an institution which is defending the value of the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts in a period when they are increasingly under threat. These disciplines are crucial for a rich, deep and critical understanding of the world.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Releasing public statements, covertly messaging on social media, trying to influence foreign leaders... Like diplomatic corps and intel agencies? Normal. Manipulating election and legal processes? Abnormal, worth countering. And as Trump just showed, the only country doing that to the US is Russia.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Trent Reznor becomes Captain Ahab: Nine Inch Whales.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Harrison Ford played Connery’s son in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Ford was 12 years younger than Connery.

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Zachary Shirkey @zachary-shirkey.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I love the irony of requiring a class that plays up the benefits of personal liberty.

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Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

The signing of the Declaration of Independence was just that. The war still needed to be won. A Constitution came later. Abolition of slaves later. The right of women to vote even later. All of us must finish and perfect our union. Happy Fourth of July, everybody.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Is there any good reason we should call the US founders “Founding Fathers,” the way Christians call early Christian writers “Church Fathers”? It accords familial/religious authority to some flawed albeit relatively publicly-interested men.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

People who spiral out overusing LLM chatbots are really just experiencing the kind of brain-damaging stream of unconditional validation that’s always been the norm for the hyper-wealthy, which explains a lot.

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Every single publisher getting an AI payout from the LLM lawsuits should be paying it to their authors & making that author’s book open access—regardless of who own the rights. Most academic authors (ca. 80%) do not own their own publishing rights (especially first authors) & wont get checks at all.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 27/06/2026

putin is bleeding his country dry for his own ego and megalomania

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

My favorite Mel Brooks movie has to be Silent Movie. And I have a soft spot for Spaceballs.

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David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Duh. Which means: the socialists in NY need to prove effective.

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