iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

No no. He’s saying that his only flaw is that he’s too humble

David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Fair, though the paradigm shifting is fun too. Personally, my most shifting ideas come in the shower, so I think the value of bathing frequently is underrated.

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Yes. Can confirm this is the issue on an Apple device

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Maybe the internet is a better source for medical information than my doctor, or than the CDC (before Trump). I don’t personally believe that, and if you do, then there is no way for one of us to convince the other about anything health related because our standard of validity differs

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

If you think your claim that ivermectin cures covid because you “did your own research” is of equal value to my claim that it doesn’t cure covid because I read it in the New England Journal of Medicine, then discussion doesn’t work

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Or, rather, there is a different standard for what counts as evidence. “I saw it in a tweet” and “I read it in a peer-reviewed paper” are different evidentiary standards. (As is “I saw it in a reputable news source”)

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Makes it impossible to have a discussion in the first place. You can’t discuss climate change, oppression, or macroeconomics if someone believes that Hilary Clinton is running a child sex trafficking ring in a pizza parlor. Not because it’s false, but because they believe it without evidence…

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This is a necessary position, but not sufficient. In addition to shared respect, there has to be a shared commitment to the terms of discussion — that is, agreement in the way in which claims are arbitrated. The fact that the right doesn’t agree that evidence is required to make an argument …

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This is true, but also easy for someone to say who is more famous already than the honors he might get…

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Everything with the right wing is projection

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

“It's cool how a US Senator can just spread insane lies on TV” Well, that’s sort of the job description of a Republican senator these days, innit?

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Kinda depends on how much better it is… Although it would have to be mind-blowingly better for me to wait in line to get something that will be easy to get in a couple months

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

So he’s saying that republicans are better at hunting excuses than democrats? It’s definitely true of Rs in congress, but being better at finding excuses doesn’t seem like the flex he thinks it is…

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Thank you. I was going to post the same thing. Happy I don’t need to!

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Lord of the rings was about the dangers of cursed jewelry. Also, orcs

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

This seems like it should be a war crime? Is it a war crime, or because there isn’t a war is it just a thing people are allowed to do? Seems like things you shouldn’t be able to do in war you also shouldn’t be able to do in not-war. I mean, war is supposed to be better than not-war, right?

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Could you say a little more about this? Or is there a link to something that explains this? Not trying to ask you to Google this for me, but any advice would be appreciated…. Thx

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

That seems pretty self-hating coming from an account called Academic Chatter. Besides, everyone knows that writing is 20% typing and 80% retyping.

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

He’s the only person who’s believed in Mercantilism since the year 1800

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

He paid someone to take the class after the lecture on Mercantilism so that’s all he knows

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Nice! How about a way to make replies to a post appear as quoted posts on the reply-er’s feed?

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

But when you’re the President of the wealthiest nation on Earth, complaining like this shows you’re small and means you’re acting like a bully

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

And just to be clear, in situations where there is a structural power imbalance, of course people with less power should talk about whether they are being treated fairly

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This kind of complaining about being treated poorly and not being shown respect is the tell that Trump himself is fundamentally weak. Strong people worry about how they treat others and showing respect rather than receiving it

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Short man and his gardener hike to a mountain and lose a piece of jewelry. Also, orcs

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

So that’s what you’re thinking when you don’t comment on one of my replies? Jeez….

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

One of my mentors called the beginning of the semester “The Tunnel”

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We should definitely rush to figure out whether and how it can be done instead of just dismissing it as impossible Or, more problematic, that it has to be worse than what we already know how to do because we already know how to do the things we already know how to do 6/x

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Generative AI is so new that we don’t even agree on how to use it well, much less on how to teach someone to use it well But the fact that we don’t know how to do it (yet) doesn’t mean it can’t (or shouldn’t) be done That doesn’t mean we should rush to teach AI writing in schools, but… 5/

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The fact that you need to write well to write well with AI doesn’t mean that you have to learn to write without AI first In fact, that is almost certainly as false as saying the only way to learn to use a table saw well is to saw wood by hand first The problem is… 4/

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

That we can do working with AI — including writing with AI The generous interpretation of objections to *that* is you can’t write well with AI unless you know how to write well already This point I am quite convinced is true, *however* 3/

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The generous interpretation of why writing with AI is bad is that there is a *particular kind* of thinking that can only be done when writing “by hand.” I’m not actually convinced that’s true, but even if it is, it ignores the fact that there is *another kind* of thinking… 2/

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

This is a great and thoughtfully-written 🧵 Pun intended But I’m not sure it is quite right. Writing is a form of thinking—you have to think to write and writing forces you to think But not all thinking requires writing So writing means thinking but that doesn’t imply that thinking is writing 1/

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

“Are you enjoying your time off in the summer?” “No. Summer is when I’m actually working full time.” And that’s not to mention that in my field NSF grants are due in September

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

You’re not even touching the bizarreness of “buying out” of classes using grant funds. So there are years when I’ve taught only one class and people say: “Wow, that’s great that you get time off.” And then I have to explain that most of my work isn’t actually teaching. It’s research

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Dunno. I think he’d very much like to do that, but can’t anymore

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Trump talking about his ballroom has the energy of the kid talking to Mamdani about a gold snake m.youtube.com/watch?v=pgxV...

m.youtube.com

ZOHRAN MAMDANI press conference TURNS ADORABLE thanks to GOLDEN SNAKE kid

YouTube video by Diario AS

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The fact that in the past we taught writing and it helped with other things doesn’t mean we should keep doing it to teach other things. And again, to be clear, I think people should learn to write. I’m just taking issue with the justification for doing it.

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

If we want to teach memory, planning, or other things, we should teach them. But the reason for teaching writing shouldn’t be because it helps people learn something else.

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is the same argument people used to make for teaching Latin. I agree that writing is valuable and that we should teach writing. But not because it builds memory, planning, and/or metacognition. We should teach writing because writing is useful.

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Oh, don’t worry. They have a version with Jew too

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It constantly befuddles me that he keeps saying over and over that lost because he’s so incompetent that he couldn’t keep the election from being rigged — and that Obama and Biden were able to do it. Narrator: There is no irony in MAGAworld

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

TRUMP, a DERANGED SLEAZEBAG There, fixed the grammar for you, djt

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David Williamson Shaffer @dwshaffer.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Also, he didn’t *create* a great health care plan. He just thought that would be a good name for a health care plan. Narrator: it isn’t

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