Sign in

Ethan Landes

@ethanlandes.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1K following 2.6K posts

Philosopher, broadly construed, at Eindhoven | Video games | Expat malaise | Linguistic stuff | ethanlandes.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Question for bsky's senior academics: I was taught one should try to avoid publishing in the same journal too frequently, but I've forgotten why. The lead author (of 3) on a paper I'm on has their eye on a journal I published in last year. I can't really think of a better fit. Is it fine?
020
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
As an undergrad, I RA'd in a genomics lab working with nematodes. My training could have been ... better. For months I pulled PCR tubes out of lab's central storage boxes with bare hands until a horrified lab technician pointed out that other groups using those tubes sequence human DNA.
183
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Does anyone else suspect one can tell which philosophers have been wined and dined by AI companies based on their accounts of AI welfare and/or consciousness?
130
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🚨New article with Darryl Cressman in Techné: “The Philosophy of Technology is more than Technology: Towards a Framework for the History of the Philosophy of Technology” The starting point is simple question: what does it mean to write history of philosophy of technology? #philtech #hopot #hopos
A preview of the first page of the article
1117
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Clare Moriarty @quiteclare.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
TFW, after some consideration, you finally settle on the pun that will frame the title of a talk you are giving. Very special.
0122
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Fenner Tanswell @fennert.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Next week Wednesday and Thursday (7th and 8th October) we will be running the event "Mathematical Proof in the age of AI" at the University of Bergen. www4.uib.no/en/research/...
www4.uib.no
Mathematical Proof in the Age of AI
This conference will be about the various implications of AI-based proving and autoformalisation for mathematics. Examples include the recently (claimed) major breakthrough in solving the Navier-Stoke...
284
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
More niche pet peeve: papers that argue that academics should use some novel methodological approach without actually attempting said approach.
210
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Chris @multiplicityct.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This criticism is 100% right and is at the core of my own research. Philosophy of trust has taught me a ton, and it's a very narrow conception of trust that leaves out almost all of normal human trust -- in other humans and in artifacts.
062
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The more I think about it, the more I find it absolutely incredible that philosophers will say things like "99% of humanity uses 'trust' this way. They are using it wrong."
2110
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Just learned an amazing neologism to describe people who just parrot LLM outputs: meat proxies
181
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Alex Holcombe @alexh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pink is a good word but it's sad that we lost 'incarnate'
1134
Reposted by Ethan Landes
National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 28/09/2026
Today marks three years since the iconic Sycamore Gap tree was illegally felled. We're pleased to bring you new images which reveal how the stump is growing, a sure sign that the tree is in recovery.
A close-up of sycamore shootsThe stump is hidden by a thick ring of green shootsThick, green shoots surround the stumpShowing tall shoots, growing above the stump
225566
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
More and more convinced the AI play is pivoting to "rogue AI agents and AI agents by rogue actors are now inevitable (oops, sorry, did I do that?). Give us lots of money to protect against them."
160
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Reading a PhD dissertation for a university with a MINIMUM REQUIRED LENGTH OF 350 PAGES AT 1.5 SPACING. If this is your university, for the love of god stop, you are making everyone's live worse for no benefit.
5401
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just had an interesting peek behind the curtain of the worsening of the internet. Clicked a link to an article and was met with a buggy captcha page. After some experimentation, it turns out I didn't have to do a captcha if the URL didn't have a tracker on it.
080
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Not at all hiding my philosophical pragmatism at my new job. Hope this works out 🤞🤞🤞
070
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Writing this meme counts as research for me
Victoria Beckham: Analytic philosophy is rigorous
David Beckham: Be honest
Victoria: It's the only contemporary philosophy that isn't meaningless nonsense
David: Do you carefully formalize philosophy or just define your terms
Victoria: We just define our terms
David: Thank you
2396
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Writing this meme counts as research for me
Victoria Beckham: Analytic philosophy is rigorous
David Beckham: Be honest
Victoria: It's the only contemporary philosophy that isn't meaningless nonsense
David: Do you carefully formalize philosophy or just define your terms
Victoria: We just define our terms
David: Thank you
2396
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This has been an absolute blast to exercise on. Sure, it is slow as hell and turns like a barge, but there is something so delightful and evocative of childhood to throw on some baggy street clothes and work up a sweat putzing around for an hour.
180
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
There's an applied epistemology paper to write here arguing that AI is really good at identifying unidentified routes from collective doxastic justification into knowledge. But I'm not the person to write it. openai.com/index/adviso...
openai.com
Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence
OpenAI is working with an independent Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence to guide the review and communication of emerging AI results.
290
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Being casually requested by email to submit both sides of an ID in a single pdf like it's not a 15 minute process.
130
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
My great grandfather left the Mennonite church, and Hans Landis is notable for being the last anabaptist martyred in Switzerland. I've always meant to read more about them. Does anyone have book recommendations?
221
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
One of the best perks of not having a real job
060
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Huw C. Davies @huwcdavies.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
About 2.7 million hours of work for no return.
311445
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The following is a subtweet: A crucial and underdiscussed part of academic training is the point you realize just how much expertise is out there. How high the bar is and how little you know compared to experts in countless other areas.
171
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Did some math today. If a couple sells the promise to not have children as carbon offsets, they could make a tidy $50 a year.
110
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
God: I have an idea for something called philosophy Angel: Greek for "love of knowledge"? So it investigates everything? God: No, most of that will be science Angel: So what then? God: That's the trick! The scope is so vague that it'll just be humans fighting over what philosophy is Angel: ...
0144
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A cold that started on Thursday has slowly morphed into debilitating, and I will be spending the weekend on the couch. Please recommend movies, bingeable tv, or trashy sci-fi novels with fun concepts.
241
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A cold that started on Thursday has slowly morphed into debilitating, and I will be spending the weekend on the couch. Please recommend movies, bingeable tv, or trashy sci-fi novels with fun concepts.
241
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I'm booking transatlantic flights home for Christmas, and my midwest sense of politeness is making me feel compelled to pay for seat selection. I am 6' 0" and have broad shoulders. If I have a middle seat, I'm just going to make 2 other people uncomfortable.
010
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A while ago I tried my hand at writing a philosophical argument against effective altruism in the form of a short story. I was hoping it would never be relevant, but here we are. So let me introduce: "A very short story about a very effective altruist" ethanlandes.com/posts/2026/0...
ethanlandes.com
A very short story about a very effective altruist
Peter was out with his wife on a walk in the beautiful desert. As they were approaching the crest of a hill, a snake sprung out from behind a rock, biting both Peter and his wife.
2162
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
One must respect the brazenness of Windows Subsystem for Linux. Windows solved cross-OS compatibility issues by just ... putting a Linux bash inside of Windows.
030
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Starting data visualization on a paper and need inspiration. What are people's favorite options for presenting a handful (~4) Likerts? #rstats
200
Reposted by Ethan Landes
minimaliste13 @minimaliste13.cpesr.fr · 17/09/2026
That's not a very realistic story: no effective altruism militant ever had a loving and caring wife.
092
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A while ago I tried my hand at writing a philosophical argument against effective altruism in the form of a short story. I was hoping it would never be relevant, but here we are. So let me introduce: "A very short story about a very effective altruist" ethanlandes.com/posts/2026/0...
ethanlandes.com
A very short story about a very effective altruist
Peter was out with his wife on a walk in the beautiful desert. As they were approaching the crest of a hill, a snake sprung out from behind a rock, biting both Peter and his wife.
2162
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Marco Almada @marcoalmada.com · 17/09/2026
In what follows, we establish (PWPP) PWPP:
051
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Philosophy writing pet peeve: refering to one of your theses or premises with a number or acronym makes your writing more difficult, not easier, to read
2181
Reposted by Ethan Landes
joannad-c.bsky.social @joannad-c.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Hiring! 🧠❤️🤔If you’re a philosopher working in ethics/ x-phi/ empirically informed moral philosophy / moral psychology / applied ethics, consider applying for a 2.5 year research postdoc with me in my lab at Oxford. Deadline noon 16th Oct. Details 👉 philjobs.org/job/show/32101 Hit me up with q’s!
static.klipy.com
Shameless Fiona Gallagher
ALT: Shameless Fiona Gallagher
12924
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Further confirming my suspicion that Qualtrics' lack of support for alternative, IDE-based, editing tools is all just a cynical ploy to keep you on the website where they can advertise Panels and more expensive subscriptions ... it turns out that exported surveys (.qsf) are just JSONs.
210
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Postdoc in history of physics @ Radboud University in The Netherlands on "Origins of Irreversibility" part of larger grant to explore fundamental questions concerning entropy, chaos, & irreversibility #HPS ⚛️ Deadline: 14 October 2026 Duration: 2 years, starting 2027 www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
ru.nl
Postdoc Positions: Origins of Irreversibility | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoc at the Faculty of Science? Check our vacancy!
03518
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The tragedy of ghost papers - talks and drafts you've encountered that you really love but never end up being published.
3675
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Todd in the Shadows @shadowtodd.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I was not expecting Winnie-the-Pooh's guide to Eastern religions to have such a visceral seething hatred of academia
2439022
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Philip Sink | Rorty Vindicator @thrillhouse1701.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It's very nice of the rationalists to name themselves after a school of philosophy that I don't like, rather than one I do, to save me the effort of either explaining myself or defending the name.
2141
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Starting a new paper I'm very excited about but I know in my bones that the first draft will top out somewhere north of 20,000 words...
060
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Got new Windows laptop. Accidentally hit Copilot key. Copilot opened. Immediately disabled the key in PowerToys.
150
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Coming from English, one of the harder parts of learning Dutch is turning out to be that in Dutch, the letters in words always make the sound they are supposed to.
160
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Amanda @ermandyy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
something about being rich and famous for too long makes people start reasoning like pre-socratic philosophers and I think that's beautiful
38621
Reposted by Ethan Landes
Nick Byrd, Ph.D. @byrdnick.com · 14/09/2026
If you had to guess whether someone’s a philosopher, what’d be more predictive? Their decisions about thought experiments? Or their scores on assessments of neurodivergent traits? In more than 1000 people, the measures of #autistic (and other traits) were more predictive:
doi.org
Thinking differently: neurodivergent traits and responses to thought experiments in philosophers and the general population
Philosophers have long speculated that individual differences in temperament influence philosophical thinking, yet empirical research has rarely explored the role of neurodivergent traits in this d...
5219
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The charitable interpretation of the hatred of traffic cameras in the Anglo world is that many see traffic behavior as driven more by social norms than legal norms. Enforcement of laws is thus an encroachment of the government into a social space, and is hated accordingly.
130
Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I'm slowly starting to believe "is this philosophy?" is an interesting political question. Suppose the logical positivists took a different turn and their descendants ended up doing something we'd now recognize as linguistics. But they called themselves analytic philosophers. Could this happen?
021