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Fintan Mallory

@fintanmallory.com
3.1K followers 1.1K following 2.2K posts

Philosopher at Durham University. fintanmallory.com

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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 18/09/2026
This was the best novel I’ve read in the last couple of years. I really recommend it: inpressbooks.co.uk/products/the...
inpressbooks.co.uk
The Restorative Artist
Embalmer Graham Creer has spent his life helping others face loss, but when he's struck down by a corpse-carried illness, he is forced to confront his own mortality. Trapped convalescing in the apartm...
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 14/09/2026
Mufasa explains the circle of life but it's the Lotka-Volterra equations
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 13/09/2026
Found a folder of papers I’d printed and annotated in grad school and it feels like a weird glimpse into another person’s life.
A selection of papers on theoretical syntax and formal learning theory
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 11/09/2026
Just flagging that I’ve been making some great progress on the Riemann Hypothesis lately, just in case any company snoops me on it and publishes anything this year…
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 08/09/2026
A billion years ago, I wrote a paper arguing that it can be helpful to view artificial neural networks as stochastic measuring devices. It has come officially out: academic.oup.com/book/63302/c...
academic.oup.com
Large Language Models Are Stochastic Measuring Devices
Abstract. This chapter argues that large language models are stochastic measuring devices. A measuring device is an artefact that has been produced to alte
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 08/09/2026
The ghosts would not be able to *notice* that Pac-Man has eaten the ‘power pellet’, *fear* him, and *decide* to run the other direction if they were not rational agents.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 08/09/2026
Looking forward to teaching this paper this year: philpapers.org/archive/MANB...
Believing without Reason, or:
Why Liberals Shouldn't Watch
Fox News
By Eric Mandelbaum and Jake Quilty-Dunn
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 06/09/2026
I’ve been thinking a lot about this article in which a native Irish speaker describes the difficulties negotiating interactions with strangers, working out what language to greet them in, how to handle mixed-language situations:
irishtimes.com
An cheist is práinní don chainteoir Gaeltachta
Is minic gur íogair caolchúiseach a bhíonn na gnásanna comhrá sa Ghaeltacht, idir muintir na háite féin agus le cuairteoirí
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 05/09/2026
Space is so massive, there’s probably someone else who looks quite a bit like you out there. They’re almost certainly on earth though and you’re probably related.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 04/09/2026
Beidh mé ag spalpadh amach mo chuid seafóide sa Ghaeilge anseo ar Cogar: cogar.ie Lean mé mura bhfuil do dhothain truflais i do shaol.
cogar.ie
Cogar - Bígí páirteach i dtodhchaí na Gaeilge.
Ardán sóisialta nua do phobal na Gaeilge
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 03/09/2026
Hard not to take this personally:
rte.ie
Why you seriously need to stop trying to be funny at work
Research shows it's harder to be funny than most people think so it's better to think like a comedian in the workplace than to act like one
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 01/09/2026
I really hope the link is working by tomorrow morning. I can't live like this any longer. There's coffee everywhere.
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David Papineau @davidpapineau.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
We are hiring—a permanent lectureship in Ethics/Political Philosophy—deadline 15 Nov www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/144566-...
kcl.ac.uk
Lecturer in Ethics and/or Political Philosophy | King's College London
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 01/09/2026
The list does not contain itself.
Wikipedia page for List of Star Trek lists
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 01/09/2026
Star Trek is 60 years old next week. ’The Man Trap’ first aired on 8/9/66. That’s 60 years of people whose personality and fate can wholly be predicted by which episode appeared closest to the week of their birth.
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UCD School of Philosophy @ucdphilosophy.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Just one more week to apply for this terrific 3-year position in #CognitiveScience at #UCD School of #Philosophy! Closing date is midday local time on Friday, 4th September. Further details at: www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n... #CogSci #PhilMind #PhilNeuro #PhilPsych #PhilJobs
ucd.ie
Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, UCD School of Philosophy
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Jake Quilty-Dunn @quiltydunn.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
idk if we have absorbed it fully though. i always thought lovecraft nailed this:
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 29/08/2026
We've known for less than a century that our galaxy is only one of hundreds of millions. It’s pretty impressive how we managed to fit this knowledge within our culture with ease.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 28/08/2026
It’s not unprecedented for an Irish guy to show up in Norway, insist that he was a secret son of the previous king, and successfully seize power: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_...
en.wikipedia.org
Harald Gille - Wikipedia
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 26/08/2026
The new edition of Kurt Gödel’s Philosophical Notebooks is full of useful advice.
Remark: Ways to come into contact with people:
1. strong exhaustion, 2. say something stupid (in general, do not pretend to be anything that you are not), 3. milkshake  (fill your stomach).Maxim: Decline all parties outright (maybe let a doctor attest that parties are harmful).
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 24/08/2026
I’m at the European Congress of Analytic Philosophy in Madrid. If anyone wants to make awkward conference small-talk while I work to suppress my natural flight instinct, I’ll be the guy that looks like me.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 21/08/2026
This is how I felt about opera.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 19/08/2026
Check out this cool diorama of the Corlea bog trackway!
Little model figures building a trackway through a bog. Around them is woodland. They are felling trees, carrying them, hunting, cooking food.Women look on holding basketsMen at work building the trackway through the bogHunters return with their dinner in the background
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 14/08/2026
Sliabh Liag like a ghost above the heather makes tales of Hy Brasil seem more credible.
A photo of heather. Above it in the air, suspended by mist, are the cliffs of sliabh liag. The mist creates a kind of visual illusion.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 13/08/2026
There are more people in the band Kula Shaker than there are Shakers left in the US: www.npr.org/2025/08/19/n...
npr.org
The number of Shakers in the U.S. rises to 3
A new person has joined the last active Shaker community in the U.S, bringing the Christian, communal, and celibate group to a total of three. They once numbered in the thousands.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 10/08/2026
This is online now properly. There are no good jokes in it though. Sorry: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Teleosemantics for neural word embeddings
This paper applies a consumer-based teleosemantic framework to give a detailed analysis of a particular algorithm for generating word embeddings. In the process, it addresses several of the challenge...
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 09/08/2026
New biography of Flann O’Brien! By Brian Ó Conchubhair! It’s 700 pages!! And in Irish!!!
Cover of An Saol Bocht by Brian Ó Conchubair
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 09/08/2026
True patriotism isn’t complaining about the casting of Hollywood movies online, it’s turning your garden into a replica of the Battle of Thermopylae.
Sign in front of the garden: KILWARLIN
BATTLEFIELD GARDEN
This Battlefield Garden is the legacy of Rev Basil Patras Zula,
* Rev Zula, a Greek patriot, found refuge in Ireland after involvement in the 19th century struggles for Greek independence.
After training and ordination to the Moravian ministry, he served
Kilwarlin Moravian Church 1834 - 1844
The terrain of the garden is a replica of Thermopylae, where a most significant battle was fought between the Greeks and ® the Persians in 480 B.CA small mound labelled Path of Ephialtes before a larger mound with a sign saying Mt CallidromosSignage: Discover the Secrets of Zula's Hollow
This unusual earthworks was built in 1839, after the church was rebuilt in 1834. The Hollow was designed by Rev. Basil Patras Zula, and built by local people. It's mounds and hills represent the Historic Battlefield of Thermopylae and it's topography as it was in 480 BCE.
The garden also includes some features not connected to the battle, like a fountain, Alpha and Omega flowerbeds and a summer house. This is one of most unique gardens
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 06/08/2026
Some birds are easily identified by their flight patterns. Rooks, for example, can only move in straight lines.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 05/08/2026
Just figured you might like to see this.
A cover of SFX from 1998 with Patrick Stewart as Picard on it, he has Spock’s hair, make-up, and his head obscures the F making the title look like it reads SEX.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 03/08/2026
Well it’s early days but I think the Fleadh in Belfast might be the greatest event in world history
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Sam Clark @ssamcclark.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Philosophy job klaxon! Enquiries welcome to me.
hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at Lancaster University: Lecturer in the Philosophy of Psychiatry
Lecturer in Philosophy of PsychiatryAbout usThe School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University takes a bold and distinctive approach to addressing the complex and multi-dimensional problems facing h...
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 02/08/2026
The Odyssey was fun but you just know that Hollywood is going to release some pointless prequel telling you what every ship that went to Troy was called or something.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 01/08/2026
Alcohol and meat free beef bourguignon, your move France.
An image of alcohol and meat free beef  bourguignon. It has carrots, beyond beef strips, mushrooms, maybe a bit too much thyme. I’m using Eisner 0% Merlot (very affordable at Tesco).
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 01/08/2026
I’m feeling very tempted to read Tyler Burge’s The Origins of Objectivity but it’s quite a commitment. Does anyone know of any reason I shouldn’t read it?
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 30/07/2026
I wrote a little post about my old teacher, the late David Berman (the philosopher, not the musician), and one of his ideas.
fintanmallory.com
David Berman and the Typical Mind Fallacy
David Berman was an old-school philosopher who, for reasons you will not be expecting, encouraged his students to see philosophy as a project of self-discovery.1 I haven’t spoken to him in over a d…
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 26/07/2026
Mayo have lost 11 All-Ireland Finals since the curse began. They won 5/13 National Football League titles in that time. Taking base probabilities from this, the curse is statistically supported. I don’t know how to factor their winning this match (after the curse was lifted) into my model though.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 24/07/2026
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 23/07/2026
I haven’t seen The Odyssey yet but my only hope is that Matt Damon uses the accent he invented for The Great Wall.
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
senior male academics giving a conference paper, after being shown the "one more minute" sign
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 19/07/2026
My take on this game: I rewatched Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer last year and it really holds up. Great film for the whole family!
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 19/07/2026
Is AI rapidly concentrating epistemic and political power in the hands of a small number of companies many of which have aligned themselves with authoritarian governments?
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 19/07/2026
The All-Ireland Hurling Final today will have a larger attendance than the World Cup Final. 82,000 in Croke Park compared to 80,663 in the MetLife Stadium.
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Experimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Philosophers, we need your help We are running a study on philosophers’ intuitions about thought experiments moralsciencelab.com/intuitions/ Only takes a few minutes!
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Josh Milburn @joshmilburn.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
My department is hiring a lecturer or senior lecturer in philosophy. It's an open call in terms of research specialization, but we're keen to hire someone whose teaching/research speaks to PPE in some way. This is a great job in a great department. Please help me spread the word!
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Computational Linguistics Journal @complingjournal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
🏆 2026 Computational Linguistics Distinguished Reviewer Awards: It aims to highlight and promote high standards in peer review and to acknowledge reviewers whose contributions have had a meaningful impact on the quality of our journal. Congratulations to our 2026 awardees! #NLProc #CLjournal
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 16/07/2026
Travelling a lot recently has really called to mind the old zen proverb, wherever you go, there are German backpackers.
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Ted Underwood @tedunderwood.com · 10/07/2026
It’s hard to remember that ordinary people only know two or three amygdaloids — plus geodes, of course
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 10/07/2026
He’s right! This is exactly word-for-word what I do when I’ve arrived somewhere new. Humboldt has captured something completely normal and universal here.
When far from our native country, after a long voyage, we tread for the first time the soil of a tropical land, we experience a certain feeling of surprise and gratification in recognizing, in the rocks that surround us, the same inclined schistose strata, and the same columnar basalt covered with cellular amygdaloids, that we had left in Europe, and whose identity of character, in latitudes so widely different, reminds us that the solidification of the earth's crust is altogether independent of climatic influences.
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Fintan Mallory @fintanmallory.com · 10/07/2026
Surely the right solution to Newcomb’s Problem is to reject both boxes thereby working to overcome attachment and ultimately to escape saṃsāra?
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