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Jen Briselli

@jbriselli.bsky.social
232 followers 161 following 79 posts

anarcho absurdist agential realist service & org design, systems & complexity science, scicomm, rhetoric, death metal, beer league hockey, learning drums, ex-physics teacher & ex-exec @Mad*Pow, now chief weirdo @Topology it's learning, all the way down

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Reposted by Jen Briselli
Aubrey Gordon @yrfatfriend.bsky.social · 10h
In addition to the broader literacy crisis, we're also in a power literacy crisis. Many folks deeply misunderstand how political power works, who has it, and how to build it. And all of that is happening while more folks are using the language of organizing without grasping its most basic tenets.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 13h
Might I suggest this for a title? 😆
static.klipy.com
Dennis Green: They Are Who We Thought They Were
Alt: Animated GIF of Dennis Green: They Are Who We Thought They Were
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 13h
perhaps supporting each other to be able to slow the hell down and still survive could be a leverage point.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
A quote from David Graeber that reads “The theory of exodus proposes that the most effective way of opposing capitalism and the liberal state is not through direct confrontation but by means of what Paolo Virno has called “engaged withdrawal,”mass defection by those wishing to create new forms of community. One need only glance at the historical record to confirm that most successful forms of popular resistance have taken precisely this form. They have not involved challenging power head on (this usually leads to being slaughtered, or if not, turning into some—often even uglier—variant of the very thing one first challenged) but from one or another strategy of slipping away from its grasp, from flight, desertion, the founding of new communities.”
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
cameron tonkinwise @camerontw.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Socialism-lite finally doing what too few interaction designers had the courage to do
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
I really fought the urge to embed both Supertramp’s “Take the Long Way Home” and Faith No More’s “Epic” in this one. medium.com/topology-ins...
medium.com
You Can’t Get There From Here
Even with directions.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Hello, if anyone has told you you need to increase your uncertainty tolerance or comfort with ambiguity lately, or you find yourself wishing someone else would do the same, here ya go: medium.com/topology-ins...
medium.com
Tolerating (Uncertainty) Intolerance
On mistaken identity and mislocated capacity
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
When you hear "better than nothing," ask whose responsibility the "nothing" is, and whether the "better than nothing" solution simply lets them abdicate that responsibility & check the box. AI is the ultimate "better than nothing" technology. Don't negate this argument — reject the whole framing.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
The incredible value of "nothing"
"Better than nothing" rhetoric hides the opportunity costs behind the bare minimum. Reject this framing.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
That’s not a bad idea. Muting isn’t something I’ve played with as much as other levers - I’ll have to explore that. Thanks!
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Interesting... I don't know anyone offhand with the kind of development track record they're asking for but I'd still circulate it because I'm sure someone among our crew might have it in the mix...
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
I keep trying to keep a rhythm with BlueSky, but of all my internet things, it ends up feeling the most doom-scroll-y and I drop away. I've worked hard to curate my feed and yet the smart people I like hearing from nonetheless contribute. How are you guys doing this thing everyday? Pro tips welcome.
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
A lot of advice for improving team velocity looks like speedrunning: sequence break as much as possible, any% everything in between. But life isn't a video game, and shoveling crap at colleagues and customers is not a winning long-term strategy. No LLM can stand in for actual human teammates.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
The people ARE the process
Cutting down on collaboration tricks you into thinking you're going faster, but it destroys the divergence effects that make the design process valuable.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
To imagine, this was satire 50 years ago… what a time to be alive. 😬
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I've been re-watching Monty Python's Flying Circus over dinner the last few weeks and when I hit episode 12 I did a spit take. If I was teaching history right now, I'd ask my students to watch this sketch and reflect on current events. 🫠 "Well, I think he'd do a lot of good for the stock exchange."
youtu.be
Monty Python - Mr. Hilter
YouTube video by Caio Badner
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Yep - a recording will end up on YouTube sooner or later. I’ll make a point to share it here plus we’re hoping this becomes a bit of an ongoing dialogue vs. a one and done.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
“To hell with the future. It's a man eating idol.” Ivan Illich
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
I spend a lot of time explaining what I mean by #complexity informed. I enjoy it, but I wished there was a video (more invitation than explainer) to help me do the job. After hunting for something that didn't really exist, I decided to just make it. Maybe it'll help you too: youtu.be/o-gOyaXZLqo?...
youtu.be
What is Complexity Informed Strategy?
YouTube video by Topology
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
I've fallen into lurker mode with this site lately but I'm still here... and this week I wrote this thing that seemed to resonate with a bunch of folks, maybe if you're into #SystemsThinking or #Complexity you'll dig it too:
medium.com
Letter to a Young Systems Thinker
Don’t search for the answers.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Liz this is the highest compliment!
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Hi. I wrote a thing about learning and apprenticeship that intersects a bit with #edusky and #complexity and would love to hear from you if it resonates...
medium.com
Apprenticeship Is Dead. Long Live Apprenticeship.
Expertise is a group project.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
just saying: it's possible that "I'm gonna dramatically constrict my state capacity while plotting dramatic imperial expansion, and expanding my set of internal enemies while alienating most of my foreign allies" is the beginning of a world-historical masterstroke. but also possible that it isn't
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Me too, pal… me too.
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borderless @borderless.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Y'all pick a lane. Then make a little progress in your lane each day. Every serious, experienced organizer I know is Doing Their Thing. Instead of freaking out about each bit of bad news, we're in our lanes rapidly building dual power infrastructure and networks that don't rely on the goverment.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
me, increasingly, in response to literally everything youtu.be/lFIYKmos3-s?...
youtu.be
Richard Feynman - Names Don't Constitute Knowledge
YouTube video by Caitlin Spies
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Reposted by Jen Briselli
😈Miss Hell Batkeeper😈 @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce. Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Awwww. Mine are both pittie mixes too but the other guy (Iggy) is part bull terrier so he acts a lot like Spuds MacKenzie. They are trouble.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Do these folks not realize that something being "allowed" or "not allowed" on social media platforms is, uh, not quite the same as something being completely and socially acceptable? Also... xkcd.com/1357
xkcd.com
Free Speech
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
This guy gets it. www.instagram.com/p/DE24GKTNRA...
Cartoon image of twelve progressively evolving desire paths in a neighbor green space.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
So basically, you made me answer the doorbell through a gauntlet of barking dogs to sign for a letter, only for that letter to say, in essence, "sorry, not sorry"... ? If I didn't already hate you and wasn't already scheming on how to abandon private insurance in 2026, I certainly would be now.
media.tenor.com
a woman in a black dress says it - it - the f - it - flam - flames
ALT: a woman in a black dress says it - it - the f - it - flam - flames
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
That was back in December. Today, I received a certified letter - had no idea who was sending me mail I had to sign for - and it turned out to be my insurance acknowledging said grievance and basically saying "it's not our fault, it's your greedy doctor."
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
I love this doctor. So, I'm heartbroken and angered. At the time, the doctor's office suggested that frustrated patients file a grievance with said insurer, which I know from years of work in this industry will be meaningless for me and other patients, but I side with my doctor so I did it anyway.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Last year, my health insurance company refused to negotiate a reasonable 2025 contract rate with my doctor's org, so in November I got the dreaded "we're no longer in network with your insurance, starting 1/1/25" letter. My options are now to pay out of pocket (not feasible) or find a new doctor.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
“Hell is a snack seen too late.”
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Dinosaur Comics! @qwantz.com · 23/12/2024
What is a man? A reasonable little pile of facts, sorted reasonably. qwantz.com/index.php?co...
T-Rex: It's time to learn about history! And what IS history? EASY:

T-Rex: History is all the stuff that happened in the past!T-Rex: Luckily, since it IS the past, we can all ABSOLUTELY agree on what happened. Since events are knowable and non-changing - just like ourselves! - there is never any disagreement on what or even IF something happened, and these disagreements don't THEMSELVES change over time, suggesting the need for a "history of history", or "historiography", if you will.Utahraptor: Sounds like you're kinda suggesting there ARE those things.
T-Rex: No! Of course not!!

T-Rex: Facts are facts, and what ARE people but an internally-consistent collection of facts?
Utahraptor: Nothing! We are all NOTHING if not a knowable, objective, and invariable subset of facts chosen from a larger set of immutable facts, and our actions reflect that!!Narrator: LATER, T-REX CHANGES HIS MIND ABOUT ALL THIS STUFF:
T-Rex: Lol whatever, it's FINE
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I’m so sorry for your loss.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
“Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” ― Simone Weil
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Garth Marenghi's Catbus @catbus.phd · 14/12/2024
the perfect rating doesn't exi...... 📽️
blu ray package showing a PG rating for 

TRADITIONAL
GODZILLA 
VIOLENCE
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
“Contemplative Lemmy With Lens Flare” (2024)
Photo of a dog on the photo-taker’s lap, looking cute
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Oh how I wish more folks understood how important this nuance is: “Disinformation can work by introducing false evidence, such as a forgery or a hoax event. But it can also work by shaping the frames through which people interpret the evidence they see.”
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Did none of these folks take high school physics or learn about vectors vs scalars?
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Bubble Bobble was the first NES game I ever beat. A truly special game for me. When I met the guy I’d eventually marry I learned it was the first game he ever beat as a kid too. We later got matching Bub & Bob tattoos in place of wedding rings. You either get it or you don’t.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Conscientization =/= radicalization.
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Ironically UHC makes the better Judge here… “Whatever in health care exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.” We’re all just the Kid in this system… 😬
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Perhaps because she’s a friend and not just a random internet “thought leader,” it’s literally never occurred to me until recently that others in my network would likely appreciate Abby’s takes. I bet some of you will. Especially now:
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
I’m waiting to find out which Cormac McCarthy novel was his favorite.
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Live your life such that only a relatively small number of people celebrate your death
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Jen Briselli @jbriselli.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Here's a little something I wrote about the c-word.
medium.com
Leave It Better Than You Found It
The operative word is “leave”
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