iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Do you have a link to the full graphic? (I'm assuming the longest bars don't all end at the same point.)

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

And she's talking about a deranged white supremacist billionaire, in terms of pure admiration.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

That's really awful, I'm so sorry, Rebecca.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

I agree with avoiding drop-bar road bikes, but also recommend avoiding the typical MTB with knobbly tyres and suspension. They’re heavy, slow, the suspension is pointless, and they have more things that can break. (36 yrs cycling for transport, in 3 countries, never had a driver's licence.)

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

There's a typo, a "to" missing: "on 42%, compared the actual 36% they went on to secure . . . "

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

I have to say, "The crowd is a mix of ages and genders" is a really odd thing for people to chant.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

You have a typo, just so you know: "It haven’t even announced the financing . . ."

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Thanks for remembering me - I hope you're doing well.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Yes, that's me. :) My apologies, have we met?

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

There's a typo in the subtitle: "neoliberal ideologues has refused".

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 31/05/2024

I'm so sorry to hear this, Helen.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 09/05/2024

Well, I'm sorry you HATE NICE LITTLE ANIMAL PEOPLE, Kieran.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 24/04/2024

(A bad example, Chaya Raichik is a big fan of doing just that. But only if she picks the hospitals.) 4/4

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 24/04/2024

The right to private property is the right to own *some stuff*; similarly, the right to free speech is the right to say *some stuff*. No one disagrees with this; no one thinks there should be no penalty for spending your life phoning bomb threats into hospitals. 3/n

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 24/04/2024

I use an analogy with the right to private property: it isn't the right to own everything. Nor is it the right to own anything: it doesn't mean you can own people or the Earth's atmosphere. 2/n

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 24/04/2024

I've just been explaining this to students in the Philosophy and Public Policy course I'm TAing. People use "the right to free speech" to mean "the right to say anything," but it doesn't mean that. 1/n

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

So what you’re claiming there is wrong. But it doesn’t mater for the main point, because to the extent you and the cartoon are talking about the same thing, you agree that it's wrong: it’s permissible to disagree with someone without going through 1-3, not impermissible, as the cartoon says. 12/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

For example, if someone makes an argument of this form: If P then Q Q Therefore, P we can say with certainty that the argument doesn't work, even if we don't understand the premises or the conclusion. 11/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

And yet again, if the conclusion of an argument doesn't follow from the premises, you can for sure that the argument doesn't work without understanding any of the content. 10/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

And if an argument relies on a false premise, you can show that the argument isn't sound by showing that that one premise is false, even if you don’t understand the other premises or the conclusion. 9/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

Also, it's plainly false that you can't claim to have refuted a position that you haven't demonstrated that you fully understand. I don't understand the claim that there's an invisible possum in the cupboard, but I can show that it's completely full of bricks and has no room for a possum. 8/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

The reason Dennett’s giving that advice is that he thinks it’ll persuade your opponent that you're on their side in some way; they'll like you and won’t think of you as an enemy, so they’ll be more open to what you have to say. 7/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

It's false that you can't claim to have refuted a position that you haven't demonstrated that you fully understand. I don't understand the claim that there's an invisible possum in the cupboard, but I can show that the cupboard is completely full of bricks and has no room for a possum. 8/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

Also, it's false that you can't claim to have refuted a position that you haven't shown you fully understand. I don't understand the claim that there's an invisible possum in the cupboard, but I can show that the cupboard is completely full of bricks and has no room for a possum. 8/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

Neither of those things need have any connection to the content of the claim you might or might not understand. What you're talking about—showing you understand a position—and what the cartoon is talking about are completely different. 6/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

And you can show you understand a position without listing all you and the person presenting it agree about. (Again, if you go to any university lecture, you'll find the lecturer will spend very little time, if any, listing everything they and a person who’s view they’re explaining agree about.)5/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

E.g., you can show you understand a position without listing everything you've learned from the person holding it. (People do this all the time; go to any university lecture and you'll see academics explaining different positions without listing all they've learned from those holding them.) 4/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

What you're describing in defence of the cartoon doesn't have anything to do with it - the cartoon doesn't say anything about understanding an opponent’s position, and what it says doesn't apply to understanding positions. 3/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

Again, though, your position is the same as that of your opponents" that the cartoon is wildly wrong. It says it's *impermissible* to not go through the whole ritual. You're saying *it can be fine* to not go through the whole ritual. Something can’t be both permissible and impermissible. 2/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

Sorry, I can't see where "rebuttal and criticism" was mentioned - I must be not seeing part of the thread. 1/12

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 22/04/2024

That's good. I hope you can see you're agreeing with the point that Caitlin, others, and have made: the advice in the cartoon is wrong. The cartoon says it's impermissible to express any disagreement with someone unless you've through these steps - you're saying the cartoon is wrong.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 22/04/2024

Oh yes, thanks - my point is that we all know what regret means, but out of desperation he's using it to mean something completely different - something that isn't even an attitude or emotion.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Also, if he's right, we have no reason to think the vast majority of people on earth don't regret not having transitioned. We have no reason to think that Jesse Singal doesn't regret not transitioning.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Instead of someone going through everything we agree about and everything they've learned from me before pointing out I've made a mistake I'd rather we just talked like normal people. 2/2

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Philosophy depts couldn't function if we followed these rules. We don't have time to go through all that everything before disagreeing with someone, Q&As are 45 minutes long max. 1/2

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

I'm not sure if this is related to my comment or you replied to it instead of the OP by accident.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

*an incredibly desperate attempt to hold up a position by changing the meanings of ordinary words.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

He's actually using "regrets" (v.) for "should regret." Absolutely brainless nonsense, and incredibly desperate attempt 2/2

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

This is really incredible - what the hell does he think "regret" is, if we can't tell whether we have it or not? Next from Singal: you can't tell whether or not you have a headache, you just have no access to that information. I'll tell you if you have a headache. 1/2

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 19/04/2024

I had to look that up to check that it's real. Unbelievable.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 14/04/2024

It's a bit mean to Cybertruck owners to use that photo showing something their vehicles can't do.

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 09/04/2024

I'm sure the pastor is consistent and objects to students calling themselves "Americans."

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 31/01/2024

I guess you're familiar with this article, Gillian? www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 06/01/2024

I’ve at least thought that I was motivated by a concern for others. I also didn’t, to my knowledge, neglect people who were close to me – I certainly have tried not to, at least. 5/5

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Nicholas Drake @nickydrake.bsky.social · 06/01/2024

I’ve slacked off quite a bit in recent years, but long before EA was around I lived as simply as I could (even living in the forest without electricity for several years and growing my own food in a clearing) and used my excess time and money to help other people I wasn’t close to. 4/5

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