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Yangyang Cheng

@yangyangcheng.bsky.social
4.3K followers 1.3K following 216 posts

Interdisciplinary scholar studying the history of science in China and US-China relations | Particle physicist by training | Writer at various places | Editor at the Made in China Journal and Host of Gateway to Global China

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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 18h
How do digital platforms from Alibaba to Didi navigate shifting politics in China, and is the promise of agency and freedom in e-commerce a marketing myth? I learned so much talking to @lizhiliu.bsky.social and Jack Linzhou Xing for the latest Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com. Listen⏬
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 12 | Entrapped by E-Commerce | Made in China Journal
Life before e-commerce can feel like a foreign country. For the ‘Chinamaxxing’ crowd, fresh meals and fancy gadgets delivered to your doorstep almost instantly, at astonishingly low prices, are among ...
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 18h
How do digital platforms from Alibaba to Didi navigate shifting politics in China, and is the promise of agency and freedom in e-commerce a marketing myth? I learned so much talking to @lizhiliu.bsky.social and Jack Linzhou Xing for the latest Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com. Listen⏬
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 12 | Entrapped by E-Commerce | Made in China Journal
Life before e-commerce can feel like a foreign country. For the ‘Chinamaxxing’ crowd, fresh meals and fancy gadgets delivered to your doorstep almost instantly, at astonishingly low prices, are among ...
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 29/09/2026
Fresh meals and fancy gadgets delivered to your doorstep instantly, at rock-bottom prices, are among China's top draws. But at what cost? For our podcast, Lizhi Liu and Jack Linzhou Xing join @yangyangcheng.bsky.social to unpack the rise of China's e-commerce giants and the politics behind them.
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 12 | Entrapped by E-Commerce | Made in China Journal
Life before e-commerce can feel like a foreign country. For the ‘Chinamaxxing’ crowd, fresh meals and fancy gadgets delivered to your doorstep almost instantly, at astonishingly low prices, are among ...
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I'm honored to lead an @asiasociety.org project to visit the American heartland and learn how the region connects to China in (un)expected ways. Our 1st stop was Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where we visited, among many things, a soybean farm on the eve of the Trump-Xi summit. Hear about it @npr.org⏬
npr.org
Soybean farmers hopeful for Xi's White House visit
As China's president visits the White House, the Asia Society is visiting South Dakota to get grassroots views on agriculture trade issues.
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Christopher DiPiazza @chrisdipiazza.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Drexel University is choosing to shut down the country’s oldest natural history museum, The Academy of Natural Sciences, for “funding” reasons (even though it costs .6% of their annual budget and they spent WAY more on ai nobody wants this year!) Go to save-the-academy.org to help.
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Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Forget grandiose talk of curing cancer - this is what AI is actually doing to healthcare. In the words of one cardiologist: “it’s bots fighting bots, agents fighting agents, a horrible dystopic future nobody wants to live in.”
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please take a moment to read this important piece that grapples with some urgent and complex issues for anyone who cares about US-China academic exchange and the transnational flow of people and ideas, co-authored by Penny Edwards and Christina Fink. www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/gues...
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Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 24/09/2026
Hi all, only a few days left to pitch ideas for the upcoming issues of Made in China Journal (on Hong Kong) and Global China Pulse (on the new geopolitics of knowledge production). Short pitches are due September 30. 1/
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Lisa Diedrich @lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Public universities have led the way in creating popular ethnic & gender studies programs, which are now being destroyed by aggressively regressive politicians & administrators, not because students aren't interested in these subjects, but because they are. www.texastribune.org/2026/09/17/u...
texastribune.org
Majors related to race, gender cut at University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin rejected a department’s plan to keep the majors, a decision that came without public knowledge, an interim department chair told faculty.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
New Gallup polling finds that 71% of Americans approve of labor unions and 56 million Americans would join a union tomrorow if they could. We are witnessing a historic rebirth of worker power. If you want a better life for you and your children, join or support a union.
epi.org
Unions are extremely popular: 56 million workers would join a union if they could
New Gallup polling finds that 71% of people in the U.S. approve of unions, continuing the highest period of favorability in over 60 years. This coincides with the greatest number of workers represente...
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Jason Scott @textfiles.com · 05/09/2026
You know, honestly, more than monetary donations, if somebody worked at a company that had access to a lot of 18 terabyte and larger hard drives and could talk to us, that's where we are really suffering. The internet archive has no special priority in buying hard drives and those things are insane.
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Grateful to be part of this BBC audio documentary about China's rise as a scientific superpower, presented by @peaseroland.bsky.social and produced by Alex Mansfield. I appreciate the historical lens and attention to basic research and social dimensions. Listen below or on your favorite podcast app.
bbc.co.uk
BBC World Service - The Documentary Podcast, China: The rise of a science superpower
The future of science is Chinese.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Scoop: For nearly a year, NSF has struggled to make new grants. Now we know that it will not catch up. In fact, NSF will award just 6,100 new grants—a 30% y/o/y decline, itself down from a previous avg. of 11,000+. In fact, the last time NSF awarded so few grants was in the early '80s.
nature.com
Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades
The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project.
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Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"The rise, demise, and rebirth of the legendary bookstore embody decades of political and economic developments in China, and its transpacific journey lays bare the unruly contours of language and identity." @yangyangcheng.bsky.social writes for @chinafile.bsky.social about JF (Jifeng) Books.
chinafile.com
A World out of Words
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news…
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
ChinaFile @chinafile.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A Shanghai bookstore was shut down by the Chinese state in 2018. Six years later, it reopened in Washington, D.C. Yangyang Cheng spent months reporting the full, complicated story of Jifeng —
chinafile.com
A World out of Words | ChinaFile
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news was covered around the world, from The Washington Post and The Economist, to Der Spiegel in Germany and The Straits Times in Singapore. The stories spoke of repression and rebirth:
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Jeremy Goldkorn @goldkorn.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A lovely scary hopeful read from @yangyangcheng.bsky.social
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
How did Jifeng Books, once the pride of Shanghai, run afoul of the authorities? Is its reincarnation in D.C. a replica of the store in China? How is the immigrant venture navigating deteriorating politics in its new abode, while nurturing aspirations for the homeland? I write @chinafile.bsky.social:
chinafile.com
A World out of Words
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news w...
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
"The nature of the book as both a commodity and a carrier of ideas makes bookstores one of the few places in China where public discussions can take place without seeking prior approval. Consumer activities provide cover for civic discourse." I write about Jifeng Books and its transpacific remaking.
chinafile.com
A World out of Words
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news w...
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Nick Admussen @nadmussen.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
A great essay whether or not you live in DC -- a case study in what migration means for ideas and communities. Also recommended: the JF Books youtube, where you can see the events they run: www.youtube.com/@JFBooks%E5%...
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
On the eve of its second birthday in DC, after being forced to end a 20-year run in Shanghai in 2018, I write about Jifeng Books. It's about decades of change in and between China and the US, cultural production under capitalism and authoritarian politics, and ringing the bells that still can ring.
chinafile.com
A World out of Words
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news w...
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Andrea Janku @zamarginalities.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Great piece about a world gone by. #Shanghai #Jifeng #books
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
On the eve of its second birthday in DC, after being forced to end a 20-year run in Shanghai in 2018, I write about Jifeng Books. It's about decades of change in and between China and the US, cultural production under capitalism and authoritarian politics, and ringing the bells that still can ring.
chinafile.com
A World out of Words
The opening of a bookstore rarely makes international headlines. But when JF Books, known in Chinese as “Jifeng” (seasonal winds), opened its doors in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2024, the news w...
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 13/08/2026
The new issue of the Made in China Journal is out! Over the past decade, we have watched hopes for a more pluralist China fade, with activists describing growing feelings of dejection and powerlessness. There is a term for it: political depression. In this issue, we explore this condition.
madeinchinajournal.com
In the Woods | Made in China Journal
In recent years, political depression has emerged not only as a psychological condition but also as a culturally embedded affective response shaped by broader socio-political forces. Clinically, it re...
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Reposted by Yangyang Cheng
Katrina Miller @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Are you a student scientist facing unique challenges trying to navigate the next stage of your career amid Trump's policy changes? I'm working on a story for @nytimes.com & want to hear from you -- contact info in my bio.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 09/08/2026
An absolute must read, especially for those at institutions proposing versions of ‘computational humanities’ or ‘tech humanities,’ which are often framed on industry terms rather than humanistic ones
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Erika Milam @emilam.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Please circulate: www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/news/call-ap... Seeking 10 Early Career Fellows to participate in 2 summer academies to be held in Berlin June 14–18, 2027 & June 26–30, 2028: SCIENCE IMAGINES ITS FUTURE. How have scholars deliberated about investing scarce resources in an uncertain future?
mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
Call for Applications: Summer Academy on "Science Imagines Its Future" | MPIWG
Call for Applications: Summer Academy on "Science Imagines Its Future" (Deadline November 1)
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Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 01/08/2026
Few subjects have stirred as much nationalistic debate across the Pacific as biotech. For our podcast, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social speaks to Abigail Coplin and Chenjian Li about the power and limits of biotechnologies, and how the body becomes a geopolitical battleground and site for profit.
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 11 | To Feed and to Cure | Made in China Journal
The need for food and medicine is universal. Yet, few subjects have stirred as much nationalistic debates on both sides of the Pacific as the development and application of biotechnologies. Why, in a ...
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 23/07/2026
As a big fan of libraries, I was thrilled to learn about the work Hannah and @flexlibris.bsky.social are doing to give the public the critical information they’re looking for about the products tech companies are pushing on them. Support your local library (and library workers)!
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Abbie Boggs @abbieboggs.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
A university cannot be a sanctuary for knowledge while serving as an agent of the border. As long as some students can be threatened with deportation, no one's academic freedom is secure. 20/
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I am losing my mind. Chat isn’t a search engine. this isn’t normal. framing it as normative is slimy. Tone, vibes all bad.
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Daredevil: Born Again S3
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Tweet so good I printed it out and put it on my wall. I referred to it in a conference talk today @hypervisible.blacksky.app
Tweet

quantified (br)other @hypervisible
When you say "no one knew" with regard to tech, what that almost. always means is "I wasn't listening."

4:10 PM • 3/29/21: Twitter Web App
143 Retweets 21 Quote Tweets 798 Likes
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 13/07/2026
Even the so-called 'good' NYT columnists are committed to making classroom micro-politics national news while ignoring the manifold structural problems with higher ed. The @nytimes.com higher ed's coverage is a manifestation of PMC anxieties about universities, not a depiction of reality.
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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It's conference season, so I wanted to share the AI refusal statement I put at the end of my presentations and book talks. Feel free to use it!
AI Refusal Statement
I did not use generative AI at any point in the production of this book or presentation, including the literature review, writing, editing, translation, organization, or any other task (e.g. brainstorming). To the extent that it is possible to know, I did not cite any studies that used generative AI.
Justification: GenAI technology is based on stolen labor, anti-solidarity between workers, class exploitation, structural racism, misogyny, environmental injustice, and climate destabilization.
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Scoop: NIH is on a mission to enlist one million Americans to share their genetic data to help with health research through a precision medicine program called “All of Us.” What participants don’t know is that at one research site, Palantir stores the data. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Palantir has a hand in NIH's most ambitious health initiative
The defense tech firm's work with public health data has largely flown under the radar.
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404 Media @404media.co · 07/07/2026
A Waymo in California allegedly called the cops on two teenagers for “drinking and shooting from the vehicle,” according to local police. Story here: www.404media.co/waymo-called...
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5 foot Home Depot skeleton @redderbeanpaste.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
we run a podcast that introduces challenging conversations on various topics. In march, I cohosted an episode of it where we talked to @yangyangcheng.bsky.social nuvoices.com/podcast/a-co...
nuvoices.com
Yangyang Cheng on Science and US-China Relations
An interview with Yangyang Cheng on science and technology development in China and US-China relations
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5 foot Home Depot skeleton @redderbeanpaste.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
btw im moderating a sexual harassment in politics/policy workshop at the end of the month and we will post a free summary/recap of information after it ends
luma.com
Anti-Sexual Harassment Workshop · Luma
Content Warning: Please note, while this workshop’s topic is important, it will cover topics such as gendered violence and sexual harassment that might be…
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Yangyang Cheng @yangyangcheng.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
When your esteemed colleague and honorary nephew @w-ch.bsky.social has bought a new lens, it is part of an aunty's obligation to help the child practice📸
A middle-aged Chinese woman standing in the shade, wearing a dress called "House of Cards"
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Dr Cora Lingling Xu 许玲玲博士 @coralinglingxu.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Thrilled to share this episode with Mengwei Tu, hosted by @yangyangcheng.bsky.social. We talked time inheritance, gender and educational mobility in and out of China. A conversation that brought out thinking I had not anticipated. 🎙️ madeinchinajournal.com/2026/06/29/e... @madeinchinajournal.com
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 10 | The Race for Education | Made in China Journal
For millions of children in China, life has been a race against time since the day they were born. They are blasted with advertisements that warn ‘Do Not Lose at the Starting Line’, and handed by thei...
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Dr Cora Lingling Xu 许玲玲博士 @coralinglingxu.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Such a great experience to discuss inherited time inqualities in education and mobility across China with @madeinchinajournal.com @yangyangcheng.bsky.social! Wonderful conversation and lots of new insights for me!
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Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 02/07/2026
What drives Chinese children to study overseas, and how do they and their parents plan around shifting immigration regimes? For the our podcast, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social speaks with sociologists @coralinglingxu.bsky.social and Mengwei Tu about education and mobility in and out of China.
madeinchinajournal.com
Episode 10 | The Race for Education | Made in China Journal
For millions of children in China, life has been a race against time since the day they were born. They are blasted with advertisements that warn ‘Do Not Lose at the Starting Line’, and handed by thei...
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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Please read and share widely this first ever interview between two writers with non-speaking autism. (One is my son, the other is his good friend Woody Brown, a Columbia MFA and the author of the best-selling UPWARD BOUND.) lareviewofbooks.org/article/wood...
lareviewofbooks.org
Nonspeakers Speaking Out | Los Angeles Review of Books
Woody Brown discusses his debut novel and the challenges those with nonspeaking autism face today.
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Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hongkongfp.com · 29/06/2026
University of Hong Kong student publication Undergrad shuts down after 74 years 🔗 hongkongfp.com/2026/06/29/u...
Undergrad shutdown
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I hate that this — urgent pleas to save prestigious departments from drastic cuts — is becoming a regular occurrence. A program like this takes decades to build and a few strokes of a pen to destroy.
sussexphysics.github.io
Save Sussex Physics
Save Sussex Physics - Open Letter
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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Alice Speri (@alicesperi.bsky.social) of @theguardian.com once again covering the actual story of what’s happening in HigherEd.
theguardian.com
‘Dialogue is all the rage’: why is the right pouring millions into ‘civil discourse’ initiatives on US campuses?
Universities looking for a fix to relentless controversy are flocking to ‘civility’ initiatives. Critics say these efforts mask a darker project
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Kathy Bowrey @kathybowrey.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The retraction of Max Planck papers looks more like Springer Nature using badly tuned copyright management tools as a proxy for information integrity tools.
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SciAm Union @sciamunion.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Three days after Springer Nature sold Scientific American without warning, the NLRB conducted our scheduled union vote count, despite Springer Nature’s attempt to stop it. And guess what? WE WON. What’s more, it was nearly unanimous, with 31 out of 32 voters checking YES.
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Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Statement by @sciamunion.bsky.social on Springer Nature's sale of Scientific American and massive editorial layoffs right before a successful union vote is counted. www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...
wgaeast.org
WGAE-Scientific American Union Statement on Springer Nature’s Sale and Layoffs | Press Room
The following is a statement from Writers Guild of America East members at Scientific American on today’s decision to sell Springer Nature and lay off staff: “Earlier today in an all-staff meeting we ...
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Sasha Costanza-Chock @schock.cc · 19/06/2026
The most dangerous thing about AI is not that the machines might one day think. It is that we are being trained, by men with enormous financial gains riding on our acquiescence, to stop thinking for ourselves.
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