Computational Cosmetologist
@dferrer.bsky.social
ML Scientist (derogatory), Ex-Cosmologist, Post Large Scale Structuralist
I worked on the Great Problems in AI: Useless Facts about Dark Energy, the difference between a bed and a sofa, and now facilitating bank-on-bank violence. Frequentists DNI.
I worked on the Great Problems in AI: Useless Facts about Dark Energy, the difference between a bed and a sofa, and now facilitating bank-on-bank violence. Frequentists DNI.
“I can install linux as a dual boot on mom’s computer and she won’t care because it won’t change anything in windows”—last words of a boy about to get a hard lesson about GRUB, the MBR, and how to fix it
too many kids today have never destroyed the family PC with sketchy downloads
you must learn to fear Computer before you can properly wield Computer
you must learn to fear Computer before you can properly wield Computer
folks today don't know the abject fear of inadvertently downloading, for the first (and only lol) time, a .exe file from kazaa or limewire and it shows
def one of those "it only takes one time to learn" but oooo boy at what cost for that single instance
def one of those "it only takes one time to learn" but oooo boy at what cost for that single instance
February 12, 2026 at 3:32 AM
“I can install linux as a dual boot on mom’s computer and she won’t care because it won’t change anything in windows”—last words of a boy about to get a hard lesson about GRUB, the MBR, and how to fix it
I had to rethink a lot of priors during the 6 months last year when LLMs went from “can’t add” to “can’t do undergrad hw math” to “can’t find group isomorphisms it takes me an hour to do by hand” to “Can’t reinvent obscure parts of my thesis from scratch reliably given only a vague description”
Unpopular opinion here (and I’m not even an AI booster, I’m mostly a skeptic), but I think a whole lot of people are overindexed on AI being the too-many-fingers-and-weird-teeth machine and aren’t accepting or even understanding that its output has generally been continuously improving.
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 10:54 PM
I had to rethink a lot of priors during the 6 months last year when LLMs went from “can’t add” to “can’t do undergrad hw math” to “can’t find group isomorphisms it takes me an hour to do by hand” to “Can’t reinvent obscure parts of my thesis from scratch reliably given only a vague description”
Phil. Mind is great because you can do the Jordan Peterson-ass “what do you mean ‘I’?”, “what do you mean ‘am’?”, “what do you mean ‘conscious’?” bit and have it be a rigorous academic critique that is genuinely hard to answer.
it's completely insane how much the actual existence of LLMs has completely collapsed all respectable discourse on the subject to a set of conclusions which were, to put it mildly, controversial at best in 2019
five years ago, "to what extent can you understand things without lived experience" might have sparked some form of semi-enlightening dialectic. but prejudice and audience capture require the answer be "no. and you're dumb for asking. double-dumb if you apply my premise to journalism as a field."
February 11, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Phil. Mind is great because you can do the Jordan Peterson-ass “what do you mean ‘I’?”, “what do you mean ‘am’?”, “what do you mean ‘conscious’?” bit and have it be a rigorous academic critique that is genuinely hard to answer.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
there is a perfectly respectable tradition descending from Lakoff and the enactivists (which I am not sympathetic to) which takes this position, but this is one of many issues which academic linguists have been in a bloody knife fight about my entire life.
February 11, 2026 at 4:42 PM
there is a perfectly respectable tradition descending from Lakoff and the enactivists (which I am not sympathetic to) which takes this position, but this is one of many issues which academic linguists have been in a bloody knife fight about my entire life.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
I genuinely cannot believe the degree to which we are pissing away this generational breakthrough, even given the fuckmuppets who are involved www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
FDA declines to review Moderna's mRNA flu shot
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration has taken an aggressive stance against mRNA technology.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:22 AM
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
the master's tools rule. you should steal them. if you don't, you had better hope whoever does likes you and your cause
February 11, 2026 at 5:13 AM
the master's tools rule. you should steal them. if you don't, you had better hope whoever does likes you and your cause
Making an agent to read replies to posts and block / mute anyone who says certain things.
The design case is anyone who says “no one says this” in response to a quote post of someone saying that thing.
The design case is anyone who says “no one says this” in response to a quote post of someone saying that thing.
February 11, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Making an agent to read replies to posts and block / mute anyone who says certain things.
The design case is anyone who says “no one says this” in response to a quote post of someone saying that thing.
The design case is anyone who says “no one says this” in response to a quote post of someone saying that thing.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
the thing that gets me about the antivoting leftists is that they don't just want to not vote. they want to not vote and have all the rest of us admit how cool and good it is. a participation trophy for laziness
February 10, 2026 at 6:07 PM
the thing that gets me about the antivoting leftists is that they don't just want to not vote. they want to not vote and have all the rest of us admit how cool and good it is. a participation trophy for laziness
Look, unlike Mars (useless, hard to reach) the Moon is actually a useful place to build something. It’s still completely outside our current engineering capabilities. Like, we should probably deliver heavy equipment of any kind there and do any amount of construction before making a city timeline.
February 10, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Look, unlike Mars (useless, hard to reach) the Moon is actually a useful place to build something. It’s still completely outside our current engineering capabilities. Like, we should probably deliver heavy equipment of any kind there and do any amount of construction before making a city timeline.
Something odd is happening here (overfitting?). I’m off in a cloud of Spanish-language clusters despite speaking no Spanish and following no Spanish language accounts. Not seeing any obvious followers that are either.
But I have a Hispanic last name that’s part of my handle.
But I have a Hispanic last name that’s part of my handle.
February 9, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Something odd is happening here (overfitting?). I’m off in a cloud of Spanish-language clusters despite speaking no Spanish and following no Spanish language accounts. Not seeing any obvious followers that are either.
But I have a Hispanic last name that’s part of my handle.
But I have a Hispanic last name that’s part of my handle.
Look, I’ll posit Emily Bender—and anyone else who wants to demand it—is “fully human” and not a stochastic parrot.
How do you know *I* am not a stochastic parrot? How do *I* know? The rest of you aren’t, sure, but my inner experience could be what it’s like when P-Zombies say that they have qualia
How do you know *I* am not a stochastic parrot? How do *I* know? The rest of you aren’t, sure, but my inner experience could be what it’s like when P-Zombies say that they have qualia
Emily Bender just keeps responding in pretty weird ways about me, now saying the reason I'm complaining here is that she asked to be treated as fully human. (1/4)
February 3, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Look, I’ll posit Emily Bender—and anyone else who wants to demand it—is “fully human” and not a stochastic parrot.
How do you know *I* am not a stochastic parrot? How do *I* know? The rest of you aren’t, sure, but my inner experience could be what it’s like when P-Zombies say that they have qualia
How do you know *I* am not a stochastic parrot? How do *I* know? The rest of you aren’t, sure, but my inner experience could be what it’s like when P-Zombies say that they have qualia
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
as democrats, if we want to get immigration numbers back up to a reasonable level, we're going to have to do more than just go back to "the way things were." we're going to have to provide a real, reliable, fast pathway to CITIZENSHIP.
The central failure of US immigration policy over my entire adult life is that it has always put xenophobia over facts. This is the result. And if we were talking about facts, this one would be setting off all our alarms. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
U.S. Population Growth Slows Sharply as Immigration Numbers Plunge
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:22 PM
as democrats, if we want to get immigration numbers back up to a reasonable level, we're going to have to do more than just go back to "the way things were." we're going to have to provide a real, reliable, fast pathway to CITIZENSHIP.
“What if AOC leaped to the podium mid-session, shot a Republican in the head, then shouted ‘Death to Liberty! Death to America!’ and started singing the Internationale? Why won’t anyone talk about how crazy it would be if this happened and no one talked about it?”
Ron Johnson on Ilhan Omar getting attacked: "Let's talk about how crazy this is. Had that been a Republican member of Congress and an illegal immigrant spraying something at them, in Minneapolis what would probably happen is they would release that illegal immigrant."
January 28, 2026 at 3:56 PM
“What if AOC leaped to the podium mid-session, shot a Republican in the head, then shouted ‘Death to Liberty! Death to America!’ and started singing the Internationale? Why won’t anyone talk about how crazy it would be if this happened and no one talked about it?”
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
this is crazy behavior. this is crazy and dangerous behavior and everyone needs to start calling it what it is.
January 26, 2026 at 5:32 PM
this is crazy behavior. this is crazy and dangerous behavior and everyone needs to start calling it what it is.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
The reason why they're still pressing ahead is not because they have some secret plan, but the pretty classic Umberto Eco fascist-folly - because of their ideology they are "constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy."
January 25, 2026 at 10:51 PM
The reason why they're still pressing ahead is not because they have some secret plan, but the pretty classic Umberto Eco fascist-folly - because of their ideology they are "constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy."
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
Second this except in a normal world this shouldn’t be happening at all. In the shitty videogame intro movie cutscene we all are living now, though, it should definitely be a headline.
In a normal world, "US treasury secretary endorses American annexation of Canadian territory" should be front page news
January 23, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Second this except in a normal world this shouldn’t be happening at all. In the shitty videogame intro movie cutscene we all are living now, though, it should definitely be a headline.
I hate to be that guy, but all of these are Skill Issues.
- learn the taste of your local bookstore employees. Talk to them.
- learn the tastes of your friends and family. Give books to match. Shows tremendous thought.
- keep books you care about. Lend them to friends. Reread important ones.
- learn the taste of your local bookstore employees. Talk to them.
- learn the tastes of your friends and family. Give books to match. Shows tremendous thought.
- keep books you care about. Lend them to friends. Reread important ones.
I have three heretical thoughts about books:
- Time spent browsing in bookshops is mostly wasted
- Books make for terrible gifts. Don't give books.
- There are vastly more interesting things to put on living-room shelves than books
Come at me! Add to the list!
A 🧵 for book-lovers
- Time spent browsing in bookshops is mostly wasted
- Books make for terrible gifts. Don't give books.
- There are vastly more interesting things to put on living-room shelves than books
Come at me! Add to the list!
A 🧵 for book-lovers
January 23, 2026 at 1:42 PM
I hate to be that guy, but all of these are Skill Issues.
- learn the taste of your local bookstore employees. Talk to them.
- learn the tastes of your friends and family. Give books to match. Shows tremendous thought.
- keep books you care about. Lend them to friends. Reread important ones.
- learn the taste of your local bookstore employees. Talk to them.
- learn the tastes of your friends and family. Give books to match. Shows tremendous thought.
- keep books you care about. Lend them to friends. Reread important ones.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
basically there is no hedge position against the destruction of the world economic order so you may as well just stand pat until the market tells you where the lifeboat is
Slightly surreal that the stock market basically relies on the playground logic of "nuh-uh, I had an invisible force field!" and this somehow works even after it is pointed out that their Donny Trump action figure might come with Kung-Fu Cheeto Grip, but no force field is included.
Incredible, Greenland's PM is now refuting the one part of this that represented any change to the status quo ante.
*GREENLAND PM: NOT AWARE OF TALKS ON MINERAL RESOURCES
*GREENLAND PM: NOT AWARE OF TALKS ON MINERAL RESOURCES
January 22, 2026 at 8:33 PM
basically there is no hedge position against the destruction of the world economic order so you may as well just stand pat until the market tells you where the lifeboat is
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
"By threatening to set off a bomb in his local McDonald's, Trump was able to persuade them to sell him a Big Mac. This is The Art Of The Deal at its most sophisticated!"
January 22, 2026 at 9:56 AM
"By threatening to set off a bomb in his local McDonald's, Trump was able to persuade them to sell him a Big Mac. This is The Art Of The Deal at its most sophisticated!"
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
i am not even a lawyer. i know you can indict this guy. you know how i know that? because i know how grand juries work. i know that you can convince 20 people that he probably did it. this is because there are pictures of him doing it.
January 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM
i am not even a lawyer. i know you can indict this guy. you know how i know that? because i know how grand juries work. i know that you can convince 20 people that he probably did it. this is because there are pictures of him doing it.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
It sure seems like there is no force in the intellectual space stronger than the apparent need of roughly one-third of self-styled intellectuals to negatively polarize against People Who Are Mean To Them On Social Media, regardless of how little it makes any sense.
January 20, 2026 at 6:48 PM
It sure seems like there is no force in the intellectual space stronger than the apparent need of roughly one-third of self-styled intellectuals to negatively polarize against People Who Are Mean To Them On Social Media, regardless of how little it makes any sense.
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
i know it’s all unbelievably awful but i’m sorry: the nobel prize/greenland thing is incredibly funny
January 19, 2026 at 2:18 PM
i know it’s all unbelievably awful but i’m sorry: the nobel prize/greenland thing is incredibly funny
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
hello, let me demonstrate an appropriate response when communicating with people in other countries:
if america goes down the same path as nazi germany, it deserves the same fate. all of us are responsible for making that happen
if america goes down the same path as nazi germany, it deserves the same fate. all of us are responsible for making that happen
i feel like Americans don't get the level of eye-rolling this is getting from Europe
January 19, 2026 at 5:59 AM
hello, let me demonstrate an appropriate response when communicating with people in other countries:
if america goes down the same path as nazi germany, it deserves the same fate. all of us are responsible for making that happen
if america goes down the same path as nazi germany, it deserves the same fate. all of us are responsible for making that happen
Reposted by Computational Cosmetologist
In this interview, George R.R. Martin says he has about 1100 completed pages of The Winds of Winter.
That happens to be the exact same number he gave in an interview in December 2022.
That happens to be the exact same number he gave in an interview in December 2022.
In a new interview, George R.R. Martin revealed he has no plans for another author to finish The Winds of Winter or A Song of Ice and Fire if he can't.
George R.R. Martin makes it clear no other author will finish The Winds of Winter
George R.R. Martin just issued his clearest and most resounding answer to the oft-discussed topic about who will finish The Winds of Winter and A Song of Ice an
winteriscoming.net
January 16, 2026 at 12:29 AM
In this interview, George R.R. Martin says he has about 1100 completed pages of The Winds of Winter.
That happens to be the exact same number he gave in an interview in December 2022.
That happens to be the exact same number he gave in an interview in December 2022.