Rua M. Williams
@fractalecho.bsky.social
Common Cyborg | NB ND Mad Bean | Disability and Epistemology | Research Ethics and Dissensus
Pinned
Rua M. Williams
@fractalecho.bsky.social
· Oct 11
This book is titled “Disabling Intelligences” for many reasons. First, because so-called “AI” is built from historical commitments to the excision of disability from the classification of humanity.
link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…
link.springer.com/book/10.1007/9…
Them: "you're mean over email just FYI."
Me: "yes. I'm aware. Stating facts, making clear and concise requests, and respecting people's time is very rude and scary. I know this and I refuse to adapt."
Me: "yes. I'm aware. Stating facts, making clear and concise requests, and respecting people's time is very rude and scary. I know this and I refuse to adapt."
November 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Them: "you're mean over email just FYI."
Me: "yes. I'm aware. Stating facts, making clear and concise requests, and respecting people's time is very rude and scary. I know this and I refuse to adapt."
Me: "yes. I'm aware. Stating facts, making clear and concise requests, and respecting people's time is very rude and scary. I know this and I refuse to adapt."
Okay hive mind.
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
November 24, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Okay hive mind.
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
Okay hive mind.
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Okay hive mind.
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
I need a laptop which
(in order of priority)
Supports above average graphics.
Has above average ram.
Has at least three USB C ports or still retains respectable ethernet and hdmi ports etc.
Has at least 1tb local storage (fuck the cloud).
(continued)
"You know what the biggest problem of pushing all-things-AI is? Wrong Direction. I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and
writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." (Joanna Maciejewska [@AuthorJMac] 2024)
Thread🧵
writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." (Joanna Maciejewska [@AuthorJMac] 2024)
Thread🧵
November 21, 2025 at 9:57 PM
"You know what the biggest problem of pushing all-things-AI is? Wrong Direction. I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and
writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." (Joanna Maciejewska [@AuthorJMac] 2024)
Thread🧵
writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." (Joanna Maciejewska [@AuthorJMac] 2024)
Thread🧵
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
9/ I had launch with Paulina Borsook last month in Oakland. Her life is hard, but she still has a lot to say! She's trying to raise funds to get a new version of the book reissued on the Internet Archive.
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Donate to Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist, organized by paul Carter
Paulina's long time friend Steve Rappaport writes,
"Support P… paul Carter needs your support for Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist
www.gofundme.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
9/ I had launch with Paulina Borsook last month in Oakland. Her life is hard, but she still has a lot to say! She's trying to raise funds to get a new version of the book reissued on the Internet Archive.
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
2/ In 2001, Borsook said tech "libertarianism" reflected an adolescent mindset, with a craving for unchecked independence & resistance to constraint.
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
2/ In 2001, Borsook said tech "libertarianism" reflected an adolescent mindset, with a craving for unchecked independence & resistance to constraint.
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
"I find the question of robot rights to be a wholly contemptible distraction from the present-day human rights violations already being perpetuated by human executives of automated systems." (Williams, p118)
(I put a book dart by that, @fractalecho.bsky.social & I would have clapped in a live talk)
(I put a book dart by that, @fractalecho.bsky.social & I would have clapped in a live talk)
November 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"I find the question of robot rights to be a wholly contemptible distraction from the present-day human rights violations already being perpetuated by human executives of automated systems." (Williams, p118)
(I put a book dart by that, @fractalecho.bsky.social & I would have clapped in a live talk)
(I put a book dart by that, @fractalecho.bsky.social & I would have clapped in a live talk)
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
"Hitler's skull circumference to jawline protrusion ratio tells us that he was predestined to become a monster so not too much more to worry or think about"
November 12, 2025 at 10:05 PM
"Hitler's skull circumference to jawline protrusion ratio tells us that he was predestined to become a monster so not too much more to worry or think about"
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Some folks long for AI tools that can do 'those tasks we hate' (or that are undervalued by society). But be wary, because "GenAI is currently doing the tasks we feel 'make us human' because the people who are selling it hate *us*. Art and culture are 'those tasks capital hates'" (Williams, p76)
November 12, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Some folks long for AI tools that can do 'those tasks we hate' (or that are undervalued by society). But be wary, because "GenAI is currently doing the tasks we feel 'make us human' because the people who are selling it hate *us*. Art and culture are 'those tasks capital hates'" (Williams, p76)
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Williams introduces the term Data Gambit for when startups or other companies release a product, sometimes for "free," which is actually "a Trojan Horse for data collection and algorithmic refinement designed to produce a new asset for future liquidation." (p59)
November 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Williams introduces the term Data Gambit for when startups or other companies release a product, sometimes for "free," which is actually "a Trojan Horse for data collection and algorithmic refinement designed to produce a new asset for future liquidation." (p59)
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Welcome back to day 2 of my thread while reading "Disabling Intelligences"! I honestly didn't expect this thread to break containment but I'm glad to have you here!
I gave the title and the author at the beginning of the thread but here's the link to it if you don't use search engines?
I gave the title and the author at the beginning of the thread but here's the link to it if you don't use search engines?
Disabling Intelligences
This book discusses the influences of eugenics on the AI industry and the impacts of AI opportunism on disabled people.
link.springer.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Welcome back to day 2 of my thread while reading "Disabling Intelligences"! I honestly didn't expect this thread to break containment but I'm glad to have you here!
I gave the title and the author at the beginning of the thread but here's the link to it if you don't use search engines?
I gave the title and the author at the beginning of the thread but here's the link to it if you don't use search engines?
Lol what the fuck
November 11, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Lol what the fuck
This image really bothers me because it's framed wrong. It's not about information recall it's about not perceiving any information at all.
You can't cite what you've neither written nor read.
You can't cite what you've neither written nor read.
November 11, 2025 at 9:33 PM
This image really bothers me because it's framed wrong. It's not about information recall it's about not perceiving any information at all.
You can't cite what you've neither written nor read.
You can't cite what you've neither written nor read.
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Forced to choose between risking my job that pays my bills and risking my access to health care that I die without
Fucking love this timeline
Fucking love this timeline
November 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Forced to choose between risking my job that pays my bills and risking my access to health care that I die without
Fucking love this timeline
Fucking love this timeline
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
I only a few pages into reading this wonderful book by @fractalecho.bsky.social and I've already thought of half a dozen people to whom I should gift a copy for Christmas.
#AI #AIEthics #HackingAI
#AI #AIEthics #HackingAI
Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI
Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI - Kindle edition by Williams, Rua M.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Disabling Intelligences: Legacies of Eugenics and How We are Wrong about AI.
www.amazon.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:12 AM
I only a few pages into reading this wonderful book by @fractalecho.bsky.social and I've already thought of half a dozen people to whom I should gift a copy for Christmas.
#AI #AIEthics #HackingAI
#AI #AIEthics #HackingAI
I got to listen to students talk about their experiences reading my book today and it was like... They are getting it. They are learning things from it. They get it and they're not just trying to please me, it makes sense to them. I make sense.
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 AM
I got to listen to students talk about their experiences reading my book today and it was like... They are getting it. They are learning things from it. They get it and they're not just trying to please me, it makes sense to them. I make sense.
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
I'm ridiculously chuffed to be in a pile with some of my favorite movement writers.
All 3 of these books arrived to me in the past 24 hours 😍📚🥰
1. Disabling Intelligences by @fractalecho.bsky.social (via publisher)
2. Ancestors by @adriennemareebrown.bsky.social (via Cellar Bird Books)
3. Read This When Things Fall Apart by @mskellymhayes.bsky.social (via Pilsen Community Books)
1. Disabling Intelligences by @fractalecho.bsky.social (via publisher)
2. Ancestors by @adriennemareebrown.bsky.social (via Cellar Bird Books)
3. Read This When Things Fall Apart by @mskellymhayes.bsky.social (via Pilsen Community Books)
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I'm ridiculously chuffed to be in a pile with some of my favorite movement writers.
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
UK ‘sliding into avoidable crisis’, major review into workplace sickness warns
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
www.independent.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
Reposted by Rua M. Williams
Furthermore public transit teaches you how to live with temporary minor annoyances and cars teach you that you're god's most special baby and your moment-to-moment comfort is the only important thing in the world
October 29, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Furthermore public transit teaches you how to live with temporary minor annoyances and cars teach you that you're god's most special baby and your moment-to-moment comfort is the only important thing in the world
Super proud to have some of my favorite work cited in this paper.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
“As Someone Who is Disabled, I am so thankful for Sex Work”: Alternative Approaches to Access Among Disabled Sex-Workers | Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers a...
dl.acm.org
October 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Super proud to have some of my favorite work cited in this paper.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
I think I've made this post before but I'll do it again.
AI is underpants gnome shit.
Like South Park Underpants Gnomes shit.
1. Steal underpants
2. ????
3. Profit
I wish I had another cultural reference for this but I don't.
AI is underpants gnome shit.
Like South Park Underpants Gnomes shit.
1. Steal underpants
2. ????
3. Profit
I wish I had another cultural reference for this but I don't.
October 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I think I've made this post before but I'll do it again.
AI is underpants gnome shit.
Like South Park Underpants Gnomes shit.
1. Steal underpants
2. ????
3. Profit
I wish I had another cultural reference for this but I don't.
AI is underpants gnome shit.
Like South Park Underpants Gnomes shit.
1. Steal underpants
2. ????
3. Profit
I wish I had another cultural reference for this but I don't.