Todd Battistelli
@fromtherostra.com
How do our disagreements go? #rhetoric, #writing, and #education.
Viewpoints that I express are my own and do not represent the views of organizations with which I'm affiliated. Reposts are not endorsements.
he/him
Viewpoints that I express are my own and do not represent the views of organizations with which I'm affiliated. Reposts are not endorsements.
he/him
Pinned
Todd Battistelli
@fromtherostra.com
· Nov 13
Hello!
My main interests are writing and learning, particularly as they relate to productive disagreement in rhetoric, organizational & workplace communication, emergent strategy, coalition work, and facilitation.
More here: fromtherostra.com/2023/03/10/w...
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My main interests are writing and learning, particularly as they relate to productive disagreement in rhetoric, organizational & workplace communication, emergent strategy, coalition work, and facilitation.
More here: fromtherostra.com/2023/03/10/w...
1/3
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Talk of an economy dominated by AI output is making it hard for Gen Z to plan for the future, even if they put the technology at the center of their work. One laid-off employee who built AI agents compares it to “feeding myself into the AI meat grinder.” nymag.com/intelligence...
‘There’s Just No Reason to Deal With Young Employees’
AI is taking entry-level jobs. What happens when Gen-Z-ers can’t start their careers?
nymag.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Talk of an economy dominated by AI output is making it hard for Gen Z to plan for the future, even if they put the technology at the center of their work. One laid-off employee who built AI agents compares it to “feeding myself into the AI meat grinder.” nymag.com/intelligence...
Is there a collective noun for a group of abominations?
November 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Is there a collective noun for a group of abominations?
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Another point: I cannot say 100% certain but the quality of video changed drastically the day Sora was released. The videos look like they're Sora videos, and they follow Sora tropes (Walmart, McDonald's). The biggest, most "valuable" companies on Earth are enabling and pushing this shit on people
November 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Another point: I cannot say 100% certain but the quality of video changed drastically the day Sora was released. The videos look like they're Sora videos, and they follow Sora tropes (Walmart, McDonald's). The biggest, most "valuable" companies on Earth are enabling and pushing this shit on people
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
It’s called an Em dash bc it was invented by Emily Dickinson
November 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM
It’s called an Em dash bc it was invented by Emily Dickinson
I didn't get any photos of the pink glow of the aurora last night, but I did manage to capture the brown haze settling over Denver's skyline this morning.
November 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I didn't get any photos of the pink glow of the aurora last night, but I did manage to capture the brown haze settling over Denver's skyline this morning.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
TIL the postwar Frankfurt School, in the personage of Friedrich Pollock, produced a book-length analysis of the automation question as it appeared in the mid-1950s. Thanks @cominsitu.bsky.social
cominsitu.wordpress.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
TIL the postwar Frankfurt School, in the personage of Friedrich Pollock, produced a book-length analysis of the automation question as it appeared in the mid-1950s. Thanks @cominsitu.bsky.social
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
The ability of the tech bros to indoctrinate children while making them illiterate via genAI doesn't get enough discussion.
November 12, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The ability of the tech bros to indoctrinate children while making them illiterate via genAI doesn't get enough discussion.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Humans evolved strong mechanisms for evaluating credibility. Yet these depend on an information ecosystem rich in trustworthy institutions and credible choices. The question is whether we can rebuild this epistemic infrastructure before norms of authenticity decay beyond repair, writes John Wihbey.
In Post-Authenticity AI Age, Knowledge Institutions Matter More than Ever | TechPolicy.Press
The pressing question is whether we can rebuild epistemic infrastructure before norms of authenticity decay beyond repair, writes John Wihbey.
www.techpolicy.press
November 12, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Humans evolved strong mechanisms for evaluating credibility. Yet these depend on an information ecosystem rich in trustworthy institutions and credible choices. The question is whether we can rebuild this epistemic infrastructure before norms of authenticity decay beyond repair, writes John Wihbey.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Tenure-line faculty, this better teach many about solidarity with our colleagues in more precarity. They are fighting the good fight. We should be in solidarity with them because it's the right thing to do. And if that's not enough, always remember that what comes for them will come for you.
Indiana University removed a Lecturer from her "Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice" course after a student filed a complaint about a graphic the instructor showed in class, which included "Make America Great Again" as an example of "Covert White Supremacy."
www.wfyi.org/news/article...
www.wfyi.org/news/article...
IU lecturer removed from class during intellectual diversity investigation
A lecturer in the Indiana University School of Social Work has been removed from teaching one of her classes Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice while the university investigates a complaint...
www.wfyi.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Tenure-line faculty, this better teach many about solidarity with our colleagues in more precarity. They are fighting the good fight. We should be in solidarity with them because it's the right thing to do. And if that's not enough, always remember that what comes for them will come for you.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
At 13, I joined a Wolfenstein 3d modding forum. 22 years later, my posts are still there - and still searchable.
The discussion I had in Discord 2 years ago?
Not so much.
We chose this. We can choose better.
blog.discourse.org/2025/11/the...
The discussion I had in Discord 2 years ago?
Not so much.
We chose this. We can choose better.
blog.discourse.org/2025/11/the...
The Death of Community Memory
I recently spent forty minutes searching through Slack trying to find a technical decision — made eight months ago — about an app that 60% of my creative life depends on...I eventually gave up and just asked someone to explain it again, which they did, poorly, because they didn’t quite remember either.
blog.discourse.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:58 PM
At 13, I joined a Wolfenstein 3d modding forum. 22 years later, my posts are still there - and still searchable.
The discussion I had in Discord 2 years ago?
Not so much.
We chose this. We can choose better.
blog.discourse.org/2025/11/the...
The discussion I had in Discord 2 years ago?
Not so much.
We chose this. We can choose better.
blog.discourse.org/2025/11/the...
"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 8:24 PM
"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”
One of the great challenges of pluralism is letting others use their own vocabulary to describe themselves and then engaging those vocabularies rather than suppressing them.
#pluralism #coalition #interbelief #interfaith #ReligiousPluralism #nonreligion
#pluralism #coalition #interbelief #interfaith #ReligiousPluralism #nonreligion
“You are this. You are that.”
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
November 11, 2025 at 3:41 PM
One of the great challenges of pluralism is letting others use their own vocabulary to describe themselves and then engaging those vocabularies rather than suppressing them.
#pluralism #coalition #interbelief #interfaith #ReligiousPluralism #nonreligion
#pluralism #coalition #interbelief #interfaith #ReligiousPluralism #nonreligion
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
An 1849 humanist naming ceremony conducted by none other than George Holyoake – the man who coined the term 'secularism'.
Humanist ceremonies are not a new thing. Far from it.
This one dates back to 1849, and was conducted by the man who coined the term 'Secularism' George Holyoake.
Very cool #HumanistHeritage, and the description of the ceremony itself is quite entertaining.
heritage.humanists.uk/naming-of-ma...
This one dates back to 1849, and was conducted by the man who coined the term 'Secularism' George Holyoake.
Very cool #HumanistHeritage, and the description of the ceremony itself is quite entertaining.
heritage.humanists.uk/naming-of-ma...
Humanist Heritage: From the archives: Naming of Mazzini Truelove
On 11 November 1849, at the Literary and Scientific Institution, 23 John Street (now Whitfield Street), London, George Jacob Holyoake […]
heritage.humanists.uk
November 11, 2025 at 3:23 PM
An 1849 humanist naming ceremony conducted by none other than George Holyoake – the man who coined the term 'secularism'.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Humanist and author Kurt Vonnegut was born on this day 1922.
Here's Kurt on the humanist approach to life, as featured in #TheLittleBookofHumanism ❤️
Here's Kurt on the humanist approach to life, as featured in #TheLittleBookofHumanism ❤️
November 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Humanist and author Kurt Vonnegut was born on this day 1922.
Here's Kurt on the humanist approach to life, as featured in #TheLittleBookofHumanism ❤️
Here's Kurt on the humanist approach to life, as featured in #TheLittleBookofHumanism ❤️
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M Chapter of the AAUP said faculty were not consulted on the proposed changes, which he called “a direct violation” of their expertise + freedom to teach. “If that’s the case, there’s just going to be a further black eye on higher education here in Texas.”
Texas A&M to vote on banning “race and gender ideology”
The proposal appears to mark the first time a Texas university system offers definitions of what kind of instruction related to race and gender should not be permitted.
www.texastribune.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
"From generating phishing emails to suggesting a college student using it to study commit self-harm to suggesting putting glue on pizza, Gemini might not be the killer app worthy of teachers tying their reputations to." #EduSky #AcademicSky
Before You Become a Gemini Certified Educator
Be careful what you tie your name to.
www.criticalinkling.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:52 PM
"From generating phishing emails to suggesting a college student using it to study commit self-harm to suggesting putting glue on pizza, Gemini might not be the killer app worthy of teachers tying their reputations to." #EduSky #AcademicSky
“You are this. You are that.”
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
November 11, 2025 at 1:11 PM
“You are this. You are that.”
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
No. We are people trying to work in coalition, each with the agency to describe their own identities and the forbearance to respect differences among them.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Being a member of a "meeting" or a "religious society" was simply not essential to the earliest Friends' self-identity. Today, the opposite seems true—that you can't REALLY call yourself a Quaker until you join a meeting.
Matt Rosen's new Pendle Hill pamphlet invites us to revisit the old ways.
Matt Rosen's new Pendle Hill pamphlet invites us to revisit the old ways.
REVIEWED: Awakening the Witness: Convincement and Belonging in Quaker Community
What makes someone a Quaker? Matt Rosen's new pamphlet reveals it's about more than deciding to become a member of a meeting.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Being a member of a "meeting" or a "religious society" was simply not essential to the earliest Friends' self-identity. Today, the opposite seems true—that you can't REALLY call yourself a Quaker until you join a meeting.
Matt Rosen's new Pendle Hill pamphlet invites us to revisit the old ways.
Matt Rosen's new Pendle Hill pamphlet invites us to revisit the old ways.
Reposted by Todd Battistelli
Happy National Native American Heritage Month : Open access means honoring every voice. Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by exploring stories that deserve to be remembered and shared.
November 11, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Happy National Native American Heritage Month : Open access means honoring every voice. Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by exploring stories that deserve to be remembered and shared.
This is not a place of deliberation.
No dialogue was achieved here.
No dialogue was achieved here.
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 AM
This is not a place of deliberation.
No dialogue was achieved here.
No dialogue was achieved here.