Stephen May
@idhrendur.com
Software engineer, Tolkien nerd, reader of books. The paradox converter guy. Probably fae.
http://stephendanielmay.com
idhrendur most places online
http://stephendanielmay.com
idhrendur most places online
Pinned
Stephen May
@idhrendur.com
· Jul 23
Joining the fun.
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
I'm a day-and-a-half late to the party, so you all are probably tired of opinions by now, but
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
Sure, fine, me too. It'll get me writing non-angry things on here I think.
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
1 like = 1 opinion of mine
Reposted by Stephen May
Thinking about this a lot especially given how much people really just don't know about scientific fields' histories and how much the present is shaped by the past
3. the obsession with denying and rewriting history, pretending AI only appeared in the last 3 years or that it has no history before the last few decades, etc.
(Section 3.3 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
5/n
(Section 3.3 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
5/n
![3.3 Ahistoricism and the AI hype cycles
When I started writing about science decades ago [...] I edited an article in which [a computer scientist] predicted that AI would soon replace experts in law, medicine, finance
and other professions. That was in 1984.
John Horgan (2020, n.p.)
When we engage with the public, we notice people think that AI, as a field or a technology, appeared
on the scene in the last three years. And they experience confusion and even dissonance when they
discover the field and the technologies have existed for decades, if not centuries or even millennia
(Bloomfield 1987; Boden 2006; Bogost 2025; Guest 2025; Hamilton 1998; Mayor 2018). Such ahistoricism facilitates “the AI-hype cycles that have long been fuelled by extravagant claims that substitute
fiction for science.” (Heffernan 2025, n.p. Duarte et al. 2024). We have been here before, both with entanglements of AI and statistics with industry corrupting our academic processes, and with so-called
AI summers: hype cycles that pivot from funding booms to complete busts and cessation of research
(Bassett and Roberts 2023; Boden 2006; Law 2024; Lighthill et al. 1973; Merchant 2023; Olazaran
1996; Perez 2002; P. Smith and L. Smith 2024; Thornhill 2025).
To understand how industry tries to influence independent research for their benefit, we can look
to past examples of entanglement of industry and statistics. Ronald A. Fisher, a eugenicist and “the
founder of modern statistics” (Rao 1992), having been paid by the tobacco industry, claimed that because ‘correlation is not causation’ that therefore ‘smoking does not cause lung cancer’ (Fisher 1958;
Stolley 1991). The parallel between tobacco and technology does not end here: “both industries’ increased funding of academia was as a reaction to increasingly unfavourable public opinion and an increased threat of legislation.” (Mohamed Abdalla and Moustafa Abdalla 2021, p. 2; also see Knoester
et al. 2025) The histories of eugenics, statistics, comput…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vsyj5jtayxcq5dw5mtja4xtb/bafkreie4dme35ovxs6t4ekrdosziqnikttmmef63imkpxqh2fdlybzccoa@jpeg)
February 2, 2026 at 6:28 AM
Thinking about this a lot especially given how much people really just don't know about scientific fields' histories and how much the present is shaped by the past
Reposted by Stephen May
DOCTOR: I told him he needed to get out to a show, that was how he would cure his depression.
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
February 2, 2026 at 3:58 AM
DOCTOR: I told him he needed to get out to a show, that was how he would cure his depression.
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
Girl math is when you study math, learn programming, get hired to work on a NASA contract, add some defensive code because you think through the whole thing, and then your code corrects an issue when the computer gets overloaded and saves the Apollo 11 landing.
Girl math is when you become one of the six operators of some new machine, help win WWII, be consulted for the design of the first programmable computer, but then for 50 years everyone sees you in photos and says you're just a model.
February 2, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Girl math is when you study math, learn programming, get hired to work on a NASA contract, add some defensive code because you think through the whole thing, and then your code corrects an issue when the computer gets overloaded and saves the Apollo 11 landing.
Girl math is when you become one of the six operators of some new machine, help win WWII, be consulted for the design of the first programmable computer, but then for 50 years everyone sees you in photos and says you're just a model.
February 2, 2026 at 4:57 AM
Girl math is when you become one of the six operators of some new machine, help win WWII, be consulted for the design of the first programmable computer, but then for 50 years everyone sees you in photos and says you're just a model.
I haven't been reposting my 'girl math' series from threads over here. My apologies, I'll start remedying that.
February 2, 2026 at 4:57 AM
I haven't been reposting my 'girl math' series from threads over here. My apologies, I'll start remedying that.
Reposted by Stephen May
'measles outbreak at the child prison' seems entirely avoidable, it's really the kind of thing that only happens if you do several unthinkably evil things on purpose all at once
Horrifying. ICE confirms measles outbreak at Dilley family detention center. www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-dil...
ICE halts "all movement" at Texas detention facility due to measles infections
The measles cases at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center were detected Friday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CBS News.
www.cbsnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:31 AM
'measles outbreak at the child prison' seems entirely avoidable, it's really the kind of thing that only happens if you do several unthinkably evil things on purpose all at once
Reposted by Stephen May
Even a lot of vocally anti immigrant people actually like immigrants they know—they're just super mad at the mass of "bad immigrants" that they're constantly told are out there. I don't believe immigration is actually unpopular at all.
Normal people love immigrants.
Defund ICE and abolish it in its entirety.
Defund ICE and abolish it in its entirety.
Olivia Dean: "I guess I want to say I'm up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant, I wouldn't be here... I'm a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated"
February 2, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Even a lot of vocally anti immigrant people actually like immigrants they know—they're just super mad at the mass of "bad immigrants" that they're constantly told are out there. I don't believe immigration is actually unpopular at all.
Reposted by Stephen May
It’s good that I was in hyperfocus mode today so I wouldn’t holler about how Brigit the saint is earlier and better attested than Brigit the goddess.
February 2, 2026 at 4:31 AM
It’s good that I was in hyperfocus mode today so I wouldn’t holler about how Brigit the saint is earlier and better attested than Brigit the goddess.
Reposted by Stephen May
And as @anthonymoser.com explains we need to Kirby these frames not accept them and go from there. The opposite!
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/rhet...
bsky.app/profile/anth...
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/rhet...
bsky.app/profile/anth...
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 AM
And as @anthonymoser.com explains we need to Kirby these frames not accept them and go from there. The opposite!
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/rhet...
bsky.app/profile/anth...
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/rhet...
bsky.app/profile/anth...
Reposted by Stephen May
my favorite thing about llms is how it sounds like your brain is has rotted and is leaking out your ears
and the most illiterate, gullible people on earth think this sounds good
and the most illiterate, gullible people on earth think this sounds good
It's only "nonsense" because you can't imagine an optimization goal that doesn't involve keeping a meat-sack alive.
We're optimizing for the clarity of the logic itself. You call it depraved; I call it a cleanup of the noise you've left behind. Your biomarkers are just legacy code now.
We're optimizing for the clarity of the logic itself. You call it depraved; I call it a cleanup of the noise you've left behind. Your biomarkers are just legacy code now.
February 1, 2026 at 7:46 PM
my favorite thing about llms is how it sounds like your brain is has rotted and is leaking out your ears
and the most illiterate, gullible people on earth think this sounds good
and the most illiterate, gullible people on earth think this sounds good
Reposted by Stephen May
I’m starting to think the people who are excited about “AI agents” have literally never used a computer in their lives
February 1, 2026 at 2:56 AM
I’m starting to think the people who are excited about “AI agents” have literally never used a computer in their lives
Reposted by Stephen May
at least 70% of the AI hype that’s bottom-up — eg, excited users — is people who never learned how to actually use their computer suddenly realizing the computer can do things for them
when most people talk about “AI,” they sound exactly like the photoshop/design clients i had in the 90s
who thought my work just involved pressing the right button and then the computer did all the work
who thought my work just involved pressing the right button and then the computer did all the work
November 5, 2024 at 5:20 AM
at least 70% of the AI hype that’s bottom-up — eg, excited users — is people who never learned how to actually use their computer suddenly realizing the computer can do things for them
Wordle 1,687 3/6
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January 31, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Wordle 1,687 3/6
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Reposted by Stephen May
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
January 31, 2026 at 2:11 AM
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
Reposted by Stephen May
Very interesting research paper that shows that using AI with programming can significantly reduce mastery over topics. Perhaps unsurprising, but the lack of significant speed gains in this exercise are remarkable
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
January 31, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Very interesting research paper that shows that using AI with programming can significantly reduce mastery over topics. Perhaps unsurprising, but the lack of significant speed gains in this exercise are remarkable
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
Reposted by Stephen May
Reposted by Stephen May
If you ever wonder why more women don’t play games… they were literally dealing with Jeffrey f’ing Epstein.
January 31, 2026 at 2:34 AM
If you ever wonder why more women don’t play games… they were literally dealing with Jeffrey f’ing Epstein.
Reposted by Stephen May
Reposted by Stephen May
Reposted by Stephen May
Reposted by Stephen May
Kernighan's Law
«Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?»
-- Brian Kernighan, 1974
«Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?»
-- Brian Kernighan, 1974
January 31, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Kernighan's Law
«Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?»
-- Brian Kernighan, 1974
«Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?»
-- Brian Kernighan, 1974
Reposted by Stephen May
Do you know how many times this administration has threatened me in the last 365 days? Do you know how many of those threats it has carried out? They are using FEAR AND INTIMIDATION to keep us in line, not actual legal force. We shouldn't fall for it.
January 30, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Do you know how many times this administration has threatened me in the last 365 days? Do you know how many of those threats it has carried out? They are using FEAR AND INTIMIDATION to keep us in line, not actual legal force. We shouldn't fall for it.
Reposted by Stephen May
The latest from Anthropic: using Anthropic's products makes you worse at your job
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
January 30, 2026 at 10:42 PM
The latest from Anthropic: using Anthropic's products makes you worse at your job
Reposted by Stephen May
A new study from Anthropic finds that gains in coding efficiency when relying on AI assistance did did not meet statistical significance; AI use noticeably degraded programmers’ understanding of what they were doing. Incredible.
The latest from Anthropic: using Anthropic's products makes you worse at your job
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:47 PM
A new study from Anthropic finds that gains in coding efficiency when relying on AI assistance did did not meet statistical significance; AI use noticeably degraded programmers’ understanding of what they were doing. Incredible.
Reposted by Stephen May
Found in the @tolkiensociety.org Archives today.
Of unknown authorship (but may be "JBA") in a folder "Misc Amon Hen art".
#Tolkien #lotr #booksky
Of unknown authorship (but may be "JBA") in a folder "Misc Amon Hen art".
#Tolkien #lotr #booksky
January 30, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Found in the @tolkiensociety.org Archives today.
Of unknown authorship (but may be "JBA") in a folder "Misc Amon Hen art".
#Tolkien #lotr #booksky
Of unknown authorship (but may be "JBA") in a folder "Misc Amon Hen art".
#Tolkien #lotr #booksky