@lastpositivist.bsky.social
Aspiring philosopher; tolerable human; "amusing combination of sardonic detachment & literally all the feelings felt entirely unironically all at once" [he/his]
Pinned
I really think at its heart philosophy is one giant battle, taking place over many eras and nations, between people who are basically pleasant bureaucrats and people who are sexy murder poets, and it’s both super important and super boring that the pleasant bureaucrats must win.
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Hey look, @huwwday.bsky.social, philosophy being a bit slow as always but they published what we’d discussed yesterday: academic back-and-forths in peer reviewed journals is basically good for the h-index.
January 22, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Hey look, @huwwday.bsky.social, philosophy being a bit slow as always but they published what we’d discussed yesterday: academic back-and-forths in peer reviewed journals is basically good for the h-index.
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I buy this. This is also basically how most misinformation gets spread too. Someone prominent reposts a “news” article with minimal circulation to debunk it, thereby unintentionally spreading the idea to more people! In psych it’s called the illusory truth effect.
January 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM
I buy this. This is also basically how most misinformation gets spread too. Someone prominent reposts a “news” article with minimal circulation to debunk it, thereby unintentionally spreading the idea to more people! In psych it’s called the illusory truth effect.
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I sent the nomination too quickly? I just loved the piece so much 😭😭😭
January 22, 2026 at 11:49 AM
I sent the nomination too quickly? I just loved the piece so much 😭😭😭
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Even better: your theory predicts my behaviour but for different reasons than those I took myself to have. So it's informative as well as adequate
January 22, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Even better: your theory predicts my behaviour but for different reasons than those I took myself to have. So it's informative as well as adequate
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You get a 1.1 multiplier if people cite Liam’s fanfic in your research paper.
January 22, 2026 at 11:43 AM
You get a 1.1 multiplier if people cite Liam’s fanfic in your research paper.
This particular obvious scam is basically a little morality tale, cos you have to be incredibly vain to fall for the trick it represents - my paper that literally just came out today was immediately nominated for the Research Excellence Award now was it? Bloody hell.
January 22, 2026 at 11:45 AM
This particular obvious scam is basically a little morality tale, cos you have to be incredibly vain to fall for the trick it represents - my paper that literally just came out today was immediately nominated for the Research Excellence Award now was it? Bloody hell.
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My brother's friend once said: "She's smart. She laughs at all my jokes."
January 22, 2026 at 11:39 AM
My brother's friend once said: "She's smart. She laughs at all my jokes."
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Coincidentally enough also the crucial metric for how objectively correct an argument is
January 22, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Coincidentally enough also the crucial metric for how objectively correct an argument is
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Gonna invent a new form of IQ measured mainly by how many times you cite my papers.
January 22, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Gonna invent a new form of IQ measured mainly by how many times you cite my papers.
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I can't decide if this deserves a record scratch narration cut or Looney Tunes sound effects
January 22, 2026 at 11:34 AM
I can't decide if this deserves a record scratch narration cut or Looney Tunes sound effects
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"Nigel Farage has blamed his failure to declare £380,000 of income from TV and speeches on “severe growing pains” since becoming an MP and the fact that “I don’t do computers”." [Times]
January 22, 2026 at 8:22 AM
"Nigel Farage has blamed his failure to declare £380,000 of income from TV and speeches on “severe growing pains” since becoming an MP and the fact that “I don’t do computers”." [Times]
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You could’ve fooled us…
January 21, 2026 at 8:47 PM
You could’ve fooled us…
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Jesus Christ. Syria. My heart bleeds. A fucking despicable way to treat any people, let alone those that gave everything to defeat ISIS.
Bijî, bijî Rojava.
Bijî, bijî Rojava.
January 22, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Jesus Christ. Syria. My heart bleeds. A fucking despicable way to treat any people, let alone those that gave everything to defeat ISIS.
Bijî, bijî Rojava.
Bijî, bijî Rojava.
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Nietzsche always wrote as though he had a shocking, Buddha- or Christ-sized revelation to deliver to humanity. On the mainstream reading this is bluster or parody (either way, annoying), whereas on the new literalist reading it's an eccentric but sincerely held belief. (4/4) bsky.app/profile/birc...
Nietzsche knew that a true philosopher must write his own jacket blurbs.
January 22, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Nietzsche always wrote as though he had a shocking, Buddha- or Christ-sized revelation to deliver to humanity. On the mainstream reading this is bluster or parody (either way, annoying), whereas on the new literalist reading it's an eccentric but sincerely held belief. (4/4) bsky.app/profile/birc...
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I really enjoyed @neilsinhababu.bsky.social's "Nietzsche on the eternal recurrence". Together with Paul Loeb's work it's persuaded me that Nietzsche believed his eternal recurrence doctrine to be literally true, or at least probably true. (1/4)
philpapers.org/rec/SINNOT-9
philpapers.org/rec/SINNOT-9
Neil Sinhababu, Nietzsche on the Eternal Recurrence - PhilPapers
The idea of the eternal recurrence is that everyone will live the exact same lives again an infinite number of times. Nietzsche appreciates that this would multiply the value of a ...
philpapers.org
January 22, 2026 at 10:44 AM
I really enjoyed @neilsinhababu.bsky.social's "Nietzsche on the eternal recurrence". Together with Paul Loeb's work it's persuaded me that Nietzsche believed his eternal recurrence doctrine to be literally true, or at least probably true. (1/4)
philpapers.org/rec/SINNOT-9
philpapers.org/rec/SINNOT-9
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I was just thinking - partly inspired by recent @nescio13.bsky.social post - that I'd love to see a published criticism of my work and never have. Not so much for credit economy reasons but simply to know someone has properly read it
January 22, 2026 at 11:03 AM
I was just thinking - partly inspired by recent @nescio13.bsky.social post - that I'd love to see a published criticism of my work and never have. Not so much for credit economy reasons but simply to know someone has properly read it
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I’m also a believer in active editors, but the worry of having a few very powerful gatekeepers must be acknowledged.
January 22, 2026 at 10:29 AM
I’m also a believer in active editors, but the worry of having a few very powerful gatekeepers must be acknowledged.
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I'm the proud owner of a very large mug (850ml) and it used to be that when I'd leave for parties I'd fill it with water and put it on my mattress so when I came back I'd remember to drink because otherwise it would be impossible to go to bed.
mostly worked, downside is it ruined a mattress once
mostly worked, downside is it ruined a mattress once
One thing I do believe is: if you drink non trivial amounts of alcohol it makes a huge difference to how happy you will be the morning after whether or not you also drink lots of water before going to sleep. If you do the hangover can often be negligible, whereas if you do not it can be miserable.
January 22, 2026 at 10:28 AM
I'm the proud owner of a very large mug (850ml) and it used to be that when I'd leave for parties I'd fill it with water and put it on my mattress so when I came back I'd remember to drink because otherwise it would be impossible to go to bed.
mostly worked, downside is it ruined a mattress once
mostly worked, downside is it ruined a mattress once
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Once again reiterating that it's a genuine problem for U.S. diplomacy that American elites are too goddamn stupid to see "The president is deterred by the threat armed force" and "Mister Trump does a Reasonable Diplomacy because The System Worked" are entirely different outcomes.
Remember what I said about how when Trump falters, the media inserts a fake, imaginary version of Trump into the news instead?
Right on cue, here are the push alerts from the 3 major newspapers lmao
January 21, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Once again reiterating that it's a genuine problem for U.S. diplomacy that American elites are too goddamn stupid to see "The president is deterred by the threat armed force" and "Mister Trump does a Reasonable Diplomacy because The System Worked" are entirely different outcomes.
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-> Should also note that authors in my experience greatly prefer the active editor, who is accountable (unlike anonymous reviewers) and in the best case serves as a brake on all sorts of looniness.
But the active editor takes on a lot more work!
But the active editor takes on a lot more work!
January 22, 2026 at 9:18 AM
-> Should also note that authors in my experience greatly prefer the active editor, who is accountable (unlike anonymous reviewers) and in the best case serves as a brake on all sorts of looniness.
But the active editor takes on a lot more work!
But the active editor takes on a lot more work!
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-> Or active, where the editor processes reviews critically, and writes their own decisions and justification.
A biased reviewer is a problem for the passive model.
But in the active model, the editor is aware of bias and ideally strips it away from substantive points when deciding. ->
A biased reviewer is a problem for the passive model.
But in the active model, the editor is aware of bias and ideally strips it away from substantive points when deciding. ->
January 22, 2026 at 9:15 AM
-> Or active, where the editor processes reviews critically, and writes their own decisions and justification.
A biased reviewer is a problem for the passive model.
But in the active model, the editor is aware of bias and ideally strips it away from substantive points when deciding. ->
A biased reviewer is a problem for the passive model.
But in the active model, the editor is aware of bias and ideally strips it away from substantive points when deciding. ->
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"the petty facsimile of power" 😅
I have a different (but not conflicting) take on why targeted authors can be involved.
Working as an editor, I realized that there are two models of academic editing.
Passive, where the editor tallies reviewer recommendations quasi-electorally ->
I have a different (but not conflicting) take on why targeted authors can be involved.
Working as an editor, I realized that there are two models of academic editing.
Passive, where the editor tallies reviewer recommendations quasi-electorally ->
January 22, 2026 at 9:12 AM
"the petty facsimile of power" 😅
I have a different (but not conflicting) take on why targeted authors can be involved.
Working as an editor, I realized that there are two models of academic editing.
Passive, where the editor tallies reviewer recommendations quasi-electorally ->
I have a different (but not conflicting) take on why targeted authors can be involved.
Working as an editor, I realized that there are two models of academic editing.
Passive, where the editor tallies reviewer recommendations quasi-electorally ->
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During my extremely alcoholic PhD, I did this, but used to place a chair on top of my bed with the water and pills on it so I couldn't get in without engaging with the system. It did become habitual, like taking make up off. I'd need to be basically in a coma to wake up without a cleansed face🤣
January 22, 2026 at 9:20 AM
During my extremely alcoholic PhD, I did this, but used to place a chair on top of my bed with the water and pills on it so I couldn't get in without engaging with the system. It did become habitual, like taking make up off. I'd need to be basically in a coma to wake up without a cleansed face🤣