Lucia Lorenzi
@luminousmethods.bsky.social
formerly of Twitter and CanLit, currently wayward and puttering in public health. trauma theorist. artist. writer. chronically ill shenanigans. (she/they)
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
what if I told you learning to face discomfort and doing shit anyway is a crucial part of the learning process, and we shouldn't strive to eliminate that.
obviously people shouldn't be abused, but not developing the ego strength to be able to face critique of any sort is a real problem.
obviously people shouldn't be abused, but not developing the ego strength to be able to face critique of any sort is a real problem.
What if this tool (AI) allows a student to think through an idea (critical thinking) without facing ridicule or bias before a concept comes to fruition. Gen AI could serve to help us develop better questions that lead to solutions. Isn’t that the goal of academia?
August 11, 2025 at 6:47 AM
what if I told you learning to face discomfort and doing shit anyway is a crucial part of the learning process, and we shouldn't strive to eliminate that.
obviously people shouldn't be abused, but not developing the ego strength to be able to face critique of any sort is a real problem.
obviously people shouldn't be abused, but not developing the ego strength to be able to face critique of any sort is a real problem.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
NEW post by me. The BC Govt has cut funding to an essential treatment for a disabled child with a very rare disease. Her name is Charleigh Pollock and time is running out. There is link to petition in post. Please sign, share.
open.substack.com/pub/mssineno...
open.substack.com/pub/mssineno...
BC Government MUST Reinstate Funding For A Disabled Child's Medication.
And perhaps it is time to discuss a declaration on the rights of the dying.
open.substack.com
June 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
NEW post by me. The BC Govt has cut funding to an essential treatment for a disabled child with a very rare disease. Her name is Charleigh Pollock and time is running out. There is link to petition in post. Please sign, share.
open.substack.com/pub/mssineno...
open.substack.com/pub/mssineno...
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
Important response to the lawsuit. Chief Clarence Louie: “The recognition of unceded Syilx Okanagan land is not a political maneuver; it is an acknowledgment of historical truths & legal realities. Attempts to silence these acknowledgments are attempts to erase Syilx Okanagan presence & rights.” 14/
Syilx Okanagan Nation Chiefs Condemn UBC Professors’ Legal Challenge to First Nations’ Land Acknowledgments – Okanagan Nation Alliance
syilx.org
April 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Important response to the lawsuit. Chief Clarence Louie: “The recognition of unceded Syilx Okanagan land is not a political maneuver; it is an acknowledgment of historical truths & legal realities. Attempts to silence these acknowledgments are attempts to erase Syilx Okanagan presence & rights.” 14/
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
when the president is claiming the powers of the legislature while skirting at best and arguably outright defying the orders of the judiciary this impulse to say "the president calling himself a king is trolling, a distraction" goes beyond normalcy bias and into something malignant, metastatic
February 19, 2025 at 10:30 PM
when the president is claiming the powers of the legislature while skirting at best and arguably outright defying the orders of the judiciary this impulse to say "the president calling himself a king is trolling, a distraction" goes beyond normalcy bias and into something malignant, metastatic
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
Tomorrow is the fake holiday known as "Flag Day"
It was started in 1996 by the Liberals to try and boost nationalism in the wake of the Quebec referendum.
I use this story about Flag Day to introduce my next book, Corporate Control, which is probably the most that any Canadian knows about Flag Day
It was started in 1996 by the Liberals to try and boost nationalism in the wake of the Quebec referendum.
I use this story about Flag Day to introduce my next book, Corporate Control, which is probably the most that any Canadian knows about Flag Day
February 14, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Tomorrow is the fake holiday known as "Flag Day"
It was started in 1996 by the Liberals to try and boost nationalism in the wake of the Quebec referendum.
I use this story about Flag Day to introduce my next book, Corporate Control, which is probably the most that any Canadian knows about Flag Day
It was started in 1996 by the Liberals to try and boost nationalism in the wake of the Quebec referendum.
I use this story about Flag Day to introduce my next book, Corporate Control, which is probably the most that any Canadian knows about Flag Day
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
people really just exited stage left on their “decolonization journey” and are back to simping for their fuck ass settlerstate huh
February 16, 2025 at 3:43 AM
people really just exited stage left on their “decolonization journey” and are back to simping for their fuck ass settlerstate huh
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
The fact is, Canada is deeply implicated in the same kind of fascist forces we see at play in the U.S. In fact, many of the alt-right thought leaders there are Canadians! So if you want to fight this you MUST root it out at home first, and nationalism isn't know for that kind of nuance. Do better.
February 16, 2025 at 3:17 AM
The fact is, Canada is deeply implicated in the same kind of fascist forces we see at play in the U.S. In fact, many of the alt-right thought leaders there are Canadians! So if you want to fight this you MUST root it out at home first, and nationalism isn't know for that kind of nuance. Do better.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
i think this break is badly needed. i'm not saying CS has no place in refusing, resisting, or destroying AI, but they must have due respect for the people who actually have to deal with the violence and harm that AIs create & project. meaning recognizing undue power they wield and challenging that
January 26, 2025 at 7:02 PM
i think this break is badly needed. i'm not saying CS has no place in refusing, resisting, or destroying AI, but they must have due respect for the people who actually have to deal with the violence and harm that AIs create & project. meaning recognizing undue power they wield and challenging that
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
recognizing AI as an oligarchic project, or as an authoritarian one (or, fundamentally, as a political project, navigating our way through which particular qualities that project entails), means breaking away from letting computer scientists insist on being the chaperones of our movements against AI
January 26, 2025 at 6:55 PM
recognizing AI as an oligarchic project, or as an authoritarian one (or, fundamentally, as a political project, navigating our way through which particular qualities that project entails), means breaking away from letting computer scientists insist on being the chaperones of our movements against AI
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
i would lay out the claim that the connective tissue within AI, that spans those last 60ish years, is not shared methods or shared approaches. the thing that connects AI from the 50s/60s to today is the shared ideological project.
January 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
i would lay out the claim that the connective tissue within AI, that spans those last 60ish years, is not shared methods or shared approaches. the thing that connects AI from the 50s/60s to today is the shared ideological project.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
i've said this a few times now so i'm sorry if i'm a broken record, but
if you go back in time 30 years, you find AI in a very different form than it exists today. go back another 30 years, and again something very different. the academic tradition that falls under that one umbrella is disjointed;
if you go back in time 30 years, you find AI in a very different form than it exists today. go back another 30 years, and again something very different. the academic tradition that falls under that one umbrella is disjointed;
January 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
i've said this a few times now so i'm sorry if i'm a broken record, but
if you go back in time 30 years, you find AI in a very different form than it exists today. go back another 30 years, and again something very different. the academic tradition that falls under that one umbrella is disjointed;
if you go back in time 30 years, you find AI in a very different form than it exists today. go back another 30 years, and again something very different. the academic tradition that falls under that one umbrella is disjointed;
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
what does it mean to have systems that render decisions at scales that are de facto or de jure impossible to scrutinize or challenge? again, are we not talking about authoritarian totalitarian states?
January 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
what does it mean to have systems that render decisions at scales that are de facto or de jure impossible to scrutinize or challenge? again, are we not talking about authoritarian totalitarian states?
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
we can and should be candid about what it means if someone says that they want to accumulate and centralize (and therefore validate or invalidate) the entire world in the form of data. what does that kind of central authority describe? on its face we're describing systems of authoritarian nature.
January 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
we can and should be candid about what it means if someone says that they want to accumulate and centralize (and therefore validate or invalidate) the entire world in the form of data. what does that kind of central authority describe? on its face we're describing systems of authoritarian nature.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
one key point that i'll try to make without succumbing to engaging on technical domain shit is that AI projects as we know them today are existentially, definitionally characterized by a massive amount of data, and opaque decisions and other outputs going out.
January 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
one key point that i'll try to make without succumbing to engaging on technical domain shit is that AI projects as we know them today are existentially, definitionally characterized by a massive amount of data, and opaque decisions and other outputs going out.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
but i promise i'll try not to constantly turn every conversation into an epistemological crisis about what kind of expertise, and what kind of knowledge, we respect and acknowledge.
BUT WE SHOULD- no, i'm digressing.
BUT WE SHOULD- no, i'm digressing.
January 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
but i promise i'll try not to constantly turn every conversation into an epistemological crisis about what kind of expertise, and what kind of knowledge, we respect and acknowledge.
BUT WE SHOULD- no, i'm digressing.
BUT WE SHOULD- no, i'm digressing.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
should put "technical" experts in so many quotes because i would argue that people who have had to fill out a thousand job application forms online arguably have more *expertise* about AI in job screenings & applications than eg CS faculty and grad students who haven't applied for a job in 10+ years
January 26, 2025 at 6:36 PM
should put "technical" experts in so many quotes because i would argue that people who have had to fill out a thousand job application forms online arguably have more *expertise* about AI in job screenings & applications than eg CS faculty and grad students who haven't applied for a job in 10+ years
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
it's really good to be re-evaluating whether we accept the premises laid out by (technical) experts when they define "AI". the techno-essentialist approach to tracing a boundary around AI according to the tech stack has led us into weird cul-de-sacs that make building power against it more difficult
January 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
it's really good to be re-evaluating whether we accept the premises laid out by (technical) experts when they define "AI". the techno-essentialist approach to tracing a boundary around AI according to the tech stack has led us into weird cul-de-sacs that make building power against it more difficult
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
YES
sorry. yes.
sorry. yes.
one thing I've been pondering this week is whether genAI is inherently an oligarchic project and—if so—why there isn't a stronger leftist movement against AI as a plan to take away jobs
The plan is to crash the economy to suppress wages.
January 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
YES
sorry. yes.
sorry. yes.
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
they have special MBA classes where they train you to be the guy who has to act like “AI” is an exciting longterm strategy to grow and not just a short term gimmick to strip media verticals for parts until the brand loses all credibility and handful of consultants walk off with cartoon bags of cash
If anyone is looking for parallels here I’d actually point to Buzzfeed who a few years ago did have really good dedicated reporters and reasons to visit the website and now I’m pretty sure just exists as a Moldovan malware site that gives you AI quizzes on “which futurama cyborg is zodiac?”
God this is so grim
January 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
they have special MBA classes where they train you to be the guy who has to act like “AI” is an exciting longterm strategy to grow and not just a short term gimmick to strip media verticals for parts until the brand loses all credibility and handful of consultants walk off with cartoon bags of cash
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
BREAKING: Starbucks Workers United is going on strike.
Tomorrow unionized Starbucks workers are walking out in multiple key cities. And @sbworkersunited.org's rolling strike will grow in the coming days.
537 stores and 10,000+ workers are in the union and could potentially strike.
Tomorrow unionized Starbucks workers are walking out in multiple key cities. And @sbworkersunited.org's rolling strike will grow in the coming days.
537 stores and 10,000+ workers are in the union and could potentially strike.
December 20, 2024 at 1:40 AM
BREAKING: Starbucks Workers United is going on strike.
Tomorrow unionized Starbucks workers are walking out in multiple key cities. And @sbworkersunited.org's rolling strike will grow in the coming days.
537 stores and 10,000+ workers are in the union and could potentially strike.
Tomorrow unionized Starbucks workers are walking out in multiple key cities. And @sbworkersunited.org's rolling strike will grow in the coming days.
537 stores and 10,000+ workers are in the union and could potentially strike.
"pleasures held in common"
- Laleh Khalili
- Laleh Khalili
October 30, 2024 at 10:54 PM
"pleasures held in common"
- Laleh Khalili
- Laleh Khalili
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
V Mitch Mcewen’s question about marronage as a rigorous exploration of outer space reminds me of the Black quantum scientists in Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ M Archive
October 30, 2024 at 10:36 PM
V Mitch Mcewen’s question about marronage as a rigorous exploration of outer space reminds me of the Black quantum scientists in Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ M Archive
Reposted by Lucia Lorenzi
Masking and COVID precautions early in the pandemic killed off a strain of influenza. Eliminated it COMPLETELY.
Imagine what we could achieve if we improved indoor air quality and masked during surges?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Imagine what we could achieve if we improved indoor air quality and masked during surges?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
The flu shot is different this year, thanks to COVID
A strain of influenza appears to have disappeared from the planet since COVID. As a result, U.S. flu vaccines have been redesigned.
www.npr.org
October 19, 2024 at 3:26 AM
Masking and COVID precautions early in the pandemic killed off a strain of influenza. Eliminated it COMPLETELY.
Imagine what we could achieve if we improved indoor air quality and masked during surges?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Imagine what we could achieve if we improved indoor air quality and masked during surges?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...