Dr. Holly Walters
@manigarm.bsky.social
Anthropologist 👣 • Ethnographer of Shaligrams 🐚 and Robot Religion 🤖 • Novelist of "The Way By" 🦄 • TTRPG Storyteller ✨ • (Genderqueer 🤷♀️ She/They)
Pinned
Dr. Holly Walters
@manigarm.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Well hello everyone! Welcome to Bluesky!
I'm an anthropologist (PhD).
My ethnographic research is on Hindu/Buddhist pilgrimage and sacred fossils (called Shaligrams) in the Himalayas of Nepal.
My new project focuses on robot religion in South Asia.
I also wrote "The Way By."
I'm an anthropologist (PhD).
My ethnographic research is on Hindu/Buddhist pilgrimage and sacred fossils (called Shaligrams) in the Himalayas of Nepal.
My new project focuses on robot religion in South Asia.
I also wrote "The Way By."
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
To bear out this rosy projection, HSBC assumes that OpenAI will become "as ubiquitous [...] as Microsoft 365" (345mm users worldwide) while bringing in 10x the number of users (3bn).
November 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
"It's because I'm over 40, isn't it?! That's AGEISM, you immortal hypocrites!"
W.B. Yeats: ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
November 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
"It's because I'm over 40, isn't it?! That's AGEISM, you immortal hypocrites!"
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
W.B. Yeats: ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
November 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
W.B. Yeats: ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
W.B. Yeats: ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
November 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
W.B. Yeats: ‘‘Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind.’’
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Me: **stomping on the ground** "Let me in you xenophobic bastards!"
Portal - Carol Of The Turrets
YouTube video by Harry101UK
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
I guess I need to consider this style more often. This sketch has sold!
Decided to do yesterday's meditation sketch in colored pencil.
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
November 23, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I guess I need to consider this style more often. This sketch has sold!
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
Look, I got distracted cleaning my planted betta tanks and feeding my isopod colonies.
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 24, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Look, I got distracted cleaning my planted betta tanks and feeding my isopod colonies.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
Look, I got distracted cleaning my planted betta tanks and feeding my isopod colonies.
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 24, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Look, I got distracted cleaning my planted betta tanks and feeding my isopod colonies.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
I'm serious when I say that STEM without the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities will produce more "innovative" tech bros who giddily reinvent rent, roommates, taxes, and...roller skates. With complete, straight-faced, sincerity. This is a problem. And I have a list (So, a thread )
July 3, 2023 at 4:18 PM
I'm serious when I say that STEM without the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities will produce more "innovative" tech bros who giddily reinvent rent, roommates, taxes, and...roller skates. With complete, straight-faced, sincerity. This is a problem. And I have a list (So, a thread )
RIP Roe v. Wade.
“we need to be nicer to men” bro they didn’t let women have their own credit cards til 50 years ago
November 23, 2025 at 11:15 PM
RIP Roe v. Wade.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
If I were ever to have a message for future generations it would be, "I am SO jealous that you get to live through a time of space travel and new astronomical discoveries while I'm stuck here with the dumbest major historical events ever."
a man in a pirate hat is peeking out from behind a window .
ALT: a man in a pirate hat is peeking out from behind a window .
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:10 AM
If I were ever to have a message for future generations it would be, "I am SO jealous that you get to live through a time of space travel and new astronomical discoveries while I'm stuck here with the dumbest major historical events ever."
I guess I need to consider this style more often. This sketch has sold!
Decided to do yesterday's meditation sketch in colored pencil.
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
November 23, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I guess I need to consider this style more often. This sketch has sold!
Decided to do yesterday's meditation sketch in colored pencil.
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Decided to do yesterday's meditation sketch in colored pencil.
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
"Argethea the Wonderer" (now in Technicolor)
If I were ever to have a message for future generations it would be, "I am SO jealous that you get to live through a time of space travel and new astronomical discoveries while I'm stuck here with the dumbest major historical events ever."
a man in a pirate hat is peeking out from behind a window .
ALT: a man in a pirate hat is peeking out from behind a window .
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:10 AM
If I were ever to have a message for future generations it would be, "I am SO jealous that you get to live through a time of space travel and new astronomical discoveries while I'm stuck here with the dumbest major historical events ever."
Ok. Letters of Recommendation are done. Article revisions are done. Only one more class to teach and then.....
......grading.
......grading.
Whew, well, two more days of classes to teach and all outstanding essays are finally accounted for.
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
November 23, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Ok. Letters of Recommendation are done. Article revisions are done. Only one more class to teach and then.....
......grading.
......grading.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
Whew, well, two more days of classes to teach and all outstanding essays are finally accounted for.
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Whew, well, two more days of classes to teach and all outstanding essays are finally accounted for.
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
I grew up in rural Minnesota and did my fieldwork in the high Himalayas.
Cold, I can do.
Cold, I can do.
People who hate winter and hate the cold are exhibiting motherless behavior. nobody taught you how to layer your clothing? A skill issue! You were not destined to survive the winter! You shame your ancestors, buy a thermal knit shirt and some real wool!!!
i need all the "waaaaa i hate winter" people to shut the hell up because it's 91 degrees out at the end of fucking october and i need you complainers to stop manifesting the mass ecological destruction of global warming. put on a jacket while you still can
November 21, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I grew up in rural Minnesota and did my fieldwork in the high Himalayas.
Cold, I can do.
Cold, I can do.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
November 21, 2025 at 2:23 PM
There is no debate.
The President of the United States has called for the trial and execution of members of Congress he doesn't like.
There is no "reasonable disagreement" about what happened yesterday. Stop trying to frame this as any kind of legitimate 'both sides.' It's not.
The President of the United States has called for the trial and execution of members of Congress he doesn't like.
There is no "reasonable disagreement" about what happened yesterday. Stop trying to frame this as any kind of legitimate 'both sides.' It's not.
President Trump’s recent statements accusing Democratic lawmakers of making “seditious” comments to military and intelligence community members have ignited a free speech debate.
#ConstitutionDaily unpacks the constitutional obligations of those who serve the country: https://ow.ly/fXXk50XvVxB
#ConstitutionDaily unpacks the constitutional obligations of those who serve the country: https://ow.ly/fXXk50XvVxB
November 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
There is no debate.
The President of the United States has called for the trial and execution of members of Congress he doesn't like.
There is no "reasonable disagreement" about what happened yesterday. Stop trying to frame this as any kind of legitimate 'both sides.' It's not.
The President of the United States has called for the trial and execution of members of Congress he doesn't like.
There is no "reasonable disagreement" about what happened yesterday. Stop trying to frame this as any kind of legitimate 'both sides.' It's not.
I grew up in rural Minnesota and did my fieldwork in the high Himalayas.
Cold, I can do.
Cold, I can do.
People who hate winter and hate the cold are exhibiting motherless behavior. nobody taught you how to layer your clothing? A skill issue! You were not destined to survive the winter! You shame your ancestors, buy a thermal knit shirt and some real wool!!!
i need all the "waaaaa i hate winter" people to shut the hell up because it's 91 degrees out at the end of fucking october and i need you complainers to stop manifesting the mass ecological destruction of global warming. put on a jacket while you still can
November 21, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I grew up in rural Minnesota and did my fieldwork in the high Himalayas.
Cold, I can do.
Cold, I can do.
Whew, well, two more days of classes to teach and all outstanding essays are finally accounted for.
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Whew, well, two more days of classes to teach and all outstanding essays are finally accounted for.
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
I now have the next however many days to grade all 45 of them, finish submitting my letters of recommendation, and find some time to clean out a closet.
Happy (almost) Fall Break!
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
When I wrote about John Comaroff in SAPIENS "The Case Against Harvard," I made the same argument so many women are making now.
Yes. We're mad that these abuses continue. But we're even madder that everyone has always known about it.
You just look away. Every. Time. You just look away.
Yes. We're mad that these abuses continue. But we're even madder that everyone has always known about it.
You just look away. Every. Time. You just look away.
November 20, 2025 at 2:19 AM
When I wrote about John Comaroff in SAPIENS "The Case Against Harvard," I made the same argument so many women are making now.
Yes. We're mad that these abuses continue. But we're even madder that everyone has always known about it.
You just look away. Every. Time. You just look away.
Yes. We're mad that these abuses continue. But we're even madder that everyone has always known about it.
You just look away. Every. Time. You just look away.
Reposted by Dr. Holly Walters
Fascinating article, especially in terms of my current AI Religion research. In short, that many LLMs associate controversy with unreliability. E.g., that an argument of multiple sides must have a whole truth and a whole falsity. No ambiguity, no nuance, no room for multiple truths.
How LLMs generate judgments
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
"driven by lexical and statistical associations rather than deliberative reasoning"
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
"driven by lexical and statistical associations rather than deliberative reasoning"
How LLMs generate judgments - Nature Computational Science
Nature Computational Science - How LLMs generate judgments
www.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Fascinating article, especially in terms of my current AI Religion research. In short, that many LLMs associate controversy with unreliability. E.g., that an argument of multiple sides must have a whole truth and a whole falsity. No ambiguity, no nuance, no room for multiple truths.