Neville Morley
@nevillemorley.bsky.social
Classics & Ancient History at Exeter, Leverhulme Major Research Fellow; much Thucydides, Marx and decadence, but also beer, cats and obscure European jazz. STILL trying to keep the blog going: https://thesphinxblog.com.
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Neville Morley
@nevillemorley.bsky.social
· Jul 26
One like, one history opinion
one like, one writing opinion.
One like, one Thucydides opinion.
Reposted by Neville Morley
Smith gives beautifully contradictory answer where they want to direct some bits of universities (research, national priorities) and yet they want to lean back and act as if they are not directing universities at all because autonomy and no it's not for us to &c. Hitherto unseen levels of smug.
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Smith gives beautifully contradictory answer where they want to direct some bits of universities (research, national priorities) and yet they want to lean back and act as if they are not directing universities at all because autonomy and no it's not for us to &c. Hitherto unseen levels of smug.
Reposted by Neville Morley
Still the greatest rule in any wargame in history.
November 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Still the greatest rule in any wargame in history.
Reposted by Neville Morley
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Huge round of applause for the BBC Wales reporter interviewing Farage and not accepting his shifty formulations - which tend to suggest that he merrily used abusive and racist language but didn’t do it solely with the aim of hurting someone seriously. THAT is how you do an interview.
November 25, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Huge round of applause for the BBC Wales reporter interviewing Farage and not accepting his shifty formulations - which tend to suggest that he merrily used abusive and racist language but didn’t do it solely with the aim of hurting someone seriously. THAT is how you do an interview.
Reposted by Neville Morley
and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes, Charlie Brown
God is dead. God remains dead. And it is we who have killed him, Charlie Brown.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, Charlie Brown, in this life or the next.
November 24, 2025 at 10:07 AM
and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes, Charlie Brown
God is dead. God remains dead. And it is we who have killed him, Charlie Brown.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, Charlie Brown, in this life or the next.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
all those moments will be lost in time. like tears in rain.
time to die, Charlie Brown
all those moments will be lost in time. like tears in rain.
time to die, Charlie Brown
November 24, 2025 at 7:44 AM
God is dead. God remains dead. And it is we who have killed him, Charlie Brown.
“She knows – better than virtue-signalling white people – what the trenches actually look like. And so she must protect immigrants by hurting them.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Shabana Mahmood is an avatar of open Britain – that’s what makes her fable about immigration so seductive | Nesrine Malik
‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:15 AM
“She knows – better than virtue-signalling white people – what the trenches actually look like. And so she must protect immigrants by hurting them.”
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Hector, one of the cats, is on a course of antibiotics. In order to get him to swallow them, my wife has been alternating half-tablets with cat treats. Having been foiled in the latest attempt at stealing the packet of cat treats, Hector is now trying to steal the pack of antibiotics…
November 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Hector, one of the cats, is on a course of antibiotics. In order to get him to swallow them, my wife has been alternating half-tablets with cat treats. Having been foiled in the latest attempt at stealing the packet of cat treats, Hector is now trying to steal the pack of antibiotics…
Reposted by Neville Morley
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
AI in the Classroom is a Social Problem
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:03 AM
A case that AI in the classroom needs to be addressed as a social issue rather than as an arms race.
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
joshuapnudell.com/2025/11/22/a...
‘Sanity’ for ‘my prejudices are obviously correct, anyone who disagrees is delusional’ values of sanity.
Why is transphobia the default state for so many arseholes?
November 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
‘Sanity’ for ‘my prejudices are obviously correct, anyone who disagrees is delusional’ values of sanity.
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii will always love yoooo-ooo-oooo-oo-ooooo
There is no pain
You are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying
You are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying
November 23, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii will always love yoooo-ooo-oooo-oo-ooooo
Reposted by Neville Morley
Did a dog write this?
www.sciencealert.com/owning-a-cat...
www.sciencealert.com/owning-a-cat...
November 22, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Did a dog write this?
www.sciencealert.com/owning-a-cat...
www.sciencealert.com/owning-a-cat...
The only modification I’m inclined to make to yesterday’s statement is to emphasise that it applies to the English batting.
I had few hopes for England in Australia, but honestly… Was “don’t be a complete reckless shambles” too much to ask?
November 22, 2025 at 5:31 AM
The only modification I’m inclined to make to yesterday’s statement is to emphasise that it applies to the English batting.
Reposted by Neville Morley
It is true that Don't Knows are more immigration skeptical than Labour voters so the new white paper may have some logic. But it's very clear that Reform voters are the most distinct here, averaging one out of ten. 5,000 of them chose zero. 16 of them chose ten, which I think is very funny. 9/n
November 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
It is true that Don't Knows are more immigration skeptical than Labour voters so the new white paper may have some logic. But it's very clear that Reform voters are the most distinct here, averaging one out of ten. 5,000 of them chose zero. 16 of them chose ten, which I think is very funny. 9/n
Reposted by Neville Morley
Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social
Reposted by Neville Morley
Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
November 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
I had few hopes for England in Australia, but honestly… Was “don’t be a complete reckless shambles” too much to ask?
November 21, 2025 at 7:15 AM
I had few hopes for England in Australia, but honestly… Was “don’t be a complete reckless shambles” too much to ask?
Someone must surely have made this observation before: the Roman idea of imperium, the expectation that a magistrate will be obeyed without question and the aspect of their presence that commands obedience, is clearly exemplified today by the typical hospital ward sister.
November 20, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Someone must surely have made this observation before: the Roman idea of imperium, the expectation that a magistrate will be obeyed without question and the aspect of their presence that commands obedience, is clearly exemplified today by the typical hospital ward sister.
Reposted by Neville Morley
Shot - chaser - finisher
The EHRC admits there's no way to enforce anti-trans exclusion using paperwork.
Therefore it's only possible using gender stereotypes.
Therefore they defend excluding basically anyone who might be suspected of being trans.
A recipe for utter chaos.
The EHRC admits there's no way to enforce anti-trans exclusion using paperwork.
Therefore it's only possible using gender stereotypes.
Therefore they defend excluding basically anyone who might be suspected of being trans.
A recipe for utter chaos.
November 19, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Shot - chaser - finisher
The EHRC admits there's no way to enforce anti-trans exclusion using paperwork.
Therefore it's only possible using gender stereotypes.
Therefore they defend excluding basically anyone who might be suspected of being trans.
A recipe for utter chaos.
The EHRC admits there's no way to enforce anti-trans exclusion using paperwork.
Therefore it's only possible using gender stereotypes.
Therefore they defend excluding basically anyone who might be suspected of being trans.
A recipe for utter chaos.
Reposted by Neville Morley
If the current generation of AI is trying to bootstrap cognition from (say) FB posts about cats this is is the same thing but with videos of cats.
November 20, 2025 at 5:23 AM
If the current generation of AI is trying to bootstrap cognition from (say) FB posts about cats this is is the same thing but with videos of cats.
Reposted by Neville Morley
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
November 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
Reposted by Neville Morley
100. Geburtstag des großen Zygmunt Bauman heute!
jacobin.com/2025/11/zygm...
jacobin.com/2025/11/zygm...
Zygmunt Bauman’s Century
Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman was born 100 years ago today. He is best known as the theorist of “liquid modernity,” in which social bonds decline in favor of an atomized individualism.
jacobin.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
100. Geburtstag des großen Zygmunt Bauman heute!
jacobin.com/2025/11/zygm...
jacobin.com/2025/11/zygm...
Reposted by Neville Morley
Time to reread Roald Dahl's "The Great Automatic Grammatizator"
November 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Time to reread Roald Dahl's "The Great Automatic Grammatizator"
Reposted by Neville Morley
Oh wow! This is what happens when you're photographing MSS & don't capture the text in the inner gutter. 1st, here's the photograph (made about 100 yrs ago) of the Codex Salernitanus, f. 82ra. Although that big tear of the page is obvious, the inner gutter hasn't been fully captured in the photo.
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Oh wow! This is what happens when you're photographing MSS & don't capture the text in the inner gutter. 1st, here's the photograph (made about 100 yrs ago) of the Codex Salernitanus, f. 82ra. Although that big tear of the page is obvious, the inner gutter hasn't been fully captured in the photo.