René Walter
@rawx.bsky.social
i learned more from a three minute record than i ever learned from a large language model.
Meme Magic / SocMed Psy / AI / Climate / Ex-Nerdcore.de
http://goodinternet.substack.com
http://goodmusic.substack.com
https://sigmoid.social/@rawx
Meme Magic / SocMed Psy / AI / Climate / Ex-Nerdcore.de
http://goodinternet.substack.com
http://goodmusic.substack.com
https://sigmoid.social/@rawx
“When people see it, they say, ‘that’s it?… It’s so simple.’”
Nubbin?
Nubbin?
November 25, 2025 at 11:53 AM
“When people see it, they say, ‘that’s it?… It’s so simple.’”
Nubbin?
Nubbin?
Reposted by René Walter
The rot is real. “Repeated exposure to highly stimulating, fast-paced content may contribute to habituation, in which users become desensitized to slower, more effortful cognitive tasks such as reading, problem solving, or deep learning.” www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
TikTok and Instagram usage leading to brain rot, says APA study
The more short-form content a person watches on social media, the poorer their cognitive performance, the study found
www.independent.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:14 AM
The rot is real. “Repeated exposure to highly stimulating, fast-paced content may contribute to habituation, in which users become desensitized to slower, more effortful cognitive tasks such as reading, problem solving, or deep learning.” www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-...
Reposted by René Walter
November 24, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by René Walter
RIP Udo Kier, a true original
📽️
his one and only social media post:
📽️
his one and only social media post:
November 24, 2025 at 7:27 AM
RIP Udo Kier, a true original
📽️
his one and only social media post:
📽️
his one and only social media post:
RIP Udo Kier www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
November 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
RIP Udo Kier www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
This is the way: "We have long advocated for the development of 'public AI': models and AI systems that are developed under democratic control and deployed for public benefit, not sold by corporations to benefit their shareholders."
Four ways AI is being used to strengthen democracies worldwide | Nathan E Sanders and Bruce Schneier
Four ways AI is being used to strengthen democracies worldwide | Nathan E Sanders and Bruce Schneier
The dangers of artificial intelligence and its potential to consolidate power are clear. But used fairly, it can be a boon for good government
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:53 AM
This is the way: "We have long advocated for the development of 'public AI': models and AI systems that are developed under democratic control and deployed for public benefit, not sold by corporations to benefit their shareholders."
Reposted by René Walter
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 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
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.
This report on the internal workings at OpenAI when their sycophant AI started to cause delusions in users is incredible. "A/B testers" tweaking "behavior" in a "war room".
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:33 AM
This report on the internal workings at OpenAI when their sycophant AI started to cause delusions in users is incredible. "A/B testers" tweaking "behavior" in a "war room".
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
This is like Exxon burrying its own climate research, except this time it didn't take 50 years to be revealed.
Meta is the Exxon of psychoactive social media.
Meta is the Exxon of psychoactive social media.
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 AM
This is like Exxon burrying its own climate research, except this time it didn't take 50 years to be revealed.
Meta is the Exxon of psychoactive social media.
Meta is the Exxon of psychoactive social media.
Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social just wrote a pretty concise post about the economics of ragebait, since the story of the macedonian kids this story just stayed the same www.reneediresta.com/on-the-inter... X revealing these dynamics is not surprising at all, no wonder Musk killed the feature.
November 24, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social just wrote a pretty concise post about the economics of ragebait, since the story of the macedonian kids this story just stayed the same www.reneediresta.com/on-the-inter... X revealing these dynamics is not surprising at all, no wonder Musk killed the feature.
On synthetic imagined audiences: "If being read becomes the default condition of digital life, then a certain kind of quiet starts to matter: quiet not as withdrawal, but as a refusal to be continuously interpretable."
Byung-Chul Huns warnings about transparency come to mind.
Byung-Chul Huns warnings about transparency come to mind.
New essay is up (no paywall): "The Work of Being Read." It’s about how our behavior shifts when we know AI is watching, interpreting, & scoring us, often incorrectly, but w/ real consequences at home, work, and school. jgcarpenter.com/blog.html?bl...
November 24, 2025 at 4:54 AM
On synthetic imagined audiences: "If being read becomes the default condition of digital life, then a certain kind of quiet starts to matter: quiet not as withdrawal, but as a refusal to be continuously interpretable."
Byung-Chul Huns warnings about transparency come to mind.
Byung-Chul Huns warnings about transparency come to mind.
My take from a few years back still holds: Elon Musk has no ball, no testicles, no nutsack whatsoever open.substack.com/pub/goodinte...
November 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
My take from a few years back still holds: Elon Musk has no ball, no testicles, no nutsack whatsoever open.substack.com/pub/goodinte...
I'm very sure we'll miss another decade, even with good news re:solar economics from China and Africa.
November 23, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I'm very sure we'll miss another decade, even with good news re:solar economics from China and Africa.
With devices reading preconscious thought and sending that data to some company, and with MIT recently showing off non-invasive BCI-like neurotech, Neuroprivacy is becoming a pressing issue. (Not to mention the issue of planned obsolescence, which already happened with bionic eye implants.)
Ethicists tell Nature that AI-powered advances in technology will threaten the privacy and autonomy of people who use neurotechnology, like brain-computer interfaces. #Neuroskyence 🧪
Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry?
Ethicists say AI-powered advances will threaten the privacy and autonomy of people who use neurotechnology.
go.nature.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:31 PM
With devices reading preconscious thought and sending that data to some company, and with MIT recently showing off non-invasive BCI-like neurotech, Neuroprivacy is becoming a pressing issue. (Not to mention the issue of planned obsolescence, which already happened with bionic eye implants.)
Reposted by René Walter
trying to lock in my 2026 predictions by Christmas
November 21, 2025 at 11:05 PM
trying to lock in my 2026 predictions by Christmas
Reposted by René Walter
The We Rate Dogs guy has been at it for like a decade now and unlike almost every other account of this size and reach, he has stayed true to his mission and message and it's weirdly re-affirming that not everything has to be bad. He's made it a career while still spreading goodness
November 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The We Rate Dogs guy has been at it for like a decade now and unlike almost every other account of this size and reach, he has stayed true to his mission and message and it's weirdly re-affirming that not everything has to be bad. He's made it a career while still spreading goodness
Reposted by René Walter
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
November 23, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
This goes right into www.reddit.com/r/Accidental...
November 22, 2025 at 8:58 PM
This goes right into www.reddit.com/r/Accidental...
I worked as an illustrator for a local newspaper who produced infographics like these. I'm impressed, that job is gone. The labor implications write themselves, but i'm more interested in the fact that this does *not affect art*. Illustration is not art. It's called creative *industry* for a reason.
OK, color me officially impressed: Nano Banana Pro can make good diagrams based on papers. This one can go almost straight into my presentations.
November 22, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I worked as an illustrator for a local newspaper who produced infographics like these. I'm impressed, that job is gone. The labor implications write themselves, but i'm more interested in the fact that this does *not affect art*. Illustration is not art. It's called creative *industry* for a reason.
Good thread on AI-delusions: "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 is the architecture of disordered discourse, automated."
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 22, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Good thread on AI-delusions: "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 is the architecture of disordered discourse, automated."
Reposted by René Walter
Reposted by René Walter
We've come full circle. Jeff Mills became a DJing legend by playing the Limelight NYC, "the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion" and Sven Vath is called "the Pope of Techno" for a reason. Techno and Rave are deeply shamanic, and the pope doing rave is just back to the roots.
He said "Amen" straight into the drop
Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
November 22, 2025 at 3:11 AM
We've come full circle. Jeff Mills became a DJing legend by playing the Limelight NYC, "the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion" and Sven Vath is called "the Pope of Techno" for a reason. Techno and Rave are deeply shamanic, and the pope doing rave is just back to the roots.
"Maybe it’s not that our cognitive software has been downgraded so much as we’ve turned off our firewalls. Everybody in the developed world now has Airdrop access to everyone else’s mind. If we are getting dumber, there’s a good chance we made each other that way." nymag.com/intelligence...
Bingo!
Bingo!
A Theory of Dumb
What if the cause of Americans’ collective cognitive decline is, simply, each other?
nymag.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
"Maybe it’s not that our cognitive software has been downgraded so much as we’ve turned off our firewalls. Everybody in the developed world now has Airdrop access to everyone else’s mind. If we are getting dumber, there’s a good chance we made each other that way." nymag.com/intelligence...
Bingo!
Bingo!
This reads like the psych social media platform design styleguide.
Advice on how to be miserable: the key is insecure selfishness
November 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
This reads like the psych social media platform design styleguide.