Michael Dettelbach
@erdumwandler.bsky.social
Historian of science and technology, thinks "artificial intelligence" is both an oxymoron and a pleonasm. Possibly a panpsychist. Very occasionally posts longer mind-leavings on https://dettelblog.wordpress.com/.
Well done. The focus on the role of empathy (and its limits) is perfect.
December 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Well done. The focus on the role of empathy (and its limits) is perfect.
Thank you, Congresswoman Ramirez.
December 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Thank you, Congresswoman Ramirez.
Wait, those are glorified gasometers?
December 11, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Wait, those are glorified gasometers?
a great article, but one which itself misinterprets both Bendyshe and Isidore Geoffroy St.-Hilaire by confusing two meanings of "value" or "rank": "ultimate worth" and "taxonomic weight". E.g. hdl.handle.net/2027/ucm.532...
hdl.handle.net
December 10, 2025 at 6:21 PM
a great article, but one which itself misinterprets both Bendyshe and Isidore Geoffroy St.-Hilaire by confusing two meanings of "value" or "rank": "ultimate worth" and "taxonomic weight". E.g. hdl.handle.net/2027/ucm.532...
Solidarity. Fight the good fight.
December 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Solidarity. Fight the good fight.
Why on earth was William of Orange? (Seriously, though.)
December 8, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Why on earth was William of Orange? (Seriously, though.)
Can’t unsee this.
December 5, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Can’t unsee this.
But in general discourse, which treats language as data transfer, this historical consciousness gets swallowed up, erased, dismissed.
November 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
But in general discourse, which treats language as data transfer, this historical consciousness gets swallowed up, erased, dismissed.
I think the word “we” is doing a lot of work here. For historians who know what “cultural heritage” is—paper and ink and books and archives and engravings and lithographs and rotary presses etc etc—and where it comes from: yes, LLMs can be useful and generative (but authoritative?) tools. 1/2
November 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I think the word “we” is doing a lot of work here. For historians who know what “cultural heritage” is—paper and ink and books and archives and engravings and lithographs and rotary presses etc etc—and where it comes from: yes, LLMs can be useful and generative (but authoritative?) tools. 1/2
Easy one, annually. Like ProPublica and your local NPR.
November 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Easy one, annually. Like ProPublica and your local NPR.
If you think thinking is a matter of juggling words … which is my worry: the whole pro/con AI framing just cements an account of thinking and intellect abstracted from history, from material, social, and political life. And also therefore from spiritual life.
November 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
If you think thinking is a matter of juggling words … which is my worry: the whole pro/con AI framing just cements an account of thinking and intellect abstracted from history, from material, social, and political life. And also therefore from spiritual life.
Language will always escape any matrix. Ask Leibniz.
November 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Language will always escape any matrix. Ask Leibniz.
I mean, come on, "stylistic obfuscation"... Is Pope not all about confusions of style? This is like reading Kenner's The Counterfeiters, which is all about... artificial intelligence.
November 20, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I mean, come on, "stylistic obfuscation"... Is Pope not all about confusions of style? This is like reading Kenner's The Counterfeiters, which is all about... artificial intelligence.
Love it when a new genre drops. "The deliberate manipulation of input prompts to induce the model to circumvent its safety, ethical, or legal constraints" sounds like a fair description of, say, Alexander Pope. Who is editing the first anthology of adversarial poetry?
November 20, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Love it when a new genre drops. "The deliberate manipulation of input prompts to induce the model to circumvent its safety, ethical, or legal constraints" sounds like a fair description of, say, Alexander Pope. Who is editing the first anthology of adversarial poetry?
ooh, new genre has dropped. I would purchase The Norton Anthology of Adversarial Poetry.
November 20, 2025 at 5:53 PM
ooh, new genre has dropped. I would purchase The Norton Anthology of Adversarial Poetry.
Ach, der Fürst der Wissenschaft, der erhabene Herrscher von Gottes Gnaden im Reiche der Geister ist nicht mehr.
November 17, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Ach, der Fürst der Wissenschaft, der erhabene Herrscher von Gottes Gnaden im Reiche der Geister ist nicht mehr.
I would trademark that ASAP, Ben. Could be as big as the Matzoh Ball.
November 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I would trademark that ASAP, Ben. Could be as big as the Matzoh Ball.
Just damning stuff. The baldfaced lying by the head of a federal agency to incriminate protesters. DEA too: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/03/o...
Drug raid hype at home casts doubt on lethal ‘drug boat’ airstrikes - The Boston Globe
When government lies to its own people, democracy’s at risk.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Just damning stuff. The baldfaced lying by the head of a federal agency to incriminate protesters. DEA too: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/03/o...
Come on, early modernists and imperial historians, this is pretty good. Did no one else (thank you, my one like) get it? Drake is said to have been SINGEING the king’s beard, not SINGING into it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singein...
Singeing the King of Spain's Beard - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
October 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Come on, early modernists and imperial historians, this is pretty good. Did no one else (thank you, my one like) get it? Drake is said to have been SINGEING the king’s beard, not SINGING into it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singein...
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid: youtu.be/aYUEOSbh4IE?... RIP
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) - Official Trailer
YouTube video by Shout! Studios
youtu.be
September 28, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid: youtu.be/aYUEOSbh4IE?... RIP