J. Powell Taylor
@jpowelltaylor.com
Author of The Inevitable Dr. Entropy, Cognitive Scientist, dad.
Perhaps related to the attribution error? We often identify others as having traits and ourselves as subject to circumstance.
December 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Perhaps related to the attribution error? We often identify others as having traits and ourselves as subject to circumstance.
As a social scientist, I have to address just how right you are. It drives me bonkers how bad we write in our discipline in order to seem scientific. Often, this is done in defiance of APA writing guidelines! I tell every academic writing student I teach they can write better than the professionals.
December 9, 2025 at 10:53 PM
As a social scientist, I have to address just how right you are. It drives me bonkers how bad we write in our discipline in order to seem scientific. Often, this is done in defiance of APA writing guidelines! I tell every academic writing student I teach they can write better than the professionals.
Ooo, my 7 year old and 11 year old are both bound to be prodigies in something for the same reason.
December 9, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Ooo, my 7 year old and 11 year old are both bound to be prodigies in something for the same reason.
I nominate Zach to eventually take over Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet comic with this version.
December 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I nominate Zach to eventually take over Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet comic with this version.
Someone calculate the energy density in that guy's balls just before he erupted.
December 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Someone calculate the energy density in that guy's balls just before he erupted.
It is, IMHO, a marriage of convenience. Money supports the Vance view in exchange for favors that further the Thiel view. It is a fragile pact that serves both sides in the short term.
December 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
It is, IMHO, a marriage of convenience. Money supports the Vance view in exchange for favors that further the Thiel view. It is a fragile pact that serves both sides in the short term.
Scalzi's Locked In is not about wheelchair users but it is adjacent enough, maybe?
December 3, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Scalzi's Locked In is not about wheelchair users but it is adjacent enough, maybe?
The first one I remember is E.T., so mine is E.T. 17, about an alien that is resurrected every time it dies doing dangerous, menial jobs that befriends a child after a second E.T. is created accidentally, causing chaos.
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The first one I remember is E.T., so mine is E.T. 17, about an alien that is resurrected every time it dies doing dangerous, menial jobs that befriends a child after a second E.T. is created accidentally, causing chaos.
My hot take that might also be thought provoking: In the Cartesian tradition, I know that I can think but only suspect that you can think. As such, I can never know that a computer can think because I am not a computer. Computers will always be not me, and thus an other. Alien-ness exaggerates this.
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
My hot take that might also be thought provoking: In the Cartesian tradition, I know that I can think but only suspect that you can think. As such, I can never know that a computer can think because I am not a computer. Computers will always be not me, and thus an other. Alien-ness exaggerates this.
I object to the lack of sense data. It should involve sense data, even if it is stored sense data!
November 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I object to the lack of sense data. It should involve sense data, even if it is stored sense data!
The incestuous investments and propping up of AI has Nvidia at its center. Is it a house of cards or are they building a strong foundation for future chip manufacturing. It doesn't look really stable to me, but I am not an economist.
November 20, 2025 at 2:52 AM
The incestuous investments and propping up of AI has Nvidia at its center. Is it a house of cards or are they building a strong foundation for future chip manufacturing. It doesn't look really stable to me, but I am not an economist.
Bah. Scrivener on Mac is what I use.
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Bah. Scrivener on Mac is what I use.
Agreed. A single narrator who can distinguish the characters with their performance is absolutely superior.
November 19, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Agreed. A single narrator who can distinguish the characters with their performance is absolutely superior.
Yet he calls any critic nasty.
November 19, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Yet he calls any critic nasty.
What a horrendous basis for a moral code that involves death as a consequence.
November 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
What a horrendous basis for a moral code that involves death as a consequence.
Now you get to go back and reread them all with a bonus treat
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Now you get to go back and reread them all with a bonus treat
I wouldn't have shared if you were unworthy!
November 18, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I wouldn't have shared if you were unworthy!
On the website, scroll down and click the red button. Bonus panel!
November 18, 2025 at 8:41 PM
On the website, scroll down and click the red button. Bonus panel!
"in the next study, let's not manage our controlled variables very well and introduce a bunch of background noise to the data."
November 18, 2025 at 8:41 PM
"in the next study, let's not manage our controlled variables very well and introduce a bunch of background noise to the data."
3.) is a bit problematic for some things like nuclear material management. I can see an extreme skeleton crew staffing situation, though.
November 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
3.) is a bit problematic for some things like nuclear material management. I can see an extreme skeleton crew staffing situation, though.