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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher
@markfisher.bsky.social
2.7K followers 1K following 140 posts
Asst Prof at Georgetown // Ancient Greek Political Thought // History of Democratic Theory // Humanistic Perspectives on AI
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Sep 4
Happy pub day for "The Autocratic Interpretation of Athens: Rethinking Regime Theory in Thucydides' 'Archaeology'," which appears in Polis 42,3 @dgb-ancientstudies.bsky.social

You can find a preprint on my academia page or access the article here: doi.org/10.1163/20512996-12340479
This is a screen grab of the first page of the article, which includes the abstract and keywords.
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Reposted by Mark Fisher
yaleclassicslib.bsky.social
Yale Classics Library @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social · Sep 4
New issue of Polis Vol. 42, No. 3 (2025) brill.com/view/journal... @dgb-philosophy.bsky.social @markfisher.bsky.social @dgb-ancientstudies.bsky.social
journal cover
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Reposted by Mark Fisher
rkingston.bsky.social
Rebecca Kingston @rkingston.bsky.social · May 23
Congrats to Stefan Eich @stefeich.bsky.social‬ on winning the 2024 David and Elaine Spitz Prize from the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought (CSPT)!
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
The Currency of Politics
Money in the history of political thought, from ancient Greece to the Great Inflation of the 1970s
press.princeton.edu
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Mar 25
What would we need to know to conclude that AGI was inevitable?

We argue that the answer has more to do with the philosophy of social science than the tech itself.

Grateful to have this piece included in the inaugural batch of Oxford Intersections: AI in Society.

academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
The title page for "Making AI Inevitable: Historical Perspective and the Problems of Predicting Long-Term Technological Change," by Mark Fisher and John Severini. The abstract for the article, which is too long to transcribe, unfortunately.
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Mar 15
Annual reminder that the quote is, in fact, "Kai su, teknon?"
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 26
I’ve had some great meals at Seychelles in Kerameikos. The neighborhood is a bit gritty, but the food is excellent, and the patio seating is very charming if you can get a res.
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 25
This is very good
What if the Attention Crisis Is All a Distraction?
From the pianoforte to the smartphone, each wave of tech has sparked fears of brain rot. But the problem isn’t our ability to focus—it’s what we’re focussing on.
www.newyorker.com
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Reposted by Mark Fisher
susiedent.com
Susie Dent @susiedent.com · Jan 20
Word of the day is ‘catch-fart’ (17th century: an obsequious individual who will always follow the political wind.
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 19
aka Caleb Williams easily had the best finish of any NFC North QB
markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 16
This is outside my wheelhouse, but I remember a senior Cambridge School figure commenting that the best part about the book was its bibliography
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 16
We’re two weeks in, and I’m ready to cast my vote for genuflection as the word of the year
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Reposted by Mark Fisher
markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 15
Cleon Peterson is an extraordinary artist who updates classical forms to comment on contemporary political violence. His house and studio were destroyed in the fires, and he's selling a special set of prints to help his family of five (plus dog!) stay afloat. Please consider buying if you can.
CLEON PETERSON | STORE
Cleon Peterson is an LA based artist whose chaotic and violent paintings show clashing figures symbolizing a struggle between power and ...
store.cleonpeterson.com
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 15
Cleon Peterson is an extraordinary artist who updates classical forms to comment on contemporary political violence. His house and studio were destroyed in the fires, and he's selling a special set of prints to help his family of five (plus dog!) stay afloat. Please consider buying if you can.
CLEON PETERSON | STORE
Cleon Peterson is an LA based artist whose chaotic and violent paintings show clashing figures symbolizing a struggle between power and ...
store.cleonpeterson.com
1 4
markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 14
The closing paragraph from Geuss’ essay on Rawls, “Neither History nor Praxis,” has always been a favorite
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 14
Impossible. Bears fans feel nothing until time is expiring in the 4th quarter.
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 14
TIL that a UT undergrad started a nationwide campaign and got the 27th Amendment passed *out of sheer spite* when his prof refused to raise his poli sci paper grade.

I'm going to start linking to this story whenever a student asks for a grade change. This is the new standard.
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 13
More like this, please
Eagles receiver A.J. Brown was reading a book on the sidelines of team's playoff win
Brown checked out an inspirational title and flipped through the pages of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy.
www.nbcnews.com
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Jan 1
This feels a bit on the nose as far as portents go, but here’s to 2025.
1 Dead After a Cybertruck Explodes Outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas
At least seven people were injured, the authorities said. Videos posted to social media appeared to show a vehicle engulfed in flames outside the lobby’s entrance.
www.nytimes.com
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
Finally, a historical account of the tumultuous 17th century in England, inclusive of one of the best first lines written by a historian in a while
The cover of The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
If you need a “maybe AI isn’t wholly bad” book, this looks at a number of case studies about how researchers are using tech to learn about non-human communication, most of which are pretty mind blowing
The cover of Karen Bakker’s The Sounds of Life
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
A very readable retelling of the the French Revolution that attempts to do a better job accounting for developments in the social history of the period
The cover of Jeremy Popkin’s A New World Begins
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
The most astute, self-aware, and intellectually disciplined attempt to flesh out some of the big questions at the center of the AI debates, with particular care shown to the role that metaphor plays in facilitating and distorting our thinking on the subject
The cover for Meghan O’Gieblyn’s God, Human, Animal, Machine
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
This second one shows what we actually stand to lose by gutting the administrative state. Turns out I had no idea what most gov’t departments actually did, nor did I fully appreciate the negligence that actually occurred in the 2017 handover.
The cover for Micheal Lewis’ The Fifth Risk
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 31
If your resolution/planned coping mechanism for 2025 is to read more good books, here are some recs I received from friends and colleagues this year that deserve to be paid forward

No summary can do this first one justice. Just read it and you’ll understand.
The cover for Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marcels of Jurassic Technology
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markfisher.bsky.social
Mark Fisher @markfisher.bsky.social · Dec 26
And I will achieve enlightenment when I finally pay off my student loans
techmeme.com
Techmeme @techmeme.com · Dec 26
An undisclosed 2023 agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI defines achieving AGI as the point when OpenAI develops AI systems that generate $100B+ in profits (Stephanie Palazzolo/The Information)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
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