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Thomas Arnold

@thomasarnold.bsky.social

560 followers 520 following 340 posts

HRI, AI, religious studies, pragmatism, ethics, computational bypass | Researching and teaching ethics at Tufts CS/Human-Robot Interaction Laboratory | He/him | Tombow: 2558 HB | Realism: visceral

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Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · 3d

Adrienne Mayor's "Gods and Robots" discusses this myth and many other ancient robot legends across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Now I can't wait to read this book as follow up.

Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 4d

When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)

Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
p. 60
Bhoota Vahana Yanta
Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used
for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine-
men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between
1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning
events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE.
According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the
early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture,
as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these
spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs
out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after
him and kill him.
At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now
Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the
Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets
of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he
arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated
as a Roman.
This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the
Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master
Robot-Maker, and had a son by her.
Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved
to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well
aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as
soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh,
and sewed the wound back up.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · 4d

This is Boston coffee nerd excellence

Map of Somerville divided into 21 "coffeehoods," each named after coffee shop in that area. Massive debates to ensue, but I like "Tamper Hillside."

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · 6d

Liaising between religious studies and computer science has only become more fraught as tech claims religious connossieurship with the unblinking assuredness of Zuckerberg with Sweet Baby Ray's, making me all the more grateful for pieces like this.

Laura Bullard @laurabullard.bsky.social · 8d

Taking a brief break from sporadically posting photos of my pitbull to shout this into the void:

I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.

www.wired.com/story/the-re...

The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession

Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.

www.wired.com

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · 9d

Faculties kept inside during recess

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · 13d

Build It Or Not, You Are Still Going To Die: Ernest Becker's Chaplaincy To AI Ethics

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Sep 3

And Eco echoes

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Aug 13

Reverse Turing car

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Aug 10

The cost of Omelas is but one small prediction machine.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Aug 8

Yeah I like yours better

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 23

Bezos and MAHA are turning Jonah Goldberg's "You know Whole Foods and obsession with healthy eating is fascist" from laughable NR cruise banter to grounded analysis.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 18

Mr. Murdoch said he would take care of the flowers himself.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 15

I don't remember the exact words of his risotto video but every five seconds he seemed to drop a cooking bar with clear objective correlates to life, leaving me bereft for not having already learned all of them.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 14

It is a theater movie, almost self-referentially so in one immersive scene.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 8

When Big Fun Broke

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jul 1

The Gritts

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Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jun 27

Reviewers keep asking how well @lioneltrolling.bsky.social's "When The Clock Broke" explains Trumpism. They almost all miss how deftly it denudes H. Ross Perot's corrupt, conspiracy-addled, balcony-seeking fraudulence, revealing a Musk avant la twittre.

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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · Jun 23

Excellent!

In the same spirit, here's a piece on AI hype I wrote in....1985 🤯

melaniemitchell.me/EssaysConten...

melaniemitchell.me

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Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jun 21

Helen exemplified so much of what philosophy (or living well together) desperately needs: honesty, vulnerability, integrity, wonder-sharing, courage, determination, decency.

Helen De Cruz @helendecruz.net · Jun 20

Dear all,

Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.

pt. 1/2

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · Jun 3

Tönnies-y read on Seinfeld/Curb = the semi-public is a set of comically arbitrary norms that allow for society but dissolve community.

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Reposted by Thomas Arnold

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · May 30

April is a real bummer of a month

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Reposted by Thomas Arnold

Steve Edwards @the-big-quiet.bsky.social · May 30

New England and Boston writers-friends: Join us at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Concord, MA at the Concord Free Public Library for a writing event featuring the wonderful @cindyhouse.bsky.social @demisty.bsky.social & Alysia Abbott. Come say hi! Come write! (& pass the word along!)

Steve Edwards @the-big-quiet.bsky.social · May 29

SATURDAY!

Steve Edwards @the-big-quiet.bsky.social · May 16

An all-star event at the Concord Free Public Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday May 31 in Concord, MA! @cindyhouse.bsky.social @demisty.bsky.social & Alysia Abbott will be reading & sharing writing prompts. Come for conversation & community & powerful storytelling.

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Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · May 30

see Ohler (2016)

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · May 30

April is a real bummer of a month

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Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · May 29

That's also the name of the feature Musk is promising Tesla robots will have by 2028.

Thomas Arnold @thomasarnold.bsky.social · May 26

I do like the idea of non-monotonic heat maps to turn my uncertainty into Tufte level sophistication. Slop and protein-folds share a world.