Ambulocetus @ambulocetus@social.cleverlibre.org
Nemo me impune lacessit
Voted Best Psychic Of 2026
Non-practicing intellectual
https://www.metafilter.com/user/99809
Certified freak, seven days a week.
謙虚だが弱くはない、自信に満ちているが誇りに思っていない、神秘的だが不魔法ではない
Joined Mar 2020
Ambulocetus
boosted
Pls boost so I can show my wife how a toot can go round the world
(we are boarding a long haul flight and will be on the other side of the world when I turn my phone back on, so even with 0 boosts I think this will be a sound demonstration)
Ambulocetus
boosted
Mastodon-software-knowledgeable people: is it possible to change one’s “handle” (the part after the @) on here without changing anything else? Leaving the server and the rest of the account as-is, in other words?
I don’t want to do this right now, but back on the birdsite I was comforted by the fact that I could, and it struck me today that I didn’t actually know whether it was possible here.
@anomalocaris @AdamStuartSmith I think the feathers make them scarier. It's a visual reminder that they are not cold-blooded, stupid, and slow.
Ambulocetus
boosted
I'm lurking in a National Science Foundation webcast giving advice to researchers writing proposals, and the answer to the audience question "Any recommendations about wording the broader impacts section for those of us in states with anti-DEI legislation?"
is "We have no idea".
This could be a disaster for science in red states, if we are no longer competitive for federal funding.
@AngelsCitadelJosh When I was a service tech, I got called out to this house. I had to cut through the play-room where a little girl had all of her dolls and teddy bears sitting in chairs looking at the chalk board she was writing on.
I asked her if she was the teacher, and she said "yes and these are my students."
So then I asked does that mean her mom was the principal, and she said, "No. she's the lunch lady."
It was perfect comedic timing.
Ambulocetus
boosted
How to Spot Bullshit: A Manual by Princeton Philosopher Harry Frankfurt (RIP) https://www.openculture.com/2023/07/how-to-spot-bullshit-a-manual-by-princeton-philosopher-harry-frankfurt-rip.html
Ambulocetus
boosted
this must have felt so nostalgic to him
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/17/tech/ghana-twitter-layoffs-severance-intl-hnk/index.html
@alexwild You have put your finger exactrly on the big problem. Its even gotten worse since Social Media can tailor the message to the individual. We can't broadcast our message to millions, but we can do a little of the "tailoring our message" part.
Our opponents seem to be highly motivated. Go to any popular science or progressive video and look in the comments. There will be trolls trying to win people over to their side. Fortunately they aren't very good at it, and it's obvious that they are trolls, but it shows how motivated they are.
Trolling is a cheap method of activism, and it can be effective for us if we are smarter than our opponents. Pretend to be one of them and don't tip your hand. Sow division and suspicion among them. Take a page from their own playbook, and "just ask questions". Use Street Epistemology to foster Critical Thinking among the audience.
It won't be fun visiting the places where they go, and it might involve saying some distasteful things, but every time I have doubts I remind myself how motivated they are, and I can't let them be more motivated for less reason.
Ambulocetus
boosted
The challenge faced by science in the United States isn’t that scientists are awkward and bad at communication. It’s that we’re beset by propaganda and mass media channels funded by corrupt billionaires to sow confusion.
We need big, generously funded communications channels dedicated to verifiable reality. Scientists who are slightly better at talking isn’t going to cut it.
@e_urq Yea, that "mindlessly quibble over what language people are using" tactic they've been using and perfecting for years. Back in the days when when we were only arguing about evolution, they called it The Gish Gallop"> https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop
It's designed to force you to play defense. The best response is to not play defense. Go on the attack! Their strategy isn't flexible enough to deal with the unexpected.
Ambulocetus
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Hitler was elected with only 43.9% of the vote. He won because of multiple parties splintering the anti-Nazi vote.
Ambulocetus
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TIL: eating just one billionaire could zero out your carbon footprint for at least 500 years.
"The top 20 billionaires analyzed by Wilk and Barros emitted around 8,000 metric tons of CO2 annually in 2018, while average citizens worldwide had a carbon footprint of around 4 tons— and 15 tons in the United States."
https://www.dw.com/en/superyachts-symbolize-climate-breakdown/a-61245302
(Via @mariusrime and @Npars01 )
Ambulocetus
boosted
"Mastodon is not an ad-driven platform. There is absolutely zero incentives to let awful people run amok in the name of engagement. The goal of Mastodon is to build a friendly collection of communities, not an attention leeching hate mill."
https://escapingtech.com/tech/opinions/i-was-wrong-about-mastodon-moderation.html
Ambulocetus
boosted
When we talk about Germany, we always define that period when they weren't the happy go lucky, laugh a minute tuetons that we know today by referring to it as Nazi Germany.
We need to start adopting this for the US. For example, we should commence calling it Nazi Florida or Nazi Texas, or refer to it as the US Nazi Supreme Court. This shows we understand not all US citizens are Nazis, just that those institutions are run by them now
Ambulocetus
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Remember when lots of journalists tried Mastodon but then found it too complicated, so they left? I think about that every time I read their 'analysis' of something
Ambulocetus
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I’ve new coloring sheets available on Ko-fi for free https://ko-fi.com/pauloleite/shop
#drawing #paleoart #coloringsheets #coloring #dinosaur #art #mastoart
Ambulocetus
boosted
Nemo me impune lacessit
Voted Best Psychic Of 2026
Non-practicing intellectual
https://www.metafilter.com/user/99809
Certified freak, seven days a week.
謙虚だが弱くはない、自信に満ちているが誇りに思っていない、神秘的だが不魔法ではない
Joined Mar 2020
