Alfie Kohn

@alfiekohn.bsky.social

3K followers 21 following 1.5K posts

author and lecturer on topics in #education, #parenting, and human #behavior....
(Personal messages more likely to be read if left on http://alfiekohn.org)
He/him

Videos

Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. He is a proponent of progressive education and has offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting, managing, and American society more generally, drawing in each case from social science research. .. more

Education 68%

Psychology 10%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · Aug 12

"Podcast" comes from the Latin "paudus" (meaning "to half-listen to") and "casteratum" (meaning "while preparing food"). Mine is called "KOHN'S ZONE: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Education & Kids." New episodes are posted on the 1st & 15th of each month: www.alfiekohn.org/podcasts/

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 7h

For that matter, what's wrong with being woke? Their operating theory is that they can turn something into an epithet just by using it as one. And too often they succeed.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 9h

They might well tell the story with empathy for Gaetz.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 10h

Completely predictable, but still stunning: A key organizing principle of these people - to the point of animating lunatic conspiracy theories - has been their passionate devotion to rooting out pedophiles. Wait, hold on - the leader of our authoritarian cult is deeply involved? Never mind, then...

Wired headline: "All MAGA Wanted Was the Epstein Files. Now They're Ignoring Them"

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 10h

A phrase Kafka used to describe war comes to mind: "a monstrous failure of the imagination"

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 10h

Completely predictable, but still stunning: A key organizing principle of these people - to the point of animating lunatic conspiracy theories - has been their passionate devotion to rooting out pedophiles. Hold on, the leader of our authoritarian cult is deeply involved? Never mind, then...

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 11h

C'mon - next you'll be telling me that he's bringing suit against CA for gerrymandering but not TX...

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 11h

C'mon - next you'll be telling me that he's having his DOJ bring suit against CA for gerrymandering but not TX...

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 12h

Krugman tells you everything you need to know about crypto in a couple of sentences

Wes Miller @getwired.com · 1d

If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 13h

I can talk to the dead even without AI. I'm having less success getting them to talk back, however.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 13h

Yeah, the free speech crisis they were talking about is that people who disagreed with them had it.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 14h

Short excerpts from an Atlantic article subtitled "The False Promise of AI Companionship": www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Friction is inevitable in human relationships. It can be uncomfortable, even maddening. Yet friction can be meaningful—as a check on selfish behavior or inflated self-regard; as a spur to look more closely at other people; as a way to better understand the foibles and fears we all share.

Neither Ani nor any other chatbot will ever tell you it’s bored or glance at its phone while you're talking or tell you to stop being so stupid and self-righteous. They will never ask you to pet-sit or help them move, or demand anything at all from you. They provide some facsimile of companionship while allowing users to avoid uncomfortable interactions or reciprocity. “In the extreme, it can become this hall of mirrors where your worldview is never challenged,” Vasan said.

And so, although chatbots may be built on the familiar architecture of
engagement, they enable something new: They allow you to talk forever to no one other than yourself.

“Every time theres been a new technology, it’s rewired socialization, especially for kids,” Vasan told me. “TV made kids passive spectators. Social media turned things into this 24/7 performance review.” In that respect, generative Al is following a familiar pattern.

But the more time children spend with chatbots, the fewer opportunities they'll have to develop alongside other people—and, as opposed to all the digital distractions that have existed for decades, they may be fooled by the technology into thinking that they are, in fact, having a social experience.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 15h

I've noted that we're in thrall to people who don’t understand the difference between utopia & dystopia, or are willing to conflate the two if there’s a fortune to be made by doing so (www.alfiekohn.org/article/ai/), but now they're really viewing Black Mirror as an incubator. Jesus. Watch this:

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

Similarly frightening efforts by the GOP to control the content of lessons and command ideological conformity in OH, TX, FL, and elsewhere.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Indiana University, which has now been subordinated to the direct control of the Indiana GOP, announces that criticism of the MAGA movement and doctrines of the GOP is forbidden. An instructor is dismissed for speaking critical words about the MAGA movement.

Indiana Professor Removed From Class Over White Supremacy Lesson

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Robert Wolfe, Bessma Momani , and 2 more Will Jennings, Robert Wolfe, Bessma Momani, Alfie Kohn, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Indiana Professor Removed From Class Over White Supremacy Lesson

www.nytimes.com

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

"Of all the times I've walked into stores, you're just cherry-picking the few when I robbed them."

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

I'm just now coming across this 2019 quote from OpenAI's Sam Altman when asked how the company plans to make money: "We have no idea....Once we’ve built this sort of generally intelligent system, basically, we will ask it to figure out a way to generate an investment return for [investors]."

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

'C'mon, mate. When I said "immigrants," you know I didn't mean people who look like me...'

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

Or perhaps the better contrast is between those who hate Blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, and Jews, on the one hand, and those who just hate Blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ people, Muslims, and women, on the other hand.

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller , and 1 more Nandita Sharma, Brendan Nyhan, David R. Miller, Alfie Kohn

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

RAISE YOUR CHILDREN SO THEY DO NOT DO THINGS LIKE THIS dailyfreepress.com/11/13/10/216...

BU College Republicans president says he called ICE to ‘detain these criminals’ at Allston Car Wash

The president of Boston University College Republicans wrote on X he called the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting it detain employees at Allston Car Wash, the site of a Nov. 4 raid w...

dailyfreepress.com

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

And then there's Google...
www.404media.co/google-has-c...

Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort

Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...

www.404media.co

Reposted by Alfie Kohn

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

Normal person in a liberal constitutional democracy: "The state should be judicious in how it uses physical force and these actions seem like overreaches."
MAGA: "Any state actions that constrain MY behavior or the behavior of people like me is tyranny, but it can do whatever it wants to THEM."

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

See under: Overcompensation

Reposted by Alfie Kohn

Wes Miller @getwired.com · 1d

If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

What exactly is the appeal of being well known? Why are we thrilled even to bask in the reflected glory of celebrities? From the archives: "Fame Is the Name of the Game: A Meditation on Why So Many People Dream of Being (or Even Just Meeting) Celebrities" - www.alfiekohn.org/blogs/fame/

Fame Is the Name of the Game

October 16, 2020 Fame Is the Name of the Game A Meditation on Why So Many People Dream of Being (or Even Just Meeting) Celebrities By Alfie Kohn “The question I get asked more than…

www.alfiekohn.org

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 1d

Just sit with this one for a few minutes

"I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump," Epstein wrote in 2007 to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. "Not one decent cell in his body."

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, David R. Miller, Stacy D. VanDeveer , and 1 more Rosemary A. Joyce, David R. Miller, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Alfie Kohn

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 2d

It all would have been much easier if, as would have happened if we were remotely a serious country, it all ended with the Access Hollywood interview.

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

How odd. The MAGA DOJ just announced that the MAGA military did nothing wrong! Who are we to believe?

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

I'm reminded of a headline in the Harvard Lampoon's parody of USA Today: "Chromium Is Heaviest Metal, Poll Finds"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

JD Vance: "Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue against it."

Alfie Kohn @alfiekohn.bsky.social · 2d

This is what Zuckerberg's Meta stands for. If you're still on Facebook (or WhatsApp or Insta), you're standing for it, too.

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 2d

The most horrifying AI slop of ICE raids you can possibly imagine is wildly viral on Facebook, collectively totaling tens of millions of views from a single account. First spotted by @chadloder.bsky.social

www.404media.co/ai-generated...

AI-Generated Videos of ICE Raids Are Wildly Viral on Facebook

An account is spamming horrific, dehumanizing videos of immigration enforcement because the Facebook algorithm is rewarding them for it.

www.404media.co

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers , and 6 more Lisa W. Fazio, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Rebecca Tushnet, Michael H. Whitworth, Cailin O’Connor, Kate Starbird, Alfie Kohn, Anita Gohdes

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 2d

AI-Generated Videos of ICE Raids Are Wildly Viral on Facebook

An account is spamming horrific, dehumanizing videos of immigration enforcement because the Facebook algorithm is rewarding them for it.

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news