Barry Schachter
@barryschachter.bsky.social
risk guy, interested in phil. sci., AI risks, general semantics, society&technology, objective truth, leadership, books that make me think & opinions that are not my own. Warning: highly fallible, but good natured
Reposted by Barry Schachter
What the fuck?
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts detained by ICE agents
The superintendent of the largest school district in Iowa has been detained by federal immigration officials. Superintendent Ian Roberts of Des Moines Public Schools was detained Friday morning, accor...
www.iowapublicradio.org
September 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM
What the fuck?
[W]hat has been told is finished. Only after he’s told someone about his journey, will he have crossed that desert once and for all.
—narrator, Transit by Anna Seghers
—narrator, Transit by Anna Seghers
November 3, 2025 at 3:16 AM
[W]hat has been told is finished. Only after he’s told someone about his journey, will he have crossed that desert once and for all.
—narrator, Transit by Anna Seghers
—narrator, Transit by Anna Seghers
what freedom really is: the discipline of sharing a world with other beings
- Harry Law (@lawhsw on X)
- Harry Law (@lawhsw on X)
October 31, 2025 at 2:31 PM
what freedom really is: the discipline of sharing a world with other beings
- Harry Law (@lawhsw on X)
- Harry Law (@lawhsw on X)
we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
- Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, book 2, Ch. 1)
- Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, book 2, Ch. 1)
October 31, 2025 at 12:51 PM
we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
- Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, book 2, Ch. 1)
- Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, book 2, Ch. 1)
"He has no material power...They tell him he is a god; he believes them...The followers of this man do not think at all; he was their act of spontaneous creation. Now he leads them, this madman..."
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock 📚❤️
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock 📚❤️
October 18, 2025 at 1:41 PM
"He has no material power...They tell him he is a god; he believes them...The followers of this man do not think at all; he was their act of spontaneous creation. Now he leads them, this madman..."
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock 📚❤️
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock 📚❤️
"He has no material power...They tell him he is a god; he believes them...The followers of this man do not think at all; he was their act of spontaneous creation. Now he leads them, this madman..."
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock
October 18, 2025 at 1:36 PM
"He has no material power...They tell him he is a god; he believes them...The followers of this man do not think at all; he was their act of spontaneous creation. Now he leads them, this madman..."
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock
-narrator, "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock
There came a day when those who strained their eyes and looked forwards could see the forms of designs blocked out upon the future. Men did not need to be prophets to discern these patterns...The future...became shockingly discernible.
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
October 6, 2025 at 6:59 AM
There came a day when those who strained their eyes and looked forwards could see the forms of designs blocked out upon the future. Men did not need to be prophets to discern these patterns...The future...became shockingly discernible.
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
There are certain things about which one can only form a theory.
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
October 6, 2025 at 6:53 AM
There are certain things about which one can only form a theory.
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
—Ethel Wilson ("The Innocent Traveller")
« Almost no one is aware of his own shortcoming »
—René Girard (attributed)
—René Girard (attributed)
October 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM
« Almost no one is aware of his own shortcoming »
—René Girard (attributed)
—René Girard (attributed)
« everything today is propaganda… . You always claim to be fighting the violence of others. »
—René Girard (attributed)
in, The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right, by Paul Leslie
—René Girard (attributed)
in, The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right, by Paul Leslie
October 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
« everything today is propaganda… . You always claim to be fighting the violence of others. »
—René Girard (attributed)
in, The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right, by Paul Leslie
—René Girard (attributed)
in, The Misuse of René Girard by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance and the American Right, by Paul Leslie
“when a symbol becomes too dear…it can blot out the truth”
—Nell Severence, character in “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
When you turn something into a symbol, something larger than life, you cease to see it for what it is actually.
—Nell Severence, character in “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
When you turn something into a symbol, something larger than life, you cease to see it for what it is actually.
August 20, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“when a symbol becomes too dear…it can blot out the truth”
—Nell Severence, character in “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
When you turn something into a symbol, something larger than life, you cease to see it for what it is actually.
—Nell Severence, character in “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
When you turn something into a symbol, something larger than life, you cease to see it for what it is actually.
A first meeting…Meeting partakes in its very essence not only of the persons but of the place of meeting. And that essense of place remains, and colors, faintly, the association, perhaps forever.
—narrator, “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
—narrator, “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
August 17, 2025 at 12:28 PM
A first meeting…Meeting partakes in its very essence not only of the persons but of the place of meeting. And that essense of place remains, and colors, faintly, the association, perhaps forever.
—narrator, “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
—narrator, “Swamp Angel” by Ethel Wilson
I am reading an excellent novel by Ethel Wilson, published in 1954, and ran smack into « propinquity ». I can’t recall how long it’s been, when reading, since my eyes were this close to « propinquity ». It is a fine word. Ms. Wilson had a knack for choosing the perfect word, I think.
#booksky ❤️📚
#booksky ❤️📚
August 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
I am reading an excellent novel by Ethel Wilson, published in 1954, and ran smack into « propinquity ». I can’t recall how long it’s been, when reading, since my eyes were this close to « propinquity ». It is a fine word. Ms. Wilson had a knack for choosing the perfect word, I think.
#booksky ❤️📚
#booksky ❤️📚
When markets boom for years on end, optimists reign supreme.
—Ken Rogoff
“Our Dollar, Your Problem”
‘recency bias’ makes people’s baseline view artifically variable. It works in reverse, too.
—Ken Rogoff
“Our Dollar, Your Problem”
‘recency bias’ makes people’s baseline view artifically variable. It works in reverse, too.
July 26, 2025 at 1:39 PM
When markets boom for years on end, optimists reign supreme.
—Ken Rogoff
“Our Dollar, Your Problem”
‘recency bias’ makes people’s baseline view artifically variable. It works in reverse, too.
—Ken Rogoff
“Our Dollar, Your Problem”
‘recency bias’ makes people’s baseline view artifically variable. It works in reverse, too.
For some, it is complacency;
For others, it is active avoidance of dissonance;
For many, it is the inability to process the implications of the evidence bc it is so alien to their worldview—it just doesn’t compute.
It’s unfortunate.
For others, it is active avoidance of dissonance;
For many, it is the inability to process the implications of the evidence bc it is so alien to their worldview—it just doesn’t compute.
It’s unfortunate.
July 23, 2025 at 10:26 PM
For some, it is complacency;
For others, it is active avoidance of dissonance;
For many, it is the inability to process the implications of the evidence bc it is so alien to their worldview—it just doesn’t compute.
It’s unfortunate.
For others, it is active avoidance of dissonance;
For many, it is the inability to process the implications of the evidence bc it is so alien to their worldview—it just doesn’t compute.
It’s unfortunate.
To lay claim to the truth of a thing one must be able to advance external evidence that vouches for the truth of the claim. This distinguishes knowledge from story, myth, opinion, propaganda.
Always ask why.
paraphrasing Maurice Mandelbaum “The Anatomy of Historical Knowledge”
Always ask why.
paraphrasing Maurice Mandelbaum “The Anatomy of Historical Knowledge”
July 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
To lay claim to the truth of a thing one must be able to advance external evidence that vouches for the truth of the claim. This distinguishes knowledge from story, myth, opinion, propaganda.
Always ask why.
paraphrasing Maurice Mandelbaum “The Anatomy of Historical Knowledge”
Always ask why.
paraphrasing Maurice Mandelbaum “The Anatomy of Historical Knowledge”
Edward Tufte has said it before and I will say it again, it is essential to always ask yourself, "how do I know that, how do they know that?"
Asking this question powers self-agency. Self-agency is power. This is a virtuous circle.
Asking this question powers self-agency. Self-agency is power. This is a virtuous circle.
July 9, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Edward Tufte has said it before and I will say it again, it is essential to always ask yourself, "how do I know that, how do they know that?"
Asking this question powers self-agency. Self-agency is power. This is a virtuous circle.
Asking this question powers self-agency. Self-agency is power. This is a virtuous circle.
Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; no amount of force can control...a man whose mind is free.
Robert Heinlein, "Revolt in 2100"
Robert Heinlein, "Revolt in 2100"
July 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; no amount of force can control...a man whose mind is free.
Robert Heinlein, "Revolt in 2100"
Robert Heinlein, "Revolt in 2100"
Well, @jamellebouie.net, there is a plan, and to assert this is just an idiot being an idiot is to aid his plan, which is to be the last freely elected President. You don’t have long to wait, 18 months or less.
i am fascinated by the outright refusal of people in the professional political commentary class to just consider the possibility that there is no plan and that trump really is a braying idiot with the more acute case of narcissistic personality disorder on record
June 30, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Well, @jamellebouie.net, there is a plan, and to assert this is just an idiot being an idiot is to aid his plan, which is to be the last freely elected President. You don’t have long to wait, 18 months or less.
how we love looking fine in the eyes of the world
—character in “Seize the day” by Saul Bellow
—character in “Seize the day” by Saul Bellow
June 29, 2025 at 5:29 PM
how we love looking fine in the eyes of the world
—character in “Seize the day” by Saul Bellow
—character in “Seize the day” by Saul Bellow
“it is precisely the expression of deformed thoughts that makes the exchange of information in human society, particularly in human literature, so much like a twisted maze.
—alien character in “The Dark Forest” by Cixin Liu
—alien character in “The Dark Forest” by Cixin Liu
June 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
“it is precisely the expression of deformed thoughts that makes the exchange of information in human society, particularly in human literature, so much like a twisted maze.
—alien character in “The Dark Forest” by Cixin Liu
—alien character in “The Dark Forest” by Cixin Liu
“I had a picture of the world economy in which the United States was an anchor, not a source of volatility,”
—Stanley Fischer, former Vice Chair, Federal Reserve
Referring to the first Trump administration
Source: Financial Times
on.ft.com/3T0uxyu
—Stanley Fischer, former Vice Chair, Federal Reserve
Referring to the first Trump administration
Source: Financial Times
on.ft.com/3T0uxyu
Influential economist Stanley Fischer dies
Former policymaker at the Federal Reserve, IMF and World Bank also taught generations of students
on.ft.com
June 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
“I had a picture of the world economy in which the United States was an anchor, not a source of volatility,”
—Stanley Fischer, former Vice Chair, Federal Reserve
Referring to the first Trump administration
Source: Financial Times
on.ft.com/3T0uxyu
—Stanley Fischer, former Vice Chair, Federal Reserve
Referring to the first Trump administration
Source: Financial Times
on.ft.com/3T0uxyu
what pleases you depends on your moral judgment of what constitutes a good life, not vice versa
—David Deutsch
—David Deutsch
May 26, 2025 at 11:36 AM
what pleases you depends on your moral judgment of what constitutes a good life, not vice versa
—David Deutsch
—David Deutsch
success at making factual scientific discoveries entails a commitment…to value truth, and good explanations, and to be open to ideas and change [and] to value tolerance, integrity and openness of debate.
—David Deutsch
—David Deutsch
May 26, 2025 at 11:34 AM
success at making factual scientific discoveries entails a commitment…to value truth, and good explanations, and to be open to ideas and change [and] to value tolerance, integrity and openness of debate.
—David Deutsch
—David Deutsch
advocates of highly immoral doctrines almost invariably believe associated factual falsehoods as well. [Such advocacy] requires uncritical acceptance of conspiracy theories, denials of history, and so on.
—David Deutsch
…that is, accepting “bad explanations” as true
—David Deutsch
…that is, accepting “bad explanations” as true
May 26, 2025 at 11:23 AM
advocates of highly immoral doctrines almost invariably believe associated factual falsehoods as well. [Such advocacy] requires uncritical acceptance of conspiracy theories, denials of history, and so on.
—David Deutsch
…that is, accepting “bad explanations” as true
—David Deutsch
…that is, accepting “bad explanations” as true