brenda m michelson
@bmichelson.bsky.social
I have so many questions…
(technology architect (first career)), occasional writer, from away mainer).
brendamichelson.com
(technology architect (first career)), occasional writer, from away mainer).
brendamichelson.com
We are here, again.
March 16, 2025 at 5:26 PM
We are here, again.
It’d be helpful if the Democratic Party did more than ask for money…
March 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
It’d be helpful if the Democratic Party did more than ask for money…
Reposted by brenda m michelson
The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear...
using genAI reduces a person’s cognitive efforts and critical thinking, findings from Microsoft Research
using genAI reduces a person’s cognitive efforts and critical thinking, findings from Microsoft Research
March 5, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear...
using genAI reduces a person’s cognitive efforts and critical thinking, findings from Microsoft Research
using genAI reduces a person’s cognitive efforts and critical thinking, findings from Microsoft Research
… the threat IS from within now. self-fulfilling…
March 4, 2025 at 2:44 PM
… the threat IS from within now. self-fulfilling…
“Despair is paralysis. It robs us of agency. It blinds us to our own power…”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
January 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
“Despair is paralysis. It robs us of agency. It blinds us to our own power…”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
annual tour of neglected (abandoned?) writing projects…
December 11, 2024 at 6:01 PM
annual tour of neglected (abandoned?) writing projects…
It’s not just me then: apnews.com/article/oxfo... How to sum up 2024? The Oxford University Press word of the year is 'brain rot'
How to sum up 2024? The Oxford University Press word of the year is 'brain rot'
Oxford University Press has named “brain rot” its word of the year. It's defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,” especially from consuming too much low-grad...
apnews.com
December 2, 2024 at 2:23 PM
It’s not just me then: apnews.com/article/oxfo... How to sum up 2024? The Oxford University Press word of the year is 'brain rot'
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
- Buckminster Fuller
(I’m looping back around, in a squiggle fashion)
- Buckminster Fuller
(I’m looping back around, in a squiggle fashion)
January 23, 2024 at 8:43 PM
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
- Buckminster Fuller
(I’m looping back around, in a squiggle fashion)
- Buckminster Fuller
(I’m looping back around, in a squiggle fashion)
What if instead of banning books, we made reading mandatory…
January 17, 2024 at 3:52 PM
What if instead of banning books, we made reading mandatory…
Over curated, under informed feeling.
December 1, 2023 at 1:06 PM
Over curated, under informed feeling.
Better prompt, better answers.
Watch the video, it’s in front of paywall.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/talk...
Watch the video, it’s in front of paywall.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/talk...
Talking to Chatbots Is Now a $200K Job. So I Applied.
Welcome to the world of prompt engineering, where you’re paid to get the best answers from AI
www.wsj.com
November 30, 2023 at 3:27 PM
Better prompt, better answers.
Watch the video, it’s in front of paywall.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/talk...
Watch the video, it’s in front of paywall.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/talk...
the downside of books everywhere is that notes are everywhere.
now in scatter-gather writing phase. (and the dog isn’t as helpful as he believes).
now in scatter-gather writing phase. (and the dog isn’t as helpful as he believes).
November 22, 2023 at 2:57 PM
the downside of books everywhere is that notes are everywhere.
now in scatter-gather writing phase. (and the dog isn’t as helpful as he believes).
now in scatter-gather writing phase. (and the dog isn’t as helpful as he believes).
Dewey is in charge of mornings. Steps over word count.
November 19, 2023 at 3:56 PM
Dewey is in charge of mornings. Steps over word count.
deleted all things X today. feel lighter.
November 17, 2023 at 11:15 PM
deleted all things X today. feel lighter.
First signs on writing season.
November 9, 2023 at 3:35 PM
First signs on writing season.
“They [tech bros] say that the chatbots are “hallucinating” when they give the wrong answer to a query. The machines are not hallucinating. They’re machine-splaining…”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Jeanette Winterson Has No Idea What Happens Next
The author and former enfant terrible on life after death, breaking the rules, and forging a self through fiction.
www.newyorker.com
October 29, 2023 at 2:57 PM
“They [tech bros] say that the chatbots are “hallucinating” when they give the wrong answer to a query. The machines are not hallucinating. They’re machine-splaining…”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
“… there’s another layer of responsibility, writing on a thin sheet of tree and hoping the words are worth it.”
“Such a thought could make a person set down her pen.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, p 152
🌳📝
“Such a thought could make a person set down her pen.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, p 152
🌳📝
October 25, 2023 at 9:06 PM
“… there’s another layer of responsibility, writing on a thin sheet of tree and hoping the words are worth it.”
“Such a thought could make a person set down her pen.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, p 152
🌳📝
“Such a thought could make a person set down her pen.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, p 152
🌳📝
Reposted by brenda m michelson
This is the longer version of the thing I was trying to say, which still is by no means everything I have to say in any direction. Do not try to infer or assume based on what I haven't said.You can ask me questions if you'd like to know. I will answer if I have the energy and am in the mood.
a lot of things are true.
the refusal to grasp this is a non-trivial amount of the problem
open.substack.com
October 13, 2023 at 3:29 AM
This is the longer version of the thing I was trying to say, which still is by no means everything I have to say in any direction. Do not try to infer or assume based on what I haven't said.You can ask me questions if you'd like to know. I will answer if I have the energy and am in the mood.
Reposted by brenda m michelson
Deb Chachra’s HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS comes out in two weeks, and it’s the perfect time to preorder it.
I loved it, as you can tell by this blurb. It’s exactly the kind of book I think we need right now. And Deb is a truly wonderful human to boot.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711...
I loved it, as you can tell by this blurb. It’s exactly the kind of book I think we need right now. And Deb is a truly wonderful human to boot.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711...
October 6, 2023 at 11:48 PM
Deb Chachra’s HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS comes out in two weeks, and it’s the perfect time to preorder it.
I loved it, as you can tell by this blurb. It’s exactly the kind of book I think we need right now. And Deb is a truly wonderful human to boot.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711...
I loved it, as you can tell by this blurb. It’s exactly the kind of book I think we need right now. And Deb is a truly wonderful human to boot.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711...
"Sometimes asking the right question is better than getting the right answer. I’ve always kept that in mind in my life, and as I’ve written my stories." -- Haruki Murakami on Asking the Right Questions newyorker.com/books/this-wee…
The New YorkerThe New Yorker
https://newyorker.com/books/this-wee…
October 6, 2023 at 6:07 PM
"Sometimes asking the right question is better than getting the right answer. I’ve always kept that in mind in my life, and as I’ve written my stories." -- Haruki Murakami on Asking the Right Questions newyorker.com/books/this-wee…
Reposted by brenda m michelson
Today is the start of Banned Books Week, and in light of a terrible op-ed in the Times today, let's do a short thread on the storyline about book banning in "Peanuts," from October 23, 1972, nearly 51 years ago.
October 1, 2023 at 4:05 PM
Today is the start of Banned Books Week, and in light of a terrible op-ed in the Times today, let's do a short thread on the storyline about book banning in "Peanuts," from October 23, 1972, nearly 51 years ago.
“I say whoever sees and comprehends the truth of this illegitimacy MUST reveal it, it is essential that he does, that he make it his life's work, with every breath that he takes, and for every moment that he 's alive, from now until Domesday…”
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/568108...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/568108...
The Fraud by Zadie Smith: 9780525558965 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The instant New York Times bestseller. From acclaimed and bestselling novelist Zadie Smith, a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England,...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
September 30, 2023 at 9:26 PM
“I say whoever sees and comprehends the truth of this illegitimacy MUST reveal it, it is essential that he does, that he make it his life's work, with every breath that he takes, and for every moment that he 's alive, from now until Domesday…”
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/568108...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/568108...