Devin
@dervine7.bsky.social
philosophy ph.d. student (philosophy of language primarily), amongst other things. they/he
lol get rekt
North Carolina governor backs challenger of sitting Democrat in Charlotte-area primary
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, is endorsing Rodney Sadler in his campaign against seven-term state Rep. Carla Cunningham in the Democratic primary to represent northern Mecklenburg County.
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, is endorsing Rodney Sadler in his campaign against seven-term state Rep. Carla Cunningham in the Democratic primary to represent northern Mecklenburg County.
North Carolina governor backs challenger of sitting Democrat in Charlotte-area primary
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, is endorsing Rodney Sadler in his campaign against seven-term state Rep. Carla Cunningham in the Democratic primary to represent northern Mecklenburg County.
www.wral.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:38 AM
lol get rekt
a good summary of the tolkien legendarium is "the valar are really bad at their job"
January 6, 2026 at 12:11 AM
a good summary of the tolkien legendarium is "the valar are really bad at their job"
in many (if not most, if not all) cases, facts about big things supervene on facts about small things (and their organization). why is supervenience correlated with size in this way
January 5, 2026 at 3:24 PM
in many (if not most, if not all) cases, facts about big things supervene on facts about small things (and their organization). why is supervenience correlated with size in this way
it’s honestly kind of crazy how institutionally similar Buddhism and Christianity are
January 5, 2026 at 2:07 PM
it’s honestly kind of crazy how institutionally similar Buddhism and Christianity are
Reposted by Devin
given how loud the discourse around ai art and writing is, it's weird that people aren't more freaked out about ai music
January 5, 2026 at 5:35 AM
given how loud the discourse around ai art and writing is, it's weird that people aren't more freaked out about ai music
Reposted by Devin
i have fallen down a rabbit hole and into Good LinkedIn
the one without the goatee
the one without the goatee
January 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM
i have fallen down a rabbit hole and into Good LinkedIn
the one without the goatee
the one without the goatee
Reposted by Devin
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
given how loud the discourse around ai art and writing is, it's weird that people aren't more freaked out about ai music
January 5, 2026 at 5:35 AM
given how loud the discourse around ai art and writing is, it's weird that people aren't more freaked out about ai music
Reposted by Devin
I heard the streets need me to stop American fascism. And I would but that's a reach goal on my Patreon.
January 5, 2026 at 2:21 AM
I heard the streets need me to stop American fascism. And I would but that's a reach goal on my Patreon.
the other one I'll throw out which is less niche and that I think most people would agree is a blunder if pointed out is not respecting the type-token distinction with respect to utterances
what's the thing in your subdiscipline that loads of people constantly mess up even though by your lights they really ought to know better? (for me it's clearly distinguishing contents and vehicles)
January 4, 2026 at 11:30 PM
the other one I'll throw out which is less niche and that I think most people would agree is a blunder if pointed out is not respecting the type-token distinction with respect to utterances
feel like a good response to some of the more strident forms of evolutionary psychology is "if so much of human behavior is innate then why is our ontogeny so dang long"
January 4, 2026 at 10:13 PM
feel like a good response to some of the more strident forms of evolutionary psychology is "if so much of human behavior is innate then why is our ontogeny so dang long"
Reposted by Devin
Depends on what you count as my subdiscipline. Among philosophers who dabble in game theory, they often completely mess up the difference between "getting cooperation in the prisoners dilemma" and "changing the game so it's not the prisoners dilemma"
what's the thing in your subdiscipline that loads of people constantly mess up even though by your lights they really ought to know better? (for me it's clearly distinguishing contents and vehicles)
January 4, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Depends on what you count as my subdiscipline. Among philosophers who dabble in game theory, they often completely mess up the difference between "getting cooperation in the prisoners dilemma" and "changing the game so it's not the prisoners dilemma"
replied, but to post to my own account:
failing to distinguish between there being a convention of using X to communicate Y vs. exploiting joint knowledge of the existence of certain conventions in order to use X to communicate Y
this is a consistent gripe I have with the social meaning literature
failing to distinguish between there being a convention of using X to communicate Y vs. exploiting joint knowledge of the existence of certain conventions in order to use X to communicate Y
this is a consistent gripe I have with the social meaning literature
what's the thing in your subdiscipline that loads of people constantly mess up even though by your lights they really ought to know better? (for me it's clearly distinguishing contents and vehicles)
January 4, 2026 at 9:53 PM
replied, but to post to my own account:
failing to distinguish between there being a convention of using X to communicate Y vs. exploiting joint knowledge of the existence of certain conventions in order to use X to communicate Y
this is a consistent gripe I have with the social meaning literature
failing to distinguish between there being a convention of using X to communicate Y vs. exploiting joint knowledge of the existence of certain conventions in order to use X to communicate Y
this is a consistent gripe I have with the social meaning literature
my usual mode for engaging with current events on this site is dark humor and sarcasm, but man, I don’t know quite what it is about this in particular but I just can’t
January 4, 2026 at 2:35 PM
my usual mode for engaging with current events on this site is dark humor and sarcasm, but man, I don’t know quite what it is about this in particular but I just can’t
it’s actually completely reasonable to complain more about the people who’s behavior might be responsive to those complaints
I may complain about democrats more then I complain about republicans, but bear in mind that my solution for Schumer is “do better or we have to find someone who can” and my solution for Trump is international tribunal
January 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
it’s actually completely reasonable to complain more about the people who’s behavior might be responsive to those complaints
legality demonstrably curtails authoritarianism — in fact what makes a state non-authoritarian *just is* legal limits on executive control that are *actually* enforced
At some point (*soon*), we have to release ourselves of our need to refer to these actions as illegal. Legality has never curtailed authoritarianism.
Unethical. Inhumane. Death dealing. We have so many more words to help with this.
Unethical. Inhumane. Death dealing. We have so many more words to help with this.
January 4, 2026 at 2:12 PM
legality demonstrably curtails authoritarianism — in fact what makes a state non-authoritarian *just is* legal limits on executive control that are *actually* enforced
Reposted by Devin
I think legality probably has curtailed authoritarianism. The broad legal structures of a society enable and prohibit various things to various degrees, and there have been plenty of times when authoritarians would have liked to do more authoritarian stuff but the law tended to curtail them.
At some point (*soon*), we have to release ourselves of our need to refer to these actions as illegal. Legality has never curtailed authoritarianism.
Unethical. Inhumane. Death dealing. We have so many more words to help with this.
Unethical. Inhumane. Death dealing. We have so many more words to help with this.
January 4, 2026 at 2:05 PM
I think legality probably has curtailed authoritarianism. The broad legal structures of a society enable and prohibit various things to various degrees, and there have been plenty of times when authoritarians would have liked to do more authoritarian stuff but the law tended to curtail them.
Reposted by Devin
Meanwhile, a Crossover Episode.
Bill Ackman Says He Has Funded Francesca Gino’s Legal Defense Since June 2024 | News | The Harvard Crimson
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill A. Ackman ’88 said he has been funding the legal defense of Francesca Gino, a former Harvard Business School professor accused of research fraud, since June 2024, c...
www.thecrimson.com
January 4, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Meanwhile, a Crossover Episode.
Reposted by Devin
BREAKING: In exchange for his support, Mayor Mamdani has appointed Curtis Sliwa Rat Czar and Underking of New York, whose writ shall run anywhere the sunlight does not touch
January 3, 2026 at 3:36 AM
BREAKING: In exchange for his support, Mayor Mamdani has appointed Curtis Sliwa Rat Czar and Underking of New York, whose writ shall run anywhere the sunlight does not touch
Reposted by Devin
every time i get hiccups i think about those people who get hiccups for 20 straight years
January 3, 2026 at 4:55 AM
every time i get hiccups i think about those people who get hiccups for 20 straight years
lmao
Over on Twitter/X, Bill Ackman (of Harvard/Claudine Gay/plagiarism/tennis debacle fame) has written another 3,000+ word post.
He believes that Francesca Gino's RAs faked her data. And, plot twist, he's been funding Gino's legal battle against Harvard since 2024.
x.com/i/status/200...
He believes that Francesca Gino's RAs faked her data. And, plot twist, he's been funding Gino's legal battle against Harvard since 2024.
x.com/i/status/200...
January 2, 2026 at 7:18 PM
lmao
once again noting that if you think there’s such a thing as objective merit, and admit that members of certain groups have their merit systematically underestimated, then some amount of affirmative action for those groups will increase average merit
January 2, 2026 at 6:04 PM
once again noting that if you think there’s such a thing as objective merit, and admit that members of certain groups have their merit systematically underestimated, then some amount of affirmative action for those groups will increase average merit
Reposted by Devin
One thing I wrote about here is how technology has made buses *way* more convenient while techno-futurists were obsessed with flying taxis and self-driving cars.
January 2, 2026 at 2:17 PM
One thing I wrote about here is how technology has made buses *way* more convenient while techno-futurists were obsessed with flying taxis and self-driving cars.
pretty confused by the reactions to jack smith’s testimony tbh, “prosecutor thinks that the indictments they served were correct” doesn’t seem like news
January 2, 2026 at 3:15 PM
pretty confused by the reactions to jack smith’s testimony tbh, “prosecutor thinks that the indictments they served were correct” doesn’t seem like news