Joshua Loftus
@joft.bsky.social
New father. Also: Prof. of #Statistics, #machinelearning / ethics for #datascience @LSE. Unschooled to community college to PhD @Stanford
Technology, institutions, and ideas should serve people, but much of humanity is stuck with this upside-down.
Technology, institutions, and ideas should serve people, but much of humanity is stuck with this upside-down.
I'm a one issue voter
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 8, 2026 at 8:24 AM
I'm a one issue voter
Lazily googling to find the title of a Poe story instead of going to my bookshelf
Instead of directing me to A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (good), google generates an imitation of a Poe story (🫥)
Instead of directing me to A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (good), google generates an imitation of a Poe story (🫥)
January 7, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Lazily googling to find the title of a Poe story instead of going to my bookshelf
Instead of directing me to A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (good), google generates an imitation of a Poe story (🫥)
Instead of directing me to A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (good), google generates an imitation of a Poe story (🫥)
Got that first-time-back-in-the-gym-after-months DOMS
It's good, I like this actually
It's good, I like this actually
January 6, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Got that first-time-back-in-the-gym-after-months DOMS
It's good, I like this actually
It's good, I like this actually
Many leaders, too—lots of Dems, Macron and other world executives—fluffy little lapdogs coming to heel.
“We’re monitoring the situation” you’re doing nothing, you just had an aide use chatGPT to draft the same statement as every other empty suit. There will be no consequences, no rule of law
“We’re monitoring the situation” you’re doing nothing, you just had an aide use chatGPT to draft the same statement as every other empty suit. There will be no consequences, no rule of law
Blows my mind that some of the same journalists who see Trump as a want-to-be dictator at home are earnestly discussing the "challenges" for this same man to "bring democracy" to a country it just illegal invaded. Please grow up.
January 3, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Many leaders, too—lots of Dems, Macron and other world executives—fluffy little lapdogs coming to heel.
“We’re monitoring the situation” you’re doing nothing, you just had an aide use chatGPT to draft the same statement as every other empty suit. There will be no consequences, no rule of law
“We’re monitoring the situation” you’re doing nothing, you just had an aide use chatGPT to draft the same statement as every other empty suit. There will be no consequences, no rule of law
Bleak, but I'd guess the reality is worse than only 40% not reading at all. Many people probably stretch the definitions of "read" and "book" when they answer
NEW: How many books did you read this year? If it was more than 2, congrats: you read more than the median American.
Read on for way more @today.yougov.com polling from me on America's book-reading habits in 2025. 1/
Read on for way more @today.yougov.com polling from me on America's book-reading habits in 2025. 1/
December 31, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Bleak, but I'd guess the reality is worse than only 40% not reading at all. Many people probably stretch the definitions of "read" and "book" when they answer
Tired half the time and have headaches most days
And honestly, don't mind it at all because of this guy's smile
And honestly, don't mind it at all because of this guy's smile
December 30, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Tired half the time and have headaches most days
And honestly, don't mind it at all because of this guy's smile
And honestly, don't mind it at all because of this guy's smile
One of the funniest things in the world to me right now is when I clip my own nails after clipping our baby's nails. It's like fighting a giant and that being 100x easier than the tiny minion
December 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One of the funniest things in the world to me right now is when I clip my own nails after clipping our baby's nails. It's like fighting a giant and that being 100x easier than the tiny minion
Reposted by Joshua Loftus
"Nearly 80 years later, the simplex method is still among the most widely used tools when a logistical or supply-chain decision needs to be made under complex constraints."
only half followed the description of the simplex method in here but super interesting anyways
www.wired.com/story/resear...
only half followed the description of the simplex method in here but super interesting anyways
www.wired.com/story/resear...
Research Reveals the Optimal Way to Optimize
The leading approach to the simplex method, a widely used technique for balancing complex logistical constraints, can’t get any better.
www.wired.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:12 PM
"Nearly 80 years later, the simplex method is still among the most widely used tools when a logistical or supply-chain decision needs to be made under complex constraints."
only half followed the description of the simplex method in here but super interesting anyways
www.wired.com/story/resear...
only half followed the description of the simplex method in here but super interesting anyways
www.wired.com/story/resear...
Reposted by Joshua Loftus
The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.
December 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.
After a month in Sicily
My stomach just texted me this??? how
My stomach just texted me this??? how
December 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
After a month in Sicily
My stomach just texted me this??? how
My stomach just texted me this??? how
I would bet money that they won't
What sticks out to me is how absolutely unafraid of prosecution this psychopath is. Part of it is narcissistic personality disorder, but it's mostly the perceived weakness of Democrats. Should they retake power, no one expects Democrats to hold anyone accountable.
December 5, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I would bet money that they won't
The richest man in the world has killed hundreds of thousands of the poorest children in the world
I think this is one of the most evil--and definitely the most anti-christian--acts in human history
I think this is one of the most evil--and definitely the most anti-christian--acts in human history
This fetid landmark, this historical stain on humanity is primarily due to the stunningly reckless obliteration of America's foreign assistance agency earlier this year.
Led by the richest man on earth. In secret, on a weekend. With zero analysis or discussion of its catastrophic impacts.
Led by the richest man on earth. In secret, on a weekend. With zero analysis or discussion of its catastrophic impacts.
For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year
Almost a quarter of a million more children around the world are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024.
www.wsj.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
The richest man in the world has killed hundreds of thousands of the poorest children in the world
I think this is one of the most evil--and definitely the most anti-christian--acts in human history
I think this is one of the most evil--and definitely the most anti-christian--acts in human history
Reposted by Joshua Loftus
"As the university trades its teaching mission for “AI-tech integration,” it doesn’t just risk irrelevance—it risks becoming mechanically soulless. Genuine intellectual struggle has become too expensive of a value proposition."
Absolutely devastating account of the CSU's $17 million capitulation to ChatGPT, from a fellow faculty member watching it happen www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 4:31 AM
"As the university trades its teaching mission for “AI-tech integration,” it doesn’t just risk irrelevance—it risks becoming mechanically soulless. Genuine intellectual struggle has become too expensive of a value proposition."
Not just dropped, but actively pushed on us from almost all our leaders
Does it strike anyone as weird that we have a ratings board that counts the number of times a movie says fuck or shows a boob and decides who is allowed to see it, and yet GenAI was dropped on the entire with no restrictions, no age verification, no checks, no regulation whatsoever?
November 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Not just dropped, but actively pushed on us from almost all our leaders
This perfectly explains why almost all TV sucks so bad
The real and true story of why Police Squad (the TV series Naked Gun was based on and easily the funniest tv show of its time) was canceled is legitimately insane and one of the most egregious examples of TV malpractice I’ve ever heard:
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This perfectly explains why almost all TV sucks so bad
This is so much more scandalous than some UCs offering remedial math courses
But somehow I won't be surprised if the same journos and pundits who're so concerned about "woke" lowering standards are silent about this
www.nber.org/system/files...
But somehow I won't be surprised if the same journos and pundits who're so concerned about "woke" lowering standards are silent about this
www.nber.org/system/files...
November 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
This is so much more scandalous than some UCs offering remedial math courses
But somehow I won't be surprised if the same journos and pundits who're so concerned about "woke" lowering standards are silent about this
www.nber.org/system/files...
But somehow I won't be surprised if the same journos and pundits who're so concerned about "woke" lowering standards are silent about this
www.nber.org/system/files...
I'm getting cautiously optimistic that the AI insanity will be ended soon by (1) a deluge of lawsuits and (2) society in general learning that it's bullshit
on.ft.com/3M4Y61L
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/b...
on.ft.com/3M4Y61L
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/b...
November 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I'm getting cautiously optimistic that the AI insanity will be ended soon by (1) a deluge of lawsuits and (2) society in general learning that it's bullshit
on.ft.com/3M4Y61L
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/b...
on.ft.com/3M4Y61L
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/b...
Logging on to X the Everything app™️ and having the audacity to say remedial math classes are good actually and universities should educate and not just select students
November 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Logging on to X the Everything app™️ and having the audacity to say remedial math classes are good actually and universities should educate and not just select students
Slicing salami, the knife slips, freeze frame at a moment when I'm not sure whether it's about to take a finger off. My brain in that moment: whatever happens there we've got to eat this slice of salami first. Then we can go searching for the finger.
(It missed, phew)
(It missed, phew)
November 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Slicing salami, the knife slips, freeze frame at a moment when I'm not sure whether it's about to take a finger off. My brain in that moment: whatever happens there we've got to eat this slice of salami first. Then we can go searching for the finger.
(It missed, phew)
(It missed, phew)
Bring back Jormny Crobins
matt yglesias' primary claim about politics is that to win elections, democrats should adopt the strategy which has given starmer a 13% approval rating in the UK
November 17, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Bring back Jormny Crobins
Reposted by Joshua Loftus
AI is bad for students. Get it out of our schools.
Banning cellphones has been a top priority for many US school districts, but where educators should focus their attention next is clear: the use of generative artificial intelligence products, write Sorelle Friedler and Nicol Turner Lee.
Schools Went After Cellphones. Now It’s Time to Ban Generative AI. | TechPolicy.Press
After banning cellphones in many US schools, educators should turn next to generative AI products, write Sorelle Friedler and Nicol Turner Lee.
www.techpolicy.press
November 11, 2025 at 1:14 PM
AI is bad for students. Get it out of our schools.
Counterpoints:
- He only won 2016 primary because the GOP didn't fight its outsider(s) as effectively as the Dems (in both 2016 and 2020)
- He wouldn't have won in 2024 without backing from the literal world's richest man
- The same political trends are everywhere (incl. musk interference!)
- He only won 2016 primary because the GOP didn't fight its outsider(s) as effectively as the Dems (in both 2016 and 2020)
- He wouldn't have won in 2024 without backing from the literal world's richest man
- The same political trends are everywhere (incl. musk interference!)
Trump defeated the establishments of both parties to become president twice, break most civic and legal norms of import, end-run the Constitution's safeguards against Trump-like figures, survive numerous career-ending scandals, and now single-handedly holds a party together that would have spent
Trump has gotten huge numbers of infrequent voters to the polls, twice. He's deeply unpopular but has mobilized a large, unprecedented coalition of Americans motivated by some combination of ignorance, avarice, and cruelty. It is hard to describe what he has as something other than charisma
November 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Counterpoints:
- He only won 2016 primary because the GOP didn't fight its outsider(s) as effectively as the Dems (in both 2016 and 2020)
- He wouldn't have won in 2024 without backing from the literal world's richest man
- The same political trends are everywhere (incl. musk interference!)
- He only won 2016 primary because the GOP didn't fight its outsider(s) as effectively as the Dems (in both 2016 and 2020)
- He wouldn't have won in 2024 without backing from the literal world's richest man
- The same political trends are everywhere (incl. musk interference!)
The next Democratic POTUS (lol) will learn from this and do something different (lmao)
Remember when biden bragged about having the toughest border policy ever, even tougher than Trump's, look at how we do tough borders better than the Republicans, something our voters definitely wished for, etc
When trump said this, white liberals only opposed it based on the vibes and the fact that they weren't the ones doing it.
They'll gleefully threaten people with "I can't wait to see you get deported in Project 2025!" and then support biden doing the exact same shit.
They'll gleefully threaten people with "I can't wait to see you get deported in Project 2025!" and then support biden doing the exact same shit.
October 25, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The next Democratic POTUS (lol) will learn from this and do something different (lmao)
Me, to the universe: you're welcome. It was easy actually
October 23, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Me, to the universe: you're welcome. It was easy actually
The tattoo was bad, he shouldn't have gotten it, he should have had it removed long ago, next best time is now.
Also, it is a tattoo, which is art on a person's body. Almost all federal politicians are providing material support for an ongoing genocide right now. Just another perspective!
Also, it is a tattoo, which is art on a person's body. Almost all federal politicians are providing material support for an ongoing genocide right now. Just another perspective!
MAINE Senate race, Democratic primary
UNH/Pine Tree State Poll
Graham Platner 58%
Janet Mills 24%
UNH/Pine Tree State Poll
Graham Platner 58%
Janet Mills 24%
October 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
The tattoo was bad, he shouldn't have gotten it, he should have had it removed long ago, next best time is now.
Also, it is a tattoo, which is art on a person's body. Almost all federal politicians are providing material support for an ongoing genocide right now. Just another perspective!
Also, it is a tattoo, which is art on a person's body. Almost all federal politicians are providing material support for an ongoing genocide right now. Just another perspective!