Michael Hobbes
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*
Anyone who had genuine concerns about youth gender medicine would staunchly and wholeheartedly support social transition. Let kids explore their identities to see what works for them!
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
This draft guidance reproduces Cass insisting that clinicians must be involved in decisions about *social transition* which actually should be none of their damn business
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
February 12, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Anyone who had genuine concerns about youth gender medicine would staunchly and wholeheartedly support social transition. Let kids explore their identities to see what works for them!
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Polymarket should be burned to the ground for even offering shit like this
February 12, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Polymarket should be burned to the ground for even offering shit like this
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
the modern right is pathologically obsessed with gender in a way that has absolutely no analogue on our side
Trans people aren't obsessed with trans people, TERFs are obsessed with trans people.
February 12, 2026 at 4:06 PM
the modern right is pathologically obsessed with gender in a way that has absolutely no analogue on our side
The Atlantic is Atlanticking extremely hard this morning
February 12, 2026 at 4:21 PM
The Atlantic is Atlanticking extremely hard this morning
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
We’re still getting “look at these wacky wokes” journalism from our most esteemed and revered press.
This week, we have 2 critiques of the Mellon Foundation's politics, one from the most effective journalist of the anti-DEI hysteria
Pretty easy to see where this goes next--establish the narrative, then write the legislation:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Pretty easy to see where this goes next--establish the narrative, then write the legislation:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
The Multibillion-Dollar Foundation That Controls the Humanities
Is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the last best hope for American arts and letters—or is it killing them?
www.theatlantic.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
We’re still getting “look at these wacky wokes” journalism from our most esteemed and revered press.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
I am once again begging the far right to take this shit to Literotica and leave the rest of us alone
Fuentes then fantasizes about “breeding gulags”: “So just like Hitler imprisoned Gypsies, Jews, communists, you know, all of his political rivals, we have to do the same thing with women… They go to the breeding gulags. The good ones will be liberated. The bad ones will toil in the mines forever.”
February 12, 2026 at 4:04 PM
I am once again begging the far right to take this shit to Literotica and leave the rest of us alone
I don't talk to anyone this much
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
February 12, 2026 at 3:58 PM
I don't talk to anyone this much
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
"The highest-earning 10% of households now account for nearly half of all U.S. consumer spending. About 30 years ago, those earners were just over one-third of U.S. consumer spending."
US firms confront widening income gulf as wealthy spend, budget shoppers struggle
America's consumer economy is pulling in opposite directions, a gulf increasingly apparent in C-suite commentary, with premium brands profiting from well-off customers while value-focused firms battle...
www.reuters.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:49 PM
"The highest-earning 10% of households now account for nearly half of all U.S. consumer spending. About 30 years ago, those earners were just over one-third of U.S. consumer spending."
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
TIL what the Clever Hans effect is and goddamn if that doesn't just perfectly describe the AI hype. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_...
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
TIL what the Clever Hans effect is and goddamn if that doesn't just perfectly describe the AI hype. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_...
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Functionalist approaches measure intelligence by how closely its outputs resemble the human mind. If you constantly recalibrate its outputs to resemble a human mind, you're not creating a thinking machine. You are creating a machine to trick other functionalists.
To me the chatbots pose zero interesting questions about the ‘nature of selfhood’ but dozens about the nature of manipulation. Here the Claude team pretends they are programming the robot for ethical responses but they land on one that is false and disingenuous.
February 11, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Functionalist approaches measure intelligence by how closely its outputs resemble the human mind. If you constantly recalibrate its outputs to resemble a human mind, you're not creating a thinking machine. You are creating a machine to trick other functionalists.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
I had somehow missed that RFK Jr is on the Jordan Peterson “masculinity caveman cult” all meat diet. Which tracks.
WTF am I talking about? @michaelhobbes.bsky.social can explain
WTF am I talking about? @michaelhobbes.bsky.social can explain
Jordan Peterson Part 1: The Carnivore Diet - Maintenance Phase (podcast)
01:08:52 - Oops all meat: How a '50s bodybuilder, a Grateful Dead roadie and an unreadable professor accidentally launched one of America's wildest f…
www.listennotes.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:43 PM
I had somehow missed that RFK Jr is on the Jordan Peterson “masculinity caveman cult” all meat diet. Which tracks.
WTF am I talking about? @michaelhobbes.bsky.social can explain
WTF am I talking about? @michaelhobbes.bsky.social can explain
i need congress to investigate how Bondi has the Mare of Easttown accent despite growing up in florida
wow -- Bondi throws a fit in response to Nadler's question about how many of Epstein's co-conspirators, if any, she's investigating, aggressively pointing at him and yelling. The hearing then devolves into chaos and Raskin and Bondi start yelling at each other.
February 11, 2026 at 5:09 PM
i need congress to investigate how Bondi has the Mare of Easttown accent despite growing up in florida
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Part of the issue here is that people should not be seeking emotional support from a chatbot, which suggests that we should not be programming them to provide it at all, rather than figuring out the best answer for them to give when it is asked for.
To me the chatbots pose zero interesting questions about the ‘nature of selfhood’ but dozens about the nature of manipulation. Here the Claude team pretends they are programming the robot for ethical responses but they land on one that is false and disingenuous.
February 11, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Part of the issue here is that people should not be seeking emotional support from a chatbot, which suggests that we should not be programming them to provide it at all, rather than figuring out the best answer for them to give when it is asked for.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Ai was created to fool the Turing test, so all it does is trick you into believing it's thinking. It's the one thing it does well.
Also I’m sorry but I don’t think this is Claude developing a personality or ethical values. It is *simulating* those things because that is what humans value and reward. The programmers are falling for their own Clever Hans trick!
February 11, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Ai was created to fool the Turing test, so all it does is trick you into believing it's thinking. It's the one thing it does well.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
political malpractice that this chart hasnt been seared into the brains of every single american through advertising and social media
We now have data from Trump's first full year in office. Let's review the performance of Trump and the two parties since 1989 and a new age of globalization began.
However you cut the data Trump continues to have worst jobs record of last six Presidents. 1/
However you cut the data Trump continues to have worst jobs record of last six Presidents. 1/
February 11, 2026 at 3:40 PM
political malpractice that this chart hasnt been seared into the brains of every single american through advertising and social media
To me the chatbots pose zero interesting questions about the ‘nature of selfhood’ but dozens about the nature of manipulation. Here the Claude team pretends they are programming the robot for ethical responses but they land on one that is false and disingenuous.
February 11, 2026 at 3:42 PM
To me the chatbots pose zero interesting questions about the ‘nature of selfhood’ but dozens about the nature of manipulation. Here the Claude team pretends they are programming the robot for ethical responses but they land on one that is false and disingenuous.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
We found something similar when we compared LLMs to pharmacy students using a script concordance model (which deliberately tests non-binary questions):
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
February 11, 2026 at 3:12 PM
We found something similar when we compared LLMs to pharmacy students using a script concordance model (which deliberately tests non-binary questions):
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
as always the New York Times frames this catastrophe in a way that downplays the fact this is an extremely unpopular decision being driven entirely by corporate corruption that will avoidably kill untold millions of people
The E.P.A. Is Barreling Toward a Supreme Court Climate Showdown
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:20 PM
as always the New York Times frames this catastrophe in a way that downplays the fact this is an extremely unpopular decision being driven entirely by corporate corruption that will avoidably kill untold millions of people
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
I heard Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car in a public place yesterday and I thought “this is what Michael Hobbes wants to take away” and I think I need to log off of social media for a while.
This technology already exists and is widely used. It doesn't involve 'government surveillance' and would not allow ICE or any other government agency to stop individual cars.
Just say you think thousands of kids dying every year is worth it so you can speed!
www.autoweek.com/news/a615322...
Just say you think thousands of kids dying every year is worth it so you can speed!
www.autoweek.com/news/a615322...
Speed Limiters Now Mandatory in All New EU Cars
Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) isn't an ironclad speeding prevention system, but could be just annoying enough to spark a backlash.
www.autoweek.com
February 11, 2026 at 11:43 AM
I heard Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car in a public place yesterday and I thought “this is what Michael Hobbes wants to take away” and I think I need to log off of social media for a while.
When chatbots are given complete information on medical conditions, they typically spit out correct diagnoses and recommendations.
Actual patients, however, often describe their conditions with incomplete or irrelevant information and the chatbots cannot handle it.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Actual patients, however, often describe their conditions with incomplete or irrelevant information and the chatbots cannot handle it.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 11, 2026 at 2:16 PM
When chatbots are given complete information on medical conditions, they typically spit out correct diagnoses and recommendations.
Actual patients, however, often describe their conditions with incomplete or irrelevant information and the chatbots cannot handle it.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Actual patients, however, often describe their conditions with incomplete or irrelevant information and the chatbots cannot handle it.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Government-issued Real IDs and driver’s licenses aren’t proof of citizenship, and most people aren’t walking around with a passport.
Markwayne Mullin defends "show me your papers": "If you're here legally, there's nothing to hide. Most people already are walking around with a government-issued ID, meaning your Real ID or your driver's license. If you go board a train here, you gotta show your ID."
February 11, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Government-issued Real IDs and driver’s licenses aren’t proof of citizenship, and most people aren’t walking around with a passport.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
ONLY
Lab leak truthers love to point out that "only" one-third to one-half of early cases were directly linked to the market but you know how many were linked to the lab?
Zero.
Plus if the virus had emerged in the summer there would have been *far* more than hundreds of cases by January.
Zero.
Plus if the virus had emerged in the summer there would have been *far* more than hundreds of cases by January.
February 11, 2026 at 2:01 AM
ONLY
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
We really do need to rebuild the capacity to meet strangers in public places, and stuff like this ruins it for everyone.
Social media is awash with videos of men filming themselves approaching women in public spaces and attempting to flirt. In many cases, the videos are filmed and uploaded without the women’s consent. https://cnn.it/4qtIsvB
February 11, 2026 at 1:23 AM
We really do need to rebuild the capacity to meet strangers in public places, and stuff like this ruins it for everyone.