Michael Bench-Capon
@mikebenchcapon.bsky.social
I have a PhD in philosophy and now I work in a library. He/him.
michaelbenchcapon.blogspot.com
michaelbenchcapon.blogspot.com
Pinned
If your post is liked by just one wise person it is as though it had been liked by the whole world
Well there are a hundred of them www.theguardian.com/business/202...
FTSE 100 CEOs earn more than average worker’s yearly pay by noon on 6 January
High Pay Centre calculates bosses will pass milestone on third working day of 2026 with median pay of £1,353 an hour
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Well there are a hundred of them www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Possibly unpopular opinion: we should get rid of magma. No more lava leaks, no more continental plates floating around on the stuff causing earthquakes and the like - the Earth should just congeal into one big dark chocolate cricket ball.
January 6, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Possibly unpopular opinion: we should get rid of magma. No more lava leaks, no more continental plates floating around on the stuff causing earthquakes and the like - the Earth should just congeal into one big dark chocolate cricket ball.
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
I suppose I was kind of aware of all of these (although I'm surprised and tbh a bit doubtful that Paul>Jesus is consensus), which makes me wonder if they really are essentially unknown by the public, except in the sense that surveys repeatedly find that almost nobody knows anything about anything
Here’s a fun top five: things that are consensus among historians but are essentially unknown by the public. Richard I, a bad king of England. Roman Empire, fell in 1453. Paul, more important than Jesus. Witch burning, a modern phenomenon not a medieval one. Britain last invaded in 1688. Yours?
As someone who wrote a dissertation on that damnable Frenchman; one can only hope.
January 6, 2026 at 11:01 AM
I suppose I was kind of aware of all of these (although I'm surprised and tbh a bit doubtful that Paul>Jesus is consensus), which makes me wonder if they really are essentially unknown by the public, except in the sense that surveys repeatedly find that almost nobody knows anything about anything
Nice
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January 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Nice
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Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
the other tech companies working on AI will — not now, but eventually — regret having chosen not to draw a bright line between what musk is doing and what they're doing, and google, of all companies, really should know this firsthand, given how much tesla's self-driving informs opinions about waymo
January 5, 2026 at 1:09 AM
the other tech companies working on AI will — not now, but eventually — regret having chosen not to draw a bright line between what musk is doing and what they're doing, and google, of all companies, really should know this firsthand, given how much tesla's self-driving informs opinions about waymo
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
it's going Great as the Trump admin has to admit they made up a cartel
January 6, 2026 at 3:47 AM
it's going Great as the Trump admin has to admit they made up a cartel
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
my 75yo mother told me last night that she’s planning to delete Instagram and Facebook because she’s sick of not being able to tell what’s AI and what’s not, and I genuinely don’t think tech companies have reckoned with this kind of move as an actual possibility
January 6, 2026 at 3:12 AM
my 75yo mother told me last night that she’s planning to delete Instagram and Facebook because she’s sick of not being able to tell what’s AI and what’s not, and I genuinely don’t think tech companies have reckoned with this kind of move as an actual possibility
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
and i've been hoping to eat a chili pepper that will do this to me ever since
29 years ago today, Homer Simpson had an epic chili pepper-induced hallucination. “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer” first aired January 5, 1997.
Most of the sequence was animated completely by David Silverman as he wanted it to look exactly as he had imagined it.
Most of the sequence was animated completely by David Silverman as he wanted it to look exactly as he had imagined it.
January 6, 2026 at 1:15 AM
and i've been hoping to eat a chili pepper that will do this to me ever since
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
What’s the most problematic song that you still think is a banger?
Me?: Guilty Conscience by Eminem and Dr Dre. Unbelievably problematic, but…it is super catchy???
Me?: Guilty Conscience by Eminem and Dr Dre. Unbelievably problematic, but…it is super catchy???
January 6, 2026 at 1:07 AM
What’s the most problematic song that you still think is a banger?
Me?: Guilty Conscience by Eminem and Dr Dre. Unbelievably problematic, but…it is super catchy???
Me?: Guilty Conscience by Eminem and Dr Dre. Unbelievably problematic, but…it is super catchy???
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Ok, philosophers, things I think I'm supposed, professionally, to know, but I'm worried I learned wrong.
What is a proposition?
What is a proposition?
January 6, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Ok, philosophers, things I think I'm supposed, professionally, to know, but I'm worried I learned wrong.
What is a proposition?
What is a proposition?
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Honestly wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes if the money went to subsidize American companies rebuilding Venezuela’s aging oil infrastructure
January 6, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Honestly wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes if the money went to subsidize American companies rebuilding Venezuela’s aging oil infrastructure
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Amazing this could be aimed at the management of two clubs at the moment…
January 5, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Amazing this could be aimed at the management of two clubs at the moment…
After the Muskxodus I initially thought Mastodon was the one that would make the people I'd been blocking on Twitter unwelcome, and Bluesky was the one for people who just wanted Twitter but not owned by Musk. So I ended up here. It didn't work out how I hoped but I've mostly made my peace with it
I want this site to beat twitter, and for twitter to evaporate. For that to happen, people you hate must have a more pleasant experience posting here than posting there.
A minority of this site decided instead that they want it to be their little club, so that's what we have.
A minority of this site decided instead that they want it to be their little club, so that's what we have.
January 5, 2026 at 11:38 PM
After the Muskxodus I initially thought Mastodon was the one that would make the people I'd been blocking on Twitter unwelcome, and Bluesky was the one for people who just wanted Twitter but not owned by Musk. So I ended up here. It didn't work out how I hoped but I've mostly made my peace with it
Of course he was clever; he single-handedly translated the Bible
James VI was a clever and canny character and not at all the moron he's often portrayed as
*disclaimer: this does not mean i think he was anything less than a tyrant
*disclaimer: this does not mean i think he was anything less than a tyrant
Here’s a fun top five: things that are consensus among historians but are essentially unknown by the public. Richard I, a bad king of England. Roman Empire, fell in 1453. Paul, more important than Jesus. Witch burning, a modern phenomenon not a medieval one. Britain last invaded in 1688. Yours?
January 5, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Of course he was clever; he single-handedly translated the Bible
I don't think Nvidia will be a very successful company because their name sounds too much like "invidious". I don't really know what "invidious" means but I'm pretty sure it's bad
January 5, 2026 at 11:06 PM
I don't think Nvidia will be a very successful company because their name sounds too much like "invidious". I don't really know what "invidious" means but I'm pretty sure it's bad
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Written by Ayn Rand
January 5, 2026 at 10:48 PM
Written by Ayn Rand
People say that Machado couldn't have just given her Nobel to Trump, but the first thing the Arctic Monkeys said when they went onstage to collect the Mercury Prize was "sombody call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed" youtu.be/MxCSUjcs8h4?...
Arctic Monkeys Acceptence Speech Mercury Music Prize 2006
YouTube video by Andy Wilkes
youtu.be
January 5, 2026 at 8:45 PM
People say that Machado couldn't have just given her Nobel to Trump, but the first thing the Arctic Monkeys said when they went onstage to collect the Mercury Prize was "sombody call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed" youtu.be/MxCSUjcs8h4?...
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Apparently I posted this seven weeks ago but I don’t remember doing it
I don’t remember doing anything
I don’t remember doing anything
They’re gonna invade Venezuela without doing *any* Iraq style manufacturing consent ground work, most Americans will not know that it happened at all, the democrats will sweep the house regardless and they’ll slow walk ending the conflict because, as long as we’re already there, we DO need some oil.
if we fucking invade venezuela i fucking
January 5, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Apparently I posted this seven weeks ago but I don’t remember doing it
I don’t remember doing anything
I don’t remember doing anything
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Yeah again, not telling you how to post but the number of people I see both enthusiastically celebrating “running off” someone and decrying people still being on X is not zero. You gotta choose guys!
I find it hard to square the preciousness about "why would someone ever stay on Twitter?" when everyone on this site knows that the community here intentionally chased off lots of people.
January 5, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Yeah again, not telling you how to post but the number of people I see both enthusiastically celebrating “running off” someone and decrying people still being on X is not zero. You gotta choose guys!
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
claude code is fucking insane
i know literally NOTHING about Hegel. ZERO. and it just built me a complete system of German idealism
i know literally NOTHING about Hegel. ZERO. and it just built me a complete system of German idealism
January 5, 2026 at 6:49 PM
claude code is fucking insane
i know literally NOTHING about Hegel. ZERO. and it just built me a complete system of German idealism
i know literally NOTHING about Hegel. ZERO. and it just built me a complete system of German idealism
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Seems bad
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been dissolved, ending its 58 years as the primary funder for PBS, NPR and local TV and radio stations
Corporation For Public Broadcasting Is Dissolved After 58 Years Of Service
www.huffpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Seems bad
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Hegelly Blonde
A decision was made to make Hegel wonderfully, unnecessarily blonde and I support it.
January 5, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Hegelly Blonde
Reposted by Michael Bench-Capon
Starmer backs Danish PM after she demands US stop threats to take over Greenland
Starmer backs Danish PM after she demands US stop threats to take over Greenland
British prime minister says Donald Trump should stop raising idea of US annexation he claims necessary for security
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UK politics live – latest updates
Keir Starmer has publicly backed the Danish prime minister over Donald Trump after she demanded that the US stop its threats to forcibly take over Greenland.
Speaking after Mike Tapp, the migration minister, repeatedly dodged questions about threats by Trump and his allies to seize Greenland, Starmer told broadcasters that he supported Mette Frederiksen after she criticised US rhetoric. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Starmer backs Danish PM after she demands US stop threats to take over Greenland
People complaining about the UK government not saying what its response to an invasion of Greenland would be when our nuclear war policy for decades has been one of strategic ambiguity and for good reasons
January 5, 2026 at 12:17 PM
People complaining about the UK government not saying what its response to an invasion of Greenland would be when our nuclear war policy for decades has been one of strategic ambiguity and for good reasons