Maxim Raginsky
@mraginsky.bsky.social
Reposted by Maxim Raginsky
More words on this: realizable.substack.com/p/hayeks-abs...
February 1, 2026 at 4:58 AM
More words on this: realizable.substack.com/p/hayeks-abs...
More words on this: realizable.substack.com/p/hayeks-abs...
February 1, 2026 at 4:58 AM
More words on this: realizable.substack.com/p/hayeks-abs...
tuck up your sleeves and loosen your talktapes, boyo
January 31, 2026 at 12:29 AM
tuck up your sleeves and loosen your talktapes, boyo
Nothing is real, everything is permitted.
"The universe, and all of us, have entered live into simulation, into the malefic, not even malefic, indifferent, sphere of deterrence: in a bizarre fashion, nihilism has been entirely realized no longer through destruction, but through simulation and deterrence."
- Simulacra and Simulation
- Simulacra and Simulation
January 30, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Nothing is real, everything is permitted.
I'm re-reading various papers surrounding the debate between computationalist and dynamicist approaches to cognition (e.g., Fodor vs. van Gelder), and it's a hot mess. For one, of course Turing machines and finite automata are dynamical systems! But also, the dynamical systems formalism in ... (1/2)
January 29, 2026 at 6:13 PM
I'm re-reading various papers surrounding the debate between computationalist and dynamicist approaches to cognition (e.g., Fodor vs. van Gelder), and it's a hot mess. For one, of course Turing machines and finite automata are dynamical systems! But also, the dynamical systems formalism in ... (1/2)
In today's lecture in my optimal control systems course, I will say the Latin phrase "ex ungue leonem." What will be the topic of the lecture?
January 29, 2026 at 4:44 PM
In today's lecture in my optimal control systems course, I will say the Latin phrase "ex ungue leonem." What will be the topic of the lecture?
I really find the language of “bets” grating. Silicon Valley technologists bet on scaling LLMs, Yann LeCun bets on world models, etc. This is neither science nor engineering, it’s all egos and ideology.
January 29, 2026 at 3:02 AM
I really find the language of “bets” grating. Silicon Valley technologists bet on scaling LLMs, Yann LeCun bets on world models, etc. This is neither science nor engineering, it’s all egos and ideology.
Reposted by Maxim Raginsky
Trivial observation, but: in Saussurean terms, LLMs are models of parole, not models of langue.
March 27, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Trivial observation, but: in Saussurean terms, LLMs are models of parole, not models of langue.
Reposted by Maxim Raginsky
The Faculty of Information at @utoronto.ca remembers Brian Cantwell Smith's remarkable life and contributions to philosophy and computation. He will be deeply missed: bit.ly/49roA74
We're honored to bring his final book project, "Computational Reflections," to readers in May: bit.ly/4sFDlux
We're honored to bring his final book project, "Computational Reflections," to readers in May: bit.ly/4sFDlux
Obituary: Brian Cantwell Smith (1950 to 2025) - Faculty of Information
Former dean wove philosophy and computation into a lifelong inquiry into the human dimensions of intelligence, judgment, and meaning Born into a prominent Canadian family known for both its…
bit.ly
January 26, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The Faculty of Information at @utoronto.ca remembers Brian Cantwell Smith's remarkable life and contributions to philosophy and computation. He will be deeply missed: bit.ly/49roA74
We're honored to bring his final book project, "Computational Reflections," to readers in May: bit.ly/4sFDlux
We're honored to bring his final book project, "Computational Reflections," to readers in May: bit.ly/4sFDlux
it’s Burns night:
O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro' wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious faem,
Inspire me, till I lisp an' wink,
To sing thy name!
O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro' wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious faem,
Inspire me, till I lisp an' wink,
To sing thy name!
January 26, 2026 at 1:21 AM
it’s Burns night:
O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro' wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious faem,
Inspire me, till I lisp an' wink,
To sing thy name!
O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro' wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious faem,
Inspire me, till I lisp an' wink,
To sing thy name!
Having watched Megalopolis, I have just one question: can we at least have some *proper* decadence, not whatever ersatz crap is taking place now?
January 23, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Having watched Megalopolis, I have just one question: can we at least have some *proper* decadence, not whatever ersatz crap is taking place now?
Some of the best works questioning the necessity of probabilistic models of uncertainty come from the world of mathematical finance: Fischer Black's paper on noise, Hans Föllmer, Vladimir Vovk. Machine learning should be more like mathematical finance.
January 23, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Some of the best works questioning the necessity of probabilistic models of uncertainty come from the world of mathematical finance: Fischer Black's paper on noise, Hans Föllmer, Vladimir Vovk. Machine learning should be more like mathematical finance.
unexpected find at an antiques shop
January 18, 2026 at 11:44 PM
unexpected find at an antiques shop
diamondback night tonight
January 17, 2026 at 11:33 PM
diamondback night tonight
Reposted by Maxim Raginsky
Have seen this news (cims.nyu.edu/dynamic/news...) about NYU professor Robert Kohn. As good a time as any to share a piece of his work which I found cool: when studying deterministic control problems, one can still end up with second-order PDEs for their solution: math.nyu.edu/~kohn/papers....
January 15, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Have seen this news (cims.nyu.edu/dynamic/news...) about NYU professor Robert Kohn. As good a time as any to share a piece of his work which I found cool: when studying deterministic control problems, one can still end up with second-order PDEs for their solution: math.nyu.edu/~kohn/papers....
Reposted by Maxim Raginsky
When are impossibility proofs misleading? In infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/be-wary-of..., I discuss a common issue I see: proofs that are logically valid, but where the underlying assumptions are unjustified. I discuss ‘proofs’ that cognition cannot be tractably learned, and that LMs are 1/
Be wary of assumptions in impossibility arguments
A proof is only as good as its assumptions
infinitefaculty.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:33 PM
When are impossibility proofs misleading? In infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/be-wary-of..., I discuss a common issue I see: proofs that are logically valid, but where the underlying assumptions are unjustified. I discuss ‘proofs’ that cognition cannot be tractably learned, and that LMs are 1/
From my fall course evaluations: "Go to the lectures, Maxim is a great orator and he covers relevant material while also making the lectures enjoyable to listen to." I'll take it.
January 13, 2026 at 3:28 PM
From my fall course evaluations: "Go to the lectures, Maxim is a great orator and he covers relevant material while also making the lectures enjoyable to listen to." I'll take it.
From “Leopardi and the machine age” by Hilda L. Norman:
January 13, 2026 at 5:22 AM
From “Leopardi and the machine age” by Hilda L. Norman:
Solaris
Stalker
Stalker
we often talk about “what anime would you adapt into a movie” but here is a reverse: what movies would you adapt into an anime?
January 13, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Solaris
Stalker
Stalker
the drukpa kagyu lineage of AI
the hungry ghost
it destroyed its jar
yes
YES
the ghost is out
it destroyed its jar
yes
YES
the ghost is out
January 13, 2026 at 1:50 AM
the drukpa kagyu lineage of AI
vecnological singularity
January 12, 2026 at 3:55 AM
vecnological singularity
I need to make a playlist consisting only of Boris Vian and Mose Allison.
January 10, 2026 at 3:48 PM
I need to make a playlist consisting only of Boris Vian and Mose Allison.
Hayek’s analysis of distributed knowledge in markets is, conceptually, the same as the system counter-argument to Searle’s Chinese room. Helps to understand The Sensory Order better.
January 8, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Hayek’s analysis of distributed knowledge in markets is, conceptually, the same as the system counter-argument to Searle’s Chinese room. Helps to understand The Sensory Order better.
opening up the 2026 reading season
January 6, 2026 at 6:47 PM
opening up the 2026 reading season