Paul M. Cray
@pmc.bsky.social
"A plain, unvarnished Preston man." Permanent resident alien in Seattle, Wash. Interests: AGI, books, food, futurology, historiographic metafiction, ideas, sf, technoeconomic paradigm shifts, the Technological Singularity, writing
Pinned
Paul M. Cray
@pmc.bsky.social
· Dec 20
I have a blog that I post to most days these days as part of my strategy for psychic survival in the last days of man on Earth": atomicrazor.blogs.com. Strictly, it's @daveon.bsky.social's and my blog, which is why it is called Atomic Razor and not Nuclear Razor
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
“This thing is definitely bad for us but no one can say what it is”
The evidence that ultra-processed foods are bad for us is piling up. But efforts to reduce their role in our diets face a big hurdle: experts can't agree on what they are and which to target. n.pr/4qMrN7P
People want to avoid ultra-processed foods. But experts struggle to define them
The evidence that ultra-processed foods are bad for us is piling up. But efforts to reduce their role in our diets face a big hurdle: experts can't agree on what they are and which to target.
n.pr
November 10, 2025 at 7:52 PM
“This thing is definitely bad for us but no one can say what it is”
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
I think a lot of the boarders are more from international UHNW families these days. I married into a family that was exclusively publicly educated and for our generation, across cousins and siblings, I think only one person is sending their kids (partial) board at a public school.
November 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I think a lot of the boarders are more from international UHNW families these days. I married into a family that was exclusively publicly educated and for our generation, across cousins and siblings, I think only one person is sending their kids (partial) board at a public school.
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Middle Middle may send kids to private school but not to a public school, I'd say.
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Middle Middle may send kids to private school but not to a public school, I'd say.
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Unreal. As the vote count rolled in, progressive candidate Katie Wilson has overtaken Bruce Harrell by 91 votes for Seattle’s mayor. She is 0.04% ahead after having been down by more than 7 points on election night.
Katie Wilson pulls ahead of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell – by 91 votes
www.kuow.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Unreal. As the vote count rolled in, progressive candidate Katie Wilson has overtaken Bruce Harrell by 91 votes for Seattle’s mayor. She is 0.04% ahead after having been down by more than 7 points on election night.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
This is perhaps one my hottest take:s
Any election within, say, 0.1% should be declared a statistical tie and resolved via coin flip.
No recount, no litigation. None of these processes is perfect. Accept the unknowability, admit the indeterminacy, and flip a coin.
Any election within, say, 0.1% should be declared a statistical tie and resolved via coin flip.
No recount, no litigation. None of these processes is perfect. Accept the unknowability, admit the indeterminacy, and flip a coin.
Unreal. As the vote count rolled in, progressive candidate Katie Wilson has overtaken Bruce Harrell by 91 votes for Seattle’s mayor. She is 0.04% ahead after having been down by more than 7 points on election night.
Katie Wilson pulls ahead of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell – by 91 votes
www.kuow.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:10 AM
This is perhaps one my hottest take:s
Any election within, say, 0.1% should be declared a statistical tie and resolved via coin flip.
No recount, no litigation. None of these processes is perfect. Accept the unknowability, admit the indeterminacy, and flip a coin.
Any election within, say, 0.1% should be declared a statistical tie and resolved via coin flip.
No recount, no litigation. None of these processes is perfect. Accept the unknowability, admit the indeterminacy, and flip a coin.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Nah. She’s middle/lower middle. I come from the same place she did. I know people who went to school with her. It’s a place that pretends to be better than it is but it’s all ‘new’ money with pretensions.
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Nah. She’s middle/lower middle. I come from the same place she did. I know people who went to school with her. It’s a place that pretends to be better than it is but it’s all ‘new’ money with pretensions.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
I’m 66, and I left the UK in 1995, so my reference points are likely out of date. Middle class used to be a hybrid of education and white collar employment, including “professions” - teachers, solicitors, doctors. Many, but not all, middle class people were university educated.
November 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I’m 66, and I left the UK in 1995, so my reference points are likely out of date. Middle class used to be a hybrid of education and white collar employment, including “professions” - teachers, solicitors, doctors. Many, but not all, middle class people were university educated.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Respectfully, I don’t think this can be right. Some 7% of British children are educated in public schools, and obviously many families send more than one child to public school.
November 11, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Respectfully, I don’t think this can be right. Some 7% of British children are educated in public schools, and obviously many families send more than one child to public school.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Tell me you're english without telling me you're english
November 11, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Tell me you're english without telling me you're english
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I mean, it’s only 7% of people.
November 11, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I mean, it’s only 7% of people.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
(As an outsider) Does lower-middle-class equate to a French/German petit bourgeois? And maybe there is cross-contamination in the concept?
November 11, 2025 at 1:11 AM
(As an outsider) Does lower-middle-class equate to a French/German petit bourgeois? And maybe there is cross-contamination in the concept?
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Imx a near-50/50 between the Perse and Netherhall
November 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Imx a near-50/50 between the Perse and Netherhall
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Yep, but maybe also transgressing class distinctions in order to seem aspirational.
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Yep, but maybe also transgressing class distinctions in order to seem aspirational.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Indeed. That's advertising people getting subtle class distinctions wrong.
I have watched the ad several times now looking for signs. I am thinking skilled working class, the clock on the mantelpiece particularly
I have watched the ad several times now looking for signs. I am thinking skilled working class, the clock on the mantelpiece particularly
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Indeed. That's advertising people getting subtle class distinctions wrong.
I have watched the ad several times now looking for signs. I am thinking skilled working class, the clock on the mantelpiece particularly
I have watched the ad several times now looking for signs. I am thinking skilled working class, the clock on the mantelpiece particularly
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
OK, but the British Pork weird joint psychodrama family are lower middle, maybe skilled working class, aren’t they?
November 11, 2025 at 1:08 AM
OK, but the British Pork weird joint psychodrama family are lower middle, maybe skilled working class, aren’t they?
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Lower middle - white collar job , uneasy relationship with tradespeople
Middle middle - father emotionally distant with children, weird psychodrama over carving the joint, possible private school
Upper middle - much less upright than middle middle which is the most uptight, calls dinner supper
Middle middle - father emotionally distant with children, weird psychodrama over carving the joint, possible private school
Upper middle - much less upright than middle middle which is the most uptight, calls dinner supper
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Lower middle - white collar job , uneasy relationship with tradespeople
Middle middle - father emotionally distant with children, weird psychodrama over carving the joint, possible private school
Upper middle - much less upright than middle middle which is the most uptight, calls dinner supper
Middle middle - father emotionally distant with children, weird psychodrama over carving the joint, possible private school
Upper middle - much less upright than middle middle which is the most uptight, calls dinner supper
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Or living in a van by choice.
November 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Or living in a van by choice.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Middle class is being able to afford a massive TV but not having a massive TV.
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Middle class is being able to afford a massive TV but not having a massive TV.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
Ah, but the real middle class move now is to be ABLE to send your kids to private school but to choose not to (because you have an expensive house near a good state school)
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Ah, but the real middle class move now is to be ABLE to send your kids to private school but to choose not to (because you have an expensive house near a good state school)
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
It always shocks me when I find out how little pay many professionals get in Briton.
Engineering especially.
Engineering especially.
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
It always shocks me when I find out how little pay many professionals get in Briton.
Engineering especially.
Engineering especially.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
there's also a whole bunch of weird sub-gradations. for instance, a solicitor is traditionally middle class, a barrister is upper-middle-class, even though - particularly nowadays - barristers often make peanuts, especially junior ones!
November 10, 2025 at 10:17 PM
there's also a whole bunch of weird sub-gradations. for instance, a solicitor is traditionally middle class, a barrister is upper-middle-class, even though - particularly nowadays - barristers often make peanuts, especially junior ones!
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Cool, I'm not middle class after all.
November 10, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Cool, I'm not middle class after all.
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the simplest way of conceiving it is 'somebody whose parents went to university, and so did they'
November 10, 2025 at 9:33 PM
the simplest way of conceiving it is 'somebody whose parents went to university, and so did they'
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One tell that you're middle class is that you're loudly going on about how you're properly working class from your £9K a year job as a top media pudit.
November 10, 2025 at 9:36 PM
One tell that you're middle class is that you're loudly going on about how you're properly working class from your £9K a year job as a top media pudit.
Reposted by Paul M. Cray
(There's also degrees of middle class -- until I did a postdoc at Durham I considered myself the most middle class person I knew, but it turns out there are levels of upper middle classness that transcend what I'd previously considered.)
November 10, 2025 at 9:33 PM
(There's also degrees of middle class -- until I did a postdoc at Durham I considered myself the most middle class person I knew, but it turns out there are levels of upper middle classness that transcend what I'd previously considered.)