Schuyler Laparle
@schuylerlaparle.bsky.social
Lecturer in Communication and Cognition | Researching metaphor and gesture | Caring about prefigurative politics and emancipatory education | Wanting secretly to be a woodworker
Pinned
Outside My Window
Reclaiming the commons one window at a time
outsidemywindow.org
Very excited to announce that a collaborative art project aimed at "reclaiming the commons" is now open for contributions!
These are not good times, and so I needed an outlet for creating, sharing, and fostering hope. This is my modest attempt at that. You're all invited🌻
outsidemywindow.org
These are not good times, and so I needed an outlet for creating, sharing, and fostering hope. This is my modest attempt at that. You're all invited🌻
outsidemywindow.org
I was a mature and independent 15 yo. So when I started hanging out with men in their 30s, family and friends thought "weird, but that must be what she wants".
I don't blame my family and friends. I blame people like Megyn Kelly who perpetuate discourses that excuse men groping their way to power.
I don't blame my family and friends. I blame people like Megyn Kelly who perpetuate discourses that excuse men groping their way to power.
November 16, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I was a mature and independent 15 yo. So when I started hanging out with men in their 30s, family and friends thought "weird, but that must be what she wants".
I don't blame my family and friends. I blame people like Megyn Kelly who perpetuate discourses that excuse men groping their way to power.
I don't blame my family and friends. I blame people like Megyn Kelly who perpetuate discourses that excuse men groping their way to power.
Lesson from my marketing students (I don't teach marketing. They are my students nonetheless): apparently a TikTok influencer asking their viewer to subscribe is now called a "call to action"?
First I was confused. Now I'm thinking it's one of the most cynical phrasal borrowings I've encountered.
First I was confused. Now I'm thinking it's one of the most cynical phrasal borrowings I've encountered.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Lesson from my marketing students (I don't teach marketing. They are my students nonetheless): apparently a TikTok influencer asking their viewer to subscribe is now called a "call to action"?
First I was confused. Now I'm thinking it's one of the most cynical phrasal borrowings I've encountered.
First I was confused. Now I'm thinking it's one of the most cynical phrasal borrowings I've encountered.
If you earned 2 million dollars PER HOUR, working 40 hours a week, for 85 years, and didn't spend a single penny, you'd still not be as rich as El*n M*sk is right now. Not even close.
And now he's calling his critics "terrorists" for saying that maybe he doesn't need more money.
And now he's calling his critics "terrorists" for saying that maybe he doesn't need more money.
November 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
If you earned 2 million dollars PER HOUR, working 40 hours a week, for 85 years, and didn't spend a single penny, you'd still not be as rich as El*n M*sk is right now. Not even close.
And now he's calling his critics "terrorists" for saying that maybe he doesn't need more money.
And now he's calling his critics "terrorists" for saying that maybe he doesn't need more money.
The cognitive dissonance between believing that grading is a tool of oppression which should be thrown out with the bath water and absolutely refusing to consider re-grading an assignment because can't you just respect me dammit, I have other things I need to be doing.
November 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The cognitive dissonance between believing that grading is a tool of oppression which should be thrown out with the bath water and absolutely refusing to consider re-grading an assignment because can't you just respect me dammit, I have other things I need to be doing.
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
the race to declare that this is not a game changing victory is in full force. the biggest trolls, shit stirrers, naysayers, and oppositionally defiant idiots will be out in force today trying to get you to temper your joy. fuck them. hold on to your hope
November 5, 2025 at 2:36 PM
the race to declare that this is not a game changing victory is in full force. the biggest trolls, shit stirrers, naysayers, and oppositionally defiant idiots will be out in force today trying to get you to temper your joy. fuck them. hold on to your hope
Exactly zero of the fifty university students in my class today knew who Kurt Vonnegut was. That's wild right? ... Right?
October 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Exactly zero of the fifty university students in my class today knew who Kurt Vonnegut was. That's wild right? ... Right?
It seems that I've been ghosted by the unicorn. 🦄👻
🥀
🥀
I had a first round interview with a unicorn-level exceptional job today...
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
I just want a job that I believe would still exist in a world that isn't defined by inequality, consumerism, and ecocide. Is that really so much to ask?
Why does such a thing seem like a unicorn-level exception and not the default?
#BullshitJobs
Why does such a thing seem like a unicorn-level exception and not the default?
#BullshitJobs
October 28, 2025 at 6:18 AM
It seems that I've been ghosted by the unicorn. 🦄👻
🥀
🥀
I take movies too seriously, is the first thing to know. Despite this, I don't remember anyone's name, that's the second. Then another 5:
- Le Bête (2023)
- Three Colors: Red (1994)
- Mirror (1975)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- House (1977)
- Le Bête (2023)
- Three Colors: Red (1994)
- Mirror (1975)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- House (1977)
5 movies to get to know me
- La Haine
- Magnolia
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Amores Perros
- Babel
- La Haine
- Magnolia
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Amores Perros
- Babel
5 movies to get to know me:
- Princess Mononoke
- The Lord of the Rings
- RRR
- La Haine
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Princess Mononoke
- The Lord of the Rings
- RRR
- La Haine
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
October 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I take movies too seriously, is the first thing to know. Despite this, I don't remember anyone's name, that's the second. Then another 5:
- Le Bête (2023)
- Three Colors: Red (1994)
- Mirror (1975)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- House (1977)
- Le Bête (2023)
- Three Colors: Red (1994)
- Mirror (1975)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- House (1977)
I take an abolitionist stance toward LLMs. And I do not use the word lightly.
In academic circles, there is often an a priori rejection of "absolutist" arguments as illegitimate, "unscientific" or "counterproductive".
Sometimes abolition *is* the correct stance. That shouldn't be controversial.
In academic circles, there is often an a priori rejection of "absolutist" arguments as illegitimate, "unscientific" or "counterproductive".
Sometimes abolition *is* the correct stance. That shouldn't be controversial.
October 22, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I take an abolitionist stance toward LLMs. And I do not use the word lightly.
In academic circles, there is often an a priori rejection of "absolutist" arguments as illegitimate, "unscientific" or "counterproductive".
Sometimes abolition *is* the correct stance. That shouldn't be controversial.
In academic circles, there is often an a priori rejection of "absolutist" arguments as illegitimate, "unscientific" or "counterproductive".
Sometimes abolition *is* the correct stance. That shouldn't be controversial.
Can someone please call linguists to the stand for this kind of thing? Language changes. "Burger" now means a roundish savory patty eaten between buns. It's called semantic widening. It literally happens all the time.
‘Veggie burgers’ could be off EU menu as MEPs back renaming plant-based foods
Proponents say move would strengthen position of farmers in supply chain but critics dismiss it as ‘hotdog populism’
www.theguardian.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Can someone please call linguists to the stand for this kind of thing? Language changes. "Burger" now means a roundish savory patty eaten between buns. It's called semantic widening. It literally happens all the time.
Saying "not that!" is not enough. You also have to say, "so what about this instead?"
That is prefiguration: moving past the condemnation and critique of current systems to imagine an alternative and *act as if* it is a reality.
Sell enough tickets to your show, and it becomes our reality.
That is prefiguration: moving past the condemnation and critique of current systems to imagine an alternative and *act as if* it is a reality.
Sell enough tickets to your show, and it becomes our reality.
Blue states should come together to declare an emergency. Here’s how | Thomas Geoghegan
States opposed to Trump can create a compact – a new prototype for American government – even if it’s perceived as political theater
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Saying "not that!" is not enough. You also have to say, "so what about this instead?"
That is prefiguration: moving past the condemnation and critique of current systems to imagine an alternative and *act as if* it is a reality.
Sell enough tickets to your show, and it becomes our reality.
That is prefiguration: moving past the condemnation and critique of current systems to imagine an alternative and *act as if* it is a reality.
Sell enough tickets to your show, and it becomes our reality.
I had a first round interview with a unicorn-level exceptional job today...
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
I just want a job that I believe would still exist in a world that isn't defined by inequality, consumerism, and ecocide. Is that really so much to ask?
Why does such a thing seem like a unicorn-level exception and not the default?
#BullshitJobs
Why does such a thing seem like a unicorn-level exception and not the default?
#BullshitJobs
October 3, 2025 at 1:12 AM
I had a first round interview with a unicorn-level exceptional job today...
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
Please pray to all your goddesses and gods for me 🙏
You should go see One Battle After Another.
September 28, 2025 at 5:49 AM
You should go see One Battle After Another.
As a scholar of communication and cognition, I will say that this is in fact a very very stupid thing to do, unless your goal is to shut down any chance of persuasion and re-education. And if that is your goal, what exactly is your end game? Irreconcilable hatred? That won't save us.
September 27, 2025 at 11:36 PM
As a scholar of communication and cognition, I will say that this is in fact a very very stupid thing to do, unless your goal is to shut down any chance of persuasion and re-education. And if that is your goal, what exactly is your end game? Irreconcilable hatred? That won't save us.
We need this kind of campaigning in the US. And that's only going to be possible if we finally give up on our two-party system. It's holding us hostage as entrenched powers drag our country rightward into hate.
They want you to be obsessed with immigration so you ignore all the other problems.
But all the other problems ARE the problem.
Don't be distracted and let them blind you with hate.
But all the other problems ARE the problem.
Don't be distracted and let them blind you with hate.
September 23, 2025 at 4:51 PM
We need this kind of campaigning in the US. And that's only going to be possible if we finally give up on our two-party system. It's holding us hostage as entrenched powers drag our country rightward into hate.
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
I have this lovely poem pinned to the noticeboard on the corridor outside my office.
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper
Joseph Fasano
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now...
Joseph Fasano
Now I let it fall back
in the grasses.
I hear you. I know
this life is hard now...
For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper
Now I let it fall back in the grasses. I hear you. I know this life is hard now. I know your days are precious on this earth. But what are you trying to be free of? The living? The miraculous task of ...
poets.org
September 22, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I have this lovely poem pinned to the noticeboard on the corridor outside my office.
Blue-tinted headlights don't just mess with night vision, they are down right dangerous for folks with photosensitivity (and, as a consequence, everyone else around them).
I'm lucky that my epilepsy is very well-controlled with medicine. But even with that, these lights can trigger migraines.
I'm lucky that my epilepsy is very well-controlled with medicine. But even with that, these lights can trigger migraines.
this is a multigenerational complaint but WHOSE idea was it to make car headlights out of high-Kelvin LEDs?? Didn't anyone realize that blue-tinted light fucks up your night vision? There should be illegal bulb temperatures for vehicle headlights. Hmmph!
i don't want to hear your most boomer complaint. what's your most millennial complaint?
September 21, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Blue-tinted headlights don't just mess with night vision, they are down right dangerous for folks with photosensitivity (and, as a consequence, everyone else around them).
I'm lucky that my epilepsy is very well-controlled with medicine. But even with that, these lights can trigger migraines.
I'm lucky that my epilepsy is very well-controlled with medicine. But even with that, these lights can trigger migraines.
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
Spot on: "Adopting nativist discourse and policies does not win back far-right voters. It leads to losses for centrist and leftwing parties. Moreover, it raises the salience of the topic and the expectations of the government, which will always fall short" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
After the far-right mass rally in London, Britain must learn lessons from abroad – and fast | Cas Mudde
This is no time for complacent exceptionalism. The UK is part of the fourth phase of the far right in the postwar era, and its politicians must respond, says political scientist Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Spot on: "Adopting nativist discourse and policies does not win back far-right voters. It leads to losses for centrist and leftwing parties. Moreover, it raises the salience of the topic and the expectations of the government, which will always fall short" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So I recognize that, in the grand scheme of things, this is a deeply unimpressive thing. But... I finally learned how to use a sewing machine, and made this over-engineered drawstring bag as my first project.
Making things is fun, especially when you get to do it in a super supportive makerspace 😌
Making things is fun, especially when you get to do it in a super supportive makerspace 😌
September 16, 2025 at 3:29 AM
So I recognize that, in the grand scheme of things, this is a deeply unimpressive thing. But... I finally learned how to use a sewing machine, and made this over-engineered drawstring bag as my first project.
Making things is fun, especially when you get to do it in a super supportive makerspace 😌
Making things is fun, especially when you get to do it in a super supportive makerspace 😌
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
"I want a battle plan. Yet if Overshoot lacks such a plan, it nonetheless fully describes the theater of war.
"... one of the most important books about climate change in the canon."
In advance of Andreas Malm and Wim Carton’s forthcoming book, Genevieve Guenther revisits their first volume:
"... one of the most important books about climate change in the canon."
In advance of Andreas Malm and Wim Carton’s forthcoming book, Genevieve Guenther revisits their first volume:
The Point, However, Is to Change It | Los Angeles Review of Books
In advance of Andreas Malm and Wim Carton’s forthcoming book “The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late,” Genevieve Guenther revisits the authors’ 2024 title “Overshoot: How the World Surrend...
lareviewofbooks.org
September 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"I want a battle plan. Yet if Overshoot lacks such a plan, it nonetheless fully describes the theater of war.
"... one of the most important books about climate change in the canon."
In advance of Andreas Malm and Wim Carton’s forthcoming book, Genevieve Guenther revisits their first volume:
"... one of the most important books about climate change in the canon."
In advance of Andreas Malm and Wim Carton’s forthcoming book, Genevieve Guenther revisits their first volume:
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
"This might seem like a drastic accusation for such small infractions. But indulging in the familiar can habituate us away from exploring new ideas. The result can be the death of liberal democratic institutions – slowly, then all at once."
@josemarichal.bsky.social examines how algorithmic personalisation lulls us into predictable, familiar choices that erode exploration and, over time, threaten the foundations of liberal #Democracy: buff.ly/V6zHlvZ
Becoming an algorithmic problem: Resistance in the age of predictive technology - Transforming Society
José Marichal, author of 'You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem', examines how algorithmic personalisation lulls us into predictable, familiar choices that erode exploration and, over time, threaten…
www.transformingsociety.co.uk
September 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
"This might seem like a drastic accusation for such small infractions. But indulging in the familiar can habituate us away from exploring new ideas. The result can be the death of liberal democratic institutions – slowly, then all at once."
When killing people for being homeless is more conceivable than just giving people housing, where can one even start the conversation?
Chat Pile, please:
youtu.be/sER0FzJO-c0?...
Chat Pile, please:
youtu.be/sER0FzJO-c0?...
September 13, 2025 at 4:16 PM
When killing people for being homeless is more conceivable than just giving people housing, where can one even start the conversation?
Chat Pile, please:
youtu.be/sER0FzJO-c0?...
Chat Pile, please:
youtu.be/sER0FzJO-c0?...
Reposted by Schuyler Laparle
Catching up on writing (part 1)
A May Day post, a little late for Labor Day.
In a better world though, perhaps every day would be celebrating us workers, and this post would be right on time.
outsidemywindow.org/2025/05/04/m...
A May Day post, a little late for Labor Day.
In a better world though, perhaps every day would be celebrating us workers, and this post would be right on time.
outsidemywindow.org/2025/05/04/m...
May Day Play
Sometimes our imaginings scream or sing, and sometimes they whisper or hum quite lullabies. In this evening of worlding, we stayed quiet, gave voice instead to the more-than-human world through our…
outsidemywindow.org
September 11, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Catching up on writing (part 1)
A May Day post, a little late for Labor Day.
In a better world though, perhaps every day would be celebrating us workers, and this post would be right on time.
outsidemywindow.org/2025/05/04/m...
A May Day post, a little late for Labor Day.
In a better world though, perhaps every day would be celebrating us workers, and this post would be right on time.
outsidemywindow.org/2025/05/04/m...
If a strange being of light had appeared on the trail to tell me "so, big news, you're actually dead, and this is the afterlife", I think that would have been easier to accept than the fact that I was seeing this view, here on earth, just a 1.5 hour drive from my apartment.
Viva la #Cascadia
🌲☁️🗻☁️🌲
Viva la #Cascadia
🌲☁️🗻☁️🌲
September 10, 2025 at 1:06 AM
If a strange being of light had appeared on the trail to tell me "so, big news, you're actually dead, and this is the afterlife", I think that would have been easier to accept than the fact that I was seeing this view, here on earth, just a 1.5 hour drive from my apartment.
Viva la #Cascadia
🌲☁️🗻☁️🌲
Viva la #Cascadia
🌲☁️🗻☁️🌲
Our cat is a confirmed kleptotherm.
We thought she loved us, always curling up on our laps...
And then we got her a weight-activated heating pad, thus rendering our fleshy inconveniently fidgety laps fully obsolete.
We thought she loved us, always curling up on our laps...
And then we got her a weight-activated heating pad, thus rendering our fleshy inconveniently fidgety laps fully obsolete.
September 9, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Our cat is a confirmed kleptotherm.
We thought she loved us, always curling up on our laps...
And then we got her a weight-activated heating pad, thus rendering our fleshy inconveniently fidgety laps fully obsolete.
We thought she loved us, always curling up on our laps...
And then we got her a weight-activated heating pad, thus rendering our fleshy inconveniently fidgety laps fully obsolete.