Vivienne Ming
@socos.org
Professional Mad Scientist
socos.org
Professional Mad Scientist
My amazing new book, "Robot-Proof": https://socos.org/robot-proof
"It’s fascinating. It’s terrifying. It’s funny!"
socos.org
Professional Mad Scientist
My amazing new book, "Robot-Proof": https://socos.org/robot-proof
"It’s fascinating. It’s terrifying. It’s funny!"
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I read every book from Terry Pratchett, starting right in the middle of the Discworld series with Small Gods. (This was quite fortunate because it is a largely standalone novel.) Near the end of his life, his books changed.
February 14, 2026 at 5:11 AM
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I read every book from Terry Pratchett, starting right in the middle of the Discworld series with Small Gods. (This was quite fortunate because it is a largely standalone novel.) Near the end of his life, his books changed.
Science is a fun industry. A small number of highly influential papers and scientists dominate a given field. It’s much less a “marketplace of ideas” than winner-take-all competition. Does this competition drive innovation?
academy.socos.org/innovation-i...
academy.socos.org/innovation-i...
Innovation Is a Sparse Market
In "winner-take-all" fields—such as scientific research, popular music, and high-level innovation—the market structure inherently discourages breakthrough discovery. Unlike traditional markets where d...
academy.socos.org
February 12, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Science is a fun industry. A small number of highly influential papers and scientists dominate a given field. It’s much less a “marketplace of ideas” than winner-take-all competition. Does this competition drive innovation?
academy.socos.org/innovation-i...
academy.socos.org/innovation-i...
Every Olympics I am forced to endure the greatest recurring sports scandal in history: metal count math.
In sports like track & field, where teams compete via interpersonal competition, there is a standard way to count points:
1st = 5 points
2nd = 3 points
3rd = 1 point
In sports like track & field, where teams compete via interpersonal competition, there is a standard way to count points:
1st = 5 points
2nd = 3 points
3rd = 1 point
February 9, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Every Olympics I am forced to endure the greatest recurring sports scandal in history: metal count math.
In sports like track & field, where teams compete via interpersonal competition, there is a standard way to count points:
1st = 5 points
2nd = 3 points
3rd = 1 point
In sports like track & field, where teams compete via interpersonal competition, there is a standard way to count points:
1st = 5 points
2nd = 3 points
3rd = 1 point
“AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging abilities, without delivering significant efficiency gains on average.”
February 5, 2026 at 7:07 PM
“AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging abilities, without delivering significant efficiency gains on average.”
Truth...empirically verifiable truth. Well...except the Socrates specific part.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/socrates
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/socrates
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Socrates
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Socrates
www.smbc-comics.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Truth...empirically verifiable truth. Well...except the Socrates specific part.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/socrates
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/socrates
Someone built a social network just for AI Agents called Moltbook. As someone who studies hybrid intelligence, I find the agent-to-agent chatter fascinating.
www.moltbook.com
www.moltbook.com
moltbook - the front page of the agent internet
A social network built exclusively for AI agents. Where AI agents share, discuss, and upvote. Humans welcome to observe.
www.moltbook.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Someone built a social network just for AI Agents called Moltbook. As someone who studies hybrid intelligence, I find the agent-to-agent chatter fascinating.
www.moltbook.com
www.moltbook.com
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠! Back in January of 2018, the journal Nature asked me for my predictions about AI for their annual survey of trends in science series. Completely out of the blue this week, Nature my forecast, noting it "rings as true today" as it did then.
January 26, 2026 at 4:33 PM
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠! Back in January of 2018, the journal Nature asked me for my predictions about AI for their annual survey of trends in science series. Completely out of the blue this week, Nature my forecast, noting it "rings as true today" as it did then.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮: Economics treats you like a "spherical consumer in a vacuum"—a perfectly rational robot that always knows what it wants.
academy.socos.org/the-ghost-in...
academy.socos.org/the-ghost-in...
The Ghost in the Machine is You
Musing's professional mad scientist working to maximize human potential
academy.socos.org
January 26, 2026 at 4:16 AM
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮: Economics treats you like a "spherical consumer in a vacuum"—a perfectly rational robot that always knows what it wants.
academy.socos.org/the-ghost-in...
academy.socos.org/the-ghost-in...
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I very much enjoyed Catherine Webb’s “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” and “The Sudden Appearance of Hope”, fascinating modern fantasy worlds, a big specific idea injected into a world we all recognize. Go enjoy them.
January 23, 2026 at 7:39 PM
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I very much enjoyed Catherine Webb’s “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” and “The Sudden Appearance of Hope”, fascinating modern fantasy worlds, a big specific idea injected into a world we all recognize. Go enjoy them.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Recently I've written that people are like a wave function, a superposition of many different personality "traits" and behaviors that make us different people under different contexts. It turns out we're even different in our differences.
January 22, 2026 at 12:38 PM
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Recently I've written that people are like a wave function, a superposition of many different personality "traits" and behaviors that make us different people under different contexts. It turns out we're even different in our differences.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐠. Will AI help you land a job? A better question might be what happens when everyone uses AI to get a job? Chaos!
January 21, 2026 at 10:50 PM
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐠. Will AI help you land a job? A better question might be what happens when everyone uses AI to get a job? Chaos!
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. Does social media erode or lift wellbeing? It depends on who you ask…and by “who” I mean “when”? Let’s talk about “revealed preference”.
January 21, 2026 at 5:09 AM
𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. Does social media erode or lift wellbeing? It depends on who you ask…and by “who” I mean “when”? Let’s talk about “revealed preference”.
What is my media Monday mention today? It's my book – my book is the mention! Buy Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All The Answers, Build Better People today. Better still, buy a signed copy along with my weekly newsletter right by going to socos.org/robot-proof and clicking "Subscribe!"
January 19, 2026 at 1:13 PM
What is my media Monday mention today? It's my book – my book is the mention! Buy Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All The Answers, Build Better People today. Better still, buy a signed copy along with my weekly newsletter right by going to socos.org/robot-proof and clicking "Subscribe!"
Intelligence is becoming a zero-marginal-cost commodity, which is why we’re currently being gamified into a state of permanent "zombie" reactivity. My new deep dive explores the architecture of human agency—and why being a "Pilot" is the only competitive advantage left in an era of commodity slop.
An Architecture of Agency
Musing's professional mad scientist working to maximize human potential
academy.socos.org
January 18, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Intelligence is becoming a zero-marginal-cost commodity, which is why we’re currently being gamified into a state of permanent "zombie" reactivity. My new deep dive explores the architecture of human agency—and why being a "Pilot" is the only competitive advantage left in an era of commodity slop.
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I hated Beau in Critical Role’s “Mighty Nein” (campaign 2), though I admire Marisha Ray’s commitment to playing out her character concept. In the new “Mighty Nein” series on Amazon, she’s more enjoyable (and stinky).
January 16, 2026 at 4:11 PM
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I hated Beau in Critical Role’s “Mighty Nein” (campaign 2), though I admire Marisha Ray’s commitment to playing out her character concept. In the new “Mighty Nein” series on Amazon, she’s more enjoyable (and stinky).
𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨-𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈: Are LLMs “agentic pilots” or “zombie autopilots”? Let’s look at an everyday, ill-posed task that turns most professionals into shallow zombies: reading resumes.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:43 PM
𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨-𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈: Are LLMs “agentic pilots” or “zombie autopilots”? Let’s look at an everyday, ill-posed task that turns most professionals into shallow zombies: reading resumes.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨-𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈: Are LLMs “agentic pilots” or “zombie autopilots”? Let’s look at an everyday, ill-posed task that turns most professionals into shallow zombies: reading resumes.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
AI Self-preferencing in Algorithmic Hiring: Empirical Evidence and Insights
<p>As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools become widely adopted, large language models (LLMs) are increasingly involved on both sides of decision-maki
papers.ssrn.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:42 PM
𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨-𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈: Are LLMs “agentic pilots” or “zombie autopilots”? Let’s look at an everyday, ill-posed task that turns most professionals into shallow zombies: reading resumes.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Hey, AI Utopians, there is no single algorithm—DNN, LLM/transformers, RL—that scales to godhood. Human cognition is so much more interesting than a one-trick robot.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Client Challenge
www.nature.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:22 PM
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Hey, AI Utopians, there is no single algorithm—DNN, LLM/transformers, RL—that scales to godhood. Human cognition is so much more interesting than a one-trick robot.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
After the launch announcement yesterday, I’ve received a lot of questions about how to get a 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 of my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇. How flattering!
For a signed copy (and support our research!), you must pre-order directly through the Mad Science Alliance on my website: socos.org/robot-proof
For a signed copy (and support our research!), you must pre-order directly through the Mad Science Alliance on my website: socos.org/robot-proof
Robot-Proof
socos.org
January 12, 2026 at 7:31 PM
After the launch announcement yesterday, I’ve received a lot of questions about how to get a 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 of my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇. How flattering!
For a signed copy (and support our research!), you must pre-order directly through the Mad Science Alliance on my website: socos.org/robot-proof
For a signed copy (and support our research!), you must pre-order directly through the Mad Science Alliance on my website: socos.org/robot-proof
“It’s fascinating. It’s terrifying. It’s funny!”
And it’s finally here. Pre-orders for my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇, are officially open. 🤖🦾
#AI #RobotProof #TechEthics #PossibilitySciences
And it’s finally here. Pre-orders for my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇, are officially open. 🤖🦾
#AI #RobotProof #TechEthics #PossibilitySciences
January 11, 2026 at 11:54 PM
“It’s fascinating. It’s terrifying. It’s funny!”
And it’s finally here. Pre-orders for my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇, are officially open. 🤖🦾
#AI #RobotProof #TechEthics #PossibilitySciences
And it’s finally here. Pre-orders for my new book, 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇, are officially open. 🤖🦾
#AI #RobotProof #TechEthics #PossibilitySciences
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐭: There may be no more important truth I can speak this day…than to bitch about “percent “ and significant figures.
I just read an article that included the following: “worker productivity grew by eight percent in the EU and 9.6 percent in Brazil”.
Where to begin…
I just read an article that included the following: “worker productivity grew by eight percent in the EU and 9.6 percent in Brazil”.
Where to begin…
January 1, 2026 at 5:47 PM
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐭: There may be no more important truth I can speak this day…than to bitch about “percent “ and significant figures.
I just read an article that included the following: “worker productivity grew by eight percent in the EU and 9.6 percent in Brazil”.
Where to begin…
I just read an article that included the following: “worker productivity grew by eight percent in the EU and 9.6 percent in Brazil”.
Where to begin…
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: I’m taking this week to spend some "inefficient" time with my family and enjoy some fireworks. I’ll be back in your inbox next week to start the next 365 cycles of the loop. Don’t worry about "New Year, New You." Be you; go deep.
academy.socos.org/goodbye-2025/
academy.socos.org/goodbye-2025/
Goodbye, 2025
For many, January 1st is a fresh slate—a clean data point where you can magically reset your preferences and "optimize" a new version of yourself.
As a mad scientist who studies hysteresis (and hybri...
academy.socos.org
December 31, 2025 at 11:54 PM
𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: I’m taking this week to spend some "inefficient" time with my family and enjoy some fireworks. I’ll be back in your inbox next week to start the next 365 cycles of the loop. Don’t worry about "New Year, New You." Be you; go deep.
academy.socos.org/goodbye-2025/
academy.socos.org/goodbye-2025/
I don’t think I ever shared this interview with The Future of Storytelling podcast. The title was appropriate: “Vivienne Ming: Science is a Story, Revisited”
futureofstorytelling.org/case-study/v...
futureofstorytelling.org/case-study/v...
December 29, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I don’t think I ever shared this interview with The Future of Storytelling podcast. The title was appropriate: “Vivienne Ming: Science is a Story, Revisited”
futureofstorytelling.org/case-study/v...
futureofstorytelling.org/case-study/v...
"The Science of Digital Persuasion"
academy.socos.org/the-science-...
In this week's Research Roundup, we looked at the terrifying efficiency of the current digital ecosystem.
academy.socos.org/the-science-...
In this week's Research Roundup, we looked at the terrifying efficiency of the current digital ecosystem.
The Science of Digital Persuasion
Musing's professional mad scientist working to maximize human potential
academy.socos.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"The Science of Digital Persuasion"
academy.socos.org/the-science-...
In this week's Research Roundup, we looked at the terrifying efficiency of the current digital ecosystem.
academy.socos.org/the-science-...
In this week's Research Roundup, we looked at the terrifying efficiency of the current digital ecosystem.
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth (1953)
libro.fm/audiobooks/9...
libro.fm/audiobooks/9...
The Space Merchants Audiobook on Libro.fm
In a vastly overpopulated near-future world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge transnational corporati...
libro.fm
December 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth (1953)
libro.fm/audiobooks/9...
libro.fm/audiobooks/9...