Third Thoughts
@thirdthoughts.bsky.social
Ex-academic political scientist/theorist.🏳️⚧️ rights are human rights. Nuance > Hot Takes. Youtube vids on political history and philosophy. Occasional blog post.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirdThoughtsYT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirdThoughtsYT
For New Years', some people choose violence.
in the spirit of charity & goodwill, and because I feel like turning PvP back on here, I have removed all of the blocks I had on my bluesky account. happy new year to all, particularly my haters & opps
December 31, 2025 at 4:07 AM
For New Years', some people choose violence.
Reposted by Third Thoughts
and if you want to know... why Donald Trump is the president
It's because the Ecru measure Goodness as being able to handle snakes rather than avoid them.
It's because the Ecru measure Goodness as being able to handle snakes rather than avoid them.
December 30, 2025 at 5:06 PM
and if you want to know... why Donald Trump is the president
It's because the Ecru measure Goodness as being able to handle snakes rather than avoid them.
It's because the Ecru measure Goodness as being able to handle snakes rather than avoid them.
This whole thread OMG
I die ... surrounded by people that don't season their food
December 31, 2025 at 2:39 AM
This whole thread OMG
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What one should know is that
all Christians are not the same AND....
We dont all begin in the same place theologically ...This is especially true for people who belong to more charismatic expressions of the faith
all Christians are not the same AND....
We dont all begin in the same place theologically ...This is especially true for people who belong to more charismatic expressions of the faith
December 30, 2025 at 4:03 PM
What one should know is that
all Christians are not the same AND....
We dont all begin in the same place theologically ...This is especially true for people who belong to more charismatic expressions of the faith
all Christians are not the same AND....
We dont all begin in the same place theologically ...This is especially true for people who belong to more charismatic expressions of the faith
Me, an equally dense neurospicy ace: "this sounds like the kind of thing a pushy straight coworker would ask but why is Sky postin...... ohhhhhhh."
Them: so who are you kissing on New Year’s? 🥺
Me: probably no one, honestly feeling kinda crappy so I think I’m just gonna go to Beverly early
Them: oh ok 😔
Me, a year later: ah, crap.
Me: probably no one, honestly feeling kinda crappy so I think I’m just gonna go to Beverly early
Them: oh ok 😔
Me, a year later: ah, crap.
December 30, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Me, an equally dense neurospicy ace: "this sounds like the kind of thing a pushy straight coworker would ask but why is Sky postin...... ohhhhhhh."
Abused body-puppeted daughter to an abusive sorceress? Is that a job?
Alternatively: New Mexican homesteader and assistant deli manager. Infinitely preferable.
Both are @tkingfisher.com
Alternatively: New Mexican homesteader and assistant deli manager. Infinitely preferable.
Both are @tkingfisher.com
I'm the head magic teacher at a British boarding school.
Emily Tesh, "The Incandescent"
Emily Tesh, "The Incandescent"
December 30, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Abused body-puppeted daughter to an abusive sorceress? Is that a job?
Alternatively: New Mexican homesteader and assistant deli manager. Infinitely preferable.
Both are @tkingfisher.com
Alternatively: New Mexican homesteader and assistant deli manager. Infinitely preferable.
Both are @tkingfisher.com
Reposted by Third Thoughts
Since it's a fun exercise, I'll take a crack at it. There are definitely a few here that people with recency-bias won't like. And there are a lot in the late 1800s where you have to do an unfortunate balancing act of Black vs. Native rights or Rights vs. Economy/Foreign Policy.
December 29, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Since it's a fun exercise, I'll take a crack at it. There are definitely a few here that people with recency-bias won't like. And there are a lot in the late 1800s where you have to do an unfortunate balancing act of Black vs. Native rights or Rights vs. Economy/Foreign Policy.
Since it's a fun exercise, I'll take a crack at it. There are definitely a few here that people with recency-bias won't like. And there are a lot in the late 1800s where you have to do an unfortunate balancing act of Black vs. Native rights or Rights vs. Economy/Foreign Policy.
December 29, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Since it's a fun exercise, I'll take a crack at it. There are definitely a few here that people with recency-bias won't like. And there are a lot in the late 1800s where you have to do an unfortunate balancing act of Black vs. Native rights or Rights vs. Economy/Foreign Policy.
As always, bsky being too generous with the F-tier. The only legitimate F-tiers are Trump, A. Johnson, A. Jackson, Nixon, Wilson, and *maybe* Reagan. Though I'd put him bottom of D-tier.
For a tier list to make sense, it should be centered on B/C-tiers.
For a tier list to make sense, it should be centered on B/C-tiers.
i made a very vibes-based presidential tier list. i didnt put a ton of thought into it. just for funsies. i def think i have some hot takes (esp jfk and washington)
December 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
As always, bsky being too generous with the F-tier. The only legitimate F-tiers are Trump, A. Johnson, A. Jackson, Nixon, Wilson, and *maybe* Reagan. Though I'd put him bottom of D-tier.
For a tier list to make sense, it should be centered on B/C-tiers.
For a tier list to make sense, it should be centered on B/C-tiers.
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Quick cheat sheet—
Sadducees = pretentious priestly elite
Essenes = hardcore hippie nerds who live in a commune
Pharisees = big city working class nerds who had the soul of an autistic law professor
Sadducees = pretentious priestly elite
Essenes = hardcore hippie nerds who live in a commune
Pharisees = big city working class nerds who had the soul of an autistic law professor
December 29, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Quick cheat sheet—
Sadducees = pretentious priestly elite
Essenes = hardcore hippie nerds who live in a commune
Pharisees = big city working class nerds who had the soul of an autistic law professor
Sadducees = pretentious priestly elite
Essenes = hardcore hippie nerds who live in a commune
Pharisees = big city working class nerds who had the soul of an autistic law professor
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Elon is still going on about this. Rep Omar represent Minneapolis, still known as one of the whitest places in America at 59% white. Moreover Omar won this seat by *32pp*. It is one of the largest margins anywhere. You can’t steal a seat that blue.
December 28, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Elon is still going on about this. Rep Omar represent Minneapolis, still known as one of the whitest places in America at 59% white. Moreover Omar won this seat by *32pp*. It is one of the largest margins anywhere. You can’t steal a seat that blue.
Given that Zach means this in the geopolitical arms race sense, he has a point. At least for parts of the industry (including, unfortunately, Palantir) and in the short-term.
The flip side of the equation is that it may make the bubble *worse* long-term due to subsidies.
The flip side of the equation is that it may make the bubble *worse* long-term due to subsidies.
Possibly I'm not remembering right, but it seems to me one big difference between the dotcom bubble and a potential current AI bubble is that AI has become securitized. Meaning it's existentially tied to national security, so that legal/social/econ/government norms likely don't apply.
December 28, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Given that Zach means this in the geopolitical arms race sense, he has a point. At least for parts of the industry (including, unfortunately, Palantir) and in the short-term.
The flip side of the equation is that it may make the bubble *worse* long-term due to subsidies.
The flip side of the equation is that it may make the bubble *worse* long-term due to subsidies.
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And a not-so-fun blocklist, started after the Bondi Beach shooting, for people who make excuses for antisemitic violence in places like Australia, Europe, and the US.
December 28, 2025 at 1:02 AM
And a not-so-fun blocklist, started after the Bondi Beach shooting, for people who make excuses for antisemitic violence in places like Australia, Europe, and the US.
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social media "mutual aid" is just another variety of charismatic-megafauna-focused environmentalism
December 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM
social media "mutual aid" is just another variety of charismatic-megafauna-focused environmentalism
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I have updated the List Of Aircraft Losses During The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine article
www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/03/list...
www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/03/list...
List Of Aircraft Losses During The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
www.oryxspioenkop.com
December 27, 2025 at 7:50 AM
I have updated the List Of Aircraft Losses During The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine article
www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/03/list...
www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/03/list...
Two words from public health that apply to so many social policies and new technologies: HARM. MITIGATION.
It feels a bit like the sex ed problem. The students are gonna do the thing. Some people might wish they wouldn’t. Reasonable people (excluding the loud minority of extremists) can argue the disagree impact on health. But they _will_ do it, so how do we educate so that they don’t get hurt?
December 26, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Two words from public health that apply to so many social policies and new technologies: HARM. MITIGATION.
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The simultaneous increase in single children households combined with unfettered access to internet pornography has cramped the American imagination with regards to the normal bounds of familial affection, fetishizing the now alien practice. In this essay I will
December 26, 2025 at 10:02 PM
The simultaneous increase in single children households combined with unfettered access to internet pornography has cramped the American imagination with regards to the normal bounds of familial affection, fetishizing the now alien practice. In this essay I will
Reposted by Third Thoughts
I just had to help my mom's husband move furniture around and as a result, I am fully in favor of a mandatory retirement age of 70 for political office.
December 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I just had to help my mom's husband move furniture around and as a result, I am fully in favor of a mandatory retirement age of 70 for political office.
Unfortunately, pedagogy has to evolve, always. Sometimes that means the smart adoption of new tech (Turnitin, presentstion software, video, etc.). Sometimes is means using older techniques to ensure comprehension (blue books, oral exams, etc.).
Academics literally cannot make Gen AI go away. As in it is not possible to make it happen on a political, legal, and technical level. We do not and will not command the massive violence necessary to make chatGPT or Claude disappear. Responsible pedagogy grapples with the fact!
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
December 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Unfortunately, pedagogy has to evolve, always. Sometimes that means the smart adoption of new tech (Turnitin, presentstion software, video, etc.). Sometimes is means using older techniques to ensure comprehension (blue books, oral exams, etc.).
Its the "30 of my friends" that makes it believeable.
Posting on social media can make you insane and has absurd narcissistic delusions of grandeur. I’ve said that, I’m aware of it. But giving me and maybe 30 of my friends a couple hundred million dollars to start a think tank would would solve politics.
December 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Its the "30 of my friends" that makes it believeable.
Absolutely incredible piece of writing. This is the academic journalist version of lighting someone on fire.
the conversations I'd most like to have been in the room for were him and Bayard Rustin, who became solid friends through the civil rights movement until Rustin's death.
Maybe my favorite bit of his writing, though, is him skilleting Hugh Trevor-Roper - www.nybooks.com/articles/196...
Maybe my favorite bit of his writing, though, is him skilleting Hugh Trevor-Roper - www.nybooks.com/articles/196...
The Chosen People | Arthur Hertzberg
To the Editors: In his review of my book The French Enlightenment and the Jews Mr. Hugh Trevor-Roper has done me the honor of praising my account of
www.nybooks.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Absolutely incredible piece of writing. This is the academic journalist version of lighting someone on fire.
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this is, however, still the best photo I’ve taken on the subway
December 26, 2025 at 1:30 AM
this is, however, still the best photo I’ve taken on the subway
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happy eighth anniversary to this photo I took on the subway
December 26, 2025 at 1:20 AM
happy eighth anniversary to this photo I took on the subway
Important point that so many people miss. A billionaires tax, actually doesn't raise that much money. What it does do is put some control on the astronomical concentration of wealth, and therefore power, in the hands of a few suspect actors.
That billionaires tax is for democracy not primarily for revenue.
December 25, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Important point that so many people miss. A billionaires tax, actually doesn't raise that much money. What it does do is put some control on the astronomical concentration of wealth, and therefore power, in the hands of a few suspect actors.
The weirdest writing thing about faceless YouTube is needing to actively think about the placement of visuals when writing the script. Sometimes you have to move a paragraph not because of structure, but because you just need an exciting visual right there. Very counterintuitive.
December 25, 2025 at 8:51 PM
The weirdest writing thing about faceless YouTube is needing to actively think about the placement of visuals when writing the script. Sometimes you have to move a paragraph not because of structure, but because you just need an exciting visual right there. Very counterintuitive.