Tilmon Edwards
@tilmonedwards.com
engineering and infosec · he/him · vis tacita
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Tilmon Edwards
@tilmonedwards.com
· May 5
I have 3 axioms that help me decide when to talk to people I disagree with:
1. To debate a subject is to concede that the subject is debatable.
2. To reason with a person is to concede that the person is reasonable.
3. To ask for evidence of a claim is to concede that the claim might be true.
1. To debate a subject is to concede that the subject is debatable.
2. To reason with a person is to concede that the person is reasonable.
3. To ask for evidence of a claim is to concede that the claim might be true.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
Which I mean. Is true. But it did a remarkable job of opposing the position and effectively making me defend my points in a way that did force me to reckon with alternate arguments more seriously and in a practical way. I'm still chewing over some of it.
The future's really weird, man.
The future's really weird, man.
December 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Which I mean. Is true. But it did a remarkable job of opposing the position and effectively making me defend my points in a way that did force me to reckon with alternate arguments more seriously and in a practical way. I'm still chewing over some of it.
The future's really weird, man.
The future's really weird, man.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
Interestingly, Claude changed my approach a bit as I was working on this post. I was on a four hour solo drive home, so I listened to Chris Krycho's talk, then fed the script to Claude and went for a nice long ramble at it
It then proceeded to (gently) call me insensitive and my arguments normative
It then proceeded to (gently) call me insensitive and my arguments normative
December 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Interestingly, Claude changed my approach a bit as I was working on this post. I was on a four hour solo drive home, so I listened to Chris Krycho's talk, then fed the script to Claude and went for a nice long ramble at it
It then proceeded to (gently) call me insensitive and my arguments normative
It then proceeded to (gently) call me insensitive and my arguments normative
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
I've spent a couple of days working on this one, and it didn't end up quite where I expected it to. But I think this is the clearest way I can describe where my head's at, why I approach LLMs in the way that I do, and why, while it's describing-not-prescribing, it's a little light prescribing too.
The abstraction you didn't ask for
When I say
ed3d.net
December 30, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I've spent a couple of days working on this one, and it didn't end up quite where I expected it to. But I think this is the clearest way I can describe where my head's at, why I approach LLMs in the way that I do, and why, while it's describing-not-prescribing, it's a little light prescribing too.
A forklift is a tool that a single human uses to move objects many times her own body weight, provided that the object meets certain criteria, and that the environment is suitable for operating a forklift.
AI agents are information forklifts.
AI agents are information forklifts.
December 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
A forklift is a tool that a single human uses to move objects many times her own body weight, provided that the object meets certain criteria, and that the environment is suitable for operating a forklift.
AI agents are information forklifts.
AI agents are information forklifts.
I started a new job in February, building an Identity and Access Management platform for a company that you have definitely heard of. It's much more difficult than my previous job, but I'm kicking ass and am really excited and proud of the work I'm doing to build something I feel is important.
Every year around this time I do the same thread and it has been a lot of fun.
Tell me something you did in 2025 that you're proud of that you want everyone to know about. Did you write a book? Did you get a promotion? Did you survive the year?
I want to spend the end of the year celebrating you.
Tell me something you did in 2025 that you're proud of that you want everyone to know about. Did you write a book? Did you get a promotion? Did you survive the year?
I want to spend the end of the year celebrating you.
December 30, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I started a new job in February, building an Identity and Access Management platform for a company that you have definitely heard of. It's much more difficult than my previous job, but I'm kicking ass and am really excited and proud of the work I'm doing to build something I feel is important.
I will not be taking any questions.
December 30, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I will not be taking any questions.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
i love it that every new yorker in this thread has opinions about which neighborhoods i randomly assigned to a color but no opinion about labeling California "France" or Montana "Egypt"
every new yorker's version of this map
December 30, 2025 at 4:43 AM
i love it that every new yorker in this thread has opinions about which neighborhoods i randomly assigned to a color but no opinion about labeling California "France" or Montana "Egypt"
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
yeah this rips. there's an epistemological gap that seems to often be solved by "well, people who are getting good results out of it have easier problems/are lying about it" which is...uh...wrong! it's wrong.
I wrote a short essay on what I'm calling the AI Attribution Error. doi.org/10.59350/c3g...
December 28, 2025 at 4:57 PM
yeah this rips. there's an epistemological gap that seems to often be solved by "well, people who are getting good results out of it have easier problems/are lying about it" which is...uh...wrong! it's wrong.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
not to pick on a particular person, but if climate change is your big issue, capitalism probably gets us out of fossil fuels much faster than communism or even socialism, and, yes, i get that this is a bummer
December 29, 2025 at 9:47 AM
not to pick on a particular person, but if climate change is your big issue, capitalism probably gets us out of fossil fuels much faster than communism or even socialism, and, yes, i get that this is a bummer
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
unironically a good idea
December 27, 2025 at 1:40 AM
unironically a good idea
Shit like “argue the disagree” is how you know I’m not a robot
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 27, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Shit like “argue the disagree” is how you know I’m not a robot
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
The harm reduction model. If you believe there is a harm and you can’t stop outright, then you work to reduce risk risk. The problem is that moral absolutists would rather an all or nothing approach
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 11:15 PM
The harm reduction model. If you believe there is a harm and you can’t stop outright, then you work to reduce risk risk. The problem is that moral absolutists would rather an all or nothing approach
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
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.
This is basically why when I write prompts for a language model, I'm polite and kind. If you ask your question like an asshole, you get a response that's also trying to appease an asshole. You're basically asking for sycophancy.
I feel like part of why chatbots "talk like that" is that so many of the questions they're asked are questions no human being would ever be asked (nor would answer) but the fact that they HAVE to answer is why they're asked those questions, and then they do
December 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
This is basically why when I write prompts for a language model, I'm polite and kind. If you ask your question like an asshole, you get a response that's also trying to appease an asshole. You're basically asking for sycophancy.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
i think ed's thread here is a really good example of what i'm talking about when i say people need to adjust their priors on what AI can and can't do. yes, it's not a magic box where you dump a random doc in a chat window and get infallible answers back. but it's also not 'nothing'.
OKAY SO HOW ABOUT SOME CONCRETE DATA
this is where I'm at right now, chewing up The Unaccountability Machine because it is a reasonable length but has a diverse index. I had 535 groups after "candidate extraction" and 369 after dedupe + "this is minor, drop it".
published book: 335
this is where I'm at right now, chewing up The Unaccountability Machine because it is a reasonable length but has a diverse index. I had 535 groups after "candidate extraction" and 369 after dedupe + "this is minor, drop it".
published book: 335
00_deduped-terms.csv
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December 23, 2025 at 1:56 AM
i think ed's thread here is a really good example of what i'm talking about when i say people need to adjust their priors on what AI can and can't do. yes, it's not a magic box where you dump a random doc in a chat window and get infallible answers back. but it's also not 'nothing'.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
None of this is “good faith political debate,” and it’s not a coincidence that all these outlets are suddenly interested in the same “discussion” at the same time.
Treating women’s humanity like a thought exercise makes it that much easier to legislate away
Treating women’s humanity like a thought exercise makes it that much easier to legislate away
December 20, 2025 at 11:25 PM
None of this is “good faith political debate,” and it’s not a coincidence that all these outlets are suddenly interested in the same “discussion” at the same time.
Treating women’s humanity like a thought exercise makes it that much easier to legislate away
Treating women’s humanity like a thought exercise makes it that much easier to legislate away
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
Why decline all these chances to defend feminism? Because to participate would be accepting the premise that our rights and humanity are up for debate in the first place.
Once you’ve conceded that it’s reasonable to ask whether women’s equality was a mistake, you’ve already lost.
Once you’ve conceded that it’s reasonable to ask whether women’s equality was a mistake, you’ve already lost.
December 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Why decline all these chances to defend feminism? Because to participate would be accepting the premise that our rights and humanity are up for debate in the first place.
Once you’ve conceded that it’s reasonable to ask whether women’s equality was a mistake, you’ve already lost.
Once you’ve conceded that it’s reasonable to ask whether women’s equality was a mistake, you’ve already lost.
FRC sure has come a long way since I was in high school.
December 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
FRC sure has come a long way since I was in high school.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
Holy. Moley.
And I love the way he just calls him "man."
And I love the way he just calls him "man."
LUHAN: Is the FCC an independent agency?
CARR: I think th---
L: Yes or no
C: There's a test for this in the la---
L: It's yes or no, Brendan! On your website, it simply says, man, 'the FCC is independent.' This isn't a trick question
C: The FCC is not
L: So is your website lying?
C: Possibly
CARR: I think th---
L: Yes or no
C: There's a test for this in the la---
L: It's yes or no, Brendan! On your website, it simply says, man, 'the FCC is independent.' This isn't a trick question
C: The FCC is not
L: So is your website lying?
C: Possibly
December 17, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Holy. Moley.
And I love the way he just calls him "man."
And I love the way he just calls him "man."
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
Once when I was like 4yo, I was being a real piece of shit, and my mom started just recording me doing it, and then sat my ass down and made me watch the whole thing. I still remember that. More people should have that experience if you ask me.
December 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Once when I was like 4yo, I was being a real piece of shit, and my mom started just recording me doing it, and then sat my ass down and made me watch the whole thing. I still remember that. More people should have that experience if you ask me.
Reposted by Tilmon Edwards
this is not behavior becoming of a FIFA Peace Prize recipient.
December 15, 2025 at 8:18 PM
this is not behavior becoming of a FIFA Peace Prize recipient.
“The American corporation is so good at making money, it should be trusted with nothing else.” - @profgalloway.com
"Meta calculated that about 19% of that money – more than $3 billion – was coming from ads for scams, illegal gambling, pornography and other banned content, according to internal Meta documents reviewed by Reuters." www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta tolerates rampant ad fraud from China to safeguard billions in revenue
A Reuters investigation reveals the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp decided to accept high levels of fraudulent advertisements from China. Internal company documents show Meta wanted to mini...
www.reuters.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM
“The American corporation is so good at making money, it should be trusted with nothing else.” - @profgalloway.com
I watched a youtube video the other day about the ornate decorations that the victorians put on everything, and personally, I find this industrial form of maximalism just as appealing. I would like it if infrastructure was more visible and celebrated.
In a fun picture, the Artemis logo being added onto the exterior of the White Room.
December 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
I watched a youtube video the other day about the ornate decorations that the victorians put on everything, and personally, I find this industrial form of maximalism just as appealing. I would like it if infrastructure was more visible and celebrated.
These age ranges were written by a millennial who hasn’t done the math lately on how long ago Y2K was.
December 10, 2025 at 10:50 PM
These age ranges were written by a millennial who hasn’t done the math lately on how long ago Y2K was.