Timothy Rice
@timothyrice.org
τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν
ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν
Non est beatus, esse se qui non putat.
📍 Portland, OR
timothyrice.org
ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν
Non est beatus, esse se qui non putat.
📍 Portland, OR
timothyrice.org
Pinned
Timothy Rice
@timothyrice.org
· Mar 29
Any time I hear someone pine for a post-scarcity economy I think about how I can buy 41,000 calories of flour for less than $10.
My general take any time something like this (fake citations, homework cheating) pops up is that the LLM tools aren't *causing* the problem so much as they are *revealing* it.
What we're learning is that most students/academics/people are rarely willing to put in effort to at their work.
What we're learning is that most students/academics/people are rarely willing to put in effort to at their work.
It's always curious to me that people aren't more mad at the academics in these circumstances. Shouldn't we expect people publishing papers to actually read the works they are citing?
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
December 20, 2025 at 6:07 PM
My general take any time something like this (fake citations, homework cheating) pops up is that the LLM tools aren't *causing* the problem so much as they are *revealing* it.
What we're learning is that most students/academics/people are rarely willing to put in effort to at their work.
What we're learning is that most students/academics/people are rarely willing to put in effort to at their work.
Reposted by Timothy Rice
It's always curious to me that people aren't more mad at the academics in these circumstances. Shouldn't we expect people publishing papers to actually read the works they are citing?
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
December 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
It's always curious to me that people aren't more mad at the academics in these circumstances. Shouldn't we expect people publishing papers to actually read the works they are citing?
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
My usual takeaway from occurrences like this is that very few people are actually willing to do Real Work.
@jupli.com I've just completed your entire 0 -> 10k running plan!
When I started in September the idea of being able to run continuously for 60 minutes sounded wildly absurd to me. And now I feel like I could easily go much longer than that!
I will be recommending your app to many people :)
When I started in September the idea of being able to run continuously for 60 minutes sounded wildly absurd to me. And now I feel like I could easily go much longer than that!
I will be recommending your app to many people :)
December 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
@jupli.com I've just completed your entire 0 -> 10k running plan!
When I started in September the idea of being able to run continuously for 60 minutes sounded wildly absurd to me. And now I feel like I could easily go much longer than that!
I will be recommending your app to many people :)
When I started in September the idea of being able to run continuously for 60 minutes sounded wildly absurd to me. And now I feel like I could easily go much longer than that!
I will be recommending your app to many people :)
Reposted by Timothy Rice
I never know how to react to the latest news, so let me just say one more time: immigration is good. It helps immigrants and it helps native-born people. It makes the world richer, culturally and financially.
December 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I never know how to react to the latest news, so let me just say one more time: immigration is good. It helps immigrants and it helps native-born people. It makes the world richer, culturally and financially.
I think what impressed me the most about Japan was the way they were able to absorb ideas from other cultures while applying a uniquely Japanese twist to them. They're able to capture the essence of the original idea, while still maintaining a distinctly Japanese feel.
x.com/Chris_arnade...
x.com/Chris_arnade...
November 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I think what impressed me the most about Japan was the way they were able to absorb ideas from other cultures while applying a uniquely Japanese twist to them. They're able to capture the essence of the original idea, while still maintaining a distinctly Japanese feel.
x.com/Chris_arnade...
x.com/Chris_arnade...
Reposted by Timothy Rice
It would be more accurate to say that they're living in "extreme exclusivity". This isn't about being hidden away, it's about feeling aloof.
November 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It would be more accurate to say that they're living in "extreme exclusivity". This isn't about being hidden away, it's about feeling aloof.
Reposted by Timothy Rice
I have wondered how much an affect visual media has had on family size. It's *extremely* rare to see depictions of families with more than two kids, I think only because it's hard to cast and write for a dynamic of that many people.
November 18, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I have wondered how much an affect visual media has had on family size. It's *extremely* rare to see depictions of families with more than two kids, I think only because it's hard to cast and write for a dynamic of that many people.
For whatever reason "pallet" shows up all the time in fantasy literature. It's similar to how scifi authors can't stop using the word "creche".
Funny thing:
A few years ago I learned the word "pallet" to refer to something like "a pile of bedding on the floor" is a fading southernism. My grandma used it ("I'll set up a pallet in front of the TV"), and I'm told elder black folks use it, but most people associate it with medieval speech?
A few years ago I learned the word "pallet" to refer to something like "a pile of bedding on the floor" is a fading southernism. My grandma used it ("I'll set up a pallet in front of the TV"), and I'm told elder black folks use it, but most people associate it with medieval speech?
People think "y'all" is the defining southernism, but really it's saying "have a good one" when parting, especially if pronounced "havagoowuh." If you tag the y'all it becomes "havagoowahyaw."
November 15, 2025 at 3:50 AM
For whatever reason "pallet" shows up all the time in fantasy literature. It's similar to how scifi authors can't stop using the word "creche".
Purchased!
My book, Lamb of the Free: Recovering the Varied Sacrificial Understandings of Jesus’s Death, is 50% off throughout Nov with code CONFSHIP from the publisher’s site. Tell your friends!
wipfandstock.com/978166670304...
wipfandstock.com/978166670304...
November 8, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Purchased!
Advertising is one of the great evils of our civilization and we should fervently strive to purge it from our society.
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 17, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Advertising is one of the great evils of our civilization and we should fervently strive to purge it from our society.
@adapalmer.bsky.social a question for you about history, GenAI, and public trust.
It seems to me that most of the fear I see about how GenAI will erode public trust are making arguments from an assumption that we've always had an ability to trust media evidence (photo/video/audio) as factual.
It seems to me that most of the fear I see about how GenAI will erode public trust are making arguments from an assumption that we've always had an ability to trust media evidence (photo/video/audio) as factual.
October 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
@adapalmer.bsky.social a question for you about history, GenAI, and public trust.
It seems to me that most of the fear I see about how GenAI will erode public trust are making arguments from an assumption that we've always had an ability to trust media evidence (photo/video/audio) as factual.
It seems to me that most of the fear I see about how GenAI will erode public trust are making arguments from an assumption that we've always had an ability to trust media evidence (photo/video/audio) as factual.
Oregon
What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?
October 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Oregon
Reposted by Timothy Rice
Good morning.
Immigration is good. Trade is good.
There are nuances but they are narrow enough that free and open movement of people and goods should be the default.
Immigration is good. Trade is good.
There are nuances but they are narrow enough that free and open movement of people and goods should be the default.
September 22, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Good morning.
Immigration is good. Trade is good.
There are nuances but they are narrow enough that free and open movement of people and goods should be the default.
Immigration is good. Trade is good.
There are nuances but they are narrow enough that free and open movement of people and goods should be the default.
@dys-morphia.bsky.social plenty of the west coast has lots of water! You just have to get up to the Cascade range.
(yes, I also don't think about water much, except during the annual July/Aug dry spell. The first big rain of September is a release of pent-up stress you forgot you were carrying).
(yes, I also don't think about water much, except during the annual July/Aug dry spell. The first big rain of September is a release of pent-up stress you forgot you were carrying).
August 29, 2025 at 7:22 PM
@dys-morphia.bsky.social plenty of the west coast has lots of water! You just have to get up to the Cascade range.
(yes, I also don't think about water much, except during the annual July/Aug dry spell. The first big rain of September is a release of pent-up stress you forgot you were carrying).
(yes, I also don't think about water much, except during the annual July/Aug dry spell. The first big rain of September is a release of pent-up stress you forgot you were carrying).
@papamurphyspizza.bsky.social Can you help me understand why your app is by far the most paranoid on my phone? I feel like there must be an incredible story behind the absolute refusal to let android developers order take 'n bake pizza.
August 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
@papamurphyspizza.bsky.social Can you help me understand why your app is by far the most paranoid on my phone? I feel like there must be an incredible story behind the absolute refusal to let android developers order take 'n bake pizza.
I've been thinking about this a lot, and am hung up on a particular point. Namely, that for all the talk about mechanizing thought, it seems that most of the benefits of computers has come from machines "doing things that humans are bad it". And we haven't made much progress at recreating thought!
I think there's this belief that computers are a machine that does what humans are bad at, but the idea of recreating human thought has been baked in from the beginning and reiterated throughout. From Leibniz's calculus ratiocinator to ENIAC's neuron-based architecture, to today's neural networks.
August 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I've been thinking about this a lot, and am hung up on a particular point. Namely, that for all the talk about mechanizing thought, it seems that most of the benefits of computers has come from machines "doing things that humans are bad it". And we haven't made much progress at recreating thought!
As a self-professed methane pipe enthusiast, I want to take a moment to defend:
1) Natural gas as a service and
2) Natural gas for cooking in particular.
1) Natural gas as a service and
2) Natural gas for cooking in particular.
And yet we still have people being like "no, I love that pipe filled with methane that goes into my house"
August 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
As a self-professed methane pipe enthusiast, I want to take a moment to defend:
1) Natural gas as a service and
2) Natural gas for cooking in particular.
1) Natural gas as a service and
2) Natural gas for cooking in particular.
I want to stress that while playing a game of "find the most mundane task that stumps the billion dollar LLM" is very *entertaining* it doesn't really demonstrate anything of value.
The true measure of any tool is simply: "Is it useful?" All other metrics hang on this question.
The true measure of any tool is simply: "Is it useful?" All other metrics hang on this question.
I feel like I've been given some super powered version of ChatGPT that is immune to all the problems everyone else has with the tools. 🤷♂️
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
August 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I want to stress that while playing a game of "find the most mundane task that stumps the billion dollar LLM" is very *entertaining* it doesn't really demonstrate anything of value.
The true measure of any tool is simply: "Is it useful?" All other metrics hang on this question.
The true measure of any tool is simply: "Is it useful?" All other metrics hang on this question.
I feel like I've been given some super powered version of ChatGPT that is immune to all the problems everyone else has with the tools. 🤷♂️
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
August 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I feel like I've been given some super powered version of ChatGPT that is immune to all the problems everyone else has with the tools. 🤷♂️
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
chatgpt.com/share/689601...
August 8, 2025 at 4:14 AM
How is it acceptable that a journalist can write 500 words about the valuation and sale of a website and NOT ONCE link to the site under discussion?? How is this even remotely acceptable as a journalistic practice?
(To be clear, this happens all the time, I use this example because I saw it today).
(To be clear, this happens all the time, I use this example because I saw it today).
FT Exclusive: Weiss has met with David Ellison, the incoming owner of CBS News, over a potential deal to sell her three-year-old media company, according to several people familiar with the matter. https://on.ft.com/4eZ6WbM
July 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
How is it acceptable that a journalist can write 500 words about the valuation and sale of a website and NOT ONCE link to the site under discussion?? How is this even remotely acceptable as a journalistic practice?
(To be clear, this happens all the time, I use this example because I saw it today).
(To be clear, this happens all the time, I use this example because I saw it today).
I checked in with my wife (romance novel enthusiast) about this and have learned that most women find bare chested cover art to be distasteful. Or any cover art that depicts the characters. This is because it interferes with the reader's ability to imagine for themselves their own characters.
Can all the people talking about female gaze explain romance novel covers to me?
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.
July 21, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I checked in with my wife (romance novel enthusiast) about this and have learned that most women find bare chested cover art to be distasteful. Or any cover art that depicts the characters. This is because it interferes with the reader's ability to imagine for themselves their own characters.
Reposted by Timothy Rice
School supplies are baffling to me.
Our district furnishes every child with an Ipad or chromebook as part of enrollment. AND YET, every year I'm asked to go out and supply, from my own pocket, glue sticks for the class to use.
Our district furnishes every child with an Ipad or chromebook as part of enrollment. AND YET, every year I'm asked to go out and supply, from my own pocket, glue sticks for the class to use.
July 20, 2025 at 12:52 PM
School supplies are baffling to me.
Our district furnishes every child with an Ipad or chromebook as part of enrollment. AND YET, every year I'm asked to go out and supply, from my own pocket, glue sticks for the class to use.
Our district furnishes every child with an Ipad or chromebook as part of enrollment. AND YET, every year I'm asked to go out and supply, from my own pocket, glue sticks for the class to use.
Can all the people talking about female gaze explain romance novel covers to me?
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.
July 20, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Can all the people talking about female gaze explain romance novel covers to me?
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.
I understand they've been trending away from this style of cover art (you should see my wife's collection of 90's/00's novels!), but still! Square this circle for me.