Will Wilkinson
@wlknsn.xyz
Tech policy and government affairs guy. Ex-Block, Niskanen, NYT, Economist, Cato. Los Angeles / Iowa City
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Fuck it I don’t care anymore
January 1, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Fuck it I don’t care anymore
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Just published, my “The Philosophers Have Only Interpreted the World.”Philosophy and Society 36 (4): 985–1000. Open access.
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/index.php/fi...
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/index.php/fi...
View of The Philosophers Have Only Interpreted the World
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs
December 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Just published, my “The Philosophers Have Only Interpreted the World.”Philosophy and Society 36 (4): 985–1000. Open access.
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/index.php/fi...
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/index.php/fi...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Here's a particularly juicy nugget I found in my reporting . . .
December 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Here's a particularly juicy nugget I found in my reporting . . .
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Who needs a village when you can have parking lots?
December 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Who needs a village when you can have parking lots?
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
They have made enormous headway. The central issue is that driving isn't _really_ a rule-based process; the rules are codifications of social mores but fundamentally driving around other people is about theory of mind and social negotiation, which ML is largely hopeless at; here's a thing I wrote.
Driving is a social process
Photo by Sangga Rima Roman Selia on Unsplash There is something very strange about automobiles. They are much faster and more dangerous than our brains are...
buttondown.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:19 AM
They have made enormous headway. The central issue is that driving isn't _really_ a rule-based process; the rules are codifications of social mores but fundamentally driving around other people is about theory of mind and social negotiation, which ML is largely hopeless at; here's a thing I wrote.
So I get paramount+ through Walmart+ which I get through Amex. Walmart lets you choose between Paramount and Peacock so I tried to switch but it didn’t work because I already have Peacock through Instacart+ which I get through Chase. The way we live now, I guess.
December 22, 2025 at 4:54 AM
So I get paramount+ through Walmart+ which I get through Amex. Walmart lets you choose between Paramount and Peacock so I tried to switch but it didn’t work because I already have Peacock through Instacart+ which I get through Chase. The way we live now, I guess.
Nobody has ever asked me to apologize. Probably an oversight.
December 22, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Nobody has ever asked me to apologize. Probably an oversight.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
pursuing the dream of a life lived as pure "data creation," with the ultimate goal of being completely manipulatable by the data processors who have a plan for your life
Tech companies are actually pretty explicit about this: The point is to have a device that you can’t escape, one that always has access to you and makes you a constant source of data beyond what a phone does. Surveillance-first devices.
In 2025, wearables made a hard pivot to AI
If you want to put AI on someone 24/7, wearables are the best bet.
www.theverge.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
pursuing the dream of a life lived as pure "data creation," with the ultimate goal of being completely manipulatable by the data processors who have a plan for your life
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
This is extremely important
December 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is extremely important
The idea of declaring fentanyl a wmd reminded me of this… www.nytimes.com/1993/02/22/o...
Opinion | Essay; Calling a Tail a Leg (Published 1993)
www.nytimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:53 AM
The idea of declaring fentanyl a wmd reminded me of this… www.nytimes.com/1993/02/22/o...
Amazing. My kids are suddenly Canadian.
December 15, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Amazing. My kids are suddenly Canadian.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
“It's not my duty as Mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. For me it's the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you're going to put them.” — Mayor of Pontevedra, Spain (re-elected 6 times)
December 13, 2025 at 12:55 AM
“It's not my duty as Mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. For me it's the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you're going to put them.” — Mayor of Pontevedra, Spain (re-elected 6 times)
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
It's annual con law meme time, from my undergraduates
December 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
It's annual con law meme time, from my undergraduates
Trying to round out Christmas shopping for the kids (ages 6 and 11) with some fun/cool smaller gifts. What’s good fellow parents?
December 12, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Trying to round out Christmas shopping for the kids (ages 6 and 11) with some fun/cool smaller gifts. What’s good fellow parents?
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)"
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
Congestion pricing improved air quality in NYC and suburbs | Cornell Chronicle
Cornell researchers tallied the environmental benefits of New York City’s congestion pricing program and found air pollution dropped by 22% in Manhattan, with additional declines across the city’s fiv...
news.cornell.edu
December 9, 2025 at 2:19 AM
In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)"
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Good on Penn Jillette. Having to come to terms with your entire political identity and philosophy being wrong is not easy and most people could never do it.
December 7, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Good on Penn Jillette. Having to come to terms with your entire political identity and philosophy being wrong is not easy and most people could never do it.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Remember when the internet wasn't awful? We can go back to that.
Some friends and I have released the Resonant Computing Manifesto: a call to bring back such a time, to see if we can bring back a world where technology works for us, rather than against us.
resonantcomputing.org
Some friends and I have released the Resonant Computing Manifesto: a call to bring back such a time, to see if we can bring back a world where technology works for us, rather than against us.
resonantcomputing.org
The Resonant Computing Manifesto
Technology should bring out the best in humanity, not the worst—a manifesto for resonant computing built on five principles that reject hyper-scale extraction for human flourishing.
resonantcomputing.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Remember when the internet wasn't awful? We can go back to that.
Some friends and I have released the Resonant Computing Manifesto: a call to bring back such a time, to see if we can bring back a world where technology works for us, rather than against us.
resonantcomputing.org
Some friends and I have released the Resonant Computing Manifesto: a call to bring back such a time, to see if we can bring back a world where technology works for us, rather than against us.
resonantcomputing.org
Obviously, betting on future states of the world is pointless unless parties on opposite sides of the bet agree in advance on how to authoritatively verify what the relevant facts turn out to be. But opinions differ in the first place largely because people don't agree about that.
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
December 3, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Obviously, betting on future states of the world is pointless unless parties on opposite sides of the bet agree in advance on how to authoritatively verify what the relevant facts turn out to be. But opinions differ in the first place largely because people don't agree about that.
Once again: “generations” are fake
No, next question
Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Once again: “generations” are fake
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Every day is a good day, but today is an ESPECIALLY good day, to re-share @kerryhowley.bsky.social's profile of Pete Hegseth.
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Pete Hegseth Is Playing Secretary
As he sends troops into L.A. and prepares for war, his Pentagon is beset by infighting over leaks, drugs, and socks. How long will Trump stand by him?
nymag.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Every day is a good day, but today is an ESPECIALLY good day, to re-share @kerryhowley.bsky.social's profile of Pete Hegseth.
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
I wrote about the private, intimate, often ridiculous agonies of working for a man who think you’re a monster nymag.com/intelligence...
Doughnuts and Bullets: The Absurdity of Working for RFK Jr.
What happens when your new boss thinks you’re a child killer?
nymag.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
How RFK Jr. destroyed the CDC. Another banger from Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social nymag.com/intelligence...
Doughnuts and Bullets: The Absurdity of Working for RFK Jr.
What happens when your new boss thinks you’re a child killer?
nymag.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:32 PM
How RFK Jr. destroyed the CDC. Another banger from Kerry Howley @kerryhowley.bsky.social nymag.com/intelligence...