Hans Gerwitz
@gerwitz.com
Pinned
Hans Gerwitz
@gerwitz.com
· Dec 8
Hi! Welcome to my #introduction thread:
In the 20th century I was a libertarian software engineer in Missouri, now I'm a socialist design executive living in Europe. …
In the 20th century I was a libertarian software engineer in Missouri, now I'm a socialist design executive living in Europe. …
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
Ahem. It’s a “war on cars.”
Mamdani hires car-hating activist Ben Furnas to transportation team: ‘war on drivers’
Mamdani hires car-hating activist Ben Furnas to transportation team: ‘war on drivers’
Car-hating Transportation Alternatives boss Ben Furnas has been appointed to Mamdani's transition team for transportation, climate and infrastructure – and his agenda is a nightmare for the city's drivers.
nypost.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Ahem. It’s a “war on cars.”
A dark truth has been named; we must resist the death of browsing.
Now "browsing" means Netflix compiles your recent watch history and feeds you more of the exact same thing. Or Amazon analyzes your buy history and gives you a list of 15 books with basically the same title. You rarely stumble upon something new or different by chance. It's eroding our curiosity.
November 29, 2025 at 10:42 PM
A dark truth has been named; we must resist the death of browsing.
Text has a lower footprint than video, even AI-generated text.
Eat plants and read words.
Eat plants and read words.
Out of curiosity I decided to try and run the numbers on how much Netflix you can watch for the energy cost of a ChatGPT prompt
As far as I can tell it's between 5.1 and 10.2 seconds, depending on which end of the 2019 IEA Netflix energy usage estimate you use
simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/29/...
As far as I can tell it's between 5.1 and 10.2 seconds, depending on which end of the 2019 IEA Netflix energy usage estimate you use
simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/29/...
November 29, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Text has a lower footprint than video, even AI-generated text.
Eat plants and read words.
Eat plants and read words.
This is a good summary of the state of agent development today, though I’m not as anti-framework as the authors (as I like Letta): posthog.com/blog/8-learn...
November 29, 2025 at 8:15 AM
This is a good summary of the state of agent development today, though I’m not as anti-framework as the authors (as I like Letta): posthog.com/blog/8-learn...
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
What does it mean to understand language? We argue that the brain’s core language system is limited, and that *deeply* understanding language requires EXPORTING info to other brain regions.
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
What does it mean to understand language?
Language understanding entails not just extracting the surface-level meaning of the linguistic input, but constructing rich mental models of the situation it describes. Here we propose that because pr...
arxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
What does it mean to understand language? We argue that the brain’s core language system is limited, and that *deeply* understanding language requires EXPORTING info to other brain regions.
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
Any traditional media or reputable journalist still on X is letting these grifters draft off their reputations to create a truly evil cesspool of misinformation and incredibly harmful political manipulation machine.
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Any traditional media or reputable journalist still on X is letting these grifters draft off their reputations to create a truly evil cesspool of misinformation and incredibly harmful political manipulation machine.
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
But it’s such a case study in digital power and control:
What can governments do?
‘Europe needs greater sovereignty, especially in digital and banking matters. Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law.’
What can governments do?
‘Europe needs greater sovereignty, especially in digital and banking matters. Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law.’
November 22, 2025 at 11:13 AM
But it’s such a case study in digital power and control:
What can governments do?
‘Europe needs greater sovereignty, especially in digital and banking matters. Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law.’
What can governments do?
‘Europe needs greater sovereignty, especially in digital and banking matters. Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law.’
I normally roll my eyes at these "midpoint of history" memes, but have to salute the nominative nature of this one.
Half Life (1998) is now as old as the first ever arcade game, Computer Space (1971) was when Half Life was released.
November 22, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I normally roll my eyes at these "midpoint of history" memes, but have to salute the nominative nature of this one.
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
November 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It's as if everyone rushing to a small handful of firms for the bulk of internet infrastructure wasn't the best resilience strategy. www.cloudflarestatus.com/incidents/8g...
Cloudflare Global Network experiencing issues
Cloudflare's Status Page - Cloudflare Global Network experiencing issues.
www.cloudflarestatus.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM
It's as if everyone rushing to a small handful of firms for the bulk of internet infrastructure wasn't the best resilience strategy. www.cloudflarestatus.com/incidents/8g...
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social if I still lived nearby, I might have printed one of these as a gift for you: www.loc.gov/item/93513098/
www.loc.gov
November 16, 2025 at 2:43 PM
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social if I still lived nearby, I might have printed one of these as a gift for you: www.loc.gov/item/93513098/
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
We are going Super Social Justice Blue Hair and Pronouns. We are calling things "gay" and "queer" as compliments and honorifics. We are proudly being buzzkills and harpies and feminine and vegan and giving a sincere fucking shit about the environment and climate and well-being of the community.
November 14, 2025 at 9:12 AM
We are going Super Social Justice Blue Hair and Pronouns. We are calling things "gay" and "queer" as compliments and honorifics. We are proudly being buzzkills and harpies and feminine and vegan and giving a sincere fucking shit about the environment and climate and well-being of the community.
I just learned about #WeekWithoutDriving and *of course* support the idea as a gateway to life without driving. But the site frames it as exposure to the suffering of those who cannot enjoy motoring…not exactly an inspiring message. weekwithoutdriving.org
Week Without Driving
Sep 29th – Oct 5th, 2025 - An experience created for everyone to learn firsthand about barriers and challenges for nondrivers. Join, support, or become a host.
weekwithoutdriving.org
November 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I just learned about #WeekWithoutDriving and *of course* support the idea as a gateway to life without driving. But the site frames it as exposure to the suffering of those who cannot enjoy motoring…not exactly an inspiring message. weekwithoutdriving.org
🚨 Adorable Volcano Bunny Alert
Timeline cleanse: Yesterday I was introduced to the teporingo (volcano rabbit) — it’s like a rabbit crossed with a pika and is only found on Popocatépetl and three of the other volcanoes near Mexico City: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano...
November 14, 2025 at 11:25 AM
🚨 Adorable Volcano Bunny Alert
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
OH MY GOD! A GUY IS KILLING LAURYN HILL SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG AND YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE?!?!
November 12, 2025 at 7:53 PM
OH MY GOD! A GUY IS KILLING LAURYN HILL SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG AND YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE?!?!
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
Current level: the primary content of Bluesky is how badly Bluesky manages moderation.
This "it could be" framing asking us to trust the authorities sounds like the Trump apologists. I am not here for it.
bsky.app/profile/aaro...
This "it could be" framing asking us to trust the authorities sounds like the Trump apologists. I am not here for it.
bsky.app/profile/aaro...
False attribution. If a person is suspended it is because of their identity? Could it not be because of their content? I wrote about it here aaron.leaflet.pub/3m52nqqmk322v
Moderating With Humans, For Humans - Trust Issues
aaron.leaflet.pub
November 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Current level: the primary content of Bluesky is how badly Bluesky manages moderation.
This "it could be" framing asking us to trust the authorities sounds like the Trump apologists. I am not here for it.
bsky.app/profile/aaro...
This "it could be" framing asking us to trust the authorities sounds like the Trump apologists. I am not here for it.
bsky.app/profile/aaro...
OMFG
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:07 PM
OMFG
It smells like @moderation.bsky.app has messed up to “I will go back to Mastodon” levels.
In a rare case of Substack notes usefulness, I just learned that Sarah Kendzior (author of They Knew and a brilliant writer) got bounced from Bluesky. What the hell? new @sarahkendzior.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 5:54 AM
It smells like @moderation.bsky.app has messed up to “I will go back to Mastodon” levels.
50k Wikipedia entries is all you need
Breaking: we release a fully synthetic generalist dataset for pretraining, SYNTH and two new SOTA reasoning models exclusively trained on it. Despite having seen only 200 billion tokens, Baguettotron is currently best-in-class in its size range. pleias.fr/blog/blogsyn...
November 10, 2025 at 10:43 PM
50k Wikipedia entries is all you need
Reposted by Hans Gerwitz
For everyone who replies to stuff like this with "obviously"
- it's NOT LEGIBLE TO MANY INSTITUTIONS UNTIL IT'S MEASURED
- WE NEED TO HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THE THINGS "we all know"
- ACTUALLY SEEING THE MAGNITUDE AND NUANCES OF THESE KIND OF EFFECTS MATTERS AND IT MATTERS OVER TIME TOO
- it's NOT LEGIBLE TO MANY INSTITUTIONS UNTIL IT'S MEASURED
- WE NEED TO HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THE THINGS "we all know"
- ACTUALLY SEEING THE MAGNITUDE AND NUANCES OF THESE KIND OF EFFECTS MATTERS AND IT MATTERS OVER TIME TOO
*Women receive substantially lower "potential" ratings despite receiving higher performance ratings
*Differences in potential ratings account for half of the gender promotion gap
*Women’s lower potential ratings do not reflect future performance: women subsequently outperform male colleagues
*Differences in potential ratings account for half of the gender promotion gap
*Women’s lower potential ratings do not reflect future performance: women subsequently outperform male colleagues
Forthcoming in the AER: "“Potential” and the Gender Promotion Gap" by Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
For everyone who replies to stuff like this with "obviously"
- it's NOT LEGIBLE TO MANY INSTITUTIONS UNTIL IT'S MEASURED
- WE NEED TO HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THE THINGS "we all know"
- ACTUALLY SEEING THE MAGNITUDE AND NUANCES OF THESE KIND OF EFFECTS MATTERS AND IT MATTERS OVER TIME TOO
- it's NOT LEGIBLE TO MANY INSTITUTIONS UNTIL IT'S MEASURED
- WE NEED TO HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THE THINGS "we all know"
- ACTUALLY SEEING THE MAGNITUDE AND NUANCES OF THESE KIND OF EFFECTS MATTERS AND IT MATTERS OVER TIME TOO
Wait, who first introduced the phrase “suicidal empathy”?
I would like to have a word.
I would like to have a word.
November 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Wait, who first introduced the phrase “suicidal empathy”?
I would like to have a word.
I would like to have a word.
And casually returned to his $1,000,000,000,000 "job" when people started calling him names.
Elon Musk did this. I’m not being facetious. He personally killed 400k kids.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
November 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
And casually returned to his $1,000,000,000,000 "job" when people started calling him names.
I guess this works, but if I was writing the Ironic Failure of the American Experiment, they'd be using abandoned shopping malls.
"It was not immediately clear who owns the warehouses that the government may buy and the DHS official and the White House official did not know how much the deals could be worth. DHS said some of the warehouses under consideration were built by developers with Amazon in mind but never used."
'Mega detention centers': ICE considers buying large warehouses to hold immigrants
The Trump administration is exploring a plan to buy warehouses designed for companies like Amazon, sources said, which would drastically increase the Trump administration’s capacity for detaining immi...
www.nbcnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I guess this works, but if I was writing the Ironic Failure of the American Experiment, they'd be using abandoned shopping malls.
The Line is unravelling, but not before it displaced thousands of villagers and killed tens-of-thousands of workers.
(It makes sense for the FT to discuss only the financial cost of this stupid ego project, but still upsets me.)
(It makes sense for the FT to discuss only the financial cost of this stupid ego project, but still upsets me.)
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:04 AM
The Line is unravelling, but not before it displaced thousands of villagers and killed tens-of-thousands of workers.
(It makes sense for the FT to discuss only the financial cost of this stupid ego project, but still upsets me.)
(It makes sense for the FT to discuss only the financial cost of this stupid ego project, but still upsets me.)
What a roller-coaster week for #uspol. The hollowing of Teen Vogue killed what little optimism I had left, but then NYC and Boston and Virginia have restored some hope.
Dutch #verkiezingen week was still much more enjoyable.
Dutch #verkiezingen week was still much more enjoyable.
November 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
What a roller-coaster week for #uspol. The hollowing of Teen Vogue killed what little optimism I had left, but then NYC and Boston and Virginia have restored some hope.
Dutch #verkiezingen week was still much more enjoyable.
Dutch #verkiezingen week was still much more enjoyable.