Mark Nikolewski
@marknik.bsky.social
It’s food for thought mobsters.
“Unclear” is doing a lot of work in this headline.
December 18, 2025 at 3:28 AM
“Unclear” is doing a lot of work in this headline.
Anyway, thanks for your response. I’m a fan of your show and a paid subscriber. Have a good night.
December 17, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Anyway, thanks for your response. I’m a fan of your show and a paid subscriber. Have a good night.
This all feels very “Look at those losers reading news on their screens” in 1996 to me. And we all know how great that turned out.
December 17, 2025 at 11:09 PM
This all feels very “Look at those losers reading news on their screens” in 1996 to me. And we all know how great that turned out.
But why is because the smug dismissal of AI by users on Bluesky rubs me the wrong way. Not because I’m rah rah AI. But because it is so powerful in ways that frankly people who should know better should understand, yet refuse to and instead choose to mock.
December 17, 2025 at 11:08 PM
But why is because the smug dismissal of AI by users on Bluesky rubs me the wrong way. Not because I’m rah rah AI. But because it is so powerful in ways that frankly people who should know better should understand, yet refuse to and instead choose to mock.
I realize my response may have come off as overly serious to a friendly poke at grandpa falling in love with the young waitress because she remembered his name. I wasn’t matching the energy of the post. I see that now.
December 17, 2025 at 11:08 PM
I realize my response may have come off as overly serious to a friendly poke at grandpa falling in love with the young waitress because she remembered his name. I wasn’t matching the energy of the post. I see that now.
In my defense the number dogpiling replies to your post indicate that I’m not alone in this.
December 17, 2025 at 8:19 PM
In my defense the number dogpiling replies to your post indicate that I’m not alone in this.
Apologies. Obviously I misread your tone.
December 17, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Apologies. Obviously I misread your tone.
Respectfully Ken, how is you posting this on this platform any different than what Fukuyama is doing? Twitter (and now Bluesky) is one disembodied affirmation machine and ChatGPT is another.
December 17, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Respectfully Ken, how is you posting this on this platform any different than what Fukuyama is doing? Twitter (and now Bluesky) is one disembodied affirmation machine and ChatGPT is another.
I was literally thinking of him this morning. Had the pleasure of seeing him in several times in the 80’s.
December 16, 2025 at 3:44 AM
I was literally thinking of him this morning. Had the pleasure of seeing him in several times in the 80’s.
And that is existentially threatening for Western academics who see their worldview as neutral, rational, and globally applicable.
So they call it Orientalism.
So they call it Orientalism.
December 6, 2025 at 10:29 PM
And that is existentially threatening for Western academics who see their worldview as neutral, rational, and globally applicable.
So they call it Orientalism.
So they call it Orientalism.
“You deserve a product made just for you.”
“You deserve an experience optimized for your needs.”
“You deserve content tailored exactly to your feelings.”
“You deserve an experience optimized for your needs.”
“You deserve content tailored exactly to your feelings.”
December 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
“You deserve a product made just for you.”
“You deserve an experience optimized for your needs.”
“You deserve content tailored exactly to your feelings.”
“You deserve an experience optimized for your needs.”
“You deserve content tailored exactly to your feelings.”
Information abundance produces understanding scarcity.
December 6, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Information abundance produces understanding scarcity.
When symbolic life becomes overcrowded, societies move to symbolic puritanism.
December 6, 2025 at 5:52 AM
When symbolic life becomes overcrowded, societies move to symbolic puritanism.
Moral simplicity becomes a coping mechanism for collective anxiety.
December 6, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Moral simplicity becomes a coping mechanism for collective anxiety.
“It’s complicated” is fundamentally non-capitalist as an epistemology.
December 6, 2025 at 5:51 AM
“It’s complicated” is fundamentally non-capitalist as an epistemology.
Complexity makes people feel small and modern culture cannot tolerate that.
December 6, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Complexity makes people feel small and modern culture cannot tolerate that.
Complexity reveals mixed responsibility which cannot be moralized cleanly.
December 6, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Complexity reveals mixed responsibility which cannot be moralized cleanly.
Complexity lowers emotional arousal thus it’s bad for attention capitalism.
December 6, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Complexity lowers emotional arousal thus it’s bad for attention capitalism.
“It’s complicated” doesn’t produce identity-based prestige.
December 6, 2025 at 5:48 AM
“It’s complicated” doesn’t produce identity-based prestige.
In short: complexity doesn’t scale.
Simplicity does.
Simplicity does.
December 6, 2025 at 5:47 AM
In short: complexity doesn’t scale.
Simplicity does.
Simplicity does.
There’s no money to be made in a hyper competitive social system in saying “It’s complicated”
December 6, 2025 at 5:46 AM
There’s no money to be made in a hyper competitive social system in saying “It’s complicated”
Our culture has lost the ability to tolerate complexity, because complexity does not flatter the ego.
December 6, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Our culture has lost the ability to tolerate complexity, because complexity does not flatter the ego.
Audiences have been conditioned to distrust ambiguity.
Ambiguity is now framed as:
• evasion
• complicity
• “both-sides-ism”
• intellectual weakness
• lack of solidarity
Ambiguity is now framed as:
• evasion
• complicity
• “both-sides-ism”
• intellectual weakness
• lack of solidarity
December 6, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Audiences have been conditioned to distrust ambiguity.
Ambiguity is now framed as:
• evasion
• complicity
• “both-sides-ism”
• intellectual weakness
• lack of solidarity
Ambiguity is now framed as:
• evasion
• complicity
• “both-sides-ism”
• intellectual weakness
• lack of solidarity
The culture has shifted from understanding systems to assigning blame.
December 6, 2025 at 5:41 AM
The culture has shifted from understanding systems to assigning blame.