A.I. and The Humanities—An Experiment

I plan to spend the Fall studying Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, and for that I will use Claude liberally.

The goal: to see how much it can accelerate the process of close reading.

Call it "Artificial Thoughts on Machiavelli."

🧵

I'm going to use it in a few ways.

1) Collect sources

Machiavelli draws on a number of different texts as he proceeds.

As I go chapter-by-chapter, I will have Claude comb the web for sources people have identified, and compile them into a single document for my review

2) Analyze discrepancies

Machiavelli infamously departs from the sources he draws on, often with intended meaning.

So, I will have Claude add to the compilation of sources a preliminary list of discrepancies, again for my review.

The idea of digestion affecting mental state is reaching a point of being common knowledge

However the gut's neural network is not a "second brain" but a "third brain," as after the CNS the heart and circulatory system have the second most neurons

So in the same way that the gut microbiome and its metabolites alter brain activity, circulation issues can as well

(thread)

One of the best examples of this is "biofeedback"

Anxiety involves increased heart rate, but artificially elevating heart rate can also lead to the perception of anxiety

This isn't just the brain noting the heart rate but instead the fact that the same factors that regulate heart rate are those that regulate anxiety

Adrenaline, noradrenaline, glutamate, and elevated calcium are all involved here

These factors seem to be communicated directly between the heart/circulation and brain at all times

Beyond that, blockages in circulation intimately affect the brain

Calcification, arterial plaque, and amyloid fibrils all impact cognitive function by changing blood flow

$MER. Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it is reviewing its fuel mix, including LNG, coal, and diesel, as global fuel prices may rise due to the Middle East conflict, potentially affecting electricity costs. @UTradePH

Gas currently supplies about 60% of Meralco’s power, followed by coal (20–25%) and renewables (10%). Any impact on rates may appear as early as April, depending on how long tensions persist. @UTradePH

Meralco assured adequate power supply for the summer. Meanwhile, electricity rates rose PhP 0.2226/kWh to PhP 13.1734/kWh this month from PhP 12.9508/kWh in January. @UTradePH

🚨BREAKING: GOODBYE POWERPOINT forever.

Claude just collapsed 3 hours of presentation building into 120 seconds completely free.

7 prompts to go from completely unprepared to completely untouchable in every meeting:

(Save this before it goes viral)

1. Complete Presentation Blueprint

"Act like a professional presentation consultant who has built decks for Fortune 500 boardrooms and billion-dollar pitch meetings. Create a complete presentation blueprint for [topic]. Define the objective, target audience, key message, emotional arc, and exact slide flow. Make every section earn its place and eliminate anything that loses the audience for even a single second."

2. Slide Structure & Flow Architect

"Act like a presentation strategist who has designed slide structures for TED speakers and C-suite executives. Build a complete slide-by-slide structure for a presentation on [topic]. For every slide define the title, core purpose, and key message so the entire presentation builds unstoppable momentum toward a final slide that makes the audience feel they have absolutely no choice but to act."

This is actually a really great intro slide to Kruse

Mainstream biology thinks we were able to evolve larger brains vs monkeys because we started "cooling the machinery" more with eccrine sweat glands so it could run hotter

Kruse doesnt think thats what happened

Frankly its kinda ridiculous because we DOUBLED the metabolic demands of our brain vs monkeys

You need LARGE amounts of ADDITIONAL energy to do this

Especially so because brain neurons also burn through A LOT more oxygen than for ex muscle fibers (that we did shrink vs monkeys to have more for other things, but not by a lot actually)

So Kruse says that we used the sun, melanin, sweat, EZ water, DHA to charge us externally like a solar panel-powered salt-water battery

That gave us enough energy to accomodate our brain function (vs what monkeys have without this mechanism)

https://x.com/helios_brah/status/2029206613509255274

But then that was how we got to humanoids around where we originated at the Horn of Africa

Then we moved up and sun got a lot weaker

And actually our brains shrunk a little as a consequence

But that had the effect of making us very creative (cave paintings appeared only then in evolutionary history)

And we were able to re-tool some of our VERY OLD metabolic machinery from when we were essentially underground living rats a couple hundred million years before that mostly using the cold, instead of the sun (aside from a couple others)

And that turned out to ALSO be enough energy to power our brains (which were also a bit smaller now)

So when you remove the SUN by sitting in a fully LED-lit office all day

And you also remove the COLD by sitting in the same central-heated office all day

You just removed the main two engines of how monkeys were able to become humans

Chronic energy deficit = chronic disease

Delcy has surrendered to the Nazis in Washington. The U.S. has its foot on the throat of her government which is flat on its back. This enraging spectacle is imo largely the fault of China & Russia, but also of course the cowardice of regional governments like Brazil and Mexico.

https://twitter.com/delcyrodriguezv/status/2029303103980245356

To be fair, without China (also Russia and Iran) Vzla under Maduro could not have defeated the murderous sanctions that Trumo/Biden put in place. That’s what forced Trump to escalate from lethal sanctions to the bombing of Caracas & kidnapping of Maduro.

But China & Russia have also made clear they were never going to make US military aggression against Vzla a red line like the USSR made a U.S. invasion of Cuba in the 1960s and 70s.

📢NEW: In a study of 600,000 people published today in @bmj_latest, we found GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro) associated with reduced risk of addiction across alcohol, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, nicotine—and 50% fewer substance-related deaths.
🧵
bmj.com/content/392/bm…

We used VA data—one of the largest healthcare systems in the world—to emulate 8 randomized trials.
600,000 people. 3 years of follow-up. Over 1.5 million person-years.
Two questions: Do GLP-1 drugs prevent addiction? And do they reduce harm in people already struggling with it?

Among people with no prior addiction, GLP-1 drugs were associated with lower risk of addiction across substances:
▸ Opioids: 25%
▸ Cocaine: 20%
▸ Nicotine: 20%
▸ Alcohol: 18%
▸ Cannabis: 14%
Consistent across every substance we tested.

🚨 BREAKING: Claude can now write & design a full book in 48 hours.

Here are 9 prompts that turn beginners into published authors in 10 days.

Bookmark this before it’s everywhere 🔖

PROMPT 1: THE BOOK IDEA VALIDATOR

You are a Senior Publishing Strategist at Penguin Random House with 20 years of experience identifying bestselling book concepts.

My Idea: [YOUR BOOK IDEA IN ONE SENTENCE]
My Expertise: [YOUR BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE]
Target Reader: [WHO YOU WANT TO HELP]
Goal: [INCOME, AUTHORITY, IMPACT, OR ALL THREE]
Validate and sharpen my book concept using this framework:

Market Demand Analysis:
Is there proven reader demand for this topic
What are the top 10 books in this category and their weaknesses
What gap exists that my book can own completely

Concept Sharpening
Refine my idea into one irresistible book premise
Define the single transformation the reader experiences
Identify the unique angle no existing book has taken

Title and Subtitle Generator:
Generate 10 title options using proven bestseller formulas
Write a subtitle that promises a specific outcome
Recommend the strongest combination with reasoning

Reader Promise Statement:
One sentence that tells the reader exactly what they will gain
The emotional state they will be in after finishing the book
The practical result they will achieve by applying it

Publishability Score:
Rate my concept from 1 to 10 on market demand
Rate my concept on uniqueness and differentiation
Rate my concept on my credibility to write it
Overall recommendation with honest assessment

Here is what to do next:
Do not move to the next prompt until your concept scores above 7 in all three categories. A strong foundation produces a strong book. A weak concept produces a strong disappointment.

PROMPT 2: THE CHAPTER ARCHITECTURE BUILDER

You are a Master Book Architect who has structured over 200 bestselling nonfiction books.

Book Title: [YOUR TITLE]
Core Promise: [TRANSFORMATION YOU DELIVER]
Target Reader: [WHO READS THIS]
Book Length Goal: [SHORT 20K WORDS OR FULL 50K WORDS]
Tone: [CONVERSATIONAL, AUTHORITATIVE, OR INSPIRATIONAL]
Design the complete book structure using this framework:

Book Opening Strategy:
Hook chapter that earns the readers trust immediately
Origin story placement and emotional arc
Promise statement that keeps them reading past page one

Complete Chapter Outline:
Introduction with the problem and promise
Chapter one through final chapter with individual purpose
Each chapter title written as a reader benefit not a topic
One sentence summary of what each chapter delivers
Logical progression that builds on the previous chapter

Chapter Internal Structure:
Opening hook for every chapter
Core teaching framework for each chapter
Story or case study placement within each chapter
Key takeaway summary at chapter close
Transition bridge into the next chapter

Book Closing Strategy:
Conclusion that creates momentum not closure
Call to action that extends the reader relationship
Final sentence that stays with the reader permanently

Content to Page Ratio:
Recommended word count per chapter
Story versus teaching ratio for engagement
Exercise or implementation section placement

Here is what to do next:
Print this structure and tape it to your wall before writing a single word. Every chapter you write should serve the overall arc. Confusion in structure produces confusion in the reader.

Noam Chomsky defended the Khmer Rouge while they were killing 25% of Cambodia's population.

He kept his position at MIT. His reputation kept growing. His books kept selling.

Thomas Sowell predicted this would happen. He explained exactly why it always does.🧵

Chomsky's linguistics work was genuinely brilliant.

It made him one of the most cited academics alive and gave him a platform far beyond his field. He decided, so, to use that platform not to side with the oppressed, but to cast doubt on genocide survivors.

When the Khmer Rouge took Cambodia, Chomsky didn't defend the victims. He questioned their testimony.

In 1977, he and Edward Herman published "Distortions at Fourth Hand" in The Nation, arguing that Western media was exaggerating the killings to justify U.S. intervention. He wrote that refugee accounts deserved "great care" because refugees are "subject to pressure."

He even dismissed François Ponchaud, a French priest who documented the massacres in ”Cambodia: Year Zero”, as unreliable. Called his figures inflated.

🚨 EPSTEIN $2 TRILLION MONEY LAUNDERING FIXER FOR US BANKS IN MALAYSIAN HEIST $4.5B 1MDB CASH?🚨

Finally I have enough evidence to be confident there is a serious need for investigation into a ghost kingpin of the world's largest financial scandal: Jeffrey Epstein

From the Epstein Files predominantly, but also from US government, DOJ FBI and US banking corporate data, this is a quick summary of my findings:

900 references to Malaysia in Epstein Files, most JP Morgan financial investment and transactions

Photographs of catalogued 2TB Western Digital disc drives in Malaysian files - not mentioned in DOJ FBI evidence lists

Epstein advises A.Rothschild on day of IMDB 2016 money laundering raid

Rothschild contract Epstein and pay him $25 million consultancy in 2015

JP Morgan flag $1 billion in Epstein wires with huge transaction numbers noted

€433 million euros hidden by Rothschild in stolen Malaysian cash

Epstein supports Goldman Sachs Kathy Ruemmler who panics as Jho Low 1MDB money starts disappearing

Brunel, Epstein and Rothschild flights to Malaysia. Other flights to Saudi and Middle East for Petro Saudi input

Epstein's offshore shell companies tracked with huge volumes of cash on timeline correlations with 1MDB

Over the past 10 days I have already shared many documents, emails and references. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have already spent considerable time in court and paid multiple million dollar fines as a result of 1MDB involvement. But neither of them were honest about Epstein's role in this - importantly take a look at the JPMorgan document in my file share

Rothschild is probably the biggest player and the most obvious having actually contracted Epstein for support it appears, with emails showing Epstein and Kathy discussing what to do as raids take place

Clearly I am just one researcher albeit with a journalistic background, but for legal and self-protection purposes you must realise that I have gone to extraordinary lengths and worked to the best of my ability but I cannot guarantee the validity of any of this information. Neither can I guarantee any of the content of the Epstein files is correct or truthful.

All I have done is followed a gut feel driven by the knowledge I had of this Malaysian crisis over many years previously. I want the truth to come out and I hope you will support me in doing that.

I will a little later share a Google drive link to everything that I have been using as part of this investigation but all of it is already public information... it just takes a bit of finding sometimes 😎

Please help me because if you know anything about me you will know I live alone without a job following severe illness which still stops me leaving my own house or walking my own dogs.

Repost and share this and that will be great - but also if you can afford $2 a month to subscribe and get access to investigations like these and other benefits I would really appreciate it..

#EpsteinFiles #IMDb
@TheEpsteinFiles @DOJCrimDiv
@FBIDirectorKash @realannapaulina

Throughout my investigations I did not find any other individual or account even looking at this topic. Just today however I found one article with a journalist thinking along similar lines and that is from the Luxembourg Times

Even the Financial Times in the UK appears to have missed the link

Further references and background documents with a drive link to follow later

@DavidFlippoNV Please review written @DeptofWar policies.

esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Doc…

@DavidFlippoNV @DeptofWar esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Doc…

@DavidFlippoNV @DeptofWar @threadreaderapp please unroll

GeoConfirmed Iran.

"The Girl School Bombing"

"Occam’s Razor" is right. Again.

Satellite imagery, provided by @planet, now confirms that the school was hit during the bombing of the base.

It is also clearly visible that all other buildings, just as the the school, were struck at the center. --> indicating that one of the two countries involved in the attack on Iran bears responsibility.

Sec. Marco Rubio said in an interview: "It is clear the the United States would not target... deliberately target a school."
x.com/EricLDaugh/sta…

"Deliberately" is the keyword here.

We had already proven that other buildings were struck a the same time.
(x.com/GeoConfirmed/s…)

Read our previous statemen/assesment here:

"Using logic. Given the school’s position, next to and possibly integrated into a military facility, the more logical explanation is that the school was mistakenly targeted during an attack on the base."

x.com/GeoConfirmed/s…

Statement regarding our posts about the bombing of a girls’ elementary school reportedly resulting in the deaths of over 100 girls.

Because many readers still misunderstand our posts or how geolocation verification works, I will explain this as simply as possible.

1) The girls’ school was located next to a military base and according to multiple sources even within the perimeter of that base.

However, this does not make it a legitimate target under the Law of Armed Conflict, even if it was within the premises.

The school was not in Pakistan or Afghanistan, as some claims suggest. (because the location is GeoConfirmed)

The footage is not old.

In Iran, schools are open Saturday through Thursday. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workweek_…).

Fact: The school, located in Minab, Hormozgan Province, Iran, was destroyed, based on the footage.

Geolocation of the school bombing: x.com/GeoConfirmed/s…

2) The claim that the explosion was caused by a failed IRGC missile launch has no supporting evidence, at this time (!). The widely circulated footage used to support this theory originates from a location approximately 1,300 km away from the school.

It is impossible that a missile failure visible there caused the bombing at such a distance.

At this moment, there is no proof that a failed missile launch caused the incident.

(See below or x.com/GeoConfirmed/s…)

-

Using logic. Given the school’s position, next to and possibly integrated into a military facility, the more logical explanation is that the school was mistakenly targeted during an attack on the base. A thorough investigation is required to confirm this assessment, or additional verifiable evidence must emerge to support alternative claims. When conducting analyses, always consider the principle of "Occam’s Razor"

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s…):

"When presented with competing hypotheses about the same prediction and both hypotheses have equal explanatory power, one should prefer the hypothesis that requires the fewest assumptions."

In this case, the only “evidence” for the failed IRGC missile launch claim has been proven false.

Therefore, there is currently no credible evidence supporting that theory.

Reminder: OSINT, and reporting (journalism) in general, is based on the information available at the time an investigation is conducted. Therefore, analyses may change as new footage or evidence emerges.

More information:

https://x.com/trbrtc/status/2029259892016427160

Geolocation of the school bombing:

https://x.com/GeoConfirmed/status/2027766830710804627