A lot of Asimov fans misunderstand where Asimov was going with "psychohistory" in the Foundation books. As a biochemist, Asimov knew that trillions of human beings in a populated galaxy might act, in some ways, as deterministically as chemical reactions among ideal gases. 1/5 But as a biochemist he also know that catalysts could accelerate chemical reactions and that inhibitors could slow them down. His character Hari Seldon aimed to be a catalyst, and to create a continuing catalyst in the Foundation. 2/5

This thread is a response to @AdamThierer ’s query here—. Adding @MikeNelson @KevinBankston @miltonmueller @binarybits @castrotech @AlanMcQuinn @ericgoldman @StevenLevy @zittrain @pmarca @kevin2kelly 1/22bit.ly/Adam-AI Of course there are some basic similarities between the moral panic being drummed up against AI and the moral panic about how strong encryption would cause anarchy. (I mean the bad kind of anarchy, libertarians.) 2/22

ROUGH TWEETMENT: A Mini-Essay Composed This Morning. Let me explain why Twitter’s shambolic lurches toward further decline make it difficult for me ever to justify paying for any tier of the service. 1/20 I should begin by saying that if you had told me only two or three years ago that I would have to pay eight dollars a month for Twitter and Tweetdeck as a service, I might have agreed to do it. 2/20

Lisa Rose-Wiles's use of the term "information literacy" is more helpful than "media literacy." We must remember that lots of fake news--maybe most of it--originates with people who are creating it for the lulz or because it fulfills some dream of agency in the larger world. 1/x The critical apparatus that I developed for academic purposes in school turns out to be more than enough to help me (and other people) figure out how to respond to new, radical, unsupported claims--including claims that may be emotionally appealing. 2/x

.@RadPowerBikes Okay, another week has gone by, and RadPower has not been responsive to my multiple attempts to get help replacing my RadPower 6 Plus battery under warranty coverage. 1/x @RadPowerBikes It hasn't been lost on me that many people have had no problem with RadPower support--in fact, it was the positive testimony of so many RadPower owners about the support network for their e-bikes that helped persuade me to spend a couple of thousand dollars to buy my own. 2/x

I've been telling people for months that the Oversight Board may surprise them. Well, surprise! Facebook's Oversight Board invokes the Rabat Plan of Action. In case you're wondering what that is, you can start here. article19.org/resources/arti…