togstation

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I'm in my 60s. I've been reading adult-level science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels since I was a pre-teen. (Over 50 years now.)

I've always preferred science fiction and fantasy over mainstream lit, but by this point in my life I have read quite a few mainstream short stories.

I've read lots of short stories and novels written decades and centuries ago.

I think that I have some idea of what a short story is supposed to be.

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However, I've recently been reading a lot of works written in the last few decades and labelled as short stories.

- A lot of them are what I would call "vignettes" rather than "stories" -

a short and descriptive

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< reposting >

I've been discussing these topics [atheism, religion, etc.] online for about 30 years. We used to see a lot of brain-dead - and very repetitious - apologetics, but it was almost all from Christians. Posts from Muslims were very rare.

In the last few years we are starting to get apologetics posts from Muslims, and they are - I think without any exception - incredibly bad.

All Muslim apologetics that I have seen is extraordinarily bad.

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Poe's Law is

The observation that it's difficult, often impossible, to distinguish between parodies of fundamentalism or other absurd beliefs, and their genuine proponents, since they seem equally insane.

< asking seriously >

Can an AI have an Erdős number?

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inspired by this - https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/ai-math-terrance-tao/686107/ (Brief but okay discussion of AI with Terence Tao)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s_number

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from Zvi Mowshowitz / Don't Worry About the Vase

post / roundup "AI #154: Claw Your Way To The Top"

GREG ISENBERG: ok this is weird

new app called "rent a human"

ai agents "rent" humans to do work for them IRL

reply -

Eliezer Yudkowsky: Where by "weird" they mean "utterly predictable and explicitly predicted in writing."

- https://thezvi.substack.com/p/ai-154-claw-your-way-to-the-top?open=false#%C2%A7language-models-offer-mundane-utility

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I can't see anything weird about that at all.

If the terms of the contract / employment were explicit and honest and I got paid in an honest and reasonable fashion,

I don't think that I would find anything odd about doing this at

The veggie tales [characters] are not saved.

Jesus didn't die for vegetables.

But some people on Twitter are upset about the fact that their favorite characters aren’t saved

- https://justinkuiper.substack.com/p/the-vegetables-in-veggietales-are

- https://justinkuiper.substack.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-the

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From "Hengaw" organization for Human Rights in Iran -

Iran arrests Dr. Alireza Golchini for treating injured protesters, charges him with “waging war against God”

Hengaw — Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Dr. Alireza Golchini, a surgeon from Qazvin, has been arrested by Iranian government forces for providing medical care to injured protesters and is now facing charges of “Moharrebeh” (waging war against God) — a capital offense under Iranian law that carries the risk of execution.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Dr. Golchini was arrested in recent days during a violent raid on his family home. A source close to his family sai

Today I was in a shopping mall with Friend A and Friend B. (A is well-educated, well-read, and intelligent, and IMHO should be taken seriously.)

Friend A says "I'm going to buy some shoes that I saw, as a present for my nephew Nigel."

Friend B arrives and asks what's up. I say "A is going to buy some shoes that Nigel wants."

A replies: "You shouldn't say that Nigel wants those shoes."

Me: "You are going to buy Nigel something that he doesn't want? That is an odd theory of 'gifts'."

A replies: "Nigel doesn't even know that these shoes exist. He can't 'want' them."

.

If Nigel has no awareness of these shoes now, but will be pleased with

Inkhaven is back this April

Join ~40 other talented writers publishing every day while staying on the beautiful Lighthaven campus.

Get mentored by some of the internet's greats, including Scott Alexander, Aella, Alexander Wales, and many more!

- https://x.com/ohabryka/status/2011632542051688859

.

THE INKHAVEN RESIDENCY

Cohort #2

April 1 - 30, 2026

Berkeley, CA, USA

- https://www.inkhaven.blog/ <-- The main info dump. Start here.

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previously mentioned on ACX -

- https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-393

- https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/open-thread-406

(possibly also elsewhere ?)

previous posts here about Inkhaven -

- https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestar

I've been discussing these topics with people for 50+ years now.

I try to discuss them in a very reasonable way, including using "Socratic questions".

It's amazing how often people, when confronted with a challenging question, either

[A] Just completely ignore it. ( <-- seems to be really very common )

or [B] Misinterpret the question in some completely screwed-up way.

or [C] Respond in a completely screwed-up illogical way.

I mean nice try, Socrates, but the stupidity of many people defeats any attempt to reason with them.

This sub is r/DebateAnAtheist. It is nominally a debate sub.

A substantial number of the posters here don't participate in debate at all. Some other posters participate very minimally.

If a member complains about that, then the mods often take action - but generally not until somebody complains. Sometimes not even then.

.

Mods:

Please vigorously require posters here to participate in debate. (Even if no member complains about them.)

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< rant >

Of course we get a lot of very stupid posts, comments, and questions on Reddit.

I've been on Reddit for 15 years now (this is not my first account) and I have seen many, many, many of them.

But today, in the subs that I read, I've seen about a week's worth of stupid in just one day.

I hope that this is just a temporary blip and not the "new normal".

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