web: http://maxim.ece.illinois.edu substack: https://realizable.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mtx5ve77is2tJust made a Select Negroni. It’s good, but now I need to compare extensively against the one with Campari.26 Aug 2026 01:16 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtx5ve77is2thttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mtk5ck4h5s2jSo, apparently IR and political science have their own version of the Lucas critique / Milton Friedman's thermostat: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/deterrence-the-elusive-dependent-variable/4EFFA4611AEC5FA07E1D72736663106C20 Aug 2026 21:00 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtk5ck4h5s2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mthhuxvdnc2vI’m sitting here, re-reading Feynman’s lectures on physics instead of doing whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing before the start of the new semester.19 Aug 2026 19:32 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthhuxvdnc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mtforxuvas2ghaha nice19 Aug 2026 02:30 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtforxuvas2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mtbuqn6tvk2gNew essay by @lioneltrolling.bsky.social: “We need to have a robust public debate and understanding of just how and where we apply AI technology. Not “smash the machines” and not “let it rip” either. Is that likely to happen? Well, no, but that’s what should happen.” https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/marx-keynes-and-ai17 Aug 2026 14:06 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtbuqn6tvk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mtaczsb7jc2wThe Bullshit Job (my riff on The Desk Job cocktail from Cure in Rochester, NY) 3/4oz Cardamaro 3/4oz Cynar 3/4oz Plantation OFTD overproof rum 3/4oz Ron Zacapa 2316 Aug 2026 23:16 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtaczsb7jc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3msvi4u3pa22nAn excellent essay on taste by @celinenguyen.bsky.social, framing it as an ongoing process of selective exposure, a perpetual interaction between one’s evolving internal values and a flow of external cues, suggestions, recommendations, chance encounters, and human relationships. https://asteriskmag.com/issues/15/why-we-like-things12 Aug 2026 15:48 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvi4u3pa22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3msoyvkiomc2tOn John Crowley by @adamroberts.bsky.social profadamroberts.substack.com/p/john-crowley https://profadamroberts.substack.com/p/john-crowley10 Aug 2026 02:00 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3msoyvkiomc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mrq6p4cbnk2g“Human beings, equipped with language, abstraction, technology, institutions, and ideology, can be stupid on a truly civilizational scale. This is not a joke; it is close to a law of nature. A law that might very well be our undoing.” https://nautil.us/what-makes-humans-stupid-128245928 Jul 2026 19:51 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrq6p4cbnk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mre3xysfl22pListening to early Teenage Fanclub makes me sad. The goof kind of sad, but still.24 Jul 2026 00:30 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mre3xysfl22phttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mrdziufjv22423 Jul 2026 23:46 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrdziufjv224https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mqv3ex37ok22some light readin’18 Jul 2026 01:10 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqv3ex37ok22https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mquxkeqvoc22Cynar Spritz with a couple of dashes of Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse:18 Jul 2026 00:01 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mquxkeqvoc22https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mqndiftous2rcold summer borscht + a dirty gin martini14 Jul 2026 23:14 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqndiftous2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mqmv2b5jrs2yhttps://daily.bandcamp.com/features/power-pop-scene-report14 Jul 2026 18:55 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqmv2b5jrs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mqf6xp5vgs2dStanislaw Lem, _His Master's Voice_:11 Jul 2026 17:31 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqf6xp5vgs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mqaozrapvs2lI’ve been watching the Last Meal series on the Mythical Kitchen YouTube channel, and so I got to thinking: what would I want for my last meal on Earth? Here goes: * extra dry gin martini with three olives and the trio of snacks from Bemelmans * traditional Greek salad09 Jul 2026 22:35 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqaozrapvs2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mq7szeyzsc2aOne can always count on @jwherrman.bsky.social to make good sense of what’s happening in and around AI: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-all-or-nothing-vibe-shifts-of-the-ai-industry.html09 Jul 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq7szeyzsc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mq3zyfjq4c2jToday marks my three years of substacking: realizable.substack.com https://realizable.substack.com/08 Jul 2026 02:08 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq3zyfjq4c2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mq3r6nhwpc2hSo apparently my soon-to-be-12yo daughter can do the prefect bene gesserit voice. Achievement unlocked, I guess?07 Jul 2026 23:31 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq3r6nhwpc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mpr66t44ns25I was in the Bay Area over the weekend, and Alyosha Efros twisted my arm to give a talk in his weekly research group meeting and to "keep it entertaining." I took this as an opportunity to think of five philosophy papers everyone working on AI/ML should read. https://realizable.substack.com/p/five-philosophy-papers-everyone-should03 Jul 2026 18:24 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpr66t44ns25https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mpocsjumrc2iThis made me chuckle, but Stanislaw Lem had done this sort of thing much better and with more humor. https://philosophersmag.com/no-humans-are-not-conscious/02 Jul 2026 15:09 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpocsjumrc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mpf545rd5k2l28 Jun 2026 23:33 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpf545rd5k2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mp27gb67m22pReading Word and Object and nodding vigorously the whole time so the people on the bus know, from my overt behavior under publicly recognized circumstances, that I agree with it24 Jun 2026 15:15 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp27gb67m22phttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3moy3f3pvwk2wYifeng Chu and I just posted our paper on chaining-type bounds for expected soft maxima of Gaussian processes. The analysis makes use of a nice blend of ideas from probability, statistical physics of disordered systems, and information theory. arxiv.org/abs/2606.2261123 Jun 2026 18:57 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3moy3f3pvwk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3monzkbbcu22tWhy does Dwarkesh sound like he’s always speaking at 1.5x speed? I was listening to Ada Palmer on his podcast, and the contrast is so noticeable.19 Jun 2026 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3monzkbbcu22thttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3molyyms63k24my version of Hugo Spritz St. Germain lemon juice magnolia pear shrub prosecco seltzer lemon, mint18 Jun 2026 23:43 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3molyyms63k24https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3moikw65tbk2o"We are bound to adapt any alien pattern to our own in the very process of understanding or translating the alien sentences." (W.V.O. Quine, "Speaking of objects")17 Jun 2026 14:53 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3moikw65tbk2o