web: http://maxim.ece.illinois.edu substack: https://realizable.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.socialhttps://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/3moikw65tbk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mocarcebms2dCan I write a critique of the splendors and miseries of emergence using hipster music references and the phenomenological concept of Fundierung? Only one way to find out! https://realizable.substack.com/p/emergence-and-i15 Jun 2026 02:35 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mocarcebms2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mocarcebms2dCan I write a critique of the splendors and miseries of emergence using hipster music references and the phenomenological concept of Fundierung? Only one way to find out! https://realizable.substack.com/p/emergence-and-i15 Jun 2026 02:35 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mocarcebms2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mobwj64wbk2dcarnitas time14 Jun 2026 23:32 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mobwj64wbk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mo55m2aqgc2pPeter Winch, writing in 1958, prefigures a lot of the current obsessions at the intersection of AI and language:13 Jun 2026 01:55 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo55m2aqgc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mo53jooxw22s4 dashes angostura bitters 2 dashes chocolate bitters 1/2 oz falernum 1 oz Batavia arrack 1 oz Appleton Estate 12 Jamaican rum13 Jun 2026 01:18 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo53jooxw22shttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mo4fjbjgrs27Excellent essay by Leif, Tyler, and Ben. Interestingly, reification of “internal states” is one of the pitfalls of the intentional stance of Dennett, something we are seeing a lot of AI interoperability research succumbing to. [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Jun 2026 18:44 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo4fjbjgrs27https://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mnxqm3ooos2gwaiting out the rain10 Jun 2026 22:19 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnxqm3ooos2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mnxjrxseds2yI came back [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Jun 2026 20:17 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnxjrxseds2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mnwwrqwrnc2kThis was an excellent episode, very dense in ideas and concepts. Highly recommended. [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Jun 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnwwrqwrnc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/mraginsky.bsky.social/post/3mnqariy3lc2mWhite Negroni, Mood Indigo edition 1oz Empress 1908 indigo gin 1oz Luxardo bitter bianco 1oz C. Comoz vermouth blanc07 Jun 2026 22:47 +0000at://did:plc:64gnfkb4vguspilo6hqeaebr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnqariy3lc2m