Tobias Flattery

Well, it’s the opposite for me: I’ve gone back to my notes from both grad school and undergrad many times!

PSA for undergrads & grad students: never ever lose your notes from college and/or grad school. Keep 'em in a vault. Keep 'em in an undying shared folder. Years later you might want--or need!--those notes. If you can't find them, you'll rend your garments & gnash your teeth. #highered #academicsky

A sequence of events: handed back exams at the end of class; considered eating banana; applied hand sanitizer first; learned immediately that multiple fingers suffered paper cuts from handing back exams. 😑
#academicsky

Indeed

😂

A pandora sphinx moth on a window next to a hand.

Pandora sphinx moth! Ran into this fantastic moth at a medical center. Just chillin on the window, looking awesome. #entomology

Ugh!

Is it just me, or is Adobe Acrobat becoming dreadful? Typically I use other PDF readers, but I needed Acrobat for something. Upon opening it, multiple additional window frames pop up, one by one (not simult.), pushing me to use AI assistance, AI summaries, etc. I just want to print! #academicsky #ai

Screen capture of a Google Map, with a turn at Thales Rd coming up soon.

Looks like a flooded road might be coming up in 1.8 miles? (If you know, you know.) #philsky #academicsky

Is there new, groundbreaking research showing that using headphones or earbuds will cause one’s head to melt, or immediate infertility, or one’s appendages to fall off? I’m trying to understand why so many people (not just young) are playing videos aloud on their phones in public. #academicsky

The Magic Kingdom and the Meaning of Life: A Philosopher Visits Disney World What truths and life lessons can we take away from a seemingly trivial theme park in Orlando, Florida? <br /><br />Father and philosopher Adam Kadlac reflects on his own visits to Walt Disney World, a...

It is UK publication day for "The Magic Kingdom and the Meaning of Life" (from @politybooks.bsky.social). I guess it's a strange time for a book about Disney to arrive in the world, but this project means a lot to me, and I'm really proud of it. www.wiley.com/en-ie/The+Ma...

Interested in the ethics of AI-generated art? Check out this short video on the awesome work my undergrad research advisee, Ashley Li, has been doing at @wakeforest.bsky.social! (There's a bit in there about my work, but Ashley's the star of this show!) #aiethics #ai #academicsky

Should you say “please” and “thank you” to a chatbot? | Inside WFU Should you say “please” and “thank you” to a chatbot? Sit down with WFU colleagues Ryan Scholl (Information Systems) and philosophy professor Tobias Flattery on this Deacs.AI episode to explore the cu...

Getting some love from the @wakeforest.bsky.social news folks, about my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast! #aiethics #academicsky

My copy of the Hackett edition of Rene Descartes's Meditations, with Objections and Replies.

I mentioned Descartes's dualism as an unrelated aside during a day on logic in my moral problems course. After class, a student asked me to recommend a good translation of Descartes. I emailed him this photo. This week, he brought his new copy to class to show me. Life is good. #philsky #academicsky

I Think, Therefore AI Am?

Also at Spotify here:

I Think, Therefore AI Am? Podcast Episode · Deacs.AI · 09/16/2025 · 1h 9m

Concerned about AI in higher ed & society? Or excited? Or somewhere in the middle? You might find my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast interesting! We talk about AI in higher ed, AIs & consciousness, robot rights, AI friends, and more. #aiethics #academicsky #ai

Neuroscientist named Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar | Wake Forest News Wake Forest University has announced that Boswell Presidential Chair in Neuroscience and Society Kenneth T. Kishida is its newest Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar.

Wake Forest neuroscientist Kenneth T. Kishida has been named a Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar. His research measuring brain chemistry in real time is transforming how we understand decision-making and mood. #ProHumanitate #WFUResearch https://wakefo.rest/3K3aI8F

Plato has Laches express well why doing philosophy can be hard: "I am really getting annoyed at being unable to express what I think... I still think I know what [X] is, but I can’t understand how it has escaped me just now so that I can’t pin it down in words and say what it is.” #philsky

But even if your “probably isn’t” is correct, all it takes is one civilization developing the tech in the future and running massive simulations with virtual people. If that happens, then, by his argument, the odds are surprisingly high that we’re virtual people. (There are a few more premises.)

Love this: just got a note from a former student--from a class 3 yrs ago!--wanting to chat about Bostrom's simulation argument & current agentic AI systems. Another part of the job that I love! What's the simulation argument? See link! #aiethics #philsky #academicsky
simulation-argument.com/matrix/

U.S. Open is serving $100 chicken nuggets with caviar. Here's what else is on the menu. The U.S. Open 2025 is serving up more than just tennis, with luxury food items on the menu. And of course, the return of the Honey Deuce.

Bonkerstown. $100 chicken nuggets meal at the #USOpen
www.cbsnews.com/amp/newyork/...

The B99 reference made my heart happy 😄

Today is no ordinary Monday. It’s Mega-Monday: when the 1st day of college classes falls on a Monday, and a kiddo’s doc appt. Thus, in accordance with the laws of the universe, when I tried to start my car this morning, it broke massively. The sound of the fabric of spacetime imploding. #academicsky

Rougher seas ahead for CS students… 😕 #academicsky #computerscience

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/t...

Indeed I even had a typo in the above post! 😄

A student email beginning with the salutation, “Dead Professor Flattery, …”

I assured the student that I’m indeed alive, not dead. 😁 (I also told the student that I’ve done he same typo myself, even in a few grad school cover letters!) #academicsky

Welp, congrats, North Carolina DMV system. You’re actually worse than the California DMV system. That’s tough to do.

That feeling when you’re like so totally prepared for that podcast interview, and you’re pumped about it despite being stressed about putting off some semester prep for it… and then you realize, one hour before the interview, that the interview is next week. Not winning today. 😆🤦‍♂️ #academicsky

Denmark zoo asks people to donate their small pets as food for captive predators The Aalborg zoo says it is trying to mimic the natural food chain of the animals housed there and offers assurances the pets will be “gently euthanized” by trained staff.

Please don't throw your pets to the wolves... er... tigers or whatever. apnews.com/article/denm...

Woman on beach staring at giant wave (tsunami?)

Feeling this hard today. #AcademicSky