Rory

Conversely they heard it very well and were just too polite to comment.

“Where did you study aeronautics?”

“Ha, you rube, you silly, silly fool. While you were studying the PLANES I was in my lair learning, nay, crafting a new alchemical language: prompts! Mine prompts unlocked arcane knowledge you wouldn’t dare dream of!”

I am very tired and I hope this AI bubble pops soon.

I like a shortcut as much as the next guy if I’m in a rush, but as cliché as it is, if you want to do something well, it’s worth taking the time to actually do it well, and even accept the human imperfections as one of the things that makes it special.

If you have a cool idea and lack the skills to implement it, gaining the required skills should be an end in and of itself. Writing a great novel is impressive and wonderful, but so is the journey to that great novel, learning how to tell a good story, living, reading, revising and honing skills.

And it’s not even really about the lack of invention or intending that irks me—lots of great art is accidental, driven by passion rather than meticulous craft—but rather it’s the lack of anything at all. It’s hollow, meaningless. It’s a shiny, creatively-devoid, nothing. There’s no artistry.

I met someone who referred to themselves as an “AI Artist,” and while I have an immense appreciation for art and ability to turn a phrase, the idea that writing a prompt, hitting enter, and having ChatGPT create a Frankensteined image for you out of stolen assets is decidedly not worth respecting.

It’d be a pretty massive flex if I was a doctor of not only one philosophy, but two…

Really enjoying that a PhD application says I’m applying for a plural Doctor of Philosophy Philosophy rather than just a singular Doctor of Philosophy. Two Philosophies are better than one, I suppose.

Cried through approximately 70% of del Toro’s Frankenstein—I’m not even remotely surprised it was as good as it was because I trust GDT fervently, but it somehow exceeded my already-high expectations. It’s a beautiful, human film about forgiveness, gentleness rising above cruelty.

Congrats, pal! So proud of you, and so excited to cheer you on at graduation!!

Saw Miss Saigon at the Playhouse—Kim lived this time! Kim, Chris, and Ellen ended up in a throuple raising the kid, and the Engineer read Butler and apologised to women for all the misogyny. Heartwarming!

West from 40 George Square, a golden sunset against buildings in Bruntsfield.

Sunset and 40 George Square.

I love my home, I love my people, and I love that somehow I get to read and think and write about time travel as a vocation.

Diabolical.

If someone at Faber & Faber wants to give me advanced copies of Calculation of Volume III and IV, I’m just saying they’d get thanked in my thesis acknowledgements…

Autumn is nearly in full force in Edinburgh, and remains one of my absolute favourite things about my home. Some say dreary, I say comforting.

The ability of Hegel to cause the eyes to wander from the words on the page to stare longingly out the window or become fascinated by the dust particles in the air is unparalleled and should be studied.

I’m still reeling from the Dramione fanfic turning into a millions of united states of america dollars seven movie deal.

I also just want to talk more about Le Guin’s contributions to philosophical thought more because she’s so woefully ignored as a philosopher in her own right.

Intermedial or comparative approaches to pedagogy just seem like not only a great place to start, but a relatively simple way to encourage students to call upon interesting resources in their work or in class, and set a groundwork for deeper, creative engagement with whatever the core material is.

I’d love to know why early undergraduate ethics courses don’t make use of Le Guin’s ‘The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas’, because it seems like such fantastic entry material into ethical enquiry—virtually all ethical schools of thought could be applicable or related to the story in a practical way.

It’s either that, or Terry Pinkard loves italics. I choose to believe Hegel loved italics though, just like I choose to believe that I understand Hegel with a once in a generation nuance and complexity in spite of the fact I’m commenting on his possible overuse of italics to procrastinate.

Every time I begin to feel self conscious about my liberal use of italics in my work I just read Hegel for a bit and feel better by contrast. Our brother in Christ loved emphasising words, sometimes every second or third word in a page-length run-on sentence.

a real unplug then plug back in if ever there was one even

A soft restart even

Found my teen reading Hegel. After throwing up and having a fetal cry in the shower, I went to Best Buy and got him a PS5. Please. Your kids might be reading philosophy. GERMAN philosophy.

Leave church now and go check your kids’ rooms and hard drives. These perverts have pdfs.

I don’t know when we decided that the Miller translation of Phenomenology was old hat, but I’ll admit, the Pinkard translation, above all, does have far nicer feeling paper.

If you would like to arrange to meet me in Greyfriars Kirkyard for a meeting you can get my in-grave-out-of-office hours by asking one of our local corvids.

My phone just reminded me during the extended strike action of ‘23, I occasionally arranged meetings to be in Greyfrairs Kirkyard for a more informal, off-campus meeting spot, and I have to say, that was a pretty dark academia way to avoid crossing a picket line.

Thoughts and prayers will warm your heart and stop the cold I am very smart