This is actually a post I wrote in May 2025. I’ve been sitting on it because…well, honestly, mostly laziness, but also a bit that it felt unfinished for how to-the-point it is. However, commentary on the role that software engineers’ pride seems to be playing in AI company marketing (see, e.g., Cal Newport), among other…
Quick note on OpenAI and Erdős’s unit distance problem
Top-line reaction: It’s so incredibly important to see all of the actual details here to make an honest assessment of the result’s import. E.g., How many problems were they working on? In what areas? What prompts/inputs were used, and how many? What models with what settings? What was left out of the “abridged” (70k word, likely…
Who cares about Haag’s theorem?
Just wanted to say a few quick things about Haag’s theorem, now that Marian (Gilton), David (Freeborn), and I have finished our first paper on it (hopefully! it was conditionally accepted prior to this most recent revision). 1 I’ve heard quite a few folks react to our interest in Haag’s theorem as an instance of…
The Book Report Problem
I’m currently sick and having trouble thinking through actual work, so instead I’m going to scratch an itch I’ve had for a while now. Many philosophers of science take close engagement with the relevant science to be necessary to their work. But, what does (should) this engagement look like? I’m going to sneak up…
Announcing the PSA DEI Caucus Affinity Group for Philosophy of Physics
The purpose of this post is to provide some information about a group I started early this year, dedicated to DEI in philosophy of physics, as part of the Philosophy of Science Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Caucus (formerly the Women’s Caucus). So far, the group has existed in name only, so you’ve not missed…
It might happen after all
I am finishing up my first year on the tenure track, and something amazing just happened to me last week. So, I am finally sitting down to write about what this all means, and I will share that amazing thing with you all. I am very proud of myself not for the reasons you might…
Another job market data point
I recently came across Jeremy Davis’s writing on his five years of job market experience. I especially enjoyed his candid storytelling style. Reading it has made me want to write down my own job market journey. I have already written about my grad school journey here, which includes my first two years on the market,…
A quick heads up about spam email
I am currently trapped under two cats–hence unable to move for the foreseeable future–so why not write a quick blog post on something annoying about academia? Get ready for the spam email. Doubly so if you are in philosophy of physics. I get (almost) daily spam messages, now that I have publications. These come in…
Habit-forming in early career
It has become increasingly clear to me that I developed some bad habits in graduate school. These come in many forms, but a lot of those I’m noticing now relate to work-life balance. I was struggling with undiagnosed ADHD, so your mileage may vary here. But that said, I think this is a fairly common…
Our place in the fediverse
It began as shelter. A little over two years ago, I deleted my account on Douban, which was the only Chinese social media site I really ever used. My decision was a response to the increased censorship, which was not in its beginning at the time, and certainly not in its end. It was also…