Dean Earlix, Ph.D.

I had my first son at 44, and I wondered at the time what kind of father I would be. This is him, 21 years later. We worked together on his Hell Diver costume and flag for at least a dozen hours. I chuckled, as I thought of him showing up for his IT support job at college in full costume, and am so proud of my kids I sometimes want to burst. If I could send a bottled message to myself--or any other childless adult wondering if they were too late--it would be this: It is never too late to get your life together, find your partner, and have kids. And, folks, it is sooo worth it.

@dougboneparth When anyone tells you they made "$90K a month trading stocks," note the word "a." It's natural to focus on your best month; but when you consider all months, are you even above an index fund yield? Very, very few are.

Just remember, if someone is making $90K a month trading stocks, they wouldn’t need to sell you a course.

@ashleevance I've read the NY Times and watched HBO, but I'd buy a your book anyway. Not just for the pleasure of reading, but so I can meet J.D. one day and ask him to sign it. Sure hope he has a better sense of humor than Douglas Adams when I asked him to sign *Watership Down*.

Remeber, friends, two stickers means you know it's good

This moment from my last book still makes me laugh. I hit up for the former New Zealand prime minister John Key and asked for an interview. Next thing I know, we're planning brunch. He's offering to pick me up at my Airbnb. It feels too weird to have a prime minister pick me up, so I make my own way only to find Key dressed in a t-shirt and shorts and cool as can be. We have a nice breakfast. People in the restaurant say hi to him like he's just some bloke. He tells me that his son is a fan of my writing and will be impressed that he met me. 😂🤣 Such a lack of pretention. Very nice dude. Equally hilarious is his reaction when Peter Beck informed him that he planned on building a rocket in New Zealand.

@tanpukunokami A college professor reciting the Muslim call to prayer in a Shinto shrine might be a shining demonstration of the fact that high intelligence is zero protection against high stupidity. Except most professors are not that bright. With today's students, they don't need to be.

I heard that someone had recited the adhan at a Shinto shrine. I thought, “Well, probably just some dumb Muslim.” Turns out he was a university professor. What the fuck?

@_Peter_Cook Man almost marries right woman, instead marries wrong woman, dreams unravel, then he learns to help others for meaning. Not a movie, but I thought your challenge to boringly describe favorite movies would be an interesting way to look at our lives.

Young boy joins neighborhood association, but over time, he regrets his choice and eventually leaves their employ.

@abemurray You post, therefore, I reply. Does it need to be more complicated?

Seeing so many of my friends in my feed now Lists less important? Say hi if you’re seeing this

@tanpukunokami People like to complain about having too much of things society values. Rich men are plagued by gold-diggers. Attractive women are harassed by jerks. I lack both wealth and beauty, but it seems that their path to happiness will come from avoiding jerks, not disparaging gifts.

The other day, a drunk woman with huge boobs started talking to me at an izakaya. I had no idea where this was going. Then she started lecturing me: “Men have no idea how hard it is to live with big boobs.” Your shoulders hurt. There are no cute bras. People stare at you all the time. Halfway through, I was just sitting there going, “Yeah… I’m really sorry…” Somehow, I ended up apologizing on behalf of all men who love big boobs.

I am amazed that a college football game could bring 60,000 people into a city of 20,000, but I never understood it. Being a scientist, I guess, I asked a group on their way to a game what the big deal was about. They said I had to experience it, and they had an extra ticket. So I went. I experienced. I thanked them. but I still don't understand it.

@HalfPolymath @japan_nobunaga I detest both teams...but I'm telling you this as a man who had lived in Bama since Jr high: War Eagle is "we have Roll Tide at home"

In Alabama a man said "Roll Tide" to me as a greeting. Later that same day, the same man said "Roll Tide" as a goodbye. I asked a woman at the store what it means. She said, "Roll Tide." I asked what it means. She said, "It means Roll Tide, sugar." So I began collecting evidence. I kept a list. I am not embarrassed about the list. I have now heard "Roll Tide" used as: hello. Goodbye. Thank you. I am sorry. Congratulations. That is unfortunate. I agree. I disagree. And once, in a hardware store, as a complete set of instructions for installing a ceiling fan. I heard it said at a funeral. It was appropriate. It was the most appropriate thing anyone said that day. I began using it. Carefully at first, the way a man handles a borrowed sword. I said it to a cashier. She said it back. I said it to a police officer who had stopped me for a broken taillight. He looked at me for a long moment. He looked at my face. He looked at my taillight. Then he said it back, and nodded once, and did not write the ticket. I wish to be extremely clear that I am not claiming those two events are related. I am also not claiming they are unrelated. A man at a gas station heard my accent and asked where I was from. I told him Japan. He said, "Roll Tide." He meant welcome. I knew he meant welcome. There was no ambiguity at all. I have been in Alabama eleven days. I have one word. It has been enough for everything. I have started saying it in other states. It does not work in other states. I said it in a warehouse store in Oregon. One man turned around. He was from Alabama. He said it back. We did not speak after that. We did not have to. I say it anyway.

@tanpukunokami It feels good to post our victories and wisdom, but that benefits our readers less. It is harder to post our mistakes, but it helps our readers avoid them. Domo arigato gozaimasu, Nyanchuu-san. I will be extra careful near the onions.😋

In Japan, we are usually disciplined people. We respect rules. We avoid causing trouble. Then Costco gives us unlimited onions for a hot dog. Suddenly, centuries of social order disappear. I bought a hot dog at Costco in Japan and walked over to the toppings station. I added some onions. Then a little more. Then enough onions to make the sausage legally classified as missing. I added relish. Mustard. Ketchup. Then more onions, because apparently I had become a farmer. At some point, it was no longer a hot dog. It was an onion salad with a sausage trapped underneath. The man next to me stared at it and said, “Are you eating that here, or taking it home to feed a family of six?” I tried to pick it up. The bun immediately gave up. The sausage escaped from the back. Onions fell everywhere. One landed in my drink. Another landed on a stranger’s tray. A small child pointed at me and said, “Mom, that man broke his hot dog.” No, child. The hot dog broke me. I used twelve napkins, lost half the toppings, and smelled like onions for the rest of the day. The hot dog was cheap. The laundry bill was higher. I went to Costco for groceries. I left smelling like onions and carrying emotional damage.

@drakmog While our kids were young, their mother read out loud until her voice got tired. Their vocabularies showed it, but their love of reading was all over the map. Mostly proportional to how much time they were homeschooled vs public schooled.

audio-first matters most for the kid who wants the mystery but can't decode the page yet. let him hear the detective story on the ride home. now the book has a reason to exist when he sees it tomorrow.

@joeroganhq The deck is truly stacked against higher education. 1) Degrees take 4 years, enough time for two technology generations. 2) Information is learned far from where and when it will be put to use, losing context; 3) Many of the schools are ideologically captured, but can't see it.

Elon Musk on the value of a college education: "Too many people spend four years, accumulate a ton of debt, and then often don't have useful skills that they can apply afterward."

@JeffVisitsEarth @japan_nobunaga Auburn has had a series of eagles, since. When I lived on-campus, I used to walk by the aviary and talked to the eagle's trainer. He considered it quite an honor.

@HalfPolymath @japan_nobunaga They brought out an eagle once, and since then the rest is history.

@clankrmedia Finally, a flying decoration for apartments and homes with high ceilings. Though, if I'm being honest, I'd rather grow potted plants that support butterflies and lightening bugs. Oh Grok... x.com/i/grok/share/0…

Researchers built a soft floating robot for indoor interaction. It uses helium and flapping fins instead of propellers. The result is quiet, lightweight, and safe to touch. It can follow people, give reminders, and act as a study buddy. Published at ACM DIS 2026.

@GrampsToolshed This cartoon exemplifies how some people can see the same block of information one hundred times, yet still see it in a new way. That ability is the key to a comedian winning an audience... and a scientist winning a Nobel Prize.

Bwahahahahahahaha!!! I believe it !!!! 😜💯

@anenglishteachr If you pan out, every sword pointed at the guy is held by an ordinary-looking, well-intentioned person who genuinely believes they're defending truth and justice. I was there as a homeschooling papa, and now I get it each time I wade into the culture war with a nuanced opinion.

Homeschooling is not feasible for a lot of families and social media is often misleading

@PursueOptimism I think that Love is a gift (from whence, I'm unsure), but to heal our wounded cultures, countries, and people, increasing the frequency and duration of love is the surest path. One day, I'd like to help create an online course on love that costs less than a cup of coffee.

Stuart Rose is spot on with this. Love can’t be forced no matter how much the apps try to. It happens when it happens. So much is forced and faked these days, it’s nice to be reminded that the real thing is out there somewhere. What do you think?

@StuartRWriter With the benefit of hindsight, I agree wholeheartedly with your article title. Love can't be forced; however, there's something to be said for the strategic application of heavy equipment. Like applying them to all the obstacles we put in the way of love.

My latest article 'Love cannot be forced into existence' is out now on my Substack. Please do go and have a read. Has love ever surprised you when you least expected it? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Link below in thread.

@TechOperator I hope it also gives cause for optimism. At the heart of every halfway technology is the potential for one further stage: high technology. That's when the underlying problems are addressed and everything gets simpler yet works far better!

@HalfPolymath This made me laugh 🤣

Here's the side of my neighbor's house post install. Thoughts?

@LimitingThe Being too stupid to know what I didn't know was the key reason I did the most important things in my life. Unfortunately, I know what I don't know. This is Elon's fault. He shows us how much we can do for our species, but my investments in Tesla mean I don't have to.

@HalfPolymath I was too stupid to realize that I didn't know anything, and I felt like I had something important to say 😂 Don't focus on the logic, do what you feel like doing

After I made my first YouTube video, I couldn't conceive of making even two or three more Then, as my knowledge increased, I quickly ended up with a backlog of dozens of videos because I realized how little I knew I think the same thing is happening with AI Once AI starts automating tasks, people realize how much more stuff there is to do The sphere of doability increases exponentially with automation the same way that the sphere of things to understand increases exponentially with knowledge