James Williams

Twitter is a profoundly compromised medium. I minimize my own use of it wherever possible. If you wish to contact me, please email me at james@williams.nu.

@LauraMattiucci Glad to hear you're giving attention to these issues as well! And so heartened to hear the book was helpful in your thinking. Absolutely agree on the importance of taking a long view w/all of this.

"Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely."

Historians, if there are any, will one day be flabbergasted that our knee-jerk 'cancel' culture did not take aim at the obviously corrupt incentives of Twitter itself. We all have a moral obligation to dismantle and destroy its influence, which is incompatible with democracy.

In other words, banning "political advertising" is simply a deflection from the fact that Twitter as a "platform" is utterly compromised from top to bottom, and as such is totally contrary to the aims and processes of democracy

Twitter has not banned political advertising. It is simply exploiting the meaninglessness of the term "advertising" for its own benefit. "Earned" still means "earned according to the success metrics of an advertising platform." It is a fake gesture. And the show goes on.

To commemorate the Fourth I will simply share these great and prescient words of Lincoln's, in his Lyceum Address of 1838: abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speech…

@C___CS I guess etymologically, if 'revolve' means 'turn around' or 'turn back,' it's still in one sense kinda true... :)

@georgikantchev a veritable coop d'etat

Authorities suspect fowl play wsj.com/articles/justi…

@joshawlondon Deeply heartened that you found it valuable!

@gregmepstein this is partly why @GeorgeLakoff said the left in America is just as anti-science as the right - because they decline to take into account the reality of human psychology in their rhetorical choices

If you think all we need to do is get more people to declare themselves "rational" and talk about science and they will obvi be right and good, wake up. It is SO easy to put so-called Reason to the service of conservative policies and self-serving agendas.

I'm sitting at Harvard right now across from a former GOP Congressman raising money from moderate conservative alums who think they are SO RATIONAL.

@nateandersen Totally agree re: the answers. :) Grateful for your attention, and so heartened it was of value for you

@codingaustralia The planet will be fine. The question is, how will *we* fare? On the long view, I'm very bullish. In the near-term, though, it may be a rough ride...

@WilliamsJames_ the BBC story on brain dead university students raises an interesting conundrum. What is the biggest challenge, climate change or social media? The planet is doomed.

@romerotron @reidhoffman @timoreilly @tristanharris Totally agree. But, sadly, it's just one more example of how the so-called "techlash" of late has completely failed to understand, clarify, or reform the actual threats to human freedom that are in play

I can't believe it's 2019 and LinkedIn still hasn't cleaned up their dark product patterns where they coax you to spam/e-mail your entire contact book ... this is tech leadership at it's best @reidhoffman? seriously? cc @timoreilly @tristanharris @WilliamsJames_ i'm just sayin'

Very much enjoyed the whirlwind tour across Italy his week for the Italian version of my book, which was kindly translated by @abcdeeFFe & published by @effequ. Grazie mille! #scansatevi

Looking for the perfect audiobook for the commute home tonight? We're pleased to let you know that you can currently listen to @WilliamsJames_ #9Dots Prize winning book, Stand Out of Our Light, for FREE at : nookaudiobooks.com/audiobook/2824…

🥁 And the 2019 #PrincetonU Pre-Read is ... "Stand Out of Our Light" by @WilliamsJames_! 📖 bit.ly/2X2ehy8

Each year, all new @Princeton students read the same book in a wonderful tradition called the 'Pre-read.' This year, that book will be my recent exploration of a topic I care about deeply. Thrilled & honored for the book to be a part of this tradition. princeton.edu/news/2019/04/1…

Every single politician who joins in with anti-politics populism, who defines their patriotism in order to enrage the country rather than to love and protect it will no doubt get some retweets. Make sure those retweets are worth it, I guarantee you'll regret it.

@fmanjoo I'm not sure what Apple's mission is anymore, or how any of this stuff relates to it. But I do know they missed a fantastic opportunity to call Apple Card "HyperCard"