David Petersen

My feelings about A.I. and math

@ologies.bsky.social Thank Pete that the NSF doesn't accept audio grant applications or else @pgirguis.bsky.social would get all the funding! Really personable interview and great voice. I also learned a lot! Thanks for sharing!

I’m in Denmark, trying to figure out why everything seems to run so much smoother here, and this is a bit part of it. The society is built on social trust, and even as a tourist (!) I’m pretty sure that I’m not being scammed around every single corner. Constant vigilance is exhausting.

When Shel Silverstein predicted AI

@ifycomedy.com I really enjoyed this week’s @gamechanger.dropout.tv episode and your performance was a major part of that. Thanks for the fun!

xkcd comics published about statistics correlates with The number of concierges in Ohio (r=0.921)

why does the “you can’t fight it” rhetoric around AI feel so familiar?? 🤔

Me to 7yo: What's half of 56? 7yo: I dunno. 23? Me: No, that'd be half of 46. 7yo: Oh, then it's 28.

Reminder to those who can't seem to grasp distinction between median and average. US average income in 2024 was $76,000. US median income was $44,000. The difference is vast inequality. And $44,000 is not a good living.

Are we meant to forgive SpaceX's destruction of LEO, astronomy, and the night sky for this?

#ITeachMath

Ancient dice found in North America showing that Indigenous Americans may have used them to play with other groups they meet. www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/04/ice-...

The #1 problem with AI: "...the tool requires expertise to validate, but its use diminishes expertise and stunts its growth." taggart-tech.com/reckoning/

For the first time, a person who is not a white, American man will see the Moon close-up* with their own eyes. I'm eager to see with their vision. Will it be the same or different? Which cultural influences will be uppermost? #ArtemisII *From 8, 000 km 🧪

The world does not need more undergraduate history essays but does need more people who can write good ones.

"Math is not true because we tell kids it is true; math is true because they can find that truth for themselves. We can find these truths together."

Interesting stat from the article

PPS: I'm not sure how my tone comes across in these posts, because I worry my tech friends will think I'm being pessimistic and my arts friends the opposite. Personally, I feel like someone whose house is being eaten by nanobots, but who is really interested in nanobots.

Feeling this so hard this past several weeks

@ryannorth.ca TBF, I do think of you as many things before I think of you as the guy who was stuck in a hole. But, when I think of someone stuck in a hole, I think of you first. www.reddit.com/r/interestin... (I know you had your puppers with you, so this method wasn't on the table)

@k8nowak.bsky.social asked if I would be interested in helping a new company write curriculum while I moved states

Why am I so against generative AI in games? Because I simply do not want my initial reaction to art to be one of suspicion and scrutiny, AI slop is fundamentally damaging my relationship to art and artistry, and I am deeply resentful that it is forcing me to be guarded when I should be wowed.

New bullet-holed-plane dropped

In her #NWAV53 plenary, King discusses an example of a juror being dismissed from the pool due to forestressing in the word police (so PO-lice), because the prosecutor claimed that the pronunciation showed animus towards law enforcement. And this is exactly why I study prosody!

@alliegoertz.bsky.social Matt Groening gave you a quick mention on today's WTF interview about how you were his first podcast even though he'd promised Maron. But, your interview was better

The distance between Neptune and the Sun correlates with Burglary rates in the US (r=0.969)

The gap between teacher pay and other college graduates’ pay is the highest it’s been in over four decades. Is there a “teacher shortage,” or a shortage of jobs that treat educators with the pay, dignity, and support they deserve?

1. "'Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy," Kennedy said." It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy. I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.

@k8nowak.bsky.social xkcd.com/3126/

If we could just believe women, we wouldn't need the files released.

If you finish a video or some social media and you are left feeling angry or smug, make sure you analyze your reasons and question the media you just consumed. -- @escapethispodcast.bsky.social

Entering a bank with a Victoria's Secret bag and shouting it's a C cup.

@rhettallain.bsky.social Hi, Rhett! Do you (or the physics community) have a standard example of what 1 Newton feels like? Like Wikipedia has that the force of gravity on an apple is about 2N, but that's still not too intuitive to me. So maybe how hard you'd have to push something common?

Usually it's the first 2 panels that make a good business card, but in today's comic it's the last panel that I want.

Free jeans?!

@ifycomedy.com You are very right about the "don't you dare close your eyes" line from Aladdin. Dial it down, bud!

🔑🚪It’s time to escape! Check out the newest Desmos escape room! To play yourself: student.desmos.com/join/3jjxj9 (no need to log in but it will save your progress if you do) Here’s the teacher link to run it with a class: teacher.desmos.com/activitybuil... Have fun!

I'll be there!

To really make money on the stock market you don't actually want it to just go up. You want 2 things: 1. Volatility (goes up and down a lot) 2. Predictability Then, if you have the TIME and MONEY you can ride those waves to fortune. That's why he's doing it. #RichGetRicher

@schviftyfive.tv How's the coding going? I'm really proud of you taking the time to learn more!

@zachweinersmith.bsky.social The college where my wife is a professor is putting on a play of Beowulf this weekend. So, my son is reading your book to prepare for understanding what's going on.

USAspending.gov has some days explorations and a great API for my quant-minded friends who want to see what trillions of dollars of federal grants and loans pay for.