Max Pearl 🏳️‍⚧️

A detailed thread about my fiction writing: I've been writing science fiction since 2006, and have written and published 12 novels and novellas. The big themes in my books include: 🏳️‍🌈LGBTQIA+ characters 👽Aliens & First Contact 🏛️Culture Clash 🚀Space travel Details below and here: maxwellpearl.com

I don't need to tell you how racist this is. You're smart enough. There are 1000 replies telling you at a bare glance this is garbage. From science to superheroes to fine art. But to the myopic views of a white supremacist, nonwhite achievements can never exist and that's universal.

Solar farms in the Gobi are cutting dust storms. A study of 17 farms found the panels slow surface winds by more than 9% and make soil up to 17% less erodible, reducing springtime dust by about 352,000 tonnes a month. RenewEconomy buff.ly/bambHT8 #ShareGoodNewsToo

I'm a science fiction writer who loves to write space opera, but I absolutely agree with this 10000%.

I'm not sure how much more blatant it can get that these guys are looting the federal government and then pointing over there and saying "look what THOSE BLACK PEOPLE ARE GETTING AWAY WITH!!!" bsky.app/profile/atru...

Don't threaten me with a good time!!

I worked on an organic farm for 3 days. I learned how literally back-breaking farm work is. I couldn't get out of bed the 4th day.

Shoutout Rhiannon Giddens and Wu Man. This is pure joy and love for music.

Cozy woke science fiction with diverse characters and fun world-building that asks big questions.

No AI for kids. Full stop.

OK, so yeah, what he says is super problematic! But who is that creepy person in a dress on his left???? And everyone except the poor bearded guy is smiling - he looks super uncomfortable and is probably saying in his head "what am I doing here?"

The 12th(!) Gender Reveal grant cycle is now open for applications! As always, these funds are for organizing / community projects led by trans people of color. We are particularly interested in funding existing projects that materially support trans folks, queer people of color, immigrants, etc.

Alito is a second-rate mind doing first-rate misogyny.

Hard to think of anything less abstract and more materially consequential than being pregnant

Your favorite Anthropic so-called "whistleblower" said that the rationalists have "specialized minds" that allow them to see that the end is about to be brought on to us by a magical machine god. Parroting the cult leader (of the rationalists, the R in TESCREAL) who says the same about himself.

The only existential risk human beings face from AI is environmental, from its massive use of resources. AI itself isn't even intelligent. We make it feel that way because our brains are wired that way. AGI is still solidly science fiction. Kinda like warp drive.

And over on the fediverse, I'm laughing my ass off! neuromatch.social/@jonny/11732...

This is interesting.

"Can a rapist’s prose elicit remorse for sexual assault? What word count best equates to appropriate jail time? In this class, we will dissect what empathy and accountability might look like so undergrads may successfully mimic them on paper in pursuit of avoiding just punishment." buff.ly/5na4oMY

On my way back home from a really nice weekend in Seattle. Sorry to leave, but I'll be happy to be home, too.

#LGBTQWriteAThon starts October 1st!

Any cognition you perceive in "AI" is your own. That's it. You built your concept of its intelligence, the same way you understand fictional characters as people. The same way you can see an octopus in a towel hook. They are using your mind to sell their product. The human is you.

The Heritage Foundation laid out how they were going to rescind Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, by first targeting trans people's participation in sport. Capitulating on the human rights of transgender people is catastrophically falling at the first hurdle.

The major platforms—Facebook, YouTube, and X—are all refusing to show the trailer for the upcoming documentary that eviscerates the ridiculous pest Elon Musk. So I guess we have to do our part to make sure it is seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...

Punxsutawney Jill is sticking her head out a little early this cycle.

'A rogue superintelligence breached our perimeter' sounds infinitely sexier in the pitch deck than 'someone hardcoded the admin token in an open pastebin.'

"The whole “Oh no, our models went rogue” thing … When a bridge collapses, you don’t analyze whether the bridge was ethical or sentient or why it decided to collapse. You ask, who is the person who built this bridge to be so flimsy?" www.wired.com/story/one-of...

She's 5 years older than me.

"fairness in women's sports" is literally just "ethics in games journalism" like this is the same thing this is part of the same playbook dawg

🔇 🔇 🔇 My book, Deep Unlearning, is now available for preorders! I don't know how people write so many books because this one took a lot out of me. It turns out, I had a lot to say 😂, with editors cutting out 50k of my words 🫣 ✴️ You can now preorder it at www.simonandschuster.com/books/Deep-U....

Make this make sense. You have companies working on a technology THEY THINK might wipe out humanity. The prudent thing would be to stop now. I don't believe this, but I really don't understand the mindset of these people.

Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...

One of the things I hate about AI is that I now am getting long detailed emails about why someone thinks one of my books is worthy of their book group or their publisher, etc., by people who have definitely not actually read the book.

Take a break from being depressed that everything you love is being destroyed by slop for a moment and let me tell you about the beautiful symbiotic relationship between graffiti writers, train yard workers, and model train enthusiasts.

I say this as a trans person: you are out of your fucking mind. There is no such thing as independent intelligent AI systems. As a neuroscientist and science fiction writer, this concept is purely fiction, and to link it to the fate of actual human beings is extremely problematic.

Dear @reuters.com: Please tell your readers that the ‘critics’ are people who have read 31 U.S.C. § 5114(b). It contains the following sentence: “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.” This is not a ‘both sides’ thing. It’s illegal.

Many states, including my own, have rural residents who can only vote by mail. Not only are these people evil and nefarious, they clearly also fact-deprived and brainless.

You cannot appeal to rigorous academic standards and argue for the inclusion of racist pseudoscience, the most fallacious, damaging, and discredited idea of the past 500 years. You might as well teach doctors to recognize the four humors.

You have to love the Quakers; they’ve stood by the trans community for many years. Their main spaces are inclusive, with some minimal, legally compliant, outlying provision for bigots somewhere else. And you’re going to see this more and more from SPs. Hey, GCs, you got exactly what you asked for.

'Go Woke, Go Broke' is a Myth, New Study Finds Companies that Kept Diversity Initiatives Maintain High Revenue theemancipator.org/2026/08/19/n...