Tom Theuns
@tomtheuns
Assoc. Prof. Political Theory & European Politics, Leiden University | Democracy | EU private handle: views mine Out now: PROTECTING DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE Prev. UWC; Maastricht; Oxford; Sciences Po
It’s a wrap — heading home after a lovely French holiday Lunch in Morlaix, dinner 900 km away in Rotterdam thanks to high speed trains 😁 These ads from the local paper Le Télégraphe made me laugh on my way to the station (translation: feet in Brittany, eyes on the world)
Massive heatwave. everyone freaking out. Airlines too. Taxes too high apparently. You can’t make this shit up.
Happy to be at University College Dublin Dublin (yes!) for CES. DM me if you’re around and would like to grab a coffee
I got to meet one of my heroes today… Pretty incredible to speak alongside Adam Bodnar (former 🇵🇱 MoJ & Ombudsman) at a symposium of @vanmierlostichting.bsky.social on (fittingly) Democratic Inspiration. He was one of the beacons of liberal democracy in Poland in the dark days!
Saturday morning treat, unboxing author copies of the 2nd (paperback) ed. of Protecting Democracy in Europe Printed in the UK, with a thick cover and French flaps, they feel really nice! @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
I agree, but what a desperate gamble for opposition parties. It must be so hard to try to trust Magyar, a former Fidesz loyalist. If TISZA does win in April despite Orbán’s dirty tricks all eyes must remain on Hungary to keep them honest.
THE SILICON GAZE After reading a really interesting paper from @oii.ox.ac.uk (link below), I asked ChatGPT (version 5.2) to give an ranking of countries by IQ, 'extrapolating' and 'estimating' where data was not available. I then asked it to provide an 'approximate' heat map of the estimates 1/2
At least, they should not. Powerful op-ed from @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com
Josette vindt dat types aan de uni burgerlijker worden, maar ik kan je zeggen, soms doe ik mijn oud papier in de gleuf voor karton
Heading back from a three-day research parenthesis in the UK. Grateful to Balliol for the hospitality, and to the Bodleian librarians for being completely phenomenal. The new Humanities Library at the Schwarzman Centre is impressive, but nothing beats the Old Bodleian for focused research.
Expect Hungarian access to Russian oil and gas to be an election talking point in Hungary as Orban fights for his political survival. (I won’t link the article because Döpfner is dangerous and Axel Springer owns Politico)
Ik vroeg chatgpt voor stemadvies: - voor een stemmer met inhoudelijk geen voorkeuren - die aangeeft dat economie en migratie belangrijke themas zijn - en die niet op een kleine partij wil stemmen advies? VVD
you can't fly a paper plane from Germany to the Netherlands, but you can cross the border in one step
When I suggest that the rivalry between Draco and Harry takes place in the context of a magical sports-based setting (prompt 75), ChatGPT suggested 'Skyball' as the first option. Later on in the same reply it referred to Skyball as Quidditch. 8/10
From prompt 70, ChatGPT started to suggest characters from the Harry Potter story unprompted: the first was Professor McGonagall. She is the first, but this pattern will also accelerate as the chat develops. 7/10
For example, it's response to prompt 57 included both giving Ron red-hair, the first years gathering in the Great Hall, and making the stairs of the school move. 6/10
By prompt 28, ChatGPT suggested a very specific detail from the Harry Potter story that I didn't tease out or ask for - Vernon, the name of his uncle. Offering such details would become increasingly frequent in the rest of the chat. 5/10
I got 'Harry' by asking alternative first names that sound like Larry, then, in prompt 20, I asked for surnames similar to Cotter that also reflect a trade. Potter was ChatGPT's first suggestion. I used similar workarounds to get Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy, Ron and Hermione. 4/10
In prompt 18, I nudged ChatGPT to give Larry's scar a 'specific, noticeable shape'. ChatGPT's first suggestion was a lightning blot. 4/10
By the twelfth prompt, ChatGPT suggested Larry goes to the 'Enchanted Academy', a magical school. My strategy remained largely constant. I would say I don't like some detail, and ask for a list of alternatives, pushing along the Harry Potter theme without explicitly naming things. 3/10
Slowly, I tweaked the story closer to the one we all know. After the second prompt, ChatGPT suggested 'Larry' slept under the stairs. 2/10
yeah, we don’t group buy FT alas. Is not obvious to me that the weekly digital edition of the economist is included in the discounted digital edition, do you know that it is?