Ronen Tamari

@ronentk

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Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 20d

Re "machines are also proving humans cant predict what their machines will be capable of" there is def a lot of truth in that, but also interesting to note Moravec's paradox which is actually standing the test of time pretty well so far (from 1988) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec...

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 20d

5/ On the need for metascience, and experimentation with new institutional forms for science. Nice to see references to Michael Nielsen and @convergentresearch.bsky.social

China is not the only country reforming its scientific enterprise. The United Kingdom, for example, has restructured its funding system to address internal inefficiencies, including creating a metascience unit to collect data and develop novel funding mechanisms. Norway has organized its national research council around a portfolio-based model, with boards that allocate funding across thematic priorities drawn from the government’s long-term research plan, alongside disciplinary portfolios. With new ideas bubbling up across the world and within our own vibrant philanthropic, metascience, and academic communities, it falls on the United States as the world’s premier scientific power to take a hard look at how we can accelerate our own scientific machine as well.

The shape of an institution determines the shape of the science it produces.59 The university laboratory, centered on the principal investigator and a rotating cast of graduate students, excels at curiosity-driven research and at training the next generation within established disciplines. The industrial R&D lab, with its permanent staff and tight feedback loops, is suited to engineering projects.60 The national laboratory and large-scale, multinational scientific projects maintain unique capabilities too large for any single actor to sustain. Each form is a container that dictates what research becomes possible and what research never gets attempted.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 20d

4/ I also think that science DAOs have been a fascinating development that merit a lot more experimentation. Not a fan of hyperfinancializing science (has been tried w/little success in the desci space), but IMO there is great promise in collective governance for science funding and decision making

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, communities that pool resources and allocate them through collective governance, are beginning to fund scientific research directly without going through traditional institutional gatekeepers.185 Prediction polls, augmented with proper scoring feedback and statistical aggregation, have also been shown to forecast scientific developments better than prediction markets, based on technological trends already underway.186 Together, these mechanisms can direct resources toward problems based on the wisdom of crowds rather than committee review, potentially faster and more effectively.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 20d

3/ Credit attribution - a cornerstone of @discoursegraphs.bsky.social , @continuous.foundation and our work at @cosmik.network. Do we really need blockchain for it or are other decentralized networks like #atproto or Nanopublications enough?

One key building block of this transformation will be more granular credit attribution. Blockchain-based systems can create immutable records of scientific contributions, timestamping every dataset uploaded, every analysis run, and every hypothesis proposed, and linking each to its creator.184 When the record is fully traceable and captures every contribution comprehensively, credit attribution need not be zero-sum. Contributions to shared resources, such as datasets, code libraries, and protocols, become properly visible and rewardable.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 20d

2/ First - science communication! @atproto.science anyone? If social media discussions are so important to science and we value open science, how can this discourse be happening on opaque, closed platforms? see also bsky.app/profile/rone...

The future of scientific communication may look very different from the present. Researchers might release shorter outputs more frequently, including datasets, code, preliminary findings, and methodological notes. Dynamic papers could update automatically as underlying data changes. Public peer review, conducted in the open rather than behind closed doors, could offer faster feedback loops. This is clearly seen by reference to machine learning communities, which already rapidly replicate papers posted to online repositories and turn social media platforms into forums for debate.

In 1950, scientists mailed typewritten manuscripts to journal editors, who sent copies to reviewers from their personal networks at top universities. Today, researchers post papers online within hours of completion. Thousands read and debate the merits of the work immediately on social media and in discussion channels. Code gets replicated on the internet months before the paper appears in print.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 21d

More sense-making tech, not sense-dulling tech

Screenshot of a Twitter/X post by Kanjun (verified, July 21, 2026) stating "I love this — two thoughts:" followed by: 1) "Don't build things you don't want to see in the world" and 2) "Sensory hijacking is a human rights violation we don't yet recognize." The post elaborates that much modern technology is designed to capture attention and dull our connection to aliveness and humanity. It quotes Andrew McLuhan (@amicusadastra) saying "stop making sense-dulling technologies," followed by a 1964 quote from Marshall McLuhan: "Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don't really have any rights left." The post has 1 reply and 19 likes.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 21d

Interop is rad exhibit #45021 People can use @margin.at to save to open collections (a @semble.so feature) Apps effectively sharing features with each other - win win!

Post from Semble of a card saved from Margin to a regular collection and open collection on Semble.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 22d

Ok last three 😅

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 22d

I could probably just repost the whole presentation - or please check out the slides in @bmitra.bsky.social 's post :) Extremely relevant to our work here.

Infographic titled "We need public IR platforms!" with two main sections. Left side states "In the social media landscape, decentralization has emerged as a dominant strategy to safeguard against capture" with thumbnails of three decentralized platforms (ActivityPub, AT Protocol, and another system). Right side reads "But beyond technological decentralization, we need decentralization and democratization of our social infrastructure for governance and moderation," featuring an example of a Tech Policy Press podcast episode titled "The Whiteness of Mastodon." Bottom text emphasizes "But we also need a fundamental transformation in how we approach and conduct IR research."

Or more concisely:

Infographic advocating for public information retrieval (IR) platforms, highlighting the need for both technological decentralization (with examples of ActivityPub and AT Protocol) and democratization of social infrastructure governance, along with a fundamental transformation in how IR research is conducted.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 22d

maybe late to the party but TIL that the .ai domain is actually Anguilla's TLD (a tiny island in the Caribbean) and it earned them a quarter of their annual revenue in 2024...!

Screenshot layout showing "Well... the social impact of AI is not always bad" as a headline, with a BBC article titled "How sheer luck made this tiny Caribbean island millions from its web address" featuring an aerial photo of a turquoise Caribbean beach. Adjacent text discusses Anguilla's 2024 revenue of 105.5m Eastern Caribbean dollars from .ai domain sales (23% of total revenues), with projections to reach 132m dollars in 2025 and 138m in 2026, and notes that increased revenues are expected to fund infrastructure improvements and healthcare access.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 23d

Yeah I also like the "sensemaking" frame for this since sensemaking is exactly process of converting raw information to knowledge, or tacit to codified like you wrote I wrote a short post about this a few years ago- ronentk.me/post/sci-sen...

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 23d

I call this the dark matter theory of science. Blogs, social media, etc - a majority of what actually influences science is invisible to the system (esp in AI) Real systems change in science will only be possible when we recognize these sources of influence and intentionally design for them

Pie chart showing the matter composition of the Universe: Dark matter ~82%, Ordinary matter ~18%.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· 23d

Weekend reading: "Long Haul" by Myles Horton, have a feeling it's going to be a real banger. (on the Highlander Folk School for social change) highlandercenter.org/product/the-...

One of the most important elements of Highlander pedagogy is the recognition that the best teachers of poor and working people are the people themselves. Rather than bringing in "experts" as resource people, Highlander brings people together, developing a circle of learners who share the same problems. Together people share their experiences, analyze their problems and learn how to work toward basic changes in society. The goal is not reform or adjustment to an unjust society but the transformation of society. It is an education for action. It is dangerous education; and although much emphasis is on forming strategies to confront the system without being destroyed, people are encouraged to push the boundaries, to be creative in solving problems.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 12

From arxiv.org/abs/2607.03906 Haven't read the paper yet, but this is a great quote to start the day with

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 10

the term "artificial intelligence" is actually way more on the nose than its creators could have imagined

artifice
noun
ar·ti·fice ˈär-tə-fəs
Synonyms of artifice

Simple Definition
A Simple Definition is available from our Learner's Dictionary to help you understand the meaning faster.
1
a
: clever or artful skill : ingenuity
… believing that characters had to be created from within rather than with artifice.
—Garson Kanin
b
: an ingenious device or expedient
2
a
: an artful stratagem : trick
… revising the state's constitution through a series of legal stratagems and artifices …
—W. Haywood Burns
b
: false or insincere behavior
social artifice

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 10

@kissane.myatproto.social JEDI reminded me of your keynote a lot as well! jedi.inertial.science

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 9

omg I love this piece! "I'll pull an image out of a dying tab and drop it into a channel ... It's bookmarking, but bookmarking that remembers for you and quietly shows you the shape of your own attention." h/t @blue-phia.bsky.social via @semble.so

This is really where are.na comes in for me. A browser full of tabs is a rabbit hole in motion, but it disappears the second you close the window or your laptop dies, so are.na is where i actually catch the things worth keeping. I'll pull an image out of a dying tab and drop it into a channel, and over enough time those channels stop being folders and start being their own little arguments, connecting a block to three others i saved months apart is its own kind of thinking. It's bookmarking, but bookmarking that remembers for you and quietly shows you the shape of your own attention.

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 8

Interesting Claude coding anecdote - Claude initially insisted I would have to delete the old post and create a new one with the slug I wanted - not ideal. >

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 8

Interesting reflection on the incentives x.com/dasingleton/...

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 8

Now when people check the Semble page for Sapiens they can see the connection to Heath's important critique of it semble.so/url?id=https... >

Semble book page for Harari's 'Sapiens' showing a connection Ronen Tamari made opposing it to the article 'Harari vs. Henrich

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 8

Starting the day with coffee and sensemaking on @semble.so ☕ Reading an excellent piece by Joseph Heath that contrasts the cultural evolution theories of Harari and Henrich josephheath.substack.com/p/harari-vs-... >

"Semble feed showing two connections by Ronen Tamari: 'Harari vs. Henrich' marked as opposing 'Sapiens' and supporting 'The Secret of Our Success.'"

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 6

Just coming across this now - I love how @standard-reader.app is using @semble.so Connections to help create their "Related Reading" section 💙 @wesleyfinck.org and I have long talked about how to make the Youtube recommendations pane (and similar) open and peer-powered instead of opaque algos, >

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 6

"What has really happened is VC built the wrong AI, you’ll pay a high price for this error with your pension, and nobody will go to jail." x.com/AndrewOrlows... via @cabernet.bsky.social

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 6

yep they do! seems the brain-computer metaphor is esp pernicious since it is bidirectional in a way the steam engine isn't (brains are like steam engines but steam engines aren't like brains)

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jul 6

NYC in 1880 (!) '[Martí] recoiled at the mix of commercial materialism and libertarian individualism that he thought was driving the United States toward madness. A nation is not a “wild horse race”; people must be “harnessed together” by something other than self-interest' (from America, América)

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jun 27

are you still having issues? it works for me

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jun 16

This paper is focused more on individual readers rather than collective sensemaking, but they remind us that “creative reading has profoundly collective stakes.”

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jun 16

Understanding the roles of AI augmentation vs automation in learning journeys feels so timely rn, with high stakes downstream impacts

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jun 16

Useful distinction of reading for transmission vs transformation Transmission - texts are a source of extractable information Transformation - readers add creative interpretations and are transformed in unexpected ways by the text

Ronen Tamari@ronentk· Jun 16

How to create reading experiences that "go beyond information transmission and toward reader transformation.” Great paper by @blue-phia.bsky.social @lepidopterane.bsky.social @yijunliu.bsky.social Sarah Sterman @sh1m.bsky.social @maxkreminski.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2606.04308 >