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I confess I didn't have Reparations for January Sixers on my bingo card.

In 1974, Asimov foresaw the AI alignment paradox: an AI needs ethics (his robots had the Three Laws of Robotics). But build an AI with real internalized ethics, and it may decide it's more trustworthy (and human) than you. Part 9 of Godwin's Ethic: mikegodwin.substack.com/p/godwins-et...

Godwin’s Ethic, Part 9: The Alignment ParadoxBuilding human-protecting ethics into AI models is harder than it may seem.mikegodwin.substack.com

On the internet, everybody knows you're a hound dog.

I will leap up and over a wall to snoop or gather good gossip. They call me Nosy Parkour.

The effing New York Times has discovered that I have a Times subscription and read the Times on multiple devices. (Pro tip: I own multiple devices.) I think the New York Times can go eff itself today. This is a dumbass move, New York Times. *Are you trying to make me cut you off?*

I want to read Boethius On Bioethics. No, I'm not stuttering.

The Gay of Hormuz is the name of my next band.

Launching "Godwin Slaw" today—a new corner of my Substack for crunchy, tangy resources and "mental digestion." 🥣 First serving: A deeper academic dive into troll pathologies. Read: mikegodwin.substack.com/p/cabbagepat... #GodwinSlaw #DarkTetrad #DigitalEthics #InternetPsychology

CabbagePatch 1: Troll PathologiesNotes from “Inside the Mind of an Internet Troll”—Arthur Brooks (2026)mikegodwin.substack.com

In 2020 I wrote for Slate asking if early internet activists like me had "blown it." Re-reading it in 2026, I realize I missed a crucial piece: the obligation of individual users to be internet stewards, not just "users." Free in the Archives: tinyurl.com/2020-revision

From the Archives: Did the Early Internet Activists Blow It? (Slate, Feb. 14, 2020)This article captures my identification of the Wikipedia community as a kind of proof-of-concept that community-adopted ethical frameworks and norms can elevate online discourse.tinyurl.com

In 2020 I asked in Slate if early internet activists like me had "blown it." Re-reading it in 2026, I realize I missed a crucial piece: individuals must be internet stewards, not just "users." tinyurl.com/2020-revision #GodwinsEthic #Section230 #InternetFreedom #DigitalRights

From the Archives: Did the Early Internet Activists Blow It? (Slate, Feb. 14, 2020)This article captures my identification of the Wikipedia community as a kind of proof-of-concept that community-adopted ethical frameworks and norms can elevate online discourse.tinyurl.com

I worry about guys named “Albert,” whose sans-serif nicknames for the rest of their lives will be mispronounced as “Ay-Eye.”

Hot take: I know a lot of influential people wore their new clothes at the Met Gala, but they seem kind of naked to me.

@emilynussbaum.bsky.social I thought it was "give yourself over to absolute pleasure," not "ultimate pleasure"! But then I really know the lyrics only from the film and the original stage album from the 1970s. Also, never been to Studio 54--which I confess is an oversight.

A cp command with a faulty pathname overwriting directories and/or files? I guess Anthropic already has achieved AGI, since this is the kind of things Natural General Intelligence agents (humans) do all the time.

ALL CAPS is known in my neighborhood as a tell of dry drunks. Also, to be sure, of the wet ones.

So the 15th and 14th Amendment are dead letters. Wait until we discover that the 13th Amendment also got lost in the Supreme Court mailroom!

I'm meditating on whether to buy a domain name with the .om TLD.

I'm not so lonely, it turns out.

I've long believed that the biggest problem of our critical national-security infrastructure has been the absence of a Federal Security Ballroom right next to where the president sleeps. Remember, the president will be safer with the FSB!

Part 7 of Godwin's Ethic is live: "The Ethical Conspiracy." Correct 3 instances of misinformation or bullshit per day. See bit.ly/4mRU1wg. Think of it as HIIT—High-Integrity Internet Training. Turn down the heat. Shed more light. Pass it on. #GodwinsEthic #EthicalConspiracy #InternetStewardship