Tim Urban
@waitbutwhy
Writer, infant
My book What's Our Problem? is now available. The book introduces a new framework for thinking about our chaotic political environment. With 303 drawings, it's a toolbox for understanding our societies, our group dynamics, and our own minds. Get it here: waitbutwhy.com/whatsourproblem
Fun fact. Modern humans first appeared about 250,000 years ago, but record keeping didn't began until about 6,000 years ago. That means, about 97% of human history is lost forever. [✏️ @waitbutwhy]
Same reason I can't have others research for me. Researching is how I learn and I can only write well when I really understand what I'm explaining.
Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.
I have many times seen Neil deGrasse Tyson saying something I knew was patently false or misleading. But when he pops up on YouTube shorts, I am always delighted. I find his careless overconfidence extremely comforting and ASMRy.
Really need someone to do a slow zoom-in on this with the Curb music
Wildlife photographer Sha Lu captures the perfect moment a small animal looks at the camera while being caught by a predator.
Who knew when you ate a bit of broccoli you're actually eating like 900 baby flowers
Broccoli is a flower that is harvested before it blooms. If you leave it alone it will bloom
Scrolling X be like: The printing press worked like this The Jews should all die, especially you The sphinx was made by aliens The truth about Epstein (1/27) Big win for the Sox! Mamdani kicked a baby (1/45) The UK is Islamic This guy is a wrong retard (1/374) Look at this sloth
2 Wimbledon thoughts: - It’s always funny to me that they give the loser a little loser plate to take home. - I’m completely perplexed by the one rando who shouts something as the player is about to serve, after the rest of the crowd has gone silent, and the judge has to yell…
Someone once introduced me and Curtis at a conference. I said I was working on a book about political polarization, at which point he cut me off and went on a (not exaggerating) 30-minute monologue. At some point I walked away and I'm not sure he even noticed.
guess that meeting didn't go too well
My whole world just came undone
I wanted to confirm for myself if this was real, so I ordered a version from 1967 to compare to the one we received at my baby shower. Oh, it’s real alright. Crazy 🫢
Tim Urban (of Wait But Why) and I are gonna have a little chat about AI with a live audience Q&A on August 10th, for folks who preorder my forthcoming book. I think it'll be fun. Details below.
We're hosting two virtual events, open to everyone who pre-orders the book: 1. A chat and Q&A with @So8res and special guest Tim Urban of @waitbutwhy. (Aug 10) 2. A Q&A with @ESYudkowsky and @So8res. (Sep) Register at ifanyonebuildsit.com/events!
📢 Announcing IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES A new book from MIRI co-founder @ESYudkowsky and president @So8res, published by @littlebrown. 🗓️ Out September 16, 2025 Details and preorder👇
This is going to be my downfall. Every other sentence on Wait But Why has an em dash.
I like em dashes, and I hate that some people now take them as evidence of text being AI generated.
