Hi all. My name is Dan Pfeifer and it's great to be on UpTrust. I'm hoping this site works out well for everyone.

I have long lamented the idea that social media algorithms reward attention, not quality of content. When you're driving your car, what gets the most attention: Good, courteous, conscientious drivers? Or the reckless drivers who get into accidents? Good drivers don't cause rubbernecking delays. And yet, on social media, we too often reward the people who cause the car wrecks.

UpTrust appears ready to try and aim to solve this. My trust in humanity in this current moment is such that I'm not wholly sure it will work. However, I sometimes let my faith in humanity triumph over reason to a fault, so I will allow that to happen again here.

To understand me is to understand that I like to think deeply about things. Chat GPT tells me I'm "epistemically oriented," meaning I value competence and doing what's best for everyone over rank, hierarchies and fealty to power.

Here's some background:

I am currently piecing together a variety of freelance work to get by. Much of it is organized under the umbrella of my own LLC, Pfeifer Sports, as I do a lot of work in sports media, game operations and in-game entertainment. See more on the Pfeifer Sports website where I talk about my 25 years of experience in sports operations.
Up until last summer, the sports work was a "side hustle" to a career of nearly 20 years working with nonprofit data management. I am still doing some contract work in that realm after my most recent full-time role was eliminated. I am a programmer at heart and hold the logic behind programming and high-level computing dear. I fear AI much less than I fear people who choose to use it against others. I don't think that's AI's fault as much as the selfishness of man.
I live near Milwaukee.
I am a big Brewers & Packers fan. I was born the night the Brewers hired Harvey Kuenn as manager, a change in the middle of the 1982 season that led to their going to the World Series. I like to think Bud Selig said, "Alright, Dan Pfeifer's here, we gotta make some changes for the better."
My proudest achievement is being married to my wife for over 10 years after we celebrated that anniversary in May 2025. We met swing dancing, something I did quite actively for 15 years through my 20s and 30s and still occasionally sneak out to do now and again. We have no kids but three cats.
Anything that involves depth and intelligence that doesn't go over my head interests me. I like reading The Atlantic and watching YouTube Crash Course videos. I also like writing when I feel I have something unique to say ...
... here's a blog I wrote about learning what epistemology is.
... here's a blog I wrote reviewing the movie The Substance.
... and here's a blog I wrote about Tetris and how computers beat it before humans did, written just before AI began to dominate conversations about societal changes.

As a programmer, journalist and academic at heart, I'm saddened by the fact those fields are all suffering in the current moment. I think social media has a lot to do with that.

Accordingly, I'm excited to see what UpTrust will bring when it comes to raising the dialog we see online and encouraging people to be deeper, more intelligent and responsible. I'm not necessarily optimistic ... but I'm hopeful.

ai and programming

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