Not Barbie, though the summer was filled with tales of women leaving their boyfriends after suddenly understanding the patriarchy. Fair Play is an autumn break-up movie. - The New York Times
Earlier this month, the consciousness science community erupted into chaos. An open letter, signed by 124 researchers—some specializing in consciousness and others not—made the provocative claim that one of the most widely discussed theories in the field, Integrated Information Theory (IIT), should be considered “pseudoscience.” - Nautilus
AI absolutely is powerful, and it absolutely is dangerous. But as these perspectives reverberate throughout committee hearings, government advisory boards, press releases, and lobbying memos, it only becomes clearer that focusing on just a subset of influential corporate voices is an inherently limited approach. - The Atlantic
Penn demoted Katalin Karikó, shunting her to a lab on the outskirts of campus while cutting her pay. Karikó’s colleagues denigrated her mRNA research and some wouldn’t work with her, according to her and people at the school. - The Wall Street Journal
Maybe AI will just amplify what’s best about humans. Maybe AI will become a buoyant tribute band for our entire species. Maybe AI will be a delight—and a force humans will be content to lose to. We’ll go down in peace. We really liked working with you, robots, and are happy you are winning. - Wired
Just as a person cannot be talked out of serious depression or anxiety, rational arguments against boredom seldom avail. A person must take interest in something, which requires initiative and energy. - First Things
Research suggests that, in addition to more obvious factors – such as moral beliefs about honesty and corresponding emotions such as guilt – the tendency to lie is constrained by the cognitive effort it requires. - Psyche
"Dubious holidays are a phenomenon of the social media era, and many of them are designed to promote products. This may be the case with National Daughters Day." (Which spawned National Sons Day and National Nonbinary Kids Day.) - Slate
Cool, but why the heck? "Guédelon is an example of experimental archaeology — which is a way to research how people did things in the past by trying to imitate them. It's about 'building to discover.'" - NPR
If we want the university to remain a viable space for knowledge production, then scholars across disciplines must be able to identify the goal of their work – in part to advance the Enlightenment project of ‘useful knowledge’ and in part to defend themselves from public and political mischaracterisation. - Aeon
