Social media consensus paper causes social media uproar Preprint reporting common ground among researchers on smartphones and teen mental health is premature and flawed, critics say

It was a privilege to be interviewed for this article, published today in Science: www.science.org/content/arti...

Our keynote speakers are

Sandy Boucher,
Anjan Chakravartty,
Curtis Forbes,
Leah Henderson,
Stathis Psillos,
Kyle Stanford, and
@pvickers.bsky.social

But there's more—just look at that program above☝️

Identifying Future-Proof Science by Peter Vickers | Waterstones Buy Identifying Future-Proof Science by Peter Vickers from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Released in paperback on Monday...!
www.waterstones.com/book/identif...

An interesting possible future, not implausible: as global warming gradually takes hold & destroys our natural world in so many ways, we at the same time acquire more & more evidence that K2-18b is indeed a waterworld teeming with life. A completely pristine environment on a planetary scale.

IV—Optimism in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life? A Philosophical Perspective Abstract. The large number of planets in our galaxy is often appealed to as the basis for optimism that life exists beyond earth in sufficiently large quan

More "Philosophy of alien life" coming out of @durham-university.bsky.social Department of Philosophy:
academic.oup.com/aristotelian...

Something obvious I hadn't considered until now: we can have an infinite number of universes *sequentially*, via big bangs and big crunches. This infinite number of universes can do a lot of the work the 'multiverse' is postulated to do, such as explaining why our universe is suited for life.

Heading to Seaton Delaval Hall. Filming for the Life Science Centre in Newcastle. #astrobiology

The Life Scientific - Jonathan Shepherd on a career as a crime-fighting surgeon - BBC Sounds Surgeon Jonathan Shepherd on developing the Cardiff Model of Violence Prevention.

"Innovators need a little naivety" www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Philosophy Smash with Henry! Philosophy Smash with Henry is my YouTube channel where I talk to leading philosophers about topics that matter. Hear from world experts. Every interview is with a leading expert in the topic. How …

Proud to announce Philosophy Smash!

It's a series of video interviews with leading philosophers, about topics that matter to everyone.

Designed for classrooms, especially at Key Stage 2 and 3. Each video comes with a lesson plan!
henrytaylorphilosophy.com/philosophy-s...

Fantastic initiative by my old PhD student @htaylorphil.bsky.social . A great pleasure to be part of this. If you're involved in KS2-3 provision please do take a look!

Part of the Durham-Edinburgh Leverhulme Trust funded 'EURiCA' project. (Exploring Uncertainty and Risk in Contemporary Astrobiology). #transformativehumanities

Do aliens exist? We studied what scientists really think Only 10.2% of astrobiologists disagree with the claim that intelligent aliens likely exist.

Do aliens exist? We studied what scientists really think
theconversation.com/do-aliens-ex...

YouTube video by EarthSky Are We Alone in the Universe? Here's What Scientists Think

EarthSky sums up our research in 1min15s.
#transformativehumanities
#sciencehumanities
#DUresearch
youtu.be/Ugv16a3F0ak?...

Surveys of the scientific community on the existence of extraterrestrial life Nature Astronomy - During February–June 2024 we conducted four surveys among researchers regarding the likely existence of basic, complex, and intelligent extraterrestrial life. Our results...

Our new extra-terrestrial life paper can be accessed (with no paywall) via this link: rdcu.be/d6aYs

Surveys of the scientific community on the existence of extraterrestrial life - Nature Astronomy During February–June 2024 we conducted four surveys among researchers regarding the likely existence of basic, complex, and intelligent extraterrestrial life. Our results offer a snapshot of community...

New article just out this morning: 'Surveys of the scientific community on the existence of extraterrestrial life' www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Operationism in Psychology Analyzes psychological research to offer insights into how methodological and ontological questions are intertwined.   Psychology has seen an intense debate about the lack of replicability of results ...

I am beyond excited to announce the imminent arrival of my book. Operationism in Psychology. An Epistemology of Exploration: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Brief chapter summaries below (1/10)

YouTube video by Filsafat UGM Public Lecture : World Logic Day 2025

Two #WorldLogicDay events:

@saraluckelman.bsky.social on the History of Logic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K1D...

@saraluckelman.bsky.social on Why Logics Matter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMSJ...

Yikes!

Peter Vickers defends our paper against Sabine Hossenfelder’s silly attack.

With @lanceindependent.bsky.social and @nath-ormond.bsky.social

Did a video with Digital Gnosis. Responses to Sabine's video. Perspectives on surveys, scientific consensus, historical lessons, evidence, & truth. www.youtube.com/live/2coeT3c...

YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder Sociologists Want to Establish Scientific Consensus

Just before Christmas, Sabine Hossenfelder posted this video attacking my work. I have since responded. My response can be found in the comments under her video. Also in those comments (caution!) the worst aspects of social media are on display for all to see.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucX...

YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder Sociologists Want to Establish Scientific Consensus

@hossenfelder.bsky.social, a German YT blogger, criticized a paper I co-authored. However, her critique misses the claims made in the paper. This leaves only two possibilities: either she did not read the paper, or she intentionally misrepresented it for clickbait.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucX...

With 8Bn people in the world, if you have a million followers on social media who agree with you it means nothing. It is compatible with an absolutely solid consensus of 99.9% to the contrary.

A book much needed. Expert consensus in science really does matter. Scientists do not reach consensus easily, or for no good reason. *Open Access*.

Expert Consensus in Science This open access book explores how expert consensus shapes science, guiding truth, policy, and practice, while proposing improvements.

link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Share! Apply!

Excited to participate in this event.

Development of a novel methodology for ascertaining scientific opinion and extent of agreement We take up the challenge of developing an international network with capacity to survey the world’s scientists on an ongoing basis, providing rich datasets regarding the opinions of scientists and sci...

Very happy to be among the authors of this paper on a new methodology for ascertaining scientific opinion and extent of expert agreement. (And an Erdös number of 4 is a nice bonus.)
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...