Benjamin Swerdlow

Recent paper to read on this:

By @jinxungoh.bsky.social and team.

drive.google.com/file/d/1_MbT...

"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."

My specific experience is with NIH, but I’ll stand up and say it:

The people who work at NIH are together one of the great wonders of the world. US biomedical science, cancer cures, dementia research all are built on their talent and dedication.

so this is a crime against humanity not a study we all agree right

YouTube video by Rebecca Peretz-Lange Conservation of matter with cat food

want new content for your conservation of matter slides? I caught my toddler claiming that we could give our cat "more food" by spreading out his existing food in his bowl to cover a wider area.

youtube.com/shorts/DJBdV...

If you're an educator and feel anything from disgust to discomfort with AI please consider joining.

We are excited to announce our partnership with @inclivio.com's software for #SAS2026.
We’re counting down to the conference with a series of posts.
Enter a drawing for 3 EMA study licenses by liking (1 point) and reposting (3 points)!
#SAS #AffectiveScience #EMA #EmotionDynamics

Congratulations!!

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

Amazing news! Congratulations!

Collider scope: when selection bias can substantially influence observed associations Abstract. Large-scale cross-sectional and cohort studies have transformed our understanding of the genetic and environmental determinants of health outcome

My boss did that already: academic.oup.com/ije/article/...

Knowledge Is Worth Your Time A few thoughts about why we must embrace the hard work of learning.

I really hope you read this entire essay because it addresses the flaw in your rationale and you should at least contend with it:
news.chanda.science/archive/know...

New paper! We show how diet culture & weight stigma are baked into eating disorder treatment—leading to missed diagnoses in higher-weight people, BMI-based denial of care, thin-centric programs, and clinicians unintentionally reinforcing fear of weight gain.

www.jandonline.org/action/showP...

Yeah, even without scrutinizing the means and SDs stats, the overrepresentation of sample sizes ending in '0' or '5' is an immediate flag. 🤥

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

I mean we are absolutely in a place now where the only solution to this information disorder is for everyone to constantly evaluate the source of information. Never trust a chatbot, but also don't believe a video unless you know and trust where it comes from.

Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.

Amazing! They're so lucky to have you!

My wife is going to be teaching Intro to Counseling/Intro to Psychotherapy next semester. Does anyone have slides they'd be willing to share with her?

Another reminder that if you got students who wanna do a social psych PhD focusing on identities (specifically Asian, Latine, MENA Americans), I’m recruiting! I’m hustling hard here so pls send people my way 😅
see website for details www.pbandjlab.com

The 'Dark Triad' may be popular, but more importantly, it is irresponsible, moralizing, trivializing, and ultimately, replaceable: A rejoinder to Borraz-Leon, Rantala, and Jonason (2025): https://osf.io/u86th

AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.

“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”

If you haven't joined your local AAUP, now is a great time to do so.

If you have tenure at Texas A&M and aren't maliciously emailing the president a dozen times every day to ask if you can say this or you can say that, then what's the point in having tenure?

Y'all. N>3,800. !!!!!!!

Goodness gracious.

Why hello there former US Treasury Secretary, president of Harvard, and director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers.

Sharing with alt so we can all bask in his hidden insights that we are NOT allowed to share.

And here's the source link:
oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫

Joining chorus on this one. This insight/ analysis in particular. Would print and post on newsroom wall.

Out now at PSPR: our love letter to the personality trait of Openness!

Amber Thalmayer and I identify and (try to) explain the many ways that openness/intellect is the weirdest & WEIRDest of the Big Five. (Big improvements over the old preprint! thx reviewers)

journals.sagepub.com/eprint/HBGXT...

I’m recruiting a new postdoc to join my team at RFU! If you’re interested in LGBTQ+ youth, bi+ mental health, and/or longitudinal/ESM data, consider applying! Prefer a Feb/Mar start date, but open to later. Prefer in-person, but open to remote. For more: workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...