Colin Allen's Avatar

Colin Allen

@wileyprof.bsky.social

Philosophy prof at UCSB

912 Followers  |  170 Following  |  27 Posts  |  Joined: 28.07.2023  |  1.5271

Latest posts by wileyprof.bsky.social on Bluesky

Here's a link to the longer version of the interview: marcbekoff.com/marcs-essays...

27.01.2026 18:50 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

yeah -- I'm procrastinating on what I should be doing (reading a dissertation)

27.01.2026 17:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah, and Columbus was a crappy navigator who got lucky too. (Truth! But kudos for taking the risk.*)
--
* no endorsement of what he did after he landed is implied.

27.01.2026 16:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

He'll also be posting a longer version of the interview on his website later today and I'll post the link here when I get it.

27.01.2026 16:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Animals experience joy. Scientists want to measure it Scientists have long focused on quantifying fear and other negative emotions in animals. Now they’re trying to measure positive feelings β€” and it’s a challenge.

Marc was following up on an article about our @templetonworld.bsky.social funded project in last Thursday's @sciencenews.bsky.social : www.sciencenews.org/article/scie...

27.01.2026 16:45 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Do Dogs Enjoy Playing More Than Cats, Rats, or Dolphins? Research on joyβ€”those bursts of β€œwoo-hoo moments”—is an exciting area of study across species. But the feeling of joy is tough to measure.

This chat with Marc follows up on his previous blog post www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

27.01.2026 16:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
A Deep Dive Into Why Joy is Essential, Who Feels It, and Why Joyβ€”fleeting woo-hoo moments like "catching the perfect wave"β€”is felt by many diverse animals, and researchers want to know how they express it in various situations and why.

Conversation with Marc Bekoff about our animal joy project: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

27.01.2026 16:45 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

@storiesofimpact.bsky.social produced this...

19.11.2025 01:04 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Dr. Colin Allen, Dr. Erica Cartmill, and Dr. Heidi Lyn: Animal Joy and the Science of Connection Are animals capable of feeling joy? How do we know? What is joy? Dr. Erica Cartmill wants to find out. She’s the Indiana University professor of cognitive science, …

30 minute podcast showcasing our work on joy in animals w/ Erica Cartmill, Heidi Lyn (@heidilynphd.bsky.social) and me: www.storiesofimpact.org/dr-colin-all...

19.11.2025 01:01 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

(10) Lars Chittka, Sarah Skeels, Olga Dyakova and Maxime Janbon; (11) Masanori Kohda, Shumpei Sogawa and Redouan Bshary; (12) Gianmarco Maldarelli and Onur GΓΌntΓΌrkΓΌn; (13) Joseph LeDoux; (14) Colin Klein and Andrew B. Barron; (15) Albert Newen and Carlos Montemayor.

Thanks to all!

13.11.2025 23:10 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

(4) LΓ©a Moncoucy, Krzysztof DoΕ‚Δ™ga, Catherine Tallon-Baudry and Axel Cleeremans; (5) Kristin Andrews and Noam Miller; (6) Antonella Tramacere; (7) Yuranny Cabral-Calderin, Julio Hechavarria and Lucia Melloni; (8) Simon Brown and Jonathan Birch; (9) Jonathon Crystal; [cont'd]

13.11.2025 23:10 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1939

Our special issue on Evolutionary Functions of Consciousness, coedited with Tecumseh Fitch and Adina Roskies, now online royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)

13.11.2025 23:09 β€” πŸ‘ 70    πŸ” 28    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Harvard should leave the United States | The Opinion Pages Harvard is preparingΒ for its four-hundredth anniversaryΒ in 2036, just as the federal government is trying to eviscerate higher education. Unfortunately,Β Harvard shows signs of succumbing to the govern...

A suggestion from me and Adina... theopinionpages.com/2025/09/harv...

19.09.2025 14:52 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

In case you’re wondering where this link went, there had to be some re-editing so the new *permanent* link is this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS_g...

09.09.2025 17:46 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Diverse Intelligences: The Search for Joy in Animals
YouTube video by Templeton World Charity Foundation Diverse Intelligences: The Search for Joy in Animals

Have you been wondering what we've been doing in our TWCF @templetonworld.bsky.social project on animal joy? This video wonderfully produced by Richard Sergay @storiesofimpact.bsky.social explains all! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TkY...

14.08.2025 22:57 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
Video thumbnail

Rocket launch. Here’s a similar one from Vandenburgh over Goleta a few weeks ago

11.02.2025 06:36 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
PAMBA Prize β€” PAMBA

We are pleased to invite submissions for the 2025 PAMBA Prize essay contest in the philosophy of animal minds for early-career researchers. The winning paper will be published in Biology & Philosophy and presented as a keynote at the meeting in Santa Barbara. For details: www.the-pamba.com/prize

09.12.2024 16:50 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

Nice commute :)

29.08.2023 17:12 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Submission deadline: September 30, 2023. Submissions should include:
(1) a 1-2 sentence biography of the participant,
(2) a 1-2 sentence statement of interest for attending the workshop, and
(3) an abstract or a description of your proposed contribution of no more than 500 words.

28.07.2023 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Keynote speakers:
Megan Stevenson, University of Virginia Law School
Shakeer Rahman, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition
Pablo NuΓ±ez, Centro de Estudos de SeguranΓ§a e Cidadania (CESeC)
Gabbrielle Johnson, Claremont McKenna College, Department of Philosophy

28.07.2023 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

but not limited to philosophy, law, and the social sciences. Participants will be invited to contribute to a special report on carceral AI.

28.07.2023 19:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

how such technologies both inform and interact with topics including incarceration, policing, migration, privatization, surveillance, racial and gender justice, and resistance. We welcome contributions from civil society organizations and academic researchers from disciplines including ...

28.07.2023 19:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

AI systems can interact in complicated ways with existing social and legal structures, reinforce or mask existing structural injustices, and expand the reach of carceral systems under the guise of scientific rigor. Participants in this workshop are invited to explore ...

28.07.2023 19:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

electronic monitoring, and audio gunshot locators. Such technologies are often introduced as 'smart', 'evidence-based', or 'data-driven' reforms that claim to reduce bias and increase efficiency, such as 'evidence-based' sentencing and 'smart' borders. In practice, however, ...

28.07.2023 19:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

a broad class of algorithmic and data-driven practices implicated in the control and incarceration of people. Examples include predictive policing, facial recognition, recidivism risk assessment instruments, automatic license plate readers, border surveillance systems, biometric databases, ...

28.07.2023 19:04 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Prediction and Punishment: Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Carceral AI February 9-10, 2024
This cross-disciplinary workshop will provide an interactive meeting point for researchers to address the expanding use of AI in criminal legal contexts. We use the term 'carceral AI' to refer to ...

28.07.2023 19:03 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

More info about the workshop at https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/event/prediction-and-punishment-cross-disciplinary-workshop-on-carceral-ai/
#philsci #aiethics

Text version of flyer text at this site or below...

28.07.2023 19:02 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Flyer for a cross disciplinary workshop.  Text version in following posts.

Flyer for a cross disciplinary workshop. Text version in following posts.

CfP for February workshop "Prediction and Punishment: Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Carceral AI" that Dasha Pruss (with a tiny amount of help from me) is organizing at the Pitt Center for Philosophy of Science. Please forward widely and consider submitting something.

More info in posts below

28.07.2023 19:02 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

@wileyprof is following 20 prominent accounts