Dr Moira Nicolson

I think it’s really hard to do these kinds of analyses - aside from embedded energy, I think another key point anyone would need to know before interpreting the data is how many times a day someone does the task. Nobody is concerned about a single prompt on an LLM when it comes to energy use.

Fascinating

Fascinating

Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of norms The current paper explains how modern technology interacts with human psychology to create a funhouse mirror version of social norms. We argue that no…

@aoc.bsky.social journalists shouldn’t use any social media platform as a measure of public sentiment as it’s very skewed by a vocal minority who post a lot. “97 % of political posts from Twitter/X come from just 10 % of the most active users on social media” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of norms The current paper explains how modern technology interacts with human psychology to create a funhouse mirror version of social norms. We argue that no…

@aoc.bsky.social journalists shouldn’t use any social media platform as a measure of public sentiment as it’s very skewed by a vocal minority who post a lot. “97 % of political posts from Twitter/X come from just 10 % of the most active users on social media” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A.I. Isn't People How many Reddit posts does it take to learn to read?

"Does 200 lines of Python code understand anything? My siblings in Christ I hope it’s clear how utterly bizarre this question is." www.todayintabs.com/p/a-i-isn-t-...

Excited to be finally giving a talk at TransformGov! 👏👇

If 90s and 00s girls magazines gave women body dysmorphia, LinkedIn is giving people career and life dysmorphia. Social media bias works in both directions it seems. 😢

I've lots of complaints about analytic philosophy (c.f. my blog posts about it being a failing research programme!) but I always need to be clear that my objections to it are absolutely not in the "be clear about your argument structure and the conditions under which your claims would be true" part.

Job Opportunity at the University of Kent: Lecturer in Psychology The School of Psychology is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Psychology and a Lecturer in Psychology focusing on Cognition and Neuroscience  to join a collegial, supportive, and intellectually vibrant...

Kent Psychology is hiring 🎓We have two posts: 1) open area and 2) cog neuro. More details can be found here: jobs.kent.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... Feel free to reach out with questions!

Four minutes of air conditioning Billions of people have access to far less electricity per day than is required to run an air conditioner for just one hour.

'Four minutes of air conditioning'

The new, excellent essay by my colleague @hannahritchie.bsky.social on energy poverty.

ourworldindata.org/four-minutes...

The disruptive climate crisis makes hot weather hotter and cold, colder. This year, our overheated planet has been making some of our weather much colder and in Washington much snowier.

Ah no I hadn’t! Thank you for sharing.

Greener and Cleaner gets green light for first Community Sustainability Support Network - Greener and Cleaner Greener and Cleaner celebrates first Community Sustainability Support Network following financial boost from Benefact Group Movement for Good

www.greenerandcleaner.co.uk/greener-and-...

Great thread on what it takes to inspire climate action - especially this point on why people often need help with the basics - who do I speak to? How do I convene a group?

@parisawright.bsky.social has started a new network to help people set up their own community sustainability initiatives.

I’ve wanted to go to Arizona ever since I watched Boyhood.

Sunrise in SE Arizona- shot on iPhone

Good Morning ☀️ 🏜️ Growing up in Michigan, this is NOT what I thought the desert looked like…

AI makes it much easier to produce fake news and disinformation- but I feel it’s massively under appreciated how much AI chatbots have removed one of the simplest rules of thumb everyone has for whether an article or piece of content is likely to be good or not - which is, how well it’s written.

Now, I’m not saying we should be using writing style as a good benchmark for whether something is accurate, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to take it as at least some kind of marker of quality.

AI makes it much easier to produce fake news and disinformation- but I feel it’s massively under appreciated how much AI chatbots have removed one of the simplest rules of thumb everyone has for whether an article or piece of content is likely to be good or not - which is, how well it’s written.

Beliefs serve at least two core functions.

1) they help us navigate the world
2) they serve as signals to manipulate others

Philosophers & psychologists have focused on the first while largely overlooking the second
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A new article in Nature Medicine found that social connections were a surprisingly powerful predictor of a long life.

Living with a partner was roughly as beneficial as exercise.
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/debunking-...

Are you applying for one of our @cam.ac.uk summer schools? Don't forget that applications for all University of Cambridge programmes close tomorrow. 🚨

summerschools.suttontrust.com/university-p...

This makes me think of Carol from Pluribus who didn’t look very happy about being the only smart person left alive.

Fascinated though not surprised to see a slow but steady decline in the number of US citizens using any form of social media - especially given all the research that shows people think it’s full of toxic horrible content that makes them feel bad about the world.

arxiv.org/html/2510.25...

Fascinated though not surprised to see a slow but steady decline in the number of US citizens using any form of social media - especially given all the research that shows people think it’s full of toxic horrible content that makes them feel bad about the world.

Research finds that people overestimate how many social media users post harmful content--which makes us think the world is worse than it really is.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Person: say, i am alive. Computer: I am alive. Person: oh my god.

Sounds great, is there a recording?