Lauren Ross

The Money Signal A data-rich, eye-opening look at how, when, and why political fundraising is consequential.  Over the last two decades, the number of competitive congressional races has declined precipitously. Yet ca...

I have @daniellethomsen.bsky.social's new book on my TBR pile and this may edge it up!

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Enjoyed giving a keynote at CogSci 2025! 🧠 🖥️ 🌉@cogscisociety.bsky.social ‬ #CogSci2025 #philsci #philsky #HPS

Neuroscience needs a new paradigm: the brain is not a machine | Nicole Rust

Neuroscience needs a new paradigm: the brain is not a machine | By Nicole Rust

“The brain is a dynamic complex system—like the weather or a megacity—whose parts interact via feedback loops that are impossible to study in isolation from each other.” iai.tv/articles/neu... #philsky #philsci #neuro

Congratulations to Jessica Lauman-Lairson for defending her excellent dissertation on "A Middle-Range Account of Analogical Inference" 🎉
Jeff Barrett and I co-advised, w Kyle Stanford on her committee! @ucisocsci.bsky.social‬

Check out her new Synthese pub here:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Salih Can Özdemir, who completed his master’s degree in our lab and is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of California, San Diego, has been elected as a Graduate Student Representative on the Cognitive Science Society Board! @cogscisociety.bsky.social

Brilliant keynote by @laurennross.bsky.social at #cogsci2025 on cognitive science and its philosophy. Lauren pointed out the myriad ways in which cogsci and philosophy support and benefit one another, using explanation and causal reasoning as case studies. Thank you for a great talk!! 🙏

Sketchnote of Nora Newcombe's Rumelhart Prize Talk, posing three questions and case studies for cognitive science: (1) innateness (with the geometric module as a case study), (2) representations (featuring cognitive maps vs. graphs), and (3) embodiment (featuring mental rotation)

Notes from @noranewcombe.bsky.social 's beautiful Rumelhart Prize "tasting menu" - congratulations Nora!!! #CogSci2025

Congratulations to Dr. Ben Santos Genta for a terrific dissertation defense! 🎉 Ben has a Sloan Foundation Postdoc grant for work on Metascience & AI at NYU's Philosophy Department.

Shown celebrating with his proud co-advisors! 😊 @cailinmeister.bsky.social

Check out his work: benjamingenta.com

We kick off #EmbracingComplexity with the inimitable @laurennross.bsky.social explaining two key aspects of emergence that cause philosophical and scientific challenges. Challenges we hope to tackle!

@ifisc.uib-csic.es @rherzoga.bsky.social

Love this!

NYT headline: “Kennedy Advises New Parents to ‘Do Your Own Research’ on Vaccines” Subheader: “In an interview with Dr. Phil, the health secretary offered false information about vaccine oversight and revealed a lack of basic understanding of new drug approvals.”

“And I’m like, what do you mean, you ‘do your own research’? You running a double-blind study in your living room, dawg?”
- A guy walking ahead of me with his friends on a NYC sidewalk in 2021, also my favorite overheard dialogue of the entire pandemic

Giving a talk in the UCI Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) series today at 11am PST! @ucirvine.bsky.social 🧠X➡️Y

Title: Bridging Philosophy and Neuroscience to Support Clarity About Causation

Abstract and virtual login at link below.
cnlm.uci.edu/scientific-a...

I also think we need to unpack what it means to say we have “understanding”. What would it take for you to say we understand something at all? A worry about claims to get more causal info is that it can drive us to be endlessly reductive in ways that are unhelpful, less practical & less explanatory.

Well if causal verbs are being used to describe mere correlations, then they certainly shouldn’t be used. But it seems like we can also know of causal connections and use causal verbs without the (vaunted) know all details about a system. I like this mechanism point…lol

Aren’t almost all causal relationships described with causal verbs? :) Even when we unpack them or describe them in more detail, we still use causal verbs, right? I’m also not sure what “fill will substance” means…Need to re-read this paper.

Congratulations, Marina!

Incredible Beyond ASU workshop organized by @saraimari.bsky.social great discussion w David Wallace David Krakauer Seth Lloyd @mdubova.bsky.social @robertchisciure.bsky.social @thaliawheatley.bsky.social @leecronin.bsky.social & more! 🔭🧬🧪 #philsci

lots on possibility space, contingency & causation!

Social scientists from @uofcalifornia.bsky.social - including @ucirvine.bsky.social's Nadia Chernyak, Holly Hapke, & Kristin Turney - are in DC today meeting with lawmakers to champion continued federal investment in the social sciences as part of COSSA's Social Science Advocacy Day. #UCinDC

YouTube video by Michael Levin's Academic Content Conversation with Lauren Ross #1

Enjoyed this discussion with @drmichaellevin.bsky.social

We discussed scientific explanation, its types, causation, reduction/emergence, & other topics.

Great to see the strength of bringing both science and philosophy to the table for hard topics.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoY-...

What is social structural explanation? A causal account Social scientists appeal to various “structures” in their explanations including public policies, economic systems, and social hierarchies. Significant debate surrounds the explanatory relevance of t...

My paper "What is social structural explanation? A causal account" is one of the top 10 most-cited papers published by Noûs in 2023 #TopCitedArticle #philsci #PhilSky

I provide a framework capturing how social structures are causes that explain inequalities

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Yes, it would be a great fit for them too. Similar to last year we will invite two cognitive scientist for a panel (Megan Peters and Nadia Chernyak) and we will introduce some phil cog sci work.

@meganakpeters.bsky.social
@nadiachernyak.bsky.social

Applications open for the Summer Development Program at UCI Logic and Philosophy of Science. Room & board provided, plus reimbursement for transportation (up to $500).

Deadline for application submission is April 17th 2025!

lpssdp.com

The Possibility Space Concept in Neuroscience: Possibilities, Constraints, and Explanations Although the brain is often characterized as a complex system, theoretical and philosophical frameworks often struggle to capture this. For example, mainstream mechanistic accounts model neural syste...

This is a bright spot to start the day (on the West Coast, that is). The paper on "possibility space" with @laurennross.bsky.social and Viktor Jirsa is now published!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Really needed this reminder of why we do what we do as researchers. Thanks for the great #whistlerbrain2025 meeting @toddc.bsky.social

Enjoyed the 8th Whistler Scientific Workshop on 'Brain Functional Organization, Connectivity, & Behavior' organized by Todd Constable @toddc.bsky.social Great mix of scientists from all career levels, impressive new research, & a supportive group! Lots of 🧠 and also ❄️⛷️🏂🏔️!!!

Enjoyed this interview with Ricardo on @thedissenteryt.bsky.social ! We discussed different types of causation, the topic of explanation in science, & my recent Cambridge Univ Press Elements book on "Explanation in biology" 📕

YouTube: youtu.be/sbY40h-1gKY

Book: www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Why Causal Knowledge Is Pragmatically Possible: Bridging Philosophical Skepticism and Scientific… When we observe the world, we note that events consistently follow one another. As David Hume famously argued in An Enquiry Concerning…

Great article by @kordinglab.bsky.social‬ on "why causal knowledge is pragmatically possible".

The best arguments for causation--& only one we need--is pragmatic. Here pragmatic isn't weak/subjective, but connected to actual goals, utility & outcomes in the world.

medium.com/@kording/why...

So what's new? — MCINTOSH LAB So, what’s new and excitin’? Applying this question to the McIntosh Lab, there's plenty to report, especially after a long hiatus since our last update (Fall 2022).

We have a new lab blog answering the question, "So what's new?" It highlights recent work with @laurennross.bsky.social, the construction of a lifespan brain model, and the first efforts in sociocultural neuroscience. It's been a busy couple of years!

www.armcintosh.com/blog/2025/2/...

Thinking about neuroscience: Essays from the field

Thinking about neuroscience: Essays from the field | @ucirvine.bsky.social social scientists @meganakpeters.bsky.social, cog sci, & @laurennross.bsky.social, LPS, offer expertise on authorship practices, memory and mood in @thetransmitter.bsky.social’s new book 

www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/n...