Lisa Fazio

Small white plastic ghost figurine with an angry face flipping the bird with both hands

Today's Halloween advent calendar ghost is flipping off the world. Feels appropriate.

Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

"Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors." Brilliant piece by @sivav.bsky.social about the Trump administrations' latest effort to censor universities newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book The ‘extremely significant' text was hidden for centuries.

I love that the Zoology department was integral to finding text about Merlin that was otherwise invisible to the human eye.

I've been working on a book proposal and alternating between "this is meaningful" and "this is pointless," and a friend recently shared this quote that she stumble on in a Goodreads review: "Every book is a grand gesture of optimism on the part of both the reader and writer." Keep creating, friends.

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

Incredibly important stuff from @lkfazio.bsky.social and @brendannyhan.bsky.social. The nature, significance, and acuteness of the threat to open scientific inquiry and free expression need to be understood in this context. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Not happening somewhere else. Here. In America. Right now.

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14

Moreover, giving preferential treatment to submissive institutions would undermine the excellence of American science. To reach goals like curing pediatric cancer and developing better treatments for opioid addiction, we need to invest in the best research ideas, not divert support to weaker studies from universities whose leaders traded away their independence for cash. Government funding should reward scientific merit.

Brilliant arguments against universities joining the so called “compact” in this oped from @lkfazio.bsky.social and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Over 400 faculty and staff from the #uva College of Arts and Sciences convened for an emergency vote. 97% of eligible voters endorsed a resolution demanding President Mahoney refuse to consider the Trump admin's Compact for Academic Freedom!!

Danielle Allen fails the Lando test / lives out the Arrested Development meme: "A deal on the core principles in a compact could then become a framework for negotiating on legislation." Come ON. With this administration and this Congress?
therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...

I am ❤️, I'm not sure if there's zoom access but there's more info here www.lrdc.pitt.edu/Colloquium-S...

Mounted T. Rex skeleton in between two escalators

Being greeted by a giant dinosaur in the Pittsburgh airport never gets old 🦖 See you tomorrow Pitt!

Apple removes ICEBlock app after criticism from Trump administration Google also removed similar apps from the app store for Android devices, although ICEBlock was never available on the Google Play store.

Spoke with @scottbudman.bsky.social @nbcbayarea.com about Apple capitulating to DOJ pressuring they take the ICEBlock app down. They did. What’s next for a govt that has tech in its pocket & a quest for silencing speech it dislikes? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

"[A]ll universities have to do now is do nothing—no accepting the compact, no counter-offers, nothing—and the government will be left with no more power to coerce and control the First Amendment-protected activities of major American universities than it has today."

Pritzker doing better journalism 101 than a lot of tv news producers these days

"This compact is a “reward” in exactly the same sense that it is “rewarding” to purchase protection from the Mafia. The compact is an open, explicit threat." This is very good.

a toddler trying to step inside a toy tractor

tbh it's a nice counterpoint to 'reproducibility crisis' stuff in psych. statistics be damned, if everyone can observe the phenomenon in their own home with pretty much every child, must be legit

eg, here's my older kid at 14mo, making a scale error (he cannot, in fact, fit inside this toy tractor)

I need to find them but we have old VHS tapes of my brothers doing all sorts of language development tasks for my mom's classes

"If you’ve figured out your core principles, then they will guide you about what to do. Remember, you’re not just performing an idea, it’s your life. It’s who you are."

Opinion | Who Will Clemson Censor Next? We no longer know what speech will be tolerated or punished. The result: self-censoring and silence.

"The standard is not what was said, but whether it became the object of political outrage." "Faculty and staff must assume that any statement — even one squarely protected by the First Amendment —could lead to dismissal if it attracts the wrong attention."

www.chronicle.com/article/who-...

Endless knee-bending in ways large and small. So much criticism and opposition now being silenced in ways large and small across society for fear of retaliation - goes well beyond "politics" as such.

I'm a Duke alum and still find this hilarious and respect the game

Colleagues have pointed out that the Dartmouth response is strategically ambiguous. If I were faculty or alumni, I would provide feedback that: 1) you interpret this to mean that the unviersity is refusing to sign a corrupt contract; and 2) you are proud of the university for taking that stance.

This is what authoritarians do - use the powers of the state to humiliate and degrade their opponents in public so that others will not challenge them

I think for me the most compelling answer for "why fund basic research?" (and the one most relevant to the people doing the work) is that humans are curious and finding stuff out makes us happy and fulfilled. Science is a thing humans like. Life would be more dull and sad if we didn't do it.

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