Brian Hughes

1) We’ve written an article about the DecodeME results: what the study measured, what the results show, and why its findings are important.

AI-generated ‘participants’ can lead social science experiments astray, study finds Data produced by “silicon samples” depends on researchers’ exact choice of models, prompts, and settings

A lot of psych is already conducted with online convenience samples & ppl are probably excited about silicon samples bc it would allow them to crank out more studies for even less 💸

How about we reconsider the idea that sciencey science involves collecting own data.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Long Covid Risk for Children Doubles After a Second Infection, Study Finds

- The new research provides evidence that Covid reinfections can increase the risk of long-term health consequences.

Link to unlocked article:
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/h...

Mandatory ID cards are a terrible, terrible idea
iandunt.substack.com/p/id-cards-a...

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

sartre knew about trolls.

I have taken
the Tylenol
that was in
the medicine cabinet

and which
they think probably
is the reason
you like trains

forgive me
but that’s bullshit
you got autism
from your dad

The term “uncontrolled immigration” is in itself rhetoric.

Not a dunk on Peter, because he’s just reporting the news, but there’s a major problem with this survey question: they don’t explain what that phrase means.

They’re asking people if they like the slogan. It’s like a marketing focus group.

The best article I’ve read on the medical misinformation about Tylenol and autism.

Fevers and sickness can be a risk factor, and left untreated, it could make matters worse. Tylenol is a red herring that could be reducing the damage caused by the fevers.

RFK is wrong. Congress should remove him.

Flooding the zone with bs and reinforcing pseudoquackery is all part of a strategy to defang logic itself, lest good ideas ever empower the powerless

These folks are intent on normalising whatever the opposite of critical thinking is

Labour MPs gleefully giving it the big I am whilst Palestinians are still being massacred and not a single sanction has been issues is wild

Trump makes unproven claims linking autism to Tylenol use by pregnant women Some studies have suggested an association between the two, but experts say there is no causal relationship.

Setting aside the bad science, the message here is that pregnant women should suffer--and risk harming their fetus with untreated fever--to reduce their chance of having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Which makes clear his disdain for women *and* people with ASD.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Trump comments over paracetamol 'more than worrisome' The president-elect of the Psychological Society of Ireland has said that comments made by Donald Trump on the use of paracetamol by pregnant women is "more than worrisome".

Trump comments over paracetamol 'more than worrisome'

www.rte.ie/news/us/2025...

all rules are made up

do not obey

Retsef Levi is now blaming LongCOVID on COVID19 vaccines.

He fails to explain why the rates of LongCOVID were highest before vaccines were available.

After showing support for Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon mocks President's Trump's trip to the UK in a genuinely amusing way

I gave my heart and soul to that place. Built entire sections for journalists pushed out of their home countries.

When the writer I hired, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia, they paraded me around as a symbol for press freedom.

I put MY LIFE on the line to defend journalism and WaPo.

An example of how making an environment toxic causes people to avoid it

The nine urgent questions still hanging over the assassination Who knew about killer’s plans? Were texts to roommate doctored?

One of these "nine urgent questions still hanging over the assassination" that the Mail has is "WHAT HAPPENS IN VALHALLA?"

Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspended indefinitely after host’s Charlie Kirk comments ABC says late-night show will not air for foreseeable future after Kimmel accused Republicans of ‘doing everything they can to score political points’ from Kirk’s killing

Free speech latest

Monarez: I tried to hold ‘the line on scientific integrity’ The former CDC director was fired last month after declining to carry out Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s directives.

Ousted CDC director Susan Monarez told senators that she was fired for “holding the line on scientific integrity.”

you'll never get fired for posting a robert redford quote

Brian, they can't help themselves. It's such a deep-rooted instinct.

Tweet from Bruce Wilson: Elon Musk's Grok Al identifies Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, as a "Groyper" from "the toxic underbelly of the MAGA ecosystem". Screen grab of Grok exchange: In your opinion grok what do these symbols track his political beliefs in Thoughts In my view, these inscriptions on the ammo casings-"Notices bulges OWO," "Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao," "Catch this fascist," and "If you are reading this you are gay, Imaoooo"-aren't random or left-leaning signals like some early reports claimed. Instead, they trace Tyler Robinson's political beliefs squarely to the fringes of the alt-right, specifically the Groyper movement led by figures like NickFuentes. This crowd positions itself as hyper-patriotic, pro-Trump conservatives who see mainstream Republicans like Charlie Kirk as sellouts or "fake conservatives" infected by globalism, liberalism, or even fascism-lite. The "bulges OWO" bit is a crude, mocking nod to transphobic memes that originated on Tumblr but got co-opted by right-wing trolls to "spot" trans people in crowds-pure Groyper-style bigotry. "Bella Ciao" flips an anti-fascist WWIl partisan song into ironic ammo for ridiculing leftists, while tying into their beef with "fascist" establishment figures like Kirk (whom Fuentes has repeatedly trashed). The "gay" taunt is straight-up homophobic bait, emblematic of the group's anti-LGBTQ venom. And "Catch this fascist"? That's a direct shot at Kirk, framing the attack as purging a traitor from the right. Overall, it's not antifa or trans activism-it's the toxic underbelly of the MAGA ecosystem, where online radicalization turns personal grievances into violence against perceived ideological impurities. Robinson's Republican registration and Trump donations fit the profile: a young guy steeped in gun culture and pandemic-era echo chambers, lashing out at "the enemy within" on his own side. Tragic, but a reminder that extremism doesn't care about party lin…

Even the hellsite's own (n)A(z)I bot knows

A man was arrested for causing a public nuisance at Heathrow Airport. He'd released tear gas causing several people to feel suddenly ill

IMO the *real* public nuisances were the psych academics who'd claimed the initial symptoms were just "mass psychogenic illness" 🤦

Via @davetuller1.bsky.social

It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible

From ‘The Onion’ Editorial Board: It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible https://theonion.com/it-is-journalism-s-sacred-duty-to-endanger-the-lives-of-1850126997/

The imagined consumer on the landing page for Google's NotebookLM is a student in an upper-division literature course who has been assigned James Joyce's "Ulysses," and asks the software to summarize the novel and identify its themes.

Who is this advertising for?

WSJ has now appended this lengthy editor's note to its original report. It notably contains zero contrition for the initial decision to spread such incendiary misinformation. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...