Stephen Chrisomalis

The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating – it’s the erosion of learning itself Automating knowledge production and teaching weakens the ecosystem of students and scholars that sustains universities, raising existential questions about their mission.

“Cognitive psychology has shown that students grow intellectually through doing the work of drafting, revising, failing, trying again, grappling with confusion and revising weak arguments. This is the work of learning how to learn.”
#AI #HigherEd #EduSky
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theconversation.com/the-greatest...

Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...

I've long been unhappy at my answers to the question of whether we need cognitive/semiotic factors *at all*, to explain the history of numerical notations. My new @pnas.org paper on gradience is meant to clear the deck and respond 'if yes, this one is the most likely'.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...

Quick, now: which is bigger, 25234991 or 25234?
Next: which is bigger, MMI or DCCCLXIV?

Some numerical notations' conciseness indexes their magnitude well, some less so. But how does that matter cross-culturally for their adoption and retention? Check it out @pnas.org:

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.

I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion

People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...

Quick, now: which is bigger, 25234991 or 25234?
Next: which is bigger, MMI or DCCCLXIV?

Some numerical notations' conciseness indexes their magnitude well, some less so. But how does that matter cross-culturally for their adoption and retention? Check it out @pnas.org:

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Sequoyah and the Almost-Forgotten History of Cherokee Numerals The story of a numerical system nearly consigned to oblivion.

"Almost paradoxically, Sequoyah’s numerals could not succeed because they had not yet succeeded, and came into existence in a social context where a prestigious, common notation had been adopted almost universally."

Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...

OK, it finally happened! My new article, "Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations", is now out today in @pnas.org. By focusing on numerals' use for communication instead of arithmetic, we have a new tool to assess their efficiency.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Speaking as a longtime DGS who has sent out hundreds of grad school acceptances over the years, and thus at least as many rejections, sending those good letters is the best part of this role, and sending the rejections sucks but is 100% necessary. And it's trite, but usually, it isn't about you.

Just sent out all the acceptance emails to our new MA and PhD cohort. I'm probably more anxious than they are. Mainly that I didn't screw it up and send someone the wrong message.

I continue to think that sociohistorical factors matter more than cognitive ones for the evolution of numerical notations. But if there is a key cognitive factor, gradience is the most plausible one, because it relies on capacities that underpin numerical cognition generally.

Thanks! And thanks again for reading over an earlier version of the paper!

Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...

OK, it finally happened! My new article, "Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations", is now out today in @pnas.org. By focusing on numerals' use for communication instead of arithmetic, we have a new tool to assess their efficiency.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Counting without end: A cross-linguistic exploration of infinity beliefs in English and Hindi learners Recent studies (Cheung et al., 2017; Chu et al., 2020; Sullivan et al., 2023) argue that children may infer the existence of infinite magnitudes throu…

Very cool new article by @urvi.bsky.social, Jessica Sullivan and @drbarner.bsky.social comparing English and Hindi speaking kids' ideas about infinity, showing a subtly more complicated view of how numerical morphological opacity relates to infinity beliefs.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

'No moral victories today': Wayne State women stun No. 1 GVSU for historic win Wayne State beat Grand Valley State, 78-77, for the first win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history. It also snapped WSU's 25-game losing streak to rival GVSU.

Wayne State beat Grand Valley State, 78-77, for the first win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history. It also snapped WSU's 25-game losing streak to rival GVSU.

Newly released files shed new light on Chomsky and Epstein relationship Latest communications undermine Chomsky’s earlier claims that he primarily had financial dealings with Epstein

Worth reading, expands on previously known extent of their relationship. Also a tough read - take it on only when ready.

Fighting for Free Speech at Texas A&M BY AAUP STAFF Following the extreme and widespread censorship of curriculum and courses at Texas A&M University, both the university’s local chapter (AAUP–Texas A&M) and the national AAUP h…

#LetUsTeach
#LetStudentsLearn

I definitely need to know about "the moon’s apparent disinterest in our activities". That and recursive acronyms, but at least I know what that paper is about.

Prime Minister Carney speaks on the phone with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark.

A good call with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark today.

Greenland’s future is for Greenland and Denmark alone to decide. We reaffirmed our commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity and discussed our ongoing work to strengthen Arctic security.

The video from this seminar is now online here: youtu.be/vJfhL_5-w-U?...

GELATINOUS CUBE AT A JOB INTERVIEWE

"A keye feature of my managemente style ys a commitment to transparencye"

LINGUIST List 37.382 Jobs: African Unclassified; Sociolinguistics: Pre-Faculty Fellow in English, Wayne State University The LINGUIST List, International Linguistics Community Online.

We're hiring a pre-faculty fellow (3-year postdoc with a clear path to TT) in sociolinguistics at Wayne State, focus on African American, African diaspora, or African linguistics. Tenure home in English but mainly part of our interdisciplinary Linguistics program.
linguistlist.org/issues/37/382/

Another typical higher ed planification document, unsurprisingly based largely on vibes as opposed to data. The kind of stuff to feed the white hot rage of anyone busting their ass to sustain a social science unit in the age of AI and focused disinvestment in the arts, humanities & social sciences.

LINGUIST List 37.382 Jobs: African Unclassified; Sociolinguistics: Pre-Faculty Fellow in English, Wayne State University The LINGUIST List, International Linguistics Community Online.

We're hiring a pre-faculty fellow (3-year postdoc with a clear path to TT) in sociolinguistics at Wayne State, focus on African American, African diaspora, or African linguistics. Tenure home in English but mainly part of our interdisciplinary Linguistics program.
linguistlist.org/issues/37/382/

Bad news: The HVAC system in our department's hallway is making a noise around 60 dB, a consistent hum.
Good (?) news: At least the hum is pitched right to a middle C.

Join the Finnish Cultural Center and the Wayne State University Humanities Center for a full reading of the Finnish national epic Kalevala on February 28th from 8am-midnight. Register in forms.wayne.edu/6978db31ceaff

#kalevala #finland #folklore

Just had a startling moment when I thought I got an email whose subject line was 'People know you are on Substack' and I was like "No, I'm not" and then "How do they know?"

Turns out the subject line actually read 'People you know are on Substack', which is very different indeed.

Trump Team’s Secret Meetings With Group Plotting to Break Up Canada Exposed Trump officials have met with activists from the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group that wants independence for its province.

“Very, very senior” officials in the Trump administration have had secret meetings with far-right Canadian separatists trying to shake the foundations of the country.

GWU pausing admissions this year to both anthro PhD programs (anthro itself, and human paleobiology). Only the latest to do so (inexcusably late in the cycle), citing budget and declining international applications.

FYI, I'm the DGS of our anthro department here at Wayne; our application numbers are at/near historic highs, and we have a robust pool of international applicants. Our funding has not been cut - both stipend and # of years up since 2022. The above is not generalizable to all schools.