Ehud
@duhe.bsky.social
Do you really don’t know?
(I’m a philosopher and historian of biology, interested in all things evolutionary, #genetic, or #cognitive. I find most things ridiculous.)
http://www.ehudlamm.com
(I’m a philosopher and historian of biology, interested in all things evolutionary, #genetic, or #cognitive. I find most things ridiculous.)
http://www.ehudlamm.com
Pinned
Ehud
@duhe.bsky.social
· May 29
New paper alert:
Finkel & Lamm, Cultural evolution beyond the individual: what human collective knowledge adds to high fidelity copying.
This is the third in the Distributed Adaptation series.
Many thanks to the diligent reviewers! #philbio #cultevo
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Finkel & Lamm, Cultural evolution beyond the individual: what human collective knowledge adds to high fidelity copying.
This is the third in the Distributed Adaptation series.
Many thanks to the diligent reviewers! #philbio #cultevo
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Thought provoking!
February 8, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Thought provoking!
Reposted by Ehud
people are arguing vehemently about whether calling your LLM of choice some degrading nickname is the first step to auschwitz or alternatively whether doing that is a bold and unapologetically pro-social act that embodies the basic logic of society as manifest via norms.
and you’re laughing???
and you’re laughing???
February 8, 2026 at 6:04 AM
people are arguing vehemently about whether calling your LLM of choice some degrading nickname is the first step to auschwitz or alternatively whether doing that is a bold and unapologetically pro-social act that embodies the basic logic of society as manifest via norms.
and you’re laughing???
and you’re laughing???
Reposted by Ehud
This is an intriguing paper with numerous examples of using an LLM to generate formal proofs and ideas, and a nice cookbook for how to do it. Refreshingly, the paper stays away from hype and as far as possible states very clearly how the LLMs are used and the key nature of human-AI interaction.
On using LLMs for research (beyond basic prompts). Section 3.2 is specifically about catching a bug in a recent SNARG paper
arxiv.org/abs/2602.03837
arxiv.org/abs/2602.03837
Accelerating Scientific Research with Gemini: Case Studies and Common Techniques
Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have opened new avenues for accelerating scientific research. While models are increasingly capable of assisting with routine tasks, their ability to co...
arxiv.org
February 8, 2026 at 6:14 AM
This is an intriguing paper with numerous examples of using an LLM to generate formal proofs and ideas, and a nice cookbook for how to do it. Refreshingly, the paper stays away from hype and as far as possible states very clearly how the LLMs are used and the key nature of human-AI interaction.
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Please don’t use AI."
"Please don’t use AI."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top."
"Twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Clarify."
"Clarify."
February 7, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Please don’t use AI."
"Please don’t use AI."
Reposted by Ehud
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
“It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be finished.”
“It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be finished.”
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top."
"Twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Clarify."
"Clarify."
February 7, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
“It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be finished.”
“It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be finished.”
Reposted by Ehud
The Europian Union argues TikTok's ‘Addictive Design’ features violate online safety laws
A Pew poll found that 16% of teens were on TikTok “almost constantly.” The EU says TikTok poses potential harm to the “physical and mental well-being” of users, including minors
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
A Pew poll found that 16% of teens were on TikTok “almost constantly.” The EU says TikTok poses potential harm to the “physical and mental well-being” of users, including minors
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Europe Accuses TikTok of ‘Addictive Design’ and Pushes for Change
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:29 PM
The Europian Union argues TikTok's ‘Addictive Design’ features violate online safety laws
A Pew poll found that 16% of teens were on TikTok “almost constantly.” The EU says TikTok poses potential harm to the “physical and mental well-being” of users, including minors
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
A Pew poll found that 16% of teens were on TikTok “almost constantly.” The EU says TikTok poses potential harm to the “physical and mental well-being” of users, including minors
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
It’s remarkable that everyone is on about JE only invited scientists who were male and white. On and on. That they were pretty much all American is taken for granted. See, he wanted the best scientists so ofc.
February 7, 2026 at 4:57 PM
It’s remarkable that everyone is on about JE only invited scientists who were male and white. On and on. That they were pretty much all American is taken for granted. See, he wanted the best scientists so ofc.
Reposted by Ehud
Would be interesting to compare the results on more recent models - but this problem won’t go away. LLMs are always going to be extrapolating from what has already, and often, been thought, which is why they aren’t windows to the future but anchors to the past.
Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.
"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."
#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...
"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."
#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...
New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge
Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...
phys.org
February 7, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Would be interesting to compare the results on more recent models - but this problem won’t go away. LLMs are always going to be extrapolating from what has already, and often, been thought, which is why they aren’t windows to the future but anchors to the past.
Reposted by Ehud
The idea that an event that highlights a parade of athletes waving their country’s flag & where one of the rewards for winning is to play the winner’s country’s national anthem has rules against political symbolism is so ludicrous it would be funny if it weren’t so clear what the rule is really for.
I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms.
February 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
The idea that an event that highlights a parade of athletes waving their country’s flag & where one of the rewards for winning is to play the winner’s country’s national anthem has rules against political symbolism is so ludicrous it would be funny if it weren’t so clear what the rule is really for.
Reposted by Ehud
This is the fundamental problem with academic writing
My number one piece of writing advice is: don’t do it if you don’t actually like writing
February 7, 2026 at 1:46 PM
This is the fundamental problem with academic writing
Reposted by Ehud
Very excited that this paper is out!
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Led by the fabulous @dorsaamir.bsky.social with invaluable contributions from many awesome collaborators.
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Led by the fabulous @dorsaamir.bsky.social with invaluable contributions from many awesome collaborators.
The emergence of cooperative behaviors, norms, and strategies across five diverse societies
Children’s cooperative behaviors and norms develop along distinct cultural pathways shaped by local norms.
www.science.org
February 6, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Very excited that this paper is out!
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Led by the fabulous @dorsaamir.bsky.social with invaluable contributions from many awesome collaborators.
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Led by the fabulous @dorsaamir.bsky.social with invaluable contributions from many awesome collaborators.
Pragmatics > semantics
Worth noting that this response actually concedes that what Pritzker said is true.
February 7, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Pragmatics > semantics
Reposted by Ehud
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ehud
I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.
Great work everyone.
Great work everyone.
February 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM
I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.
Great work everyone.
Great work everyone.
Reposted by Ehud
It’s always great to hear these stories. ❤️
And yes. My mom died of ovarian cancer. I want more progress there so others can be saved. And it is being blown up. I am horrified at how biomedical research and cures are being destroyed.
And yes. My mom died of ovarian cancer. I want more progress there so others can be saved. And it is being blown up. I am horrified at how biomedical research and cures are being destroyed.
You won’t even know they killed you. You’ll just get a cancer medicine doesn’t have an answer for. I’m cancer free thanks to research that began in the 80s in rats & led to a chemo drug approved in 1998 under Clinton. Pre 1998, my cancer had poor survival. Now, if caught early, survival is ~98%. /1
February 7, 2026 at 3:54 AM
It’s always great to hear these stories. ❤️
And yes. My mom died of ovarian cancer. I want more progress there so others can be saved. And it is being blown up. I am horrified at how biomedical research and cures are being destroyed.
And yes. My mom died of ovarian cancer. I want more progress there so others can be saved. And it is being blown up. I am horrified at how biomedical research and cures are being destroyed.
Reposted by Ehud
Reposted by Ehud
This is an especially good article about why the Epstein files matter so much.
February 6, 2026 at 9:54 PM
This is an especially good article about why the Epstein files matter so much.
Reposted by Ehud
Cognitive Science needs an Epstein number so we can track the creeps.
E1 if you hung out with him on the island, E2 if you just let him buy you a lab at MIT…
E1 if you hung out with him on the island, E2 if you just let him buy you a lab at MIT…
Mathematicians track how close they were to the genius Erdős:
If you published with him your Erdős number is 1. If you published with an E1 you are E2, etc
There are databases you can lookup about this (I’m E5)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%...
If you published with him your Erdős number is 1. If you published with an E1 you are E2, etc
There are databases you can lookup about this (I’m E5)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%...
Erdős number - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdős_number
February 6, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Cognitive Science needs an Epstein number so we can track the creeps.
E1 if you hung out with him on the island, E2 if you just let him buy you a lab at MIT…
E1 if you hung out with him on the island, E2 if you just let him buy you a lab at MIT…
Reposted by Ehud
The Washington Post just laid off its entire award-winning photo team. They were our eyes in places we'll never see. It's a horrifying loss at a time when lying governments, propaganda and AI slop are on the rise.
February 6, 2026 at 6:59 PM
The Washington Post just laid off its entire award-winning photo team. They were our eyes in places we'll never see. It's a horrifying loss at a time when lying governments, propaganda and AI slop are on the rise.
Reposted by Ehud
So great to chat with @thetransmitter.bsky.social about our findings :)
A region in the cerebellum is language-selective—something previously found only in the cortex, a new study suggests.
By @natmesanash.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/language/cer...
By @natmesanash.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/language/cer...
Cerebellum responds to language like cortical areas
One of four language-responsive cerebellar regions may encode meaningful information, much like the cortical language network in the left hemisphere, according to a new study.
www.thetransmitter.org
February 6, 2026 at 4:09 PM
So great to chat with @thetransmitter.bsky.social about our findings :)
Reposted by Ehud
I had a wonderful time speaking to Tanay and Jay from the Cognitations podcast about why Pleistocene human societies were much more diverse—including being larger, more sedentary, and more hierarchical—than is often assumed. Check it out!!
🎙️ EP #19
Think our ancestors lived in a state of "primitive communism"? New research reveals our deep past was far more complex than the "noble savage" myth suggests.
@adigitaltanay.bsky.social & Jay explore this & much more with @manvir.bsky.social
youtu.be/1BRZy9O665k?...
Think our ancestors lived in a state of "primitive communism"? New research reveals our deep past was far more complex than the "noble savage" myth suggests.
@adigitaltanay.bsky.social & Jay explore this & much more with @manvir.bsky.social
youtu.be/1BRZy9O665k?...
The Social Lives of Our Ancestors | Manvir Singh
YouTube video by The Cognitations Podcast
youtu.be
February 6, 2026 at 7:25 PM
I had a wonderful time speaking to Tanay and Jay from the Cognitations podcast about why Pleistocene human societies were much more diverse—including being larger, more sedentary, and more hierarchical—than is often assumed. Check it out!!
Reposted by Ehud
The most interesting story in global markets right now isn’t “Sell America.”
It’s that reallocating capital toward faster-growing, less-correlated economies could raise returns and reduce risk at the same time.
My Essay for #Bloomberg on why this is good news!
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
It’s that reallocating capital toward faster-growing, less-correlated economies could raise returns and reduce risk at the same time.
My Essay for #Bloomberg on why this is good news!
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Global Capital’s Break With the US Is Long Overdue
Trump’s policies have accelerated an overdue shift, as US market advantages fade and investors reassess their heavy exposure to American assets.
www.bloomberg.com
February 6, 2026 at 12:28 PM
The most interesting story in global markets right now isn’t “Sell America.”
It’s that reallocating capital toward faster-growing, less-correlated economies could raise returns and reduce risk at the same time.
My Essay for #Bloomberg on why this is good news!
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
It’s that reallocating capital toward faster-growing, less-correlated economies could raise returns and reduce risk at the same time.
My Essay for #Bloomberg on why this is good news!
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Ehud
Ali Teymoori and I wrote up a piece for @markrubin.bsky.social's excellent Critical Metascience blog. We summarise our new paper on disciplinary crises in psychology and some of the key take-homes for psychologists.
“Methodological and administrative solutions are valuable, but they are not enough. Rather, we need to engage with the epistemic processes and ideals at the heart of psychological knowledge production and engage very closely with critical perspectives...”
#PsycSci #Methodology #MetaSci
#PsycSci #Methodology #MetaSci
Psychology’s Recurring Crises: Lessons from History and Philosophy of Science
We examine what generated crisis discussions, how they tended to unfold, and how they were resolved. And we derive some lessons from history for the current replication crisis.
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Ali Teymoori and I wrote up a piece for @markrubin.bsky.social's excellent Critical Metascience blog. We summarise our new paper on disciplinary crises in psychology and some of the key take-homes for psychologists.
Reposted by Ehud
For those interested in the longer history of IQ and the like, new book by an excellent historian 👇
“Smart: A History of Intelligence” by David Brydan (published with @wearefootnote.bsky.social) is out for the world to read!
The book explores the people and projects that have shaped the idea of modern intelligence.
📚 tinyurl.com/mr2t7e3s
@kingshistory.bsky.social
#histsci #intelligence #histm
The book explores the people and projects that have shaped the idea of modern intelligence.
📚 tinyurl.com/mr2t7e3s
@kingshistory.bsky.social
#histsci #intelligence #histm
Smart
We encounter the idea of intelligence everywhere in our modern lives. Parents are told that their children will grow up smart if they are made to listen to Mozart, play with the right toys, and eat…
tinyurl.com
February 6, 2026 at 12:23 PM
For those interested in the longer history of IQ and the like, new book by an excellent historian 👇