Dr Dean Burnett
@garwboy.bsky.social
"Top egghead neuroscientist" - The Daily Star
Author, science communicator/pundit, former psychiatry lecturer, occasional wit, frazzled parent, balding
Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/theneuroscienceofeverydaylife
Author, science communicator/pundit, former psychiatry lecturer, occasional wit, frazzled parent, balding
Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/theneuroscienceofeverydaylife
Pinned
Dr Dean Burnett
@garwboy.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Reminder that, if you're getting your kid a phone for Christmas (or know a kid who's getting one), an ideal companion gift is my latest book.
Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It
amzn.eu/d/2zxc9BR
So why not be the cool adult this festive season?
Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It
amzn.eu/d/2zxc9BR
So why not be the cool adult this festive season?
Most genocidal dictators never 'directly' killed countless innocent people, but we still consider them to be guilty.
November 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Most genocidal dictators never 'directly' killed countless innocent people, but we still consider them to be guilty.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
It's always interesting how parasites like this person claim to be in favour of the poor but support stealing from some of the worst paid people. I'm going to bet this "MD" has a very well paid job.
I'd like you who know me to imagine how reading this made me feel.
And if you support this...person...I'm blocking you faster than you can say "Rumpelstiltskin".
And if you support this...person...I'm blocking you faster than you can say "Rumpelstiltskin".
November 24, 2025 at 9:50 PM
It's always interesting how parasites like this person claim to be in favour of the poor but support stealing from some of the worst paid people. I'm going to bet this "MD" has a very well paid job.
Spotify ad: "A podcast that looks at the shady side of criminals!"
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
November 24, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Spotify ad: "A podcast that looks at the shady side of criminals!"
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
Spotify ad: "A podcast that looks at the shady side of criminals!"
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
November 24, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Spotify ad: "A podcast that looks at the shady side of criminals!"
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
... as opposed to? The far more often focused on salubrious and community minded side of criminals?
Actually quite impressive
Not a setup for anything, am researching for a writing project
Not a setup for anything, am researching for a writing project
November 21, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Actually quite impressive
Not a setup for anything, am researching for a writing project
Not a setup for anything, am researching for a writing project
Odd question for the hivemind
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
November 21, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Odd question for the hivemind
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Pickle is a chest cat. You lie down, he's right there, purring on your torso. You sit down, he's no interest. Basically, he's very affectionate if *he* can look down on *you*, but not if it's the other way around.
Extremely 'on brand', now that I see it written down.
Extremely 'on brand', now that I see it written down.
November 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Pickle is a chest cat. You lie down, he's right there, purring on your torso. You sit down, he's no interest. Basically, he's very affectionate if *he* can look down on *you*, but not if it's the other way around.
Extremely 'on brand', now that I see it written down.
Extremely 'on brand', now that I see it written down.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
Remember him dropping to the floor and doing an unspecified number of press-ups post-covid to show how healthy he was? Definitely not the sort of behaviour of someone insisting they're "fine to drive" after a skinfull
November 20, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Remember him dropping to the floor and doing an unspecified number of press-ups post-covid to show how healthy he was? Definitely not the sort of behaviour of someone insisting they're "fine to drive" after a skinfull
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
Incredible headline.
Elon Musk Could 'Drink Piss Better Than Any Human in History,' Grok Says
Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc.
www.404media.co
November 20, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Incredible headline.
PSA: Using #AI to do your homework/assignments is the cognitive equivalent of taking all the ingredients of a healthy meal and dropping them directly into the toilet.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
November 20, 2025 at 10:56 PM
PSA: Using #AI to do your homework/assignments is the cognitive equivalent of taking all the ingredients of a healthy meal and dropping them directly into the toilet.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Ran a 5k that was a lot slower than usual, due to fatigue and icy ground.
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
November 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Ran a 5k that was a lot slower than usual, due to fatigue and icy ground.
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
If I ever make £millions, I'm going to set up a bunch of Football-style academies for academic subjects
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
November 20, 2025 at 12:23 PM
If I ever make £millions, I'm going to set up a bunch of Football-style academies for academic subjects
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Exactly this
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
November 19, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Exactly this
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
My 13yo son needed his passport. I handed him the folder with all of the family's documents in.
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
November 19, 2025 at 11:08 PM
My 13yo son needed his passport. I handed him the folder with all of the family's documents in.
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
Just watched ep 2 of #Pluribus. Weirdly, if you leave aside the plot-required sci-fi gubbins, Gilligan (or whoever) has done an impressive deep dive into the neuro/siociopsychological literature. Much of it really holds up and actually provides a lot of easter eggs if you know the background science
November 16, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Just watched ep 2 of #Pluribus. Weirdly, if you leave aside the plot-required sci-fi gubbins, Gilligan (or whoever) has done an impressive deep dive into the neuro/siociopsychological literature. Much of it really holds up and actually provides a lot of easter eggs if you know the background science
New rule when I'm in charge: if you don't use all your fireworks on November 5th, you don't get to set them off later as you please, you have to put them in a curry and spend every day of the next week eating it. Just add nature intended.
November 16, 2025 at 6:47 PM
New rule when I'm in charge: if you don't use all your fireworks on November 5th, you don't get to set them off later as you please, you have to put them in a curry and spend every day of the next week eating it. Just add nature intended.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
I have a series of new glass mini wreaths in the shop. They're gorgeous on Christmas trees but also look great as wall hangings. $50.
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
November 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I have a series of new glass mini wreaths in the shop. They're gorgeous on Christmas trees but also look great as wall hangings. $50.
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
Exactly. The parts of your brain that process emotional issues are the same parts that produce the emotion, so you need to experience it to get to grips with it, hence bottling up is really bad for wellbeing, long term
Basically, when it comes to emotional issues, if you don't feel, you can't deal
Basically, when it comes to emotional issues, if you don't feel, you can't deal
November 15, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Exactly. The parts of your brain that process emotional issues are the same parts that produce the emotion, so you need to experience it to get to grips with it, hence bottling up is really bad for wellbeing, long term
Basically, when it comes to emotional issues, if you don't feel, you can't deal
Basically, when it comes to emotional issues, if you don't feel, you can't deal
This is a legitimately good idea. Studies show that heavy metal fans tend to be the least angry people. Presumably because their brains experience anger a lot, but in safe, controlled, voluntary ways, so they have a lot more practice dealing with it, but fewer upsetting incidents that triggered it.
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
buff.ly
November 15, 2025 at 6:07 PM
This is a legitimately good idea. Studies show that heavy metal fans tend to be the least angry people. Presumably because their brains experience anger a lot, but in safe, controlled, voluntary ways, so they have a lot more practice dealing with it, but fewer upsetting incidents that triggered it.
"You MUST submit invoice in PDF format and include [VERY SPECIFIC DETAILS]
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
"You MUST submit invoice in PDF format and include [VERY SPECIFIC DETAILS]
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
That's part of it, in any combination of sex/situation. Injuries that rupture nerve connections can hurt so much because the severed ends send out multiple new growths to 'find' the previous connection, but they're all equally receptive, and the new, unknown activity is perceived as 'AAAAAARGH!'
November 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
That's part of it, in any combination of sex/situation. Injuries that rupture nerve connections can hurt so much because the severed ends send out multiple new growths to 'find' the previous connection, but they're all equally receptive, and the new, unknown activity is perceived as 'AAAAAARGH!'
So yeah, men really would/do react very badly to those pain simulation machines, but a lot of that will be because they haven't really experienced intense discomfort in 'that area' before. And there's no neuro/biological mechanism in place to respond to it.
November 12, 2025 at 11:32 PM
So yeah, men really would/do react very badly to those pain simulation machines, but a lot of that will be because they haven't really experienced intense discomfort in 'that area' before. And there's no neuro/biological mechanism in place to respond to it.