Matan Mazor
@matanmazor.bsky.social
Post-doctoral research fellow in cognitive neuroscience (Oxford), interested in complex systems and in simple systems who believe they are complex systems
Pinned
Matan Mazor
@matanmazor.bsky.social
· Oct 10
OSF
osf.io
Consciousness science as a marketplace of rationalizations
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Getting journal rejections like
November 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Getting journal rejections like
Reposted by Matan Mazor
All eyes on UCL for its 200th birthday. Across 3 nights our Wilkins Building and main Quad will transform into an immersive sound and light experience as UCL illuminated takes us through the history of London’s oldest university. 11–13 Feb 2026 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/event-ticketing/app/ev/25074/
November 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
All eyes on UCL for its 200th birthday. Across 3 nights our Wilkins Building and main Quad will transform into an immersive sound and light experience as UCL illuminated takes us through the history of London’s oldest university. 11–13 Feb 2026 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/event-ticketing/app/ev/25074/
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Officially out in the current issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences:
"Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition"
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
"Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition"
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
November 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Officially out in the current issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences:
"Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition"
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
"Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition"
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
This is truly amazing: some LLMs can detect when concepts are injected into their internal activations.
transformer-circuits.pub/2025/introsp...
transformer-circuits.pub/2025/introsp...
November 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
This is truly amazing: some LLMs can detect when concepts are injected into their internal activations.
transformer-circuits.pub/2025/introsp...
transformer-circuits.pub/2025/introsp...
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Very happy to see the UK government making a commitment to phasing out animal testing
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Animal testing to be phased out faster as UK unveils roadmap for alternative methods
New plan backs researchers to seize on new and developing opportunities to phase out animal tests with specific commitments for the coming years.
www.gov.uk
November 13, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Very happy to see the UK government making a commitment to phasing out animal testing
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Because everything is shit, I give you ... Puggles. #Platypus #AustralianWildlife
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Because everything is shit, I give you ... Puggles. #Platypus #AustralianWildlife
Reposted by Matan Mazor
#BrainMeeting 🧠 Alert! 🎺
This Friday, November 7th, the Brain Meeting speaker will be Simon Van Gaal giving a talk entitled "Linking global state fluctuations and recurrent processing to conscious perception in humans"
In person or online. For more information:
www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/event
This Friday, November 7th, the Brain Meeting speaker will be Simon Van Gaal giving a talk entitled "Linking global state fluctuations and recurrent processing to conscious perception in humans"
In person or online. For more information:
www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/event
November 3, 2025 at 9:09 AM
#BrainMeeting 🧠 Alert! 🎺
This Friday, November 7th, the Brain Meeting speaker will be Simon Van Gaal giving a talk entitled "Linking global state fluctuations and recurrent processing to conscious perception in humans"
In person or online. For more information:
www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/event
This Friday, November 7th, the Brain Meeting speaker will be Simon Van Gaal giving a talk entitled "Linking global state fluctuations and recurrent processing to conscious perception in humans"
In person or online. For more information:
www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/event
Reposted by Matan Mazor
I built a DAG diagram with garden hoses for teaching.
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
October 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
I built a DAG diagram with garden hoses for teaching.
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Super happy to see this review out! We ask why people are so reluctant to abandon goals and how this commitment could be understood computationally. Work with Jill O'Reilly & @yaelniv.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Super happy to see this review out! We ask why people are so reluctant to abandon goals and how this commitment could be understood computationally. Work with Jill O'Reilly & @yaelniv.bsky.social
Reposted by Matan Mazor
We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/
Cognitive Science Graduate Admissions – Information about graduate admissions from the cognitive science faculty
sites.dartmouth.edu
October 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Whenever you feel annoyed by someone on the internet, think instead of someone you appreciate and send them a note to tell them so.
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Whenever you feel annoyed by someone on the internet, think instead of someone you appreciate and send them a note to tell them so.
Reposted by Matan Mazor
“There’s almost no limit to what you can get people to do if you let them think it is their idea”
Jim Downey - former SNL writer
Jim Downey - former SNL writer
October 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM
“There’s almost no limit to what you can get people to do if you let them think it is their idea”
Jim Downey - former SNL writer
Jim Downey - former SNL writer
Reposted by Matan Mazor
🚨New Preprint: We develop a novel task that probes counterfactual thinking without using counterfactual language, and that teases apart genuine counterfactual thinking from related forms of thinking. Using this task, we find that the ability for counterfactual thinking emerges around 5 years of age.
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
🚨New Preprint: We develop a novel task that probes counterfactual thinking without using counterfactual language, and that teases apart genuine counterfactual thinking from related forms of thinking. Using this task, we find that the ability for counterfactual thinking emerges around 5 years of age.
Reposted by Matan Mazor
The Causality in Cognition Lab at Stanford University is recruiting PhD students this cycle!
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
October 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The Causality in Cognition Lab at Stanford University is recruiting PhD students this cycle!
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Everything you always wanted to know about intracranial correlates of #consciousness (but were afraid to ask):
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08736
With @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, @meaperei.bsky.social and many great clinicians too busy for bsky!
#iEEG
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08736
With @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, @meaperei.bsky.social and many great clinicians too busy for bsky!
#iEEG
Neural correlates of perceptual consciousness from within: a narrative review of human intracranial research
Despite many years of research, the quest to identify neural correlates of perceptual consciousness (NCC) remains unresolved. One major obstacle lies in methodological limitations: most studies rely o...
arxiv.org
October 13, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Everything you always wanted to know about intracranial correlates of #consciousness (but were afraid to ask):
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08736
With @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, @meaperei.bsky.social and many great clinicians too busy for bsky!
#iEEG
arxiv.org/abs/2510.08736
With @francoisstock.bsky.social, @liadmudrik.bsky.social, @meaperei.bsky.social and many great clinicians too busy for bsky!
#iEEG
Reposted by Matan Mazor
New preprint!
"Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction"
(by Li, Hammond, & me)
link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
-- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
"Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction"
(by Li, Hammond, & me)
link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
-- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
October 14, 2025 at 1:22 PM
New preprint!
"Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction"
(by Li, Hammond, & me)
link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
-- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
"Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction"
(by Li, Hammond, & me)
link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
-- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
All credit to @danwphilosophy.bsky.social
Fantastic
October 11, 2025 at 8:18 AM
All credit to @danwphilosophy.bsky.social
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Fascinating paper argues that (roughly) consciousness theories are untestable and unverifiable, and so instead they are selected to fit our moral preferences and preconceptions.
Consciousness science as a marketplace of rationalizations
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
October 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Fascinating paper argues that (roughly) consciousness theories are untestable and unverifiable, and so instead they are selected to fit our moral preferences and preconceptions.
Reposted by Matan Mazor
VERY strong recommend in this very short piece!
The final line is magnificent; so is @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s theory on which the piece rests. Together, they exactly describe my naïve experience of wandering into #AIEthics over the decades.
#consciousness
The final line is magnificent; so is @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s theory on which the piece rests. Together, they exactly describe my naïve experience of wandering into #AIEthics over the decades.
#consciousness
Consciousness science as a marketplace of rationalizations
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
October 11, 2025 at 3:24 AM
VERY strong recommend in this very short piece!
The final line is magnificent; so is @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s theory on which the piece rests. Together, they exactly describe my naïve experience of wandering into #AIEthics over the decades.
#consciousness
The final line is magnificent; so is @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s theory on which the piece rests. Together, they exactly describe my naïve experience of wandering into #AIEthics over the decades.
#consciousness
Consciousness science as a marketplace of rationalizations
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
October 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Consciousness science as a marketplace of rationalizations
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
my commentary on @smfleming.bsky.social and @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's thought-provoking BBS paper, and more generally about the field.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Matan Mazor
What's a life well-lived? Researchers looked at 38 MILLION obituaries over 30 years to study virtue.
Among the fascinating results, this one is chilling:
After the pandemic, benevolence dropped in popularity and never recovered. In its place, tradition as a virtue experienced a popularity surge.🧪
Among the fascinating results, this one is chilling:
After the pandemic, benevolence dropped in popularity and never recovered. In its place, tradition as a virtue experienced a popularity surge.🧪
An exploration of basic human values in 38 million obituaries over 30 years | PNAS
How societies remember the dead can reveal what people value in life. We analyzed
38 million obituaries from the United States to examine how perso...
www.pnas.org
October 2, 2025 at 4:01 PM
What's a life well-lived? Researchers looked at 38 MILLION obituaries over 30 years to study virtue.
Among the fascinating results, this one is chilling:
After the pandemic, benevolence dropped in popularity and never recovered. In its place, tradition as a virtue experienced a popularity surge.🧪
Among the fascinating results, this one is chilling:
After the pandemic, benevolence dropped in popularity and never recovered. In its place, tradition as a virtue experienced a popularity surge.🧪
Reposted by Matan Mazor
For years I got Gandhi (who is 156 today, the International Day of Non-Violence) backwards. I thought he developed nonviolent methods to end British rule, but this gets the ends and means the wrong way round. It's rather that he had to end British rule to make space for nonviolence. (1/8)
October 2, 2025 at 8:24 AM
For years I got Gandhi (who is 156 today, the International Day of Non-Violence) backwards. I thought he developed nonviolent methods to end British rule, but this gets the ends and means the wrong way round. It's rather that he had to end British rule to make space for nonviolence. (1/8)
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Breaking News: Jane Goodall, one of the world’s most revered conservationists, died at 91. Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.” nyti.ms/42kpGxt
October 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Breaking News: Jane Goodall, one of the world’s most revered conservationists, died at 91. Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.” nyti.ms/42kpGxt
Reposted by Matan Mazor
Had missed this absolutely brilliant paper. They take a widely used social media addiction scale & replace 'social media' with 'friends'. The resulting scale has great psychometric properties & 69% of people have friend addictions.
link.springer.com/article/10.3...
link.springer.com/article/10.3...
Development of an Offline-Friend Addiction Questionnaire (O-FAQ): Are most people really social addicts? - Behavior Research Methods
A growing number of self-report measures aim to define interactions with social media in a pathological behavior framework, often using terminology focused on identifying those who are ‘addicted’ to engaging with others online. Specifically, measures of ‘social media addiction’ focus on motivations for online social information seeking, which could relate to motivations for offline social information seeking. However, it could be the case that these same measures could reveal a pattern of friend addiction in general. This study develops the Offline-Friend Addiction Questionnaire (O-FAQ) by re-wording items from highly cited pathological social media use scales to reflect “spending time with friends”. Our methodology for validation follows the current literature precedent in the development of social media ‘addiction’ scales. The O-FAQ had a three-factor solution in an exploratory sample of N = 807 and these factors were stable in a 4-week retest (r = .72 to .86) and was validated against personality traits, and risk-taking behavior, in conceptually plausible directions. Using the same polythetic classification techniques as pathological social media use studies, we were able to classify 69% of our sample as addicted to spending time with their friends. The discussion of our satirical research is a critical reflection on the role of measurement and human sociality in social media research. We question the extent to which connecting with others can be considered an ‘addiction’ and discuss issues concerning the validation of new ‘addiction’ measures without relevant medical constructs. Readers should approach our measure with a level of skepticism that should be afforded to current social media addiction measures.
link.springer.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Had missed this absolutely brilliant paper. They take a widely used social media addiction scale & replace 'social media' with 'friends'. The resulting scale has great psychometric properties & 69% of people have friend addictions.
link.springer.com/article/10.3...
link.springer.com/article/10.3...