Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 7d

Along w/history of science, it has helped me understand how some scientists & scientific idea can be effective. It has helped me think about the goals of science & the goals of individual scientists can be at odds.

It's helped me find good materials for teaching about science that student enjoy.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 7d

Sociology of science has helped me think about what I'm doing, write more clearly about what my data are and how they can be used, and have helped me be more specific (and tentative) about the kinds of conclusions I make.

1 1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 7d

I was lecturing on the evidence for placebos in the 1980s, and there were a number of apparently decent studies.

You're telling me that the pre-90s data are 100% bad?

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 7d

And on what DV would we mostly agree that we are "doing science better now?"

I don't think we are anywhere close to coming up with a legitimate measure of "better science" that doesn't beg the question or use circular logic.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 7d

True. My only claim is that it has increased.

As a senior editor, I was mostly unaware of the process of submission--I didn't submit anything to my own journal, nor did my students.
Nobody voiced a complaint, but as soon as I submitted to the journal I'd been editor of . . . I was gobsmacked.

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 8d

Sure doesn’t feel like it when you spend 3 hours trying to submit a paper.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks for this!
Foucault is so easy to read. 🥺
But I can soldier though a paragraph, and will.

1 2

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 10d

Wow!
I promise my connection was independent.

1 1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 10d

Group norms were a fundamental and necessary component of Janis’s original conception of groupthink.

The phenomenon may have morphed in the public mind about what it is, perhaps away from evidence. Don’t blame Janis.

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 11d

I meant @markrubin.bsky.social

1 1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 11d

Ecologist Jeremy Fox considers transparency and trust, and their observed *negative* correlation. Are we motivating better science?

H/t @MarkRubin.Bskyk.social

dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2025/09/24/e...
#metascience

Transparency vs. trust

Over the years, this blog often has been praised by readers for making the unwritten “rules of the game” (aka “hidden curriculum”) of academia explicit and transparent. Espe…

dynamicecology.wordpress.com

2 1 3

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 11d

I’ve been reading Jeremy Bentham on the Panopticon—the circular prison where authorities can see what all the prisoners are doing (the prisoners cannot tell when they’re being monitored).

The point of openness is —> surveillance, a hallmark of distrust. It is **designed** to be demotivating.

2 1 6

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 11d

I’ve been reading Jeremy Bentham on the Panopticon—the circular prison where authorities can see what all the prisoners are doing (but the prisoners cannot tell when they’re being monitored).

The point is openness is surveillance, a hallmark of distrust. It is **designed** to be demotivating.

2

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 12d

I think people need to carefully justify the common resources we use in our research. But that paragraph is not how I’d do it.

I’m ok with the rest of the blog post, of course. But “I’m interested in it” doesn’t do it, nor must “it create world peace.” Gelman being funny. 😐

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 13d

Here in Kansas we’re proud of the good and careful service of Kathleen Sebelius (2009-2014).

2

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 13d

I think you might need a nap.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 15d

My memory error; should’ve looked it up—but the meaning is largely the same (although I suppose one could torture “professional” to mean something that would be inappropriate). I still much prefer “scientific contribution” to “did some of the writing.”

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 15d

Psychology uses a different standard—substantial professional contribution. I generally think this is a better and more useful standard. Medicine has its problems they’re addressing—not all fields need those problems addressed.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 16d

A/G too.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 16d

Kattin/Mathu for sure.

1 1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 17d

I’m a college professor, and I arrive fine. On bad days, I carry a shirt to change into.

2

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 18d

Dutch bikes are better for the Netherlands. But that are HEAVY and they are SLOW. For most American locations, they don’t serve well. I live in *Kansas* and Dutch bike commuting on my 4-mile trip would put me in the Subaru.

2 1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 18d

Do not buy a coat until you’re there. If your locale does not offer severe weather, the clothing stores will not, either. I made this mistake moving from Seattle to Michigan. I thought REI could deliver.

Wrong thought.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 19d

He was a good teacher. In graduate school, Ziva worked from 9-5, and then went home. Remarkable—her grad publications still cited and taught today.

1

Chris Crandall @chriscrandall.bsky.social · 19d

I also don’t have evidence of it, I admit.

1