Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · 1d

Yes! Hopefully available soon.

Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 8d

Most of the power authoritarians have is freely given. We should not comply with them in advance.

Trump is far weaker than he looks. So is the GOP. We should draw them out, drain them at every opportunity, and fight for people’s wellbeing at every turn.

We have been sent here to fight for people.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 8d

AOC: I think there's two things that are happening at once: One, there absolutely is an unprecedented abuse of power, destruction of norms, erosion of our government and our democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian style of governance

However, they are weaker than they look…

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · 28d

The not so distant future of the US?

From Adam LeBor’s The Last Days of Budapest

Text from a poem of Jozsef Attila:

They can tap all my telephone calls
(when, why, to whom)
They have a file on my dreams and plans
And on those who read them.
And who knows when they'll find
Sufficient reason to dig up the files
That violate my rights.

jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Sep 4

Fantastic resource for running conjoint analysis in R by @andrew.heiss.phd

www.andrewheiss.com/blog/2023/07...

The ultimate practical guide to conjoint analysis with R | Andrew Heiss

Learn how to use R, {brms}, and {marginaleffects} to analyze conjoint data and find causal and descriptive quantities of interest, both frequentistly and Bayesianly

www.andrewheiss.com

Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Eddie Holmes @eddieholmes.bsky.social · Jul 29

You’ve been badly misled over COVID origins theconversation.com/how-conspira...

How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic

The COVID pandemic likely began when the virus jumped from animals to humans, and didn’t start in a lab. But false narratives continue to circulate.

theconversation.com

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Jul 23

Instead of trying to extend the lives of a privileged few, we should invest in improving the lives of all people today.

A piece for @undark.org on transhumanism, oligarchy, and biology

🧪

undark.org/2025/07/23/o...

Transhumanism Should Focus on Inequality, Not Living Forever

Opinion | Instead of trying to extend the lives of a privileged few, we should invest in improving the lives of all people today.

undark.org

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Jul 10

Without a proper understanding of human nature, we are at the mercy of our biological heritage. A feature on cooperation, competition, and invisible rivalry for @newscientist.com:

www.newscientist.com/article/2486...

🧪

Evolution has made humans both Machiavellian and born socialists

Humanity’s innate treachery is behind social ills ranging from inequality to abuse of power. Lessons from our ancestors can help defeat the enemy within

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Stuart Neil @tetherin.bsky.social · Jul 8

Excellent and considered post. A must read

Health Nerd @gidmk.bsky.social · Jul 7

How did the pandemic start?

I have avoided publicly commenting on this for 5 years. Here's my take as someone who has no stake at all in the game.

gidmk.substack.com/p/pandemic-r...

Pandemic Revisionism, Part One: COVID-19 Origins

Because people keep getting this very wrong.

gidmk.substack.com

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Jul 1

In a follow-up to our study on accent mimicry last year, we've found that natives are the best at detecting accent mimicry.

People from other English speaking countries were, however, worse at mimicry detection than were native listeners.

@robfoley.bsky.social

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Findings from our accents study follow up: image showing that study
accent–listeners had the highest probability of a correct response (62.49%–70.12%), followed by UK/Ireland (53.18%–62.44%), and other English-speaking country (50.03%–56.85%) and non-English speaking country (49.72%–58.32%).

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Rob Foley @robfoley.bsky.social · Jun 19

Talking yesterday evening with @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social at the launch of his new book Invisible Rivals (yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... )

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Madeleine Milburn Agency @mmagency.bsky.social · Jun 17

SO excited to announce that INVISIBLE RIVALS by the brilliant @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social publishes today!

'Working across philosophy, evolutionary biology, public policy, and politics, Invisible Rivals is unlike any other book I’ve read.’ - Devi Sridhar

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · May 19

In an article for @theguardian.com, I argue that we have a proclivity for blindly trusting success, leading us open to exploitation by autocrats.

To counter this, we have a collective need to support others' capacity to think both critically and ethically.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

🧪

Are we hardwired to fall for autocrats?

It’s human nature to trust strongmen, but we’ve also evolved the tools to resist them

www.theguardian.com

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · May 15

Excited to say that an advance copy of Invisible Rivals has arrived!

Thanks so much to @agentbal.bsky.social and Jean Black of @yalepress.bsky.social for making this a reality – it's a funny feeling holding 5 years of work in your hands!

Preorder available here: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Picture of "Invisible Rivals: How we evolved to compete in a cooperative world"

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Wellcome Connecting Science Engagement and Society @engagewcs.bsky.social · May 15

🎯 Our next #GenomicsLite session with
@jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social will explore: Why trust #science?

We'll be discussing the importance of #trust and what scientists can do to build trust with communities.

📅 Thurs 22 May, 3pm BST

🔗 cstu.io/28697e

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Apr 30

So wonderful to see you!

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Dr Sarah Paris @sarah-paris.bsky.social · Apr 30

A fab few days listening to great research and catching up with old friends @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social
@judithbeier.bsky.social and prize winner 🏆@hannesrathmann.bsky.social at #HumanEvo25

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Apr 29

After a few years in the making, our podcast Streets in the Sky is out!

As global warming contributes to increasingly unsafe living environments, new housing developments that fail to account for local needs risk becoming public health crises.

open.spotify.com/show/1pCB1qR...

@cph.bsky.social

Streets In The Sky

Podcast · Cambridge Public Heath · We explore the public health implications of modern housing. With global warming creating unsafe living environments across the world, new tower blocks that do not a...

open.spotify.com

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Apr 17

A few thoughts about dire wolves, credulity, and trust for the @newscientist.com

@engagewcs.bsky.social

www.newscientist.com/article/2477...

Why claims about "resurrecting" dire wolves are the tip of the iceberg

Colossal Biosciences’s "de-extinction" news is just the latest in a slew of eyebrow-raising claims by privately funded researchers. Is the bar for belief lower when those making the claims have a lot ...

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Apr 5

Out this week @cogscisociety.bsky.social! @samhforbes.bsky.social & I ”urge extreme caution in the use of LLMs in classrooms lest we further normalize: pupils losing their privacy, reducing contact between learner and educator, deskilling teachers & polluting the environment”
doi.org/10.1111/cogs...

To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models

Huettig and Christiansen in an earlier issue argue that large language models (LLMs) are beneficial to address declining cognitive skills, such as literacy, through combating imbalances in educationa...

doi.org

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Apr 5

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I was a British tourist trying to leave America. Then I was detained, shackled and sent to an immigration detention centre

Graphic artist Rebecca Burke was on the trip of a lifetime. But as she tried to leave the US she was stopped, interrogated and branded an illegal alien by ICE. Now back home, she tells others thinking...

www.theguardian.com

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Apr 1

Great piece in @undark.org on hereditarianism and ethical questions around open science

Thanks to @rjmilne.bsky.social for sharing!

undark.org/2025/03/26/u...

In Genetics, a Tense Coexistence of Mainstream and Fringe Views

In an era of open data, genome-wide association studies have become entangled with efforts to prove Black inferiority.

undark.org

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Reposted by jonathan r goodman

Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · Mar 23

1. What's at risk by disrupting NIH? With only a bit of hyperbole: a mechanistic understanding of life itself, & therefore better treatments for cancer, dementias, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, birth defects, aging & more 🧪

Notes on a revolution interrupted 🧵

Illustration of a cell depicting locations of various proteins

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Mar 25

Can’t recommend enough @robfoley.bsky.social’s book of essays on modern higher ed, Notes from Ivory Flats, which you can order here:

www.amazon.co.uk/Notes-Ivory-...

Find out, for example, what the risk assessment for Darwin’s Beagle would look like today — and what it says about academic life now

Picture of book titled Notes From Ivory Flats

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jonathan r goodman @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social · Mar 7

Thanks so much to Jean Black @yalebooks.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social and @robfoley.bsky.social – would not have been possible without you

@darwincollegecam.bsky.social @cambridgeuni.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @engagewcs.bsky.social

Madeleine Milburn Agency @mmagency.bsky.social · Mar 7

We are so excited to share that @yalepress.bsky.social has acquired the ground-breaking first book, Invisible Rivals, from social scientist @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social

Please follow the link to see the full deal announcement on our website, here: bit.ly/41K8QIa

Yale University Press has acquired the ground-breaking first book from social scientist Jonathan R. Goodman. - Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency

Yale University Press signs Jonathan R. Goodman’s Invisible Rivals, outlining a new approach to the evolution of human behaviour: Humans are inherently neither nice nor nasty, but we use cooperative a...

bit.ly

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