Nick McRae
@mcraenich.bsky.social
Software Developer based out of London, Canada. Studied Medical Science at Western University. Interested in history, religion, and the sciences.
After spending an ample amount of time on both Mastodon and Bluesky I've landed on the neuroscience hashtag as one of the better ones. At least when it comes to day-to-day relevance.
Sometimes you've got to tune out politics..
Sometimes you've got to tune out politics..
December 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
After spending an ample amount of time on both Mastodon and Bluesky I've landed on the neuroscience hashtag as one of the better ones. At least when it comes to day-to-day relevance.
Sometimes you've got to tune out politics..
Sometimes you've got to tune out politics..
"A newly unsealed court filing shows the tech giant connected children to predators on a scale much larger than previously understood"
#Meta #Instagram #Facebook #SocialMedia #Trafficking
#Meta #Instagram #Facebook #SocialMedia #Trafficking
Meta’s Child Sex-Trafficking Problem
A newly unsealed court filing shows the tech giant connected children to predators on a scale much larger than previously understood.
www.afterbabel.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:24 PM
"A newly unsealed court filing shows the tech giant connected children to predators on a scale much larger than previously understood"
#Meta #Instagram #Facebook #SocialMedia #Trafficking
#Meta #Instagram #Facebook #SocialMedia #Trafficking
Reposted by Nick McRae
I sincerely hope sociologists are collecting longitudinal data on this. What a great experiment. I sincerely hope it works...
#sociology
www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/a...
#sociology
www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/a...
What happens when you kick millions teens off social media? Australia’s about to find out | CNN
In the next two weeks, social media platforms will start deactivating accounts for children under 16 in Australia under new laws designed to reduce harm online. Other countries are watching, but some ...
www.cnn.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:15 AM
I sincerely hope sociologists are collecting longitudinal data on this. What a great experiment. I sincerely hope it works...
#sociology
www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/a...
#sociology
www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/a...
None of the history I've read has been more of a page turner than Maps of Time by David Christian. Read by a thirty year old me nearly a decade ago.
Ok BlueSky: what are your favorite history books in terms of sheer page-turning, narrative propulsion? Thinking along the line of Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. Nonfiction chronicles that read like novels or movies.
November 21, 2025 at 1:46 AM
None of the history I've read has been more of a page turner than Maps of Time by David Christian. Read by a thirty year old me nearly a decade ago.
As an outsider who's studied Sociology one of the more interesting things about the field is everything it doesn't say about human behavior, arguably the most interesting things.
Sociobiology tries to say those things but many Sociologists don't like soc/bio. And this is considered science. (1/2)
Sociobiology tries to say those things but many Sociologists don't like soc/bio. And this is considered science. (1/2)
November 11, 2025 at 5:22 PM
As an outsider who's studied Sociology one of the more interesting things about the field is everything it doesn't say about human behavior, arguably the most interesting things.
Sociobiology tries to say those things but many Sociologists don't like soc/bio. And this is considered science. (1/2)
Sociobiology tries to say those things but many Sociologists don't like soc/bio. And this is considered science. (1/2)
It's a bit of a chicken / egg problem because I don't think many people are actually looking for older content. And those who are will look for ways to find it.
something I’ve been thinking about is that all our content retrieval systems are biased towards recency rather than quality which makes it extremely hard to discover old good books, movies, blog posts, etc
November 8, 2025 at 11:34 PM
It's a bit of a chicken / egg problem because I don't think many people are actually looking for older content. And those who are will look for ways to find it.
Reposted by Nick McRae
something I’ve been thinking about is that all our content retrieval systems are biased towards recency rather than quality which makes it extremely hard to discover old good books, movies, blog posts, etc
September 19, 2025 at 6:24 PM
something I’ve been thinking about is that all our content retrieval systems are biased towards recency rather than quality which makes it extremely hard to discover old good books, movies, blog posts, etc
Zuckerberg might be one of the world's richest people, but imagine having to spend the rest of your life being the face of this company.
#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Zuckerberg
#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Zuckerberg
Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams and banned goods, Reuters reports
The report shows that the company was hesitant to crack down harder on scams, due to the billions in revenue that they were generating for Meta....
sherwood.news
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Zuckerberg might be one of the world's richest people, but imagine having to spend the rest of your life being the face of this company.
#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Zuckerberg
#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Zuckerberg
"We have been posting about our lives for a long time. But now I notice something else, something more than a compulsion to capture and share moments. I see people turning into TV characters, their memories into episodes, themselves into entertainment. We have become the meaningless content.."
We Are The Slop
Your life is my background noise
www.afterbabel.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
"We have been posting about our lives for a long time. But now I notice something else, something more than a compulsion to capture and share moments. I see people turning into TV characters, their memories into episodes, themselves into entertainment. We have become the meaningless content.."
Reposted by Nick McRae
It looks like future historians will say that in all the annals of American economic governance, the appointment of Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary—alongside the elevation of E.J. Antoni to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—was a critical sea-change away from institutional independence and... /
September 12, 2025 at 7:37 PM
It looks like future historians will say that in all the annals of American economic governance, the appointment of Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary—alongside the elevation of E.J. Antoni to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—was a critical sea-change away from institutional independence and... /
Reposted by Nick McRae
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
Reposted by Nick McRae
We've probably all heard the statement that your brain isn't fully formed until you're 25. However much it "feels" true — it just isn't. Neuroscientist @Garwboy writes for @BBCNews Science Focus about where it comes from, and the reality, and what the consequences would be if it was really the […]
Original post on flipboard.social
flipboard.social
August 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I'm coining a new term: 'Contemporary Bias'
When people see a problem as unique to their era but it's either a solution to a worse problem from a previous era, or a problem that's existed throughout our entire history but they have no historical perspective.
#Sociology #Anthropology
When people see a problem as unique to their era but it's either a solution to a worse problem from a previous era, or a problem that's existed throughout our entire history but they have no historical perspective.
#Sociology #Anthropology
August 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I'm coining a new term: 'Contemporary Bias'
When people see a problem as unique to their era but it's either a solution to a worse problem from a previous era, or a problem that's existed throughout our entire history but they have no historical perspective.
#Sociology #Anthropology
When people see a problem as unique to their era but it's either a solution to a worse problem from a previous era, or a problem that's existed throughout our entire history but they have no historical perspective.
#Sociology #Anthropology
This is bad. But if Trump was the best we could do at this point I don't think pollution is the root of the problem.
Trump administration attempting to unmake virtually all climate US regulations.
Triumph for fossil fuels industry as millions facing sea level rise, extreme heat, floods, fires, crop failures, health problems, ecological disasters.
Will others follow? Planet/People sacrificed to profits.
Triumph for fossil fuels industry as millions facing sea level rise, extreme heat, floods, fires, crop failures, health problems, ecological disasters.
Will others follow? Planet/People sacrificed to profits.
Trump bids to scrap almost all pollution regulations – can anything stop this?
EPA tries to rescind ‘endangerment finding’ – part of ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda that experts say poses grave threat
www.theguardian.com
August 1, 2025 at 9:03 AM
This is bad. But if Trump was the best we could do at this point I don't think pollution is the root of the problem.
And athletes make tens of millions of dollars. This isn't sustainable.
94% of teachers have had to dip into their own pockets to buy school supplies. An estimated 1 in 6 have second jobs during the school year to make ends meet.
The average Wall Street employee got a record $244,700 bonus last year.
Something has gone terribly wrong.
The average Wall Street employee got a record $244,700 bonus last year.
Something has gone terribly wrong.
July 28, 2025 at 12:16 AM
And athletes make tens of millions of dollars. This isn't sustainable.
The below resonates, having purpose is way underrated:
"And ultimately, I think I’m less interested in my own happiness (whatever that means) than I am interested in doing work that feels worth doing."
"And ultimately, I think I’m less interested in my own happiness (whatever that means) than I am interested in doing work that feels worth doing."
Thoughts on Motivation and My 40-Year Career
I’ve never published an essay quite like this. I’ve written about my life before, reams of stuff actually, because that’s how I process what I think, but never for public consumption. I’ve been pus…
charity.wtf
July 15, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The below resonates, having purpose is way underrated:
"And ultimately, I think I’m less interested in my own happiness (whatever that means) than I am interested in doing work that feels worth doing."
"And ultimately, I think I’m less interested in my own happiness (whatever that means) than I am interested in doing work that feels worth doing."
Reposted by Nick McRae
".. close to two-thirds of global financial professionals expect that the greenback will lose its leading reserve-currency status in the next five to 15 years. The global selloff of American bonds last month suggests the U.S. administration’s chaotic actions may have accelerated this timeline."
America is sinking, and Canada cannot go down with the ship
Donald Trump is blaming other countries for his country’s large trade deficits when the U.S. should be looking at itself
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:38 PM
".. close to two-thirds of global financial professionals expect that the greenback will lose its leading reserve-currency status in the next five to 15 years. The global selloff of American bonds last month suggests the U.S. administration’s chaotic actions may have accelerated this timeline."
I'm curious who in the #Zen community has discovered T'ien-t'ai.
It predated Zen in Chinese Buddhism and one of its seminal works was translated in 2017 by Paul Swanson (The Mo-ho chih-kuan). Swanson's title is called Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight. Well worth checking out.
#Buddhism #Tientai
It predated Zen in Chinese Buddhism and one of its seminal works was translated in 2017 by Paul Swanson (The Mo-ho chih-kuan). Swanson's title is called Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight. Well worth checking out.
#Buddhism #Tientai
June 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Nick McRae
Total number of children that US women aged 20-24 plan to have
2002: 2.4 children
2012: 2.3 children
2023: 1.5 children
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
2002: 2.4 children
2012: 2.3 children
2023: 1.5 children
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
June 18, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Total number of children that US women aged 20-24 plan to have
2002: 2.4 children
2012: 2.3 children
2023: 1.5 children
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
2002: 2.4 children
2012: 2.3 children
2023: 1.5 children
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Reposted by Nick McRae
Spoiler alert: multitasking is bad
What is scrolling doing to our brain? Emma Kennedy talks to world leading cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Earl K. Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, to find out what scrolling is doing to our brains. open.spotify.com/episode/46qo...
What is scrolling doing to our brain? Emma Kennedy talks to world leading cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Earl K. Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, to find out what scrolling is doing to our brains. open.spotify.com/episode/46qo...
What is scrolling doing to our brains?
Why? with Emma Kennedy · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Spoiler alert: multitasking is bad
What is scrolling doing to our brain? Emma Kennedy talks to world leading cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Earl K. Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, to find out what scrolling is doing to our brains. open.spotify.com/episode/46qo...
What is scrolling doing to our brain? Emma Kennedy talks to world leading cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Earl K. Miller, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, to find out what scrolling is doing to our brains. open.spotify.com/episode/46qo...
Reposted by Nick McRae
I’ve invented a new social media trend. It’s called the leave the Sentinelese people alone challenge.
My story in @observeruk.bsky.social today about the growing threats to uncontacted tribes.
My story in @observeruk.bsky.social today about the growing threats to uncontacted tribes.
Uncontacted tribes are under threat from developers, extractors… and influencers
An isolated people that Marco Polo called ‘violent and cruel’ just want to be left alone
observer.co.uk
May 2, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I’ve invented a new social media trend. It’s called the leave the Sentinelese people alone challenge.
My story in @observeruk.bsky.social today about the growing threats to uncontacted tribes.
My story in @observeruk.bsky.social today about the growing threats to uncontacted tribes.
Reposted by Nick McRae
So, this paper is passion-project of mine, asking questions about #motivation, proactive social actors, & emotional/affective dispositions. It is a long time coming & is a key piece in the argument for an affective #sociology. Check it out, open access (thx UBC)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
April 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
So, this paper is passion-project of mine, asking questions about #motivation, proactive social actors, & emotional/affective dispositions. It is a long time coming & is a key piece in the argument for an affective #sociology. Check it out, open access (thx UBC)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Nick McRae
Highly recommend Sarah Wynn-Williams’ new book Careless People, which offers her inside look at the psychological incentives to actors who have built Facebook and steered its growth.
(1/5)
read.macmillan.com/fib/careless...
(1/5)
read.macmillan.com/fib/careless...
Careless People - Macmillan
CARELESS PEOPLE A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah-Wynn Williams Preorder your copy today ON SALE NOW Amazon Barnes & Noble BAM! Target Indigo Bookshop An explosive insider ...
read.macmillan.com
March 19, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Highly recommend Sarah Wynn-Williams’ new book Careless People, which offers her inside look at the psychological incentives to actors who have built Facebook and steered its growth.
(1/5)
read.macmillan.com/fib/careless...
(1/5)
read.macmillan.com/fib/careless...
Reposted by Nick McRae
To live to hear Jim Goldgeier say that "NATO is finished as an institution" ...
Important thread. NATO is finished as an institution. It depends on a sense of shared purpose and shared values and a belief in collective defense. No ally can believe in the US having that foreign policy orientation any longer. US now has a Russia first policy. What does Europe do? See below.
Some thoughts from Brussels. Europe is awoken and believes America is all but gone. As such huge efforts on defense funding from EU, Germany, and others. This is real. BUT...
Europe is still not reckoning yet with its major structural security problem: No one does European defense. 1/
Europe is still not reckoning yet with its major structural security problem: No one does European defense. 1/
March 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
To live to hear Jim Goldgeier say that "NATO is finished as an institution" ...
Reposted by Nick McRae
Here’s my contribution to the issue on Wilson’s legacy: the sociobiology debate may have led the human evolutionary behavioural sciences down a path which resulted in scientific critique of bad science being dismissed as ideological “censorship”, making it harder to counter misuse of the discipline
The Legacy of Wilson’s Sociobiology for the Human Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Fifty Years On
When Wilson’s 1975 book Sociobiology was published it ignited a media firestorm. His bombastic style and speculations on the role of biological explanations for human behavior attracted considerable a...
online.ucpress.edu
March 5, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Here’s my contribution to the issue on Wilson’s legacy: the sociobiology debate may have led the human evolutionary behavioural sciences down a path which resulted in scientific critique of bad science being dismissed as ideological “censorship”, making it harder to counter misuse of the discipline