Peter Godfrey-Smith
@petergs.bsky.social
Photo from my car window on the way to record episode 1 of the podcast series I'm doing with @meehancrist.bsky.social for the @lrb.co.uk (links below).
Mill Valley, California. Highway 1 flooded (November).
The series is called "Nature in Crisis." 1/
Mill Valley, California. Highway 1 flooded (November).
The series is called "Nature in Crisis." 1/
February 10, 2026 at 6:15 AM
Photo from my car window on the way to record episode 1 of the podcast series I'm doing with @meehancrist.bsky.social for the @lrb.co.uk (links below).
Mill Valley, California. Highway 1 flooded (November).
The series is called "Nature in Crisis." 1/
Mill Valley, California. Highway 1 flooded (November).
The series is called "Nature in Crisis." 1/
Thank you very much.
February 10, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Thank you very much.
A very fine octopus encountered at Fly Point (Australia) today. Like an old battleship.
February 4, 2026 at 10:26 AM
A very fine octopus encountered at Fly Point (Australia) today. Like an old battleship.
49 degrees Celsius (= 120 F) down in Victoria?
Tomorrow evening @meehancrist.bsky.social and I record episode 3 of "Nature in Crisis," a new podcast series with the @lrb.co.uk.
Episode 1 looked at Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," and is available now (link in reply).
Tomorrow evening @meehancrist.bsky.social and I record episode 3 of "Nature in Crisis," a new podcast series with the @lrb.co.uk.
Episode 1 looked at Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," and is available now (link in reply).
January 27, 2026 at 8:43 AM
49 degrees Celsius (= 120 F) down in Victoria?
Tomorrow evening @meehancrist.bsky.social and I record episode 3 of "Nature in Crisis," a new podcast series with the @lrb.co.uk.
Episode 1 looked at Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," and is available now (link in reply).
Tomorrow evening @meehancrist.bsky.social and I record episode 3 of "Nature in Crisis," a new podcast series with the @lrb.co.uk.
Episode 1 looked at Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," and is available now (link in reply).
It's not AI or additive; just a matter telling the camera what to look for and what to dial back.
I am a 'natural light ideologue' - see this blog post.
metazoan.net/126-spun-of-...
(Below is also an image from another blog post – how an adjustment for 12 meters or so looks at the surface.)
I am a 'natural light ideologue' - see this blog post.
metazoan.net/126-spun-of-...
(Below is also an image from another blog post – how an adjustment for 12 meters or so looks at the surface.)
January 24, 2026 at 5:30 AM
It's not AI or additive; just a matter telling the camera what to look for and what to dial back.
I am a 'natural light ideologue' - see this blog post.
metazoan.net/126-spun-of-...
(Below is also an image from another blog post – how an adjustment for 12 meters or so looks at the surface.)
I am a 'natural light ideologue' - see this blog post.
metazoan.net/126-spun-of-...
(Below is also an image from another blog post – how an adjustment for 12 meters or so looks at the surface.)
A passage below in a (good) book I am reading.
I recommend against make the bet - your dollar may well be lost. One can photograph reds and oranges underwater without added light; just have to tell the camera to scour its input for the tiny amounts of red coming in, and ramp them up in the mix. 1/
I recommend against make the bet - your dollar may well be lost. One can photograph reds and oranges underwater without added light; just have to tell the camera to scour its input for the tiny amounts of red coming in, and ramp them up in the mix. 1/
January 24, 2026 at 5:30 AM
A passage below in a (good) book I am reading.
I recommend against make the bet - your dollar may well be lost. One can photograph reds and oranges underwater without added light; just have to tell the camera to scour its input for the tiny amounts of red coming in, and ramp them up in the mix. 1/
I recommend against make the bet - your dollar may well be lost. One can photograph reds and oranges underwater without added light; just have to tell the camera to scour its input for the tiny amounts of red coming in, and ramp them up in the mix. 1/
But now I don't think that the shell movement was incidental. The 'pause' before the release makes it unlikely. We saw that pause often with very clear gatherings-and-throws in our later data.
Here's an excerpt of the video, just with the 'throw.' 3/
Here's an excerpt of the video, just with the 'throw.' 3/
January 22, 2026 at 4:38 AM
But now I don't think that the shell movement was incidental. The 'pause' before the release makes it unlikely. We saw that pause often with very clear gatherings-and-throws in our later data.
Here's an excerpt of the video, just with the 'throw.' 3/
Here's an excerpt of the video, just with the 'throw.' 3/
At the time, I worried that this might have been a case where one octopus blew a water jet at another and happened to project some shells as well.
I discussed the case way back, on my blog.
metazoan.net/10-a-new-oct...
(This case is not used in our 2022 paper on the topic.) 2/
I discussed the case way back, on my blog.
metazoan.net/10-a-new-oct...
(This case is not used in our 2022 paper on the topic.) 2/
January 22, 2026 at 4:38 AM
At the time, I worried that this might have been a case where one octopus blew a water jet at another and happened to project some shells as well.
I discussed the case way back, on my blog.
metazoan.net/10-a-new-oct...
(This case is not used in our 2022 paper on the topic.) 2/
I discussed the case way back, on my blog.
metazoan.net/10-a-new-oct...
(This case is not used in our 2022 paper on the topic.) 2/
A blog post. About cockatoos, grooming, and affection.
metazoan.net/127-affection/
metazoan.net/127-affection/
January 19, 2026 at 1:05 PM
A blog post. About cockatoos, grooming, and affection.
metazoan.net/127-affection/
metazoan.net/127-affection/
Each year round this time, Rainbow Lorikeets come in and make a huge fuss round some high tree hollows (where some Galahs raised a family in 'Living On Earth'). They make a stack of noise, rip things up, check it all out... and then leave again.
January 16, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Each year round this time, Rainbow Lorikeets come in and make a huge fuss round some high tree hollows (where some Galahs raised a family in 'Living On Earth'). They make a stack of noise, rip things up, check it all out... and then leave again.
A favorite encounter of 2025 – bobcat, Point Reyes (California).
Bobcat not lioness, but the image brings to mind the Iranian protestors right now.
Bobcat not lioness, but the image brings to mind the Iranian protestors right now.
January 11, 2026 at 12:44 PM
A favorite encounter of 2025 – bobcat, Point Reyes (California).
Bobcat not lioness, but the image brings to mind the Iranian protestors right now.
Bobcat not lioness, but the image brings to mind the Iranian protestors right now.
This was the Karl Popper Memorial Lecture at LSE.
I'm applying to speech a framework developed with Ben Kerr for understanding tolerance in general, especially in relation to "toleration of the intolerant."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Preprint: petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u... 4/
I'm applying to speech a framework developed with Ben Kerr for understanding tolerance in general, especially in relation to "toleration of the intolerant."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Preprint: petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u... 4/
January 5, 2026 at 3:14 AM
This was the Karl Popper Memorial Lecture at LSE.
I'm applying to speech a framework developed with Ben Kerr for understanding tolerance in general, especially in relation to "toleration of the intolerant."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Preprint: petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u... 4/
I'm applying to speech a framework developed with Ben Kerr for understanding tolerance in general, especially in relation to "toleration of the intolerant."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Preprint: petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u... 4/
In the case of speech and elsewhere, we should understand tolerance using different levels: 1st-order tolerance (or intolerance) is directed at 'ordinary' behaviors; 2nd-order tolerance is tolerance of 1st-order policies, and so on. Different questions arise at each level. 3/
January 5, 2026 at 3:14 AM
In the case of speech and elsewhere, we should understand tolerance using different levels: 1st-order tolerance (or intolerance) is directed at 'ordinary' behaviors; 2nd-order tolerance is tolerance of 1st-order policies, and so on. Different questions arise at each level. 3/
Free speech thread: In the aftermath of the Bondi murders, the state govt here is moving, unfortunately, in the direction of suppressing protest and proscribing specific phrases.
I gave talks in 2025 about tolerance & free speech. Wrote up the main one:
petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u...
I gave talks in 2025 about tolerance & free speech. Wrote up the main one:
petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u...
January 5, 2026 at 3:14 AM
Free speech thread: In the aftermath of the Bondi murders, the state govt here is moving, unfortunately, in the direction of suppressing protest and proscribing specific phrases.
I gave talks in 2025 about tolerance & free speech. Wrote up the main one:
petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u...
I gave talks in 2025 about tolerance & free speech. Wrote up the main one:
petergodfreysmith.com/wp-content/u...
In relation to the blog post about lights and camera gear: this is from a recent dive trip. Mine is the diminutive rig at the end (red arrow). (Blog post: Metazoan.net)
December 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
In relation to the blog post about lights and camera gear: this is from a recent dive trip. Mine is the diminutive rig at the end (red arrow). (Blog post: Metazoan.net)
Thank you. Glad to hear it.
December 29, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Thank you. Glad to hear it.
A natural light photo from the post:
December 26, 2025 at 11:06 AM
A natural light photo from the post:
Neruda is wonderful.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this.
December 17, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Neruda is wonderful.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this.
Back in the water with Phyllodesmium poindimiei.
A gastropodic marvel. (Fly Point, Australia)
A gastropodic marvel. (Fly Point, Australia)
December 11, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Back in the water with Phyllodesmium poindimiei.
A gastropodic marvel. (Fly Point, Australia)
A gastropodic marvel. (Fly Point, Australia)
A Great Horned Owl, seen in Point Reyes during my recent California trip. Spotted (while quite a bit better hidden than he is here) by Daniel Dietrich. A young one, apparently. Flew off and then sat watching as I scrambled up the hill to get a photo.
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 AM
A Great Horned Owl, seen in Point Reyes during my recent California trip. Spotted (while quite a bit better hidden than he is here) by Daniel Dietrich. A young one, apparently. Flew off and then sat watching as I scrambled up the hill to get a photo.
Driving down the east side of the Sierra Nevadas a few weeks ago. I keep coming back here.
October 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Driving down the east side of the Sierra Nevadas a few weeks ago. I keep coming back here.
The title is from a William James letter - "such flexible intensity of life in a form so inaccessible to our sympathy."
Classic James. But perhaps not so inaccessible. 2/
Classic James. But perhaps not so inaccessible. 2/
October 17, 2025 at 6:54 AM
The title is from a William James letter - "such flexible intensity of life in a form so inaccessible to our sympathy."
Classic James. But perhaps not so inaccessible. 2/
Classic James. But perhaps not so inaccessible. 2/
Australian whale populations – what a pleasure to read this.
October 11, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Australian whale populations – what a pleasure to read this.
Weather coming in over Eagle Lake, (California, near Tahoe), last week.
October 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Weather coming in over Eagle Lake, (California, near Tahoe), last week.
I will do a thread here soon with a few highlights, or at least ideas that stayed with me, from the Virginia conference.
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk:
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk:
September 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I will do a thread here soon with a few highlights, or at least ideas that stayed with me, from the Virginia conference.
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk:
Here is one passage, which contributed the title of Fesmire's talk: