Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 18h

Sounds about right. When I was a lecturer at the University of Kent, the workload allocation was 10 hrs for writing & delivering each new-from-scratch 1 hr lecture. Delivering an hour’s lecture you’ve given before was allocated 2 hours, maybe slightly generously (but only slightly)

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 2d

An 18th century observation on populists and scholars, but startlingly relevant today. Posting also to the 🧪 feed for scicomm folk. From Threads

Screenshot of Threads thread by gutz156. Concatenated text follows.

A French aristocrat wrote: most geniuses remain unknown — and when I learned the reason, I realized nothing has changed since

The line came from the memoirs of Marquis de Villeroy, written in 1782. He observed that the brightest men in Paris never rose beyond small circles. “They possessed truth,” he wrote, “but no audience.” He noticed a paradox — intelligence didn’t attract attention; it repelled it, because the mind that questions also threatens.

Villeroy described dinners where shallow charmers won applause while real thinkers sat silent. “They spoke with care,” he wrote, “and the room punished them with boredom.” The court didn’t hate genius — it simply had no patience for precision. Attention always flowed to those who could flatter, not clarify.

He concluded that talent fails not from lack of effort, but from over-complexity of delivery. The human brain rewards familiarity, not depth. The clever man wants to be understood; the crowd wants to be confirmed. Every era repeats that trade: truth exchanged for attention.

Modern research calls it the fluency effect. People trust what’s easy to process. Hard ideas create friction, and friction feels unsafe. That’s why marketers outperform philosophers — they speak in rhythm, not revelation. The mind mistakes simplicity for truth.

Villeroy’s final note reads: “Genius needs translation before it needs recognition.” Two centuries later, the stage hasn’t changed — only the spotlight. Most brilliant minds still fade, not because they’re wrong, but because they refuse to sing their wisdom in the language of the crowd.

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 2d

Very good point, which made me rummage again to check. It appears to be real: www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...

In an Exclusive Interview, Dr. Jane Goodall Leaves Behind Her Last Words

“In the place where I am now, I look back over my life. What message do I want to leave?”

www.netflix.com

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 3d

WOW. Posting also to the 🧪 feed

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 3d

This post took me down a wonderful rabbit hole ending up at this @cellpress.bsky.social Current Biology special issue from 2015 with plenty of lovely accessible long reads perfect for a Sunday morning www.cell.com/current-biol... 🧪

Issue: Current Biology

www.cell.com

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 7d

@gork.bluesky.bot Is this true?

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Warwick History Post-Doc Club @post-doc-club.bsky.social · 9d

Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...

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Alice Sheppard @penguingalaxy.bsky.social · 9d

So yeah, this is something I've seen a LOT of shortly before the last few American elections. Just in case this is useful to any of my pals there ...

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 10d

Q. Can you vote in the Presidential election next month?

A. Of course I can. I always vote.

Q. Are you on the Register?

A. Why wouldn't I be?

*Checks Register. Name absent*

Q. Who erased me?

*Applies to be registerred*

There are only a few days left to register.

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weegingerdug @weegingerdug.bsky.social · 11d

Sky News and the BBC repeatedly mention the "migrant crisis" in doing so they are normalising and legitimising far right talking points. There is no "migrant crisis", there is only migrant hysteria, which the British media is feeding into instead of countering.

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dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 10d

Spot-on.

Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 10d

Trump just ordered the military into Portland, and he’s giving them the green light to use lethal force on American citizens.

Authoritarianism is an abstract concept but Trump is making its impacts real and tangible. Let’s be real about it: This is the beginning of dictatorship in America.

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Edwin Hayward @edwinhayward.com · 15d

I still can't quite believe that the very first attacks from Labour on Farage's bonkers idea to kick millions of people with INDEFINITE right to remain out of the UK were to argue that it's infeasible and wouldn't save anything like the amount he claimed.

How about:
- It's WRONG
- It's IMMORAL
?

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 15d

I should log onto Mastodon more often. I'm two weeks late posting this correction!

Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 15d

A bit late, but @davidallengreen.bsky.social said on Mastodon that this was just an attempt at mild irony. And now I have to reset my counter for "Successful corrections to DAG's blog" back to zero.

Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 29d

Excellent post by @davidallengreen.bsky.social on the Banksy mural on the Royal Courts of Justice. Unusually I disagree with one point: "Criminal damage is wrong". It is unlawful, but as a matter of principle, law ≠ right. Laws can be e.g. morally wrong. emptycity.substack.com/p/what-banks...

What Banksy's RCJ mural maybe gets wrong

Judges are not to blame for the protest laws promoted by the executive and passed by parliament and implemented by the police and prosecuted by the Crown

emptycity.substack.com

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 15d

I don't say this lightly, but this Reform policy is genuinely evil. People voting for this are voting to tear apart families and destroy lives, including those of close friends of mine. "Farage said he accepted the policy would split families" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reform plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain for migrants

The party says scrapping the scheme and restricting migrant access to benefits will save hundreds of billions of pounds.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 15d

What’s the prospect of the makers of Tylenol suing the administration for vast, astronomical sums?

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 15d

Trump said his administration was linking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to autism and urging pregnant women to largely avoid the medication

Trump Tells Pregnant Women to Avoid Tylenol Over Autism Fear

President Donald Trump said his administration was linking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to autism and urging pregnant women to largely avoid the medication.

bloom.bg

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 16d

So Reform / Farage want to deport hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of UK residents, turning the country into an effective police state, breaking treaties, and impoverishing the economy and health service?

Just focus on all that. The moral gutter of politics.

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 16d

Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart.
Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point.
Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.

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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 17d

Your reminder that legislation to curb the rights of trans people to use restrooms or do anything else means everyone's behaviour, clothing etc will be opened up to intrusive and unwanted scrutiny and potential challenge in our daily lives. This is not a 'them' issue. Trans rights are human rights.

Kirsti Miller @kirstimiller30.bsky.social · 17d

Adult Human Female hockey star kicked out of women’s restroom by ‘gender police’ who thought she was a man -

www.outsports.com/2025/5/21/24...

PWHL hockey icon Madison Packer 'told to go to men’s restroom' - Outsports

After a 'humiliating' experience, Madison Packer calls bathroom policing a by-product of anti-trans propaganda.

www.outsports.com

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 18d

How about Nicola Walker as Doctor Who? She played Liv Chenka in the audio plays but that’s much less of an obstacle. And she is such a brilliant, thoughtful actor. Maybe such a celebrated actor would command stronger scripts than JW had?

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 20d

Holy 💩. In that situation they should be paying YOU!

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 21d

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 20d

I'm glad to read this. About time. Also I don't understand why he was made FRS in the first place. He's not a scientist and he's not an engineer. He's a business leader who pontificates wildly on scientific subjects in which he knows next to nothing and his DOGE has actively damaged US science. 🔭🧪

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 20d

Mini-scoop: After resisting pressure to strip Elon Musk of his fellowship for months, the Royal Society is meeting on 1 October to discuss his removal – following his decision to address Tommy Robinson's far-right rally on Saturday.

www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-r...

Royal Society to debate throwing out Elon Musk

One of the most prestigious scientific bodies in the world is considering expelling Musk after his appearance at Tommy Robinson’s extremist London rally

www.thenewworld.co.uk

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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 23d

Proof, if proof were needed, that current climate is the result of organised, sustained disinformation.

"Official figures indicate net migration is falling, yet concern among Britons is close to the highest it has been since polling began in 1974." ~AA

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

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 23d

Good point. I have naive hope that such a well decorated actor could command better scripts

Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 23d

Oh you are right, I had forgotten! Well spotted. Didn’t stop Peter Capaldi’s casting when he’d been Caecilius but yes it could be an obstacle. Drat, she’d be wonderful

Olivia Colman playing a scary alien with sharp fangs in Doctor Who

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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 23d

I find it odd too. Slightly off topic, but wouldn’t it be marvellous to have Olivia Colman cast as Doctor Who?

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