simonabbrown.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Interesting set of findings, not sure what to make of them but the sentience-related interpretation Peter points to in this thread is very much a live one

submitted 12 hours ago • 0 comments

A report of "voluntary passive movement" - a form of play - in fruit flies. 🧵 Voluntary passive play: an example in humans is riding a carousel. Also seen in flies. Via @wolfhuette.bsky.social and collaborators. www.cell.com/current-biol... 1/

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

Hopi speakers aren’t here for your vague bullshit

submitted 2 days ago • 73 comments

When and why are motivational trade-offs evidence of sentience? New paper with @birchlse.bsky.social forthcoming at Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B and available to download for free here: philpapers.org/rec/BROWAW-10 (1/11)

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

🚨 Last chance to apply for this position! Lots of opportunities for learning, developing new projects, and collaborating with a large multi-national & interdisciplinary team. We're funded by an international organization with funding guaranteed for the next 3 years. Thanks for reposting!

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

In Jan, the Congolese national authority of protected areas issued a controversial directive asking its partner primate sanctuary to send juvenile chimpanzees to the Kinshasa zoo for a breeding program. The ongoing conflict in DRC adds uncertainty to the future of sanctuaries & the threatened apes.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

🚨 Final call for #IPM4.5! Join us on 22–23 May for a new format: an early-career researcher's talk followed by a commentary from an established researcher. We invite early career researchers to submit abstracts by 1 March. Submit here: 👉 forms.gle/J6RdzD3qdvdP...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Berkeley's notebooks are like a jaunty version of Wittgenstein

submitted 31 days ago • 1 comment

Soon also cell ag, and China will lead on food clean tech as well, leaving the US/Europe as 20th century factory farming hegemons.

submitted 40 days ago • 2 comments

I’m hiring a postdoctoral fellow for 3 years to work on the philosophy of physics at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP), LMU Munich (deadline: February 23, 2025). More information below. @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social @lmuphilosophy.bsky.social

submitted 45 days ago • 2 comments

‘Our citizens assembly was supposed to demonstrate a new kind of politics. But….’ Richard Sulley reflects on what went wrong with S.Yorkshire’s climate assembly 👇 nowthenmagazine.com/articles/our...

submitted 47 days ago • 8 comments

PhD position available! Are you interested in how natural selection shapes the evolution of animal memory? Be part of our experimental evolution plans at UCL @ucl-pnl.bsky.social @treesdla.bsky.social , co-supervised by Flo Camus @fcamus.bsky.social. www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo...

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

World meat production is expected to double by 2050 This would require that we convert 80% of existing forests & shrubland into land devoted to meat & dairy production - an additional 35 million km2 of land, equating to the combined area of Australia & Africa New: academic.oup.com/oocc/article...

submitted 50 days ago • 6 comments

Lovely video about recent work from the Buzsáki lab at NYU. Accessible explanation of manifold concept (transforming 100s of recordings into a low-dimensional manifold), which reveals the replay of salient spatial patterns (w/ripples) during sleep. youtu.be/ceFFEmkxTLg?...

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment

A few spots still remaining for our Cognitive Science Research Skills workshop later this week at UCL (in-person), sign up for free here: www.eventbrite.com/e/cognitive-...

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment

Out now! @drbarner.bsky.social & I find that Hindi kids learn yesterday & tomorrow earlier than English kids, despite having only word 'kal' to reference both the past and future. We argue that kids rely on tense info (over associations w/ events) to learn. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

submitted 62 days ago • 1 comment

Short letter in TiCS. We argue that aphantasia is blindsight for the mind's eye: unconscious imagery. This means access consciousness without phenomenal consciousness—which we call 'blank access' (w/ @hakwan.bsky.social, @jorge-morales.bsky.social, @neddo.bsky.social). www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

submitted 75 days ago • 4 comments

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kHSZ4sIRv... in this short letter in TICS, @matthiasmichel.bsky.social & @jorge-morales.bsky.social argue against the episodic memory deficit interpretation of aphantasia proposed by @andreablomkvist.bsky.social. a lack of imagery awareness may be all there is 1/2

submitted 75 days ago • 6 comments

“To explain time consciousness, theories of consciousness like IIT and GNWT need to extend beyond the “moment” a single stimulus enters consciousness to accord with experience that is long, continuous, and dynamic.” @lachkent.bsky.social @marcwittmann.bsky.social

submitted 78 days ago • 1 comment

Maybe a bit niche but if slime molds are for you, it’s free to download for a month. cup.org/3Dlw6CA

submitted 80 days ago • 2 comments

The #IPM4.5 call for papers is open! Taking place on 22–23 May, this year's conference introduces a new format. We invite early career researchers to submit abstracts by 1 March. Submit here:

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

Food caching corvids just racking up wins

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

The latest SEP entry in the area of Animal Minds and Behavior is now out! @cameronbuckner.bsky.social on Animal Social Cognition is a great introduction to theory of mind in animals, and includes discussion of social play, culture & imitation, emotion, norms & more. #philsky #cognition

submitted 87 days ago • 2 comments

A peek into the interactive VR experience on Portia the jumping spider, which I showcased at the workshop “What it’s like to be another animal” at the #Bristolmuseum&artgallery, organised by @simonabbrown.bsky.social , Ross Pain and Giulia Palazzolo. Now proven to work for both kids & adults :)

submitted 95 days ago • 2 comments

My school is advertising 6+ fully funded PhD studentships to start in October 2025, open to UK or international applicants. I'd be very happy to support applicants working in my areas of interest, including animal ethics/animals in political philosophy. #philsky #polisky

submitted 95 days ago • 2 comments

finally published! Optimal metacognitive decision strategies in signal detection theory -- with the brilliant Brian Maniscalco and Lucie Charles #neuroskyence #neuroAI #metacognition #consciousness #psychology link.springer.com/article/10.3...

submitted 101 days ago • 4 comments

JOB ALERT: We are recruiting a research assistant in the Imagine Reality Lab to work on a project using MEG decoding to distinguish between different theories of consciousness 🧠 Get in touch if you have any questions about the role's scientific details. Please share! www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

submitted 101 days ago • 2 comments

Fill out our online pre-screening form to check your eligibility for a psychedelic study at UCL: 👉 bit.ly/unity-ucl Who we're looking for: Age: 21-65 - Heavy drinkers - Based in London Please share with your friends and family.

submitted 101 days ago • 0 comments

So cool to see continued work on representation of perspectival shape! Here's the latest from Gupta, Lo, Cheng, and Tseng, in Consciousness and Cognition, replicating and extending work with @jorge-morales.bsky.social. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

submitted 102 days ago • 0 comments

Johns Hopkins is now the best* place in the world to study philosophy of cognitive science, according ratings by members of the discipline. Such a privilege to be connected to this community of scholars!

submitted 103 days ago • 4 comments

No one likes a poorly attended inauguration... so please join me in London or online on 3 Dec for my inaugural lecture, "The Edge of Sentience". www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2024/...

submitted 104 days ago • 3 comments

Jonathan Birch on the edge of sentience - a Philosophy Bites interview podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

submitted 109 days ago • 1 comment

Can LLMs be induced to deviate from optimal gameplay in a simple game by threats of pain/promises of pleasure? And does the probability of deviating depend on the intensity of the promised pleasure/pain? According to our new paper (arxiv.org/abs/2411.02432) the answer is Yes & Yes for some models.

submitted 117 days ago • 2 comments

Postgrad funding, especially for masters, is scarce. We are trying to maximise its availability and reach. Follow this link for info on a new HPS Futures Studentship for Widening Participation in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine. Deadline Dec 3rd, tell your students! #philsci #histsci

submitted 130 days ago • 0 comments

I'll be attempting to get this account going by posting some highlights from my twitter drafts folder - get ready.

submitted 128 days ago • 1 comment