Carl T. Bergstrom

@carlbergstrom.com

140K followers 2.5K following 10K posts

Professor, UW Biology / Santa Fe Institute

I study how information flows in biology, science, and society.

Book: *Calling Bullshit*, http://tinyurl.com/fdcuvd7b

LLM course: https://thebullshitmachines.com

Corvids: https://tinyurl.com/mr2n5ymk

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Carl Theodore Bergstrom is a theoretical and evolutionary biologist and a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, United States. Bergstrom is a critic of low-quality or misleading scientific research. He is the co-author of a book on misinformation called Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World and teaches a class by the same name at University of Washington. .. more

Biology 21%

Mathematics 20%

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Feb 4

Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines?

Jevin West (@jevinwest.bsky.social) and I have spent the last eight months developing the course on large language models (LLMs) that we think every college freshman needs to take.

thebullshitmachines.com

INTRODUCTION

thebullshitmachines.com

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 2d

it’s crazy because no one knows what the aim of science is

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 2d

DO NOT look away.

'Mega detention centers': ICE considers buying large warehouses to hold immigrants

The Trump administration is exploring a plan to buy warehouses designed for companies like Amazon, sources said, which would drastically increase the Trump administration’s capacity for detaining immi...

www.nbcnews.com

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

Most likely, they’ll make excuses.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

That would honestly be an amazing musical.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

As I was saying…

A. DELTA
Dear Carl Theodore,
Delta is complying with a federal directive to reduce flights at 40 major
U.S. airports starting Friday, November 7th, due to air traffic control staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown.

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Richard S.J. Tol, Eric Goldman , and 5 more Nandita Sharma, Richard S.J. Tol, Eric Goldman, David Wood, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Brian Keegan, David Darmofal

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

I understand why we shut down American airspace for a few days after 9-11 to avoid a repeat attack but imagine shutting down American airspace to avoid releasing the Epstein files.

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom, Anya Plutynski

Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science @mcps-philsci.bsky.social · 3d

Excited to welcome @lmesseri.bsky.social, @cameronbuckner.bsky.social and @carlbergstrom.com to campus a week from today for the “AI and the Nature of Science: Concepts and Controversies” event. 14.11.25, 1400 - 1800.

AI and the Nature of Science

Bringing together cutting-edge perspectives and helping set an agenda for future research and application

buff.ly

Reposted by Margot C. Finn, Michael Catchen

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

A week after the arXiv was forced to tighten down on submissions because of overwhelming volumes of AI slop, bioRxiv is throwing the doors wide open.

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 3d

disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought

@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science

Oded Rechavi @odedrechavi.bsky.social · 4d

IT'S HAPPENING! 💥 I'm psyched to launch the collaboration between @qedscience.bsky.social & @openrxiv.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social! Preprint + q.e.d = your science is out there, and anyone can appreciate it. Let's care about making discoveries, and not on “getting published” (1/3) 👇

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 3d

I guess when any and all shareholders not in the cult have already cut and run….

Tesla Shareholders Approve Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Package

The unprecedented payday will go into full effect by 2035—as long as Tesla hits ambitious financial and production targets.

www.wired.com

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 3d

Oded Rechavi @odedrechavi.bsky.social · 4d

Reposted by Margot C. Finn, David Spurrett

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

AI letters are flooding the medical literature. (gift link)

Thanks, Altman.

The Editor Got a Letter From ‘Dr. B.S.’ So Did a Lot of Other Editors.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom, Paul Nightingale

Abandoned America @abandonedamerica.bsky.social · 4d

The remains of Nottingham Looms at the abandoned Scranton Lace Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania
www.abandonedamerica.us/scranton-lac...

View from the second level of a massive, two story loom across a row of platforms atop more looms which are still threaded. On the right is a long bank of windows.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

Oh yes—we're well acquainted!

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 7d

OK, inspired by @banditelli.org I wanted to post at least something crow. 🪶

Here they are engaging in mass vandalism just for the fun of it.

OK actually they're digging out beetle larvae that harm the lawn—you can see one in the iphone photo below—but it's pretty funny to see the mess they make.

Crow tearing the shit out of the UW lawn

Same crow showing both the mess it's made over the past hour and the reason it's digging: a fat white grub from a beetle.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

More likely, for absolutely no purpose, and a huge waste of taxpayer money as well as an environmental and humanitarian insult.

Though in this case, the humanitarian insult is minimized by the laughably short extent of the wall.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

Part of the border wall between the US and Mexico

Reposted by Jesse R. Lasky

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

Seriously though, this comes from a beautiful photo essay of a strange and troubling subject. I highly recommend it.

View from the border: the wall dividing the US and Mexico – in pictures — Guardian US

The structure, variously known as the border fence or border wall, is not continuous and only covers sections of the almost 2,000-mile boundary between the two countries. It consists of a series of ob...

apple.news

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 4d

G. K. Chesterton raises his hand…

• A very short segment of the border wall in the Altar desert appears to serve no clear purpose.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

Truly extraordinary.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

When I joined the UW Biology department in 2001, everyone else had a nice nameplate on their office door — but I got a piece of paper with my name on it taped to the wall.

It was a newly implemented cost-saving measure, I was told.

You cheap-ass bastards, I thought.

Anyway, now I feel better.

Paul and Storm @paulandstorm.bsky.social · 5d

[P] Found a higher-quality photo; IT *IS* TAPED UP SHEETS OF PAPER!

photo of a sign outside the door of the Oval Office, reading "The Oval Office" in gold bullshit script, made out of three sheets of paper

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

I should man up and take the hate as it comes.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

100%

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

(I'm making fun of myself, rather than boasting; there is absolutely no reason for this to be so goddamn hard.)

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

Mood: just manually renewed SSL certification on my AWS-hosted website.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

"Criminals posing as US immigration officers have carried out robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assaults in several states" according to an FBI bulletin.

Which, of course, gives ICE cover to commit the same crimes.

"It wasn't us, it was different thugs, dressing up as us."