Rense Corten 🟥
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rensec.bsky.social
Rense Corten 🟥
@rensec.bsky.social

Sociologist at Utrecht University, NL, studying cooperation, trust, social networks, social media, platform economy, using computational social science and experimental methods. I mostly follow academics.
Also: @RenseC@mastodon.online .. more

Business 20%
Physics 19%

Personally I don't see the issue with observing that gift-giving is economically inefficient (as compared to regular consumption) while acknowledging that it has social value at the same time.

Simon Reinink, directeur van het Concertgebouw, beschrijft in de Volkskrant precies hoe het Old Boys Network (in dit geval via het corps) functioneert

Reposted by Rense Corten

Corporale studentenverenigingen

www.ad.nl/binnenland/n...

Reposted by Damian Trilling

You mean I can't just make up people instead of studying people? www.science.org/content/arti...
AI-generated ‘participants’ can lead social science experiments astray, study finds
Data produced by “silicon samples” depends on researchers’ exact choice of models, prompts, and settings
www.science.org

OK Ok, teveel aandacht is inderdaad ook niet goed...

Reposted by Rense Corten

NEW: As the Trump administration ordered agencies to eradicate “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we identified more than 1,000 nonprofits that removed such language from the mission statements in their tax filings.
Under Trump, More Than 1,000 Nonprofits Strip DEI Language From Tax Forms
As the Trump administration ordered agencies to eradicate “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we identified more than 1,000 nonprofits that removed such language from the mission statem...
www.propublica.org

Een reflex die je vaker ziet bij (linkse) activisten: verwijzen naar vermeende historische "wetmatigheden" ("Protestbewegingen... beginnen altijd vreedzaam...De geschiedenis leert dat..."). Alsof geweld onontkoombaar is, ipv een keuze door individuen. dub.uu.nl/nl/nieuws/ve...
Vernielingen aan drie UU-gebouwen
Bij het Academiegebouw, Trans 10 en het Bestuursgebouw zijn in de nacht van vrijdag op zaterdag vernielingen aangericht. Ongeveer veertig ruiten zijn kapot geslagen en de gebouwen zijn besmeurd met ro...
dub.uu.nl

Just in case you wondered: speed cameras actually work to improve road safety. Now proven by science. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Can speed cameras make streets safer? Quasi-experimental evidence from New York City | PNAS
Each year, approximately 40,000 people die in vehicle collisions in the United States, generating $340 billion in economic costs. To make roads saf...
www.pnas.org
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
Hoe herken je door AI geschreven nieuws? Eén manier is om door te klikken op de naam van de auteur en goed te kijken naar wat je dan ziet.

Neem het profiel van 'Marlies Jansen', zogenaamd de hoofdredacteur van de AI-gestuurde nieuwssite Krantjeonline. krantjeonline.nl/author/nl1ad...

(1/5)

Yikes. Because of budget cuts?

Wow, sorry to hear. Does it mean that it will be replaced by a Dutch equivalent, or that the BA program in econ will disappear entirely?

Except that the evidence presented for this alleged "rise in connectivity" is rather shaky. I commented on this earlier: bsky.app/profile/rens.... And if this rise does not exist, the whole story falls apart.

However, the evidence presented for this alleged rise in connectivity is rather shaky. I commented on this earlier: bsky.app/profile/rens.... And if this rise does not exist, the whole story falls apart.
This is a very interesting paper but the empirical evidence presented for an increase in connectivity (in their Fig. 1E) is rather problematic. A little thread 👇(1/7):
Is it possible that social media, which promised to connect the world, instead increased polarization? A model of human social dynamics predicts a sharp transition into a polarized state above a certain threshold of social connectivity. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Gym350XnNW8

Wat me opnieuw stoort aan het verhaal van Bovens en Wille is de suggestie dat iedere hoogopgeleide "elite" is. Dat gaat óók over leraren, verpleegkundigen, gemeenteambtenaren - gewone mensen in gewone wijken www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/t...
‘Tussen academici en praktisch opgeleiden is een kloof ontstaan die dieper is dan de oude links-rechtsscheiding’
Met hun boek Diploma­democratie gooiden hoogleraren Anchrit Wille en Mark Bovens vijftien jaar geleden een steen in de vijver. Nu, bij verschijning van een herziene versie, is hun boodschap niet minde...
www.volkskrant.nl
📢 Analytical sociology is coming home!

Call 4 INAS26 is open

🌍 1-3Jul26 @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social and @sociologyoxford.bsky.social (☔)

☢️ Deadline: 1Feb26

🦹 Organisers: @aksoyundan.bsky.social , @kasimirdederichs.bsky.social, D Kretschmer, @awaldendorf.bsky.social

Info: tinyurl.com/yc2tusjx
INAS Conference 2026 - Nuffield College Oxford University
tinyurl.com

-me

Doet met denken aan mijn studietijd, pre-Google Scholar: als ik literatuur nodig had voor een opdracht zocht ik een boek in de catalogus van de UB en vond meestal op de dezelfde plank nog meer relevante literatuur.
dub.uu.nl/nl/blog/even...
Even aan meneer Google vragen
Een gesprek met haar vader, zette onze blogger Lisa aan het denken over de voortschrijdende technische mogelijkheden en het mogelijke effect daarvan op ons geheugen. Hoe was het vroeger zonder Google?
dub.uu.nl

Reposted by Rense Corten

Morgen de grote HO staking! Tot op de Dam!
Tomorrow the big HE strike! See you at Dam square!

woinactie.blogspot.com/2025/12/prog...
Programma Stakingsactie 9 december / Programme Strike Action 9 December
WOinActie is een beweging van studenten en medewerkers en maakt zich sterk voor de universiteit en haar toekomst.
woinactie.blogspot.com

Reposted by Rense Corten

“I wish I had a garden,” said Toad.

“Here are some flower seeds. Plant them in the ground,” said Frog, “and soon you will have a garden.”

I get increasingly annoyed by the framing of "human vs. AI" (or in this case: "human-AI teaming"). AI is software built and operated by humans, trained on previous work by humans, running on hardware built and operated by humans. It is a human tool used by humans www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Accelerating science with AI
By successfully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into research workflows, researchers could substantially increase scientific productivity. Last week’s announcement from the White House of the...
www.science.org

Back up for me too now. Now I can read how to accelerate my science with AI: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Accelerating science with AI
By successfully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into research workflows, researchers could substantially increase scientific productivity. Last week’s announcement from the White House of the...
www.science.org

Is Cloudflare down again? The @science.org website is unreachable...

I keep getting political e-mail (American politicians begging for money and votes) for Richard Corten. I have even corresponded with with him but there seems very little we can do about it.

Reposted by Rense Corten

Reposted by Rense Corten

We're hiring a Junior Researcher Data Management 🔎

Help improve metadata workflows, build tools for better data management, and support our training and outreach with researchers.

Know someone who fits? Please share! 🌟

www.eur.nl/en/working-a...
Junior researcher Data Management
Do you have a hands-on mentality and technical and community building skills? Please join our team to develop a strong profile in Research Data Management.
www.eur.nl

"let’s recognize everyone who continues to do the important work of great teaching, despite the discouraging climate" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
My not-so-favorite year
As 2025 comes to a close, it’s a good time to step back and assess one of the most tumultuous years in the history of American science. The second Trump administration has brought cuts to so many impo...
www.science.org