Bernhard Leitner
@bmleitner.bsky.social
Historian of brain science, psychiatry and neurology in the Habsburg and Japanese Empires.
Interested in history and philosophy of science and medicine.
医学史・精神神経学史・科学哲学・学術史
https://meduniwien.academia.edu/BernhardLeitner
Interested in history and philosophy of science and medicine.
医学史・精神神経学史・科学哲学・学術史
https://meduniwien.academia.edu/BernhardLeitner
Pinned
Bernhard Leitner
@bmleitner.bsky.social
· Dec 10
How were emerging medical disciplines and transnational networks connected to colonial racism in 20th c. East Asia?
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Gov. Pritzker: "They want you to question what your eyes and ears are telling you. It is unimaginable to think this can happen in our country or that when it does happen the government immediately tries to cover it up. It should anger you." #3E #endImpunity #ReneeGood #JusticeforGood #GoodVsEvil
January 8, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Gov. Pritzker: "They want you to question what your eyes and ears are telling you. It is unimaginable to think this can happen in our country or that when it does happen the government immediately tries to cover it up. It should anger you." #3E #endImpunity #ReneeGood #JusticeforGood #GoodVsEvil
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Interesting post, arguing that LLMs aren’t really disruptors. “They arrived as intensifiers. LLMs function as an accelerant for the existing optimization machine, making the logic run faster rather than challenging its foundations.”
open.substack.com/pub/artifici...
open.substack.com/pub/artifici...
Context Widows
or, of GPUs, LPUs, and Goal Displacement
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Interesting post, arguing that LLMs aren’t really disruptors. “They arrived as intensifiers. LLMs function as an accelerant for the existing optimization machine, making the logic run faster rather than challenging its foundations.”
open.substack.com/pub/artifici...
open.substack.com/pub/artifici...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
We all need to send this link to data driven university administrators who view funding applications as key performance target.
This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
www.nature.com
January 2, 2026 at 1:16 PM
We all need to send this link to data driven university administrators who view funding applications as key performance target.
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
I think there is a genuinely interesting question here: why is phrenology so damn popular? People seem to reinvent it constantly.
Computer scientists: "So with machine learning we can extract subtle patterns from massive datasets. What shall we do with it?"
Business school professors, every single time: "You know, I think phrenology got a raw deal in the late 1800s."
Business school professors, every single time: "You know, I think phrenology got a raw deal in the late 1800s."
Can Your Face Predict Your Salary? Using AI Personality Assessments in Hiring
A new study from Wharton faculty explores how AI can extract personality traits from facial images — and what that means for your career.
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu
December 11, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I think there is a genuinely interesting question here: why is phrenology so damn popular? People seem to reinvent it constantly.
How were emerging medical disciplines and transnational networks connected to colonial racism in 20th c. East Asia?
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
December 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
How were emerging medical disciplines and transnational networks connected to colonial racism in 20th c. East Asia?
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
Dive into my new #OpenAccess article, "Neurologically Speaking: Racial Science and Medicine at Keijō Imperial University" #HistSci #HistMed #EastAsia
doi.org/10.1163/2666...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
“Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland are listed as countries the U.S. should “work more with…with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].”“
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...
‘Make Europe Great Again’ and more from a longer version of the National Security Strategy
A fuller version reviewed by Defense One outlines the Trump administration’s plans for shedding old relationships and creating new ones.
www.defenseone.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:54 AM
“Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland are listed as countries the U.S. should “work more with…with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].”“
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
During #WWI, medics applied 1.5 million splints, fitted over 20,000 artificial eyes & used 7,250 tons of cotton wool while applying 108 million bandages to injured soldiers. More than 6,000 medics died & over 17,000 were wounded in the British Army alone.
December 5, 2025 at 10:59 AM
During #WWI, medics applied 1.5 million splints, fitted over 20,000 artificial eyes & used 7,250 tons of cotton wool while applying 108 million bandages to injured soldiers. More than 6,000 medics died & over 17,000 were wounded in the British Army alone.
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
This coming Thursday I am at Waterstones Gower Street talking 10 years of Children of Time with Temi Oh. www.waterstones.com/events/celeb...
Celebrate the 10th Anniversary or the Children of Time - an Evening with Adrian Tchaikovsky in conversation with Temi Oh | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones
Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about Celebrate the 10th Anniversary or the Children of Time - an Evening with Adrian Tchaik...
www.waterstones.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:56 PM
This coming Thursday I am at Waterstones Gower Street talking 10 years of Children of Time with Temi Oh. www.waterstones.com/events/celeb...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
8th EU-Japan Young Scholars Workshop "‘Revisiting’ Transnational Relations between Japan and the West"
📅 online & onsite (Hosei U), Nov 28-30
incl. paper by DIJ's Alberto Zizza on Japan–West Intellectual Exchange through Haga Yaichi & Okakura Yoshisaburō
▶️ hijas.hosei.ac.jp/en/news/2025...
📅 online & onsite (Hosei U), Nov 28-30
incl. paper by DIJ's Alberto Zizza on Japan–West Intellectual Exchange through Haga Yaichi & Okakura Yoshisaburō
▶️ hijas.hosei.ac.jp/en/news/2025...
November 24, 2025 at 1:02 AM
8th EU-Japan Young Scholars Workshop "‘Revisiting’ Transnational Relations between Japan and the West"
📅 online & onsite (Hosei U), Nov 28-30
incl. paper by DIJ's Alberto Zizza on Japan–West Intellectual Exchange through Haga Yaichi & Okakura Yoshisaburō
▶️ hijas.hosei.ac.jp/en/news/2025...
📅 online & onsite (Hosei U), Nov 28-30
incl. paper by DIJ's Alberto Zizza on Japan–West Intellectual Exchange through Haga Yaichi & Okakura Yoshisaburō
▶️ hijas.hosei.ac.jp/en/news/2025...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
We have a US administration trying to bully Ukrainians into accepting Russia’s proposal that their sovereignty be undone. Aside from the naked injustice of this, there are five basic practical reasons why it would make the world far more dangerous.
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
The Putin-Witkoff Plan Worsens the War
Five Reasons the US should not help Russia subjugate Ukraine
snyder.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
We have a US administration trying to bully Ukrainians into accepting Russia’s proposal that their sovereignty be undone. Aside from the naked injustice of this, there are five basic practical reasons why it would make the world far more dangerous.
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Join our next #DIJStudyGroup with Liliane Höppe @jstudiesvienna.bsky.social who will present her research on “The Construction of Culture & Identity in Shimao Toshio's Writings About the Ryūkyū Islands”, online & onsite at the DIJ.
📅 Nov 6, 6.30 pm JST/10.30 am CET
www.dijtokyo.org/event/the-co...
📅 Nov 6, 6.30 pm JST/10.30 am CET
www.dijtokyo.org/event/the-co...
October 24, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Join our next #DIJStudyGroup with Liliane Höppe @jstudiesvienna.bsky.social who will present her research on “The Construction of Culture & Identity in Shimao Toshio's Writings About the Ryūkyū Islands”, online & onsite at the DIJ.
📅 Nov 6, 6.30 pm JST/10.30 am CET
www.dijtokyo.org/event/the-co...
📅 Nov 6, 6.30 pm JST/10.30 am CET
www.dijtokyo.org/event/the-co...
18.10.2004 R.I.P.
October 8, 2025 at 8:12 AM
18.10.2004 R.I.P.
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine
October 6, 2025 at 11:21 AM
A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine
I love how the National Taiwan University Library Special Collections brochure looks like a menu. And they do have delicate stuff, I can tell you that...
September 29, 2025 at 8:00 AM
I love how the National Taiwan University Library Special Collections brochure looks like a menu. And they do have delicate stuff, I can tell you that...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Michel Foucault says hi! [especially if we also include aspects of knowledge creation associated with colonialism in the equation]
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Workhouses in England and Wales linked to transatlantic slave trade, study suggests
Report highlights how British workhouses were funded and supported by those who profited from slave economy
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Michel Foucault says hi! [especially if we also include aspects of knowledge creation associated with colonialism in the equation]
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Black Religion in the Madhouse
Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake nyupress.org/978147982978...
Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake nyupress.org/978147982978...
August 25, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Black Religion in the Madhouse
Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake nyupress.org/978147982978...
Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake nyupress.org/978147982978...
Finally, there is a comprehensive database for the victims of biomedical research under National Socialism, including the cases of brain samples shamelessly used by psychiatrists and neurologists well after 1945. Never forget!
ns-medical-victims.org
ns-medical-victims.org
Victims of Biomedical Research under National Socialism
ns-medical-victims.org
August 18, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Finally, there is a comprehensive database for the victims of biomedical research under National Socialism, including the cases of brain samples shamelessly used by psychiatrists and neurologists well after 1945. Never forget!
ns-medical-victims.org
ns-medical-victims.org
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
“I knew nothing about my family history until then...Nobody ever spoke about it.” But that day, she explains, she knew she wanted to find the truth, no matter how dark and shameful.
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
‘I tracked down the family of the estate my Nazi great grandparents looted. Here’s what I told them’
After discovering a hidden family history – and some stolen furniture – one woman was determined to make amends
www.telegraph.co.uk
August 18, 2025 at 8:51 AM
“I knew nothing about my family history until then...Nobody ever spoke about it.” But that day, she explains, she knew she wanted to find the truth, no matter how dark and shameful.
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
📰Our latest exhibition was featured in this weekend's @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8752340...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Study finds A.I. LLMs advise women to ask for lower salaries than men. When prompted w/ a user profile of same education, experience & job role, differing only by gender, ChatGPT advised the female applicant to request $280K salary; Male applicant=$400K.
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
ChatGPT advises women to ask for lower salaries, study finds
A new study has found that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT consistently advise women to ask for lower salaries than men.
thenextweb.com
July 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Study finds A.I. LLMs advise women to ask for lower salaries than men. When prompted w/ a user profile of same education, experience & job role, differing only by gender, ChatGPT advised the female applicant to request $280K salary; Male applicant=$400K.
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
Here's another example of a "secular relic:" a lock of Sir Isaac Newton's hair at the Royal Society of London.
Interestingly, during the exhumation, a sample of hair was taken. Scientists discovered that he also had 15x the normal range of mercury in his body.
Interestingly, during the exhumation, a sample of hair was taken. Scientists discovered that he also had 15x the normal range of mercury in his body.
May 29, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Here's another example of a "secular relic:" a lock of Sir Isaac Newton's hair at the Royal Society of London.
Interestingly, during the exhumation, a sample of hair was taken. Scientists discovered that he also had 15x the normal range of mercury in his body.
Interestingly, during the exhumation, a sample of hair was taken. Scientists discovered that he also had 15x the normal range of mercury in his body.
Reposted by Bernhard Leitner
From Arthur Kleinman: 'Medicine on a Larger Scale is ... a step forward in imagining a counter-biomedicine that can better connect social suffering and healing with interpretive social science, post-colonial imaginings, and some of the more serious problems of the world. Impressive!’
April 8, 2025 at 5:09 AM
From Arthur Kleinman: 'Medicine on a Larger Scale is ... a step forward in imagining a counter-biomedicine that can better connect social suffering and healing with interpretive social science, post-colonial imaginings, and some of the more serious problems of the world. Impressive!’