Cedar Riener
@criener.bsky.social
College professor, cognitive psychologist, textbook author. Also interested in science writing, social justice, politics and anti-racism. Proud member of AAUP & AFT Local 6741. Personal account. Views are my own and do not represent RMC, AAAS or SCHEV
This is a longer, more detailed version of Chris Hayes provocative skeet about how we should consider how good AI is getting. I'm generally an AI skeptic and refuser along a few dimensions, but I do think it's important to be aware of changing conditions &quality.
"Even if I refuse to use AI for the supposed purposes of personal gratification that I get from reading and writing (manually), I’m not sure that’ll still seem worthwhile and enjoyable to me!
statsandsociety.substack.com/p/you-should...
statsandsociety.substack.com/p/you-should...
You should be freaking out about AI
It works and it keeps getting better at an insane pace
statsandsociety.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:08 PM
This is a longer, more detailed version of Chris Hayes provocative skeet about how we should consider how good AI is getting. I'm generally an AI skeptic and refuser along a few dimensions, but I do think it's important to be aware of changing conditions &quality.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, dies aged 84
Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, dies aged 84
A fixture in Democratic politics who ran for 1988 presidential nomination, Jackson was once close to Martin Luther King Jr
The Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights campaigner who was prominent for more than 50 years and who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, has died. He was 84.
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, dies aged 84
Reposted by Cedar Riener
VERSION 2.0 of the Segregation Tracking Project is here!
New data on racial and economic segregation between neighborhoods and schools over the last 30+ years for every school district, metro area, state, county, congressional district (new!), and more!
edopportunity.org/segregation/
New data on racial and economic segregation between neighborhoods and schools over the last 30+ years for every school district, metro area, state, county, congressional district (new!), and more!
edopportunity.org/segregation/
The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford | The Segregation Tracking Project
Use our visualizations to explore educational opportunity in your school & community.
edopportunity.org
February 16, 2026 at 3:59 PM
VERSION 2.0 of the Segregation Tracking Project is here!
New data on racial and economic segregation between neighborhoods and schools over the last 30+ years for every school district, metro area, state, county, congressional district (new!), and more!
edopportunity.org/segregation/
New data on racial and economic segregation between neighborhoods and schools over the last 30+ years for every school district, metro area, state, county, congressional district (new!), and more!
edopportunity.org/segregation/
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Man I dunno if any of you have witnessed this sort of thing in person
but watching an asshole boss offer a promotion like some magnanimous king to their most valuable employee, only for said person go "lol fuck no I'm leaving and it's entirely your fault" is...beautiful
but watching an asshole boss offer a promotion like some magnanimous king to their most valuable employee, only for said person go "lol fuck no I'm leaving and it's entirely your fault" is...beautiful
"It really has to sting for Bari. The person she wanted for the Evening News anchor chair is choosing to leave CBS altogether because of her," one CBS News staffer told me tonight. "This is 'fuck you' to Bari."
Anderson Cooper has decided to nope out of '60 Minutes' and will not return next season, according to Breaker's Lachlan Cartwright.
www.breakermedia.com/p/scoop-ande...
www.breakermedia.com/p/scoop-ande...
February 17, 2026 at 1:27 AM
Man I dunno if any of you have witnessed this sort of thing in person
but watching an asshole boss offer a promotion like some magnanimous king to their most valuable employee, only for said person go "lol fuck no I'm leaving and it's entirely your fault" is...beautiful
but watching an asshole boss offer a promotion like some magnanimous king to their most valuable employee, only for said person go "lol fuck no I'm leaving and it's entirely your fault" is...beautiful
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Any child above the age of 10 (maybe 8) and school technology like Ipads, tablets, laptops, etc. They think they put in protections to keep kids from not breaking them... and I'm left to wonder if they've spent more than 90 seconds with a child.
Can you think of examples where people use technologies differently from what the developers intended, whether unintentionally or as an act of resistance?
February 17, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Any child above the age of 10 (maybe 8) and school technology like Ipads, tablets, laptops, etc. They think they put in protections to keep kids from not breaking them... and I'm left to wonder if they've spent more than 90 seconds with a child.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I’ve watched a very smart child try to encode what chaptgpt thinks is “human” so that her class assignments don’t get flagged for plagiarism.
I’ve heard expert professionals admit to self-editing so they don’t “sound” like an llm.
This is the kind of cultural flattening that accelerates fascism.
I’ve heard expert professionals admit to self-editing so they don’t “sound” like an llm.
This is the kind of cultural flattening that accelerates fascism.
“As some universities and journals adopt AI-text detectors, they risk creating a feedback loop that constrains how authors express themselves. I have seen colleagues intentionally simplify their grammar or break down complex rhetorical structures to avoid arousing algorithmic suspicion.”
Why artificial intelligence detectors could penalize academic writing - Nature Human Behaviour
Writing produced using artificial intelligence is becoming more common in academia, which has prompted institutions to look for ways to detect it. Bo Hu warns that an overreliance on fixed linguistic ...
www.nature.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I’ve watched a very smart child try to encode what chaptgpt thinks is “human” so that her class assignments don’t get flagged for plagiarism.
I’ve heard expert professionals admit to self-editing so they don’t “sound” like an llm.
This is the kind of cultural flattening that accelerates fascism.
I’ve heard expert professionals admit to self-editing so they don’t “sound” like an llm.
This is the kind of cultural flattening that accelerates fascism.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
As many have pointed out, it is the most depressing thing that AI text generators can only do it because they processed what we wrote as training data… to the point where if we now write as we always have, it's detected as potentially written by AI.
I don't even know what we're doing anymore, man…
I don't even know what we're doing anymore, man…
“As some universities and journals adopt AI-text detectors, they risk creating a feedback loop that constrains how authors express themselves. I have seen colleagues intentionally simplify their grammar or break down complex rhetorical structures to avoid arousing algorithmic suspicion.”
Why artificial intelligence detectors could penalize academic writing - Nature Human Behaviour
Writing produced using artificial intelligence is becoming more common in academia, which has prompted institutions to look for ways to detect it. Bo Hu warns that an overreliance on fixed linguistic ...
www.nature.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:42 AM
As many have pointed out, it is the most depressing thing that AI text generators can only do it because they processed what we wrote as training data… to the point where if we now write as we always have, it's detected as potentially written by AI.
I don't even know what we're doing anymore, man…
I don't even know what we're doing anymore, man…
Reposted by Cedar Riener
The drunk uncle theory.
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
agree with this (hah) but also think a particular mistake the left made for a long time online, and still makes to an extent, is failing to understand that the person whose mind you may actually change is the one reading the argument you're having, not the one you're arguing with
The secret to engaging in social media debate is knowing you will never win anyone over. The best you can hope for is to have people who already agree with tell you you're awesome. You might great a dopamine thrill from the righteousness of your anger! Fine benefits, all. But you will never win.
February 16, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The drunk uncle theory.
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I'm sure we've all seen the graphic that lays out the United States ' relationship with slavery. It's good, but I never thought it was quite impactful enough. So I made my own.
I've used a few key events, including my birth, to highlight how recent these events are in history.
1 square = 1 year.
I've used a few key events, including my birth, to highlight how recent these events are in history.
1 square = 1 year.
February 16, 2026 at 6:12 PM
I'm sure we've all seen the graphic that lays out the United States ' relationship with slavery. It's good, but I never thought it was quite impactful enough. So I made my own.
I've used a few key events, including my birth, to highlight how recent these events are in history.
1 square = 1 year.
I've used a few key events, including my birth, to highlight how recent these events are in history.
1 square = 1 year.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
It is, in fact, exactly like this. The pivot to demonizing trans people began promptly in 2015 as soon as they lost the fight against gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges. The specious arguments against trans people now are directly reused from those against gay/lesbian people in the 90's.
HELLO I WAS A QUEER TEEN IN THE 1990s AND THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST SOCIAL TRANSITION NOW ARE INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST "LETTING" US BE (at the time, for me) GAY OR LESBIAN THEN.
They all rest on the belief that it's inherently better to be straight (then)/cis (now) and that's BS.
They all rest on the belief that it's inherently better to be straight (then)/cis (now) and that's BS.
Hilary Cass here arguing for children to be prevented from being known by a preferred name or getting a haircut in case it encourages them to continue later in life to transition.
Hilary Cass acts like gender variant children should have the transness hazed out of them.
Hilary Cass acts like gender variant children should have the transness hazed out of them.
February 16, 2026 at 7:31 PM
It is, in fact, exactly like this. The pivot to demonizing trans people began promptly in 2015 as soon as they lost the fight against gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges. The specious arguments against trans people now are directly reused from those against gay/lesbian people in the 90's.
Also interesting to think about what causes they are giving to (such as the edu reform and charter schools that Waltons and many others favor)
February 16, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Also interesting to think about what causes they are giving to (such as the edu reform and charter schools that Waltons and many others favor)
Reposted by Cedar Riener
pretty stunning chart
February 15, 2026 at 7:58 PM
pretty stunning chart
Reposted by Cedar Riener
This is a nice move in an interview www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/u...
February 16, 2026 at 6:54 PM
This is a nice move in an interview www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/u...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
If you are wondering what words the all-male Congress found so "blasphemous" that they felt compelled to literally scrape them off the monument, they were: ''Woman, first denied a soul, then called mindless, now arisen, declared herself an entity to be reckoned.''
On this day in 1921, Congress reluctantly accepted a sculpture memorializing women’s 19th A victory. Congress relegated the memorial to the Capitol’s crypt & painted over the feminist inscription. The statue stayed entombed in the crypt for 76 years. The inscription is still not restored. #WeTheMen
February 16, 2026 at 4:35 PM
If you are wondering what words the all-male Congress found so "blasphemous" that they felt compelled to literally scrape them off the monument, they were: ''Woman, first denied a soul, then called mindless, now arisen, declared herself an entity to be reckoned.''
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I have $5m in awarded grants I might never get out of the government for literally no reason, meanwhile, my Principled Anti-Plagiarism Stance is keeping me from farming out garbage to just keep throwing at the vending machine until it breaks. What kind of schmuck am I?
February 16, 2026 at 2:31 AM
I have $5m in awarded grants I might never get out of the government for literally no reason, meanwhile, my Principled Anti-Plagiarism Stance is keeping me from farming out garbage to just keep throwing at the vending machine until it breaks. What kind of schmuck am I?
Reposted by Cedar Riener
One thing that sucks very bad is that everyone, and I do mean everyone, people you like, are using Claude to write their NSF and NIH grants even when it's against the rules, and also, the process is no longer reliable or merit based, and like no I'm not going to do it, but fuck!! FUCK!!
February 16, 2026 at 2:30 AM
One thing that sucks very bad is that everyone, and I do mean everyone, people you like, are using Claude to write their NSF and NIH grants even when it's against the rules, and also, the process is no longer reliable or merit based, and like no I'm not going to do it, but fuck!! FUCK!!
Reposted by Cedar Riener
(11/11) In this new normal, costs are individually adjusted to a consumer’s maximum threshold and wages to a worker’s minimum floor.
The next time you see a price, know that it may not reflect what the item is worth—but what the algorithm believes *you* are worth.
The next time you see a price, know that it may not reflect what the item is worth—but what the algorithm believes *you* are worth.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(11/11) In this new normal, costs are individually adjusted to a consumer’s maximum threshold and wages to a worker’s minimum floor.
The next time you see a price, know that it may not reflect what the item is worth—but what the algorithm believes *you* are worth.
The next time you see a price, know that it may not reflect what the item is worth—but what the algorithm believes *you* are worth.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
(10/11) Dubal’s research showed that dynamic rates are coming for wages too, with Uber drivers with identical workloads and performance getting different pay based on the lowest amount the algorithm calculated they’d accept. www.columbialawreview.org/content/on-a...
ON ALGORITHMIC WAGE DISCRIMINATION - Columbia Law Review
INTRODUCTION Over the past two decades, technological developments have ushered in extreme levels of workplace monitoring and surveillance across many sectors. These automated systems record and quant...
www.columbialawreview.org
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
(10/11) Dubal’s research showed that dynamic rates are coming for wages too, with Uber drivers with identical workloads and performance getting different pay based on the lowest amount the algorithm calculated they’d accept. www.columbialawreview.org/content/on-a...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
/2 Anyway, this is what the Smoking Gun was reporting TWENTY YEARS AGO in 2006. It was horrifying then and it’s still horrifying and it unequivocally shows child abuse.
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/se...
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/se...
Billionaire In Palm Beach Sex Scandal
JULY 26--Prepare to take a shower after reading this remarkably sleazy probable cause affidavit filed in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier who was arrested Sunday for soliciting s
www.thesmokinggun.com
February 16, 2026 at 2:53 AM
/2 Anyway, this is what the Smoking Gun was reporting TWENTY YEARS AGO in 2006. It was horrifying then and it’s still horrifying and it unequivocally shows child abuse.
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/se...
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/se...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
OK. It was The Smoking Gun. They deserved for me to remember their name. I plead getting older.
I bring them up because what they published shows what was publicly know about Jeffrey Epstein and when, which is important to evaluate the character of the people dealing with him in the 2010s.
/1
I bring them up because what they published shows what was publicly know about Jeffrey Epstein and when, which is important to evaluate the character of the people dealing with him in the 2010s.
/1
Trying to remember that small online journalistic outlet that used to publish primary documents, often leaked, that was one of the first to publish the police reports from the early 2000s Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
February 16, 2026 at 2:52 AM
OK. It was The Smoking Gun. They deserved for me to remember their name. I plead getting older.
I bring them up because what they published shows what was publicly know about Jeffrey Epstein and when, which is important to evaluate the character of the people dealing with him in the 2010s.
/1
I bring them up because what they published shows what was publicly know about Jeffrey Epstein and when, which is important to evaluate the character of the people dealing with him in the 2010s.
/1
Reposted by Cedar Riener
A strange find from the Epstein files:
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
February 15, 2026 at 10:36 PM
A strange find from the Epstein files:
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
A hacker named Vincenzo Iozzo shares with Epstein a rumor that Peter Thiel was "bankrolling" the neo-Nazi white supremacist hacker troll known as "weev."
Conversation is about financial strategies and "currencies."
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
Occasionally, I make threads on social media about papers and books that I read. It helps me focus and process deeper when I share highlights and thoughts with others. In this blogpost, I compile a…
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:14 AM
📚 Reading Women in Cognitive Science 📚
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
“Recommendations for readings are welcome, especially in the history of cognitive science (prior to 1950s, and the older the better).”
irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/02/15/%...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Jaywalking in the United States is a made up "crime" that was literally a psyop campaign....
funded by automakers
because their cars were killing pedestrians
So they turned it back around on the victims. "Jay" was a negative slang at the time for someone who was a gullible rural person.
funded by automakers
because their cars were killing pedestrians
So they turned it back around on the victims. "Jay" was a negative slang at the time for someone who was a gullible rural person.
I'm not especially opposed to driverless cabs, but I'm fucked if I'm giving up my ancestral British right to cross the road anywhere if it's safe for me to do so. "Jaywalking" isn't a thing or a crime here, techbros, so your magic cars will have to learn to deal with that.
Politics London discussing driverless taxis casually referring to “jaywalking pedestrians”.
Jaywalking is not a thing in UK law.
Transport for London and Government had better not be asleep at the wheel on this.
Jaywalking is not a thing in UK law.
Transport for London and Government had better not be asleep at the wheel on this.
February 15, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Jaywalking in the United States is a made up "crime" that was literally a psyop campaign....
funded by automakers
because their cars were killing pedestrians
So they turned it back around on the victims. "Jay" was a negative slang at the time for someone who was a gullible rural person.
funded by automakers
because their cars were killing pedestrians
So they turned it back around on the victims. "Jay" was a negative slang at the time for someone who was a gullible rural person.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
i can’t stop laughing
February 15, 2026 at 12:05 AM
i can’t stop laughing
Reposted by Cedar Riener
They are merging AMST with three other departments, effectively shuttering a program that has been in existence for 85 years. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/t...
UT-Austin to merge race, ethnic and gender study programs
More than 800 students are pursuing degrees in the affected departments, which include African, Latino and gender studies.
www.texastribune.org
February 15, 2026 at 8:15 PM
They are merging AMST with three other departments, effectively shuttering a program that has been in existence for 85 years. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/t...