Daryl Cameron
@dcameron.bsky.social
Assoc Prof of Psych, Sherwin Early Career Prof in Rock Ethics Institute @Penn State. Directs Empathy & Moral Psych Lab, Consortium on Moral Decision-Making. Assoc Editor @Emotion. Father of four (twin dad), husband, loves ☕, 🍺, 🎶, 📸. Views are my own.
Pinned
Daryl Cameron
@dcameron.bsky.social
· Nov 4
Although most of my photos right now are of State College autumn, here's Happy Valley from the sky this August. It was awe-inspiring to get this view.
So, come join us here! I'll be recruiting a graduate student to the Empathy & Moral Psychology (EMP) Lab during this cycle, to start in fall 2026.
So, come join us here! I'll be recruiting a graduate student to the Empathy & Moral Psychology (EMP) Lab during this cycle, to start in fall 2026.
Just bumping this -- I'll be recruiting a new graduate student this cycle, to start in fall 2026. So will my colleagues Karen Gasper and Reg Adams. I'm currently the area coordinator. Reach out if you have questions about Penn State Social Psychology -- WE ARE!
Some melancholic shoegaze for Christmas, with a reference to the movie It's a Wonderful Life. A seasonal favorite
youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-u...
youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-u...
Sciflyer - The Same Thing Goes For Christmas
YouTube video by goldentony111
youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Some melancholic shoegaze for Christmas, with a reference to the movie It's a Wonderful Life. A seasonal favorite
youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-u...
youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-u...
Stephen Colbert is American comedic genius, and his 2008 Christmas special is gold. As elder millennials, my wife & I watch every year.
"Toby Keith, you touched my heart."
"Cheerio Father Christmas. You got me just what I always wanted. The gift of not being digested by a bear."
vimeo.com/57957568
"Toby Keith, you touched my heart."
"Cheerio Father Christmas. You got me just what I always wanted. The gift of not being digested by a bear."
vimeo.com/57957568
A Colbert Christmas - Elvis Costello/Stephen Colbert Duet
Video, music, production and performance by Adam Schlesinger
vimeo.com
December 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Stephen Colbert is American comedic genius, and his 2008 Christmas special is gold. As elder millennials, my wife & I watch every year.
"Toby Keith, you touched my heart."
"Cheerio Father Christmas. You got me just what I always wanted. The gift of not being digested by a bear."
vimeo.com/57957568
"Toby Keith, you touched my heart."
"Cheerio Father Christmas. You got me just what I always wanted. The gift of not being digested by a bear."
vimeo.com/57957568
Best claymation Christmas arc? Where Santa teams up with wizards to defeat an AI-enabled oligarch who steals supplies from suffering families? Or where Santa teams up with elves to help a community against a mayor who says forbids joy & toys? Or where Gaia tells the snow & heat misers to depolarize?
December 24, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Best claymation Christmas arc? Where Santa teams up with wizards to defeat an AI-enabled oligarch who steals supplies from suffering families? Or where Santa teams up with elves to help a community against a mayor who says forbids joy & toys? Or where Gaia tells the snow & heat misers to depolarize?
Publishers who ask for proofs over Christmas are Krampus-worthy!
December 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Publishers who ask for proofs over Christmas are Krampus-worthy!
Watching the Muppet Christmas Carol with my wife, an English professor who studies Victorian literature, & kids is always a treat. Apparently the closest line by line similarities of any adaptation to Dickens. And some fun meta-textual elements. Rizzo is everything.
Light the lamp, not the rat!
Light the lamp, not the rat!
two stuffed animals are standing next to a lamp with the words light the lamp not the rat below them
ALT: two stuffed animals are standing next to a lamp with the words light the lamp not the rat below them
media.tenor.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Watching the Muppet Christmas Carol with my wife, an English professor who studies Victorian literature, & kids is always a treat. Apparently the closest line by line similarities of any adaptation to Dickens. And some fun meta-textual elements. Rizzo is everything.
Light the lamp, not the rat!
Light the lamp, not the rat!
Ah, to be the professor in the Bishop's Wife, with his never-ending bottle of sherry, that always invigorates and never inebriates. Onward, to work on writing his history. What a classic film
December 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Ah, to be the professor in the Bishop's Wife, with his never-ending bottle of sherry, that always invigorates and never inebriates. Onward, to work on writing his history. What a classic film
And one of my other favorite lines from a Christmas special, from Doc Boy in Garfield Christmas.
"Pleasant dreams... dad."
"Pleasant dreams... dad."
December 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
And one of my other favorite lines from a Christmas special, from Doc Boy in Garfield Christmas.
"Pleasant dreams... dad."
"Pleasant dreams... dad."
This thread gets it. Instead of dehumanizing AI users with paternalism, consider their choices and decisions in relating to AI (e.g. finding value in perceived empathy from it)
Everything about this story — and the broader phenomenon — is fascinating. “Companion AI” isn’t just about fears of displacement or emotional dependence, but about how people choose to use new technology as an emotional tool, with awareness and choice.
My last story of the year: an update on the woman who fell in love with ChatGPT.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/t...
December 23, 2025 at 5:49 AM
This thread gets it. Instead of dehumanizing AI users with paternalism, consider their choices and decisions in relating to AI (e.g. finding value in perceived empathy from it)
Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. At the Allen Street gates at Penn State (pardon the street light). Coming from a family that celebrates both, We Are. I hope you find light, warmth, and rest this season.
December 22, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. At the Allen Street gates at Penn State (pardon the street light). Coming from a family that celebrates both, We Are. I hope you find light, warmth, and rest this season.
Bellefonte Victorian Christmas and the Christmas train are a seasonal highlight. Between this and the England trip, I've enjoyed hearing "Happy Christmas" this year
December 22, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Bellefonte Victorian Christmas and the Christmas train are a seasonal highlight. Between this and the England trip, I've enjoyed hearing "Happy Christmas" this year
A new Fleet Foxes Christmas cover of Eliot Smith is just what the doctor ordered for this old, cold millennial
music.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiL...
music.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiL...
Fleet Foxes - Angel In The Snow (from the “Oh. What. Fun.” Soundtrack)
YouTube video by Fleet Foxes
music.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:40 PM
A new Fleet Foxes Christmas cover of Eliot Smith is just what the doctor ordered for this old, cold millennial
music.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiL...
music.youtube.com/watch?v=7tiL...
On the transatlantic empathy observatory -- we need to fight for empathy now more than ever
www.psu.edu/news/penn-st...
www.psu.edu/news/penn-st...
Experts gather for international empathy and global citizenship summit | Penn State University
Earlier this month, empathy experts, youth representatives, youth-serving organizations and policy makers took part in a three-day summit on how empathy research can be translated into both government...
www.psu.edu
December 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
On the transatlantic empathy observatory -- we need to fight for empathy now more than ever
www.psu.edu/news/penn-st...
www.psu.edu/news/penn-st...
Reposted by Daryl Cameron
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
December 16, 2025 at 11:46 PM
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
With His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward during the Wilton Park empathy & polarization conference in England this month. This was with the Penn State contingent of excellent colleagues. Excited for more transatlantic conversations to champion empathy
December 17, 2025 at 12:04 AM
With His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward during the Wilton Park empathy & polarization conference in England this month. This was with the Penn State contingent of excellent colleagues. Excited for more transatlantic conversations to champion empathy
Reposted by Daryl Cameron
Penn State researchers @dcameron.bsky.social, Max Crowley, Robert Roeser, and Mark Brennan recently participated in the Wilton Park Empathy Conference in West Sussex, UK.
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Penn State researchers attend empathy conference in the UK | Social Science Research Institute
Penn State researchers Daryl Cameron, Daniel Max Crowley, Robert Roeser, and Mark Brennan recently participated in the Wilton Park Empathy Conference in West Sussex, UK.
buff.ly
December 16, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Penn State researchers @dcameron.bsky.social, Max Crowley, Robert Roeser, and Mark Brennan recently participated in the Wilton Park Empathy Conference in West Sussex, UK.
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Character and leadership are about empathy (among other traits). How we as a society decide to normalize empathy & compassion, or callousness & cruelty toward tragedy, will be something that resonates for generations to come. We own the choice to expand empathy, or not, in this historical moment.
December 16, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Character and leadership are about empathy (among other traits). How we as a society decide to normalize empathy & compassion, or callousness & cruelty toward tragedy, will be something that resonates for generations to come. We own the choice to expand empathy, or not, in this historical moment.
Winters Glow at Penn State Arboretum
December 16, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Winters Glow at Penn State Arboretum
Folks at Penn State who work on AI and society, consider applying to this seed grant program, which is jointly sponsored by the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making!
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social #ai #empathy #morality
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social #ai #empathy #morality
In collaboration with Consortium on Moral Decision-Making & C-SoDA, SSRI is accepting seed grant proposals to support research in AI in two major areas: 1) Analytic AI & 2) AI & Society. Deadline is Dec. 19 & financial support range is up to $20k.
More Here ➡️ buff.ly/On8T5Pn
More Here ➡️ buff.ly/On8T5Pn
AI Research Seed Grant Program | Social Science Research Institute
AI Research Seed Grant Program to support new interdisciplinary research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Eligibility: Eligible Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs are Penn State faculty…
ssri.psu.edu
December 15, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Folks at Penn State who work on AI and society, consider applying to this seed grant program, which is jointly sponsored by the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making!
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social #ai #empathy #morality
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social #ai #empathy #morality
Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate, from our family to yours.
December 15, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate, from our family to yours.
Reposted by Daryl Cameron
The deadly terrorist attack against Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah is appalling. We must do more to push back against the scourge of antisemitism.
December 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The deadly terrorist attack against Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah is appalling. We must do more to push back against the scourge of antisemitism.
Reposted by Daryl Cameron
Warnock: "Any nation that tolerates this kind of violence year after year, decade after decade in random places, on our college and school campuses, without doing all that we can to stop it is broken and in need of moral repair."
December 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Warnock: "Any nation that tolerates this kind of violence year after year, decade after decade in random places, on our college and school campuses, without doing all that we can to stop it is broken and in need of moral repair."
Here's psychology, with philosophy and engineering, on empathic AI. With a plea for humility, less stigmatization.
"can be a useful platform to expand human empathy, scaffolding against biases... we should trust and not invalidate experiences of people who say they feel empathy for and from robots."
"can be a useful platform to expand human empathy, scaffolding against biases... we should trust and not invalidate experiences of people who say they feel empathy for and from robots."
Excited to announce a new open-access EMP Lab paper on empathic AI: an interdisciplinary collaboration between psychology, philosophy, & engineering on motivated empathy expression and reception with social robots.
@ssripennstate.bsky.social
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social
@rockethics.bsky.social
1/n
@ssripennstate.bsky.social
@psuliberalarts.bsky.social
@rockethics.bsky.social
1/n
Empathy for and From Embodied Robots: An Interdisciplinary Review - C. Daryl Cameron, Alan R. Wagner, Martina Orlandi, Eliana Hadjiandreou, India G. Oates, Stephen Anderson, 2025
Several years ago, the world was stunned when the cute robot HitchBOT was destroyed. Does empathy for robots—sharing experiences and feeling compassion—make sen...
journals.sagepub.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Here's psychology, with philosophy and engineering, on empathic AI. With a plea for humility, less stigmatization.
"can be a useful platform to expand human empathy, scaffolding against biases... we should trust and not invalidate experiences of people who say they feel empathy for and from robots."
"can be a useful platform to expand human empathy, scaffolding against biases... we should trust and not invalidate experiences of people who say they feel empathy for and from robots."
Love that little Lorax. Empathy and compassion are strength, not weakness. Callousness is shallowness.
Caring is an act of resistance in a system that thrives on indifference.
December 13, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Love that little Lorax. Empathy and compassion are strength, not weakness. Callousness is shallowness.
A great indie rock Christmas song. Epic with Radiohead vibes, about unknowing
pitchfork.com/reviews/trac...
pitchfork.com/reviews/trac...
Saintseneca: “The Wandering Star”
“The Wandering Star” is a psychedelic take on the holiday song
pitchfork.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:26 PM
A great indie rock Christmas song. Epic with Radiohead vibes, about unknowing
pitchfork.com/reviews/trac...
pitchfork.com/reviews/trac...