Yohan J John
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dryohanjohn.bsky.social
Yohan J John
@dryohanjohn.bsky.social
🧠 computational neuroscience | neurophenomenology 2.0? 🤖

Science Writer, Kempner Institute for the study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University

(views here are my own)
Pinned
Here's the latest installment in my series on neuroscience and the hyperreal. I look at the potential dangers of "walled garden thinking", and why extensible modeling is important.

open.substack.com/pub/yohanjoh... #neuroscience
To model biological neurons, step outside the "walled gardens" of machine learning
Part 3 of a series on neuroscience and the hyperreal, featuring rebound excitation and poor Yorick's skull
open.substack.com
Reposted by Yohan J John
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Just finished a show called 'The Lowdown'. A comedy-noir tale set in present-day Tulsa. Has a slight touch of The Big Lebowski, but also a darker side, especially in the last few episodes. Pulp done right!
November 10, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Yohan J John
virtue signalling is good actually
Performative decency is actually *so* important for this reason.

It tricks the 10% of ghouls into thinking that there are only 1% of ghouls.

And it makes the 30% of people that don't care one way or another follow the mostly decent crowd
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
"One organism might peer out from another organism, but not live there."

I'm in awe of VanDerMeer's ability to conjure the uncanny.
November 7, 2025 at 11:58 PM
This video is hilarious, and should be very relatable to anyone who's tried to make sense of a math concept purely through Wikipedia.

youtu.be/33y9FMIvcWY?...
Why Wikipedia Can't Explain Math
YouTube video by Tastemaker Design
youtu.be
November 6, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Very nice.

Point #8 reminds me of how Hegel and Marx talk about "moments".
Super excited to share this: 'On For the Love of,' my new lyric essay for London's alt-quarterly The Toe Rag
November 5, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
His victory is brilliant for so many reasons. One of them being this video:
www.youtube.com/shorts/4gRey...
this my mayor #mamdani #zohranmamdani #newyorkmayor #gwenstefani #hollabackgirl #edit #foryou
YouTube video by Astor Walk
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Oh hell yes.
November 5, 2025 at 2:50 AM
I used to generate spiral patterns using center-surround networks just for fun... Never really thought of a use for them.
November 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
One of my favorite facts: neurons and skin cells are 'cousins'.

Intelligence is a phenomenon that lives at boundaries. The semipermeable cell membrane is where the ball got rolling.

I wrote an essay riffing on this idea.

yohanjohn.com/axispraxis/f...
November 4, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Yohan J John
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting

I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
Baudrillard’s “dead twin” in Cool Memories V poetically captures his later metaphysics of hyperreality. The “dead twin” represents the murdered alterity; the otherness humanity destroyed in order to establish its singular, self-enclosed reality.
November 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM
One thing that I find very confusing about modern AI research is the lack of a clear conceptual separation between contingent empirical findings and necessary consequences of the model architecture or analytic framework.
October 31, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
Ephaptic coupling - it's a thing. Your brain does it.
Reproducible Human Neural Circuits Printed with Single-Cell Precision Reveal the Functional Roles of Ephaptic Coupling
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
#neuroscience
Reproducible Human Neural Circuits Printed with Single-Cell Precision Reveal the Functional Roles of Ephaptic Coupling
Although in vitro neuronal models are accessible and versatile systems for functional electrophysiological studies, the spontaneous and random formation of neural circuits often compromises the structural control and reproducibility. Here, we introduce a robust method for engineering human neuronal networks in vitro with single-cell precision and reproducibility. Our integrated platform combines direct laser-written microstructure templates and soft lithography-based fabrication of microscaffolds with functional multielectrode array recordings. This system enables high-throughput production of diverse circuit designs and allows for the exact placement of neurons within confined microenvironments. The system enables precise recording of spontaneous neuronal activity, as well as electrical and optogenetic stimulations. Using this approach, we constructed reproducible, bottom-up neuronal circuits composed of a defined number of human neurons. As a proof of principle, we employed these circuits to investigate ephaptic coupling, which refers to the modulation of neuronal activity by endogenous electric fields. Although it is believed to play a role in neural computations and cardiac conduction and is associated with epilepsy and arrhythmia, its mechanisms are unclear due to limitations in experimental models, both in vivo and in vitro. By controlling axonal proximity within microchannels and the number of neurons in the engineered circuits, we can quantify ephaptic coupling at different strengths, which validates theoretical predictions, including reduced action potential velocity, increased activity synchronization, and lower stimulation thresholds. Furthermore, the platform has broad potential for studying synaptic and nonsynaptic interactions, myelination processes, advancing disease modeling, and fundamental neuroscience research.
pubs.acs.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:49 AM
ChatGPT will never be forgiven for ruining the em-dash.
October 29, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.

Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Brilliant video on autumn colors and photosynthesis.

Reminds me that molecular biology is the big blind spot in my scientific 'general knowledge'. Need to rectify that but I have no idea where to start.

youtu.be/wOjkeyjJ364?...
The Incredible Biology Powering Autumn Colors|Leaf Senescence
YouTube video by Clockwork
youtu.be
October 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
This is a lovely article, showing that the spirit of enquiry and the thirst for new knowledge persist in a world where stupidity is so popular.

www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...
First Shape Found That Can’t Pass Through Itself | Quanta Magazine
After more than three centuries, a geometry problem that originated with a royal bet has been solved.
www.quantamagazine.org
October 25, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Great video!

I recently picked up some foxtail millet from the Indian store. It's pretty good for upma.

youtu.be/g31NneNoBcE?... #India #food
How British Colonialism Destroyed Millets
YouTube video by krishashok
youtu.be
October 25, 2025 at 12:14 AM
A very different approach to "chill music to work to". :P

#NowPlaying
October 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
When I was an undergrad, I saw a talk by Oliver Sacks about music. During the Q&A, someone asked Sacks if he thought science would reveal the deepest mysteries of art. Sacks (a rare humanist among scientists) said that he doubted it, at which Eric Kandel (the host) leaped up and grabbed the mic.
October 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Like a coven of witches playing post-punk.

#music
October 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"Oscar Wilde once defined fox hunting as the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable. Were he alive today he might describe the quest for artificial general intelligence as the unfathomable in pursuit of the indefinable."
October 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
Regardless of what explainability/mech interp in AI is actually after, and whether or not they know what they’re searching for, we can confidently say they’re pursuing what systems neuroscience has pursued for decades, with very similar puzzles and confusions.
What problem is explainability/interpretability research trying to solve in ML, and do you have a favorite paper articulating what that problem is?
October 8, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Yohan J John
It looks like the Wikipedia page for Mary Brunkow got created literally just this morning, after her Nobel Prize was announced. I had heard that women in academia tend to be somewhat under-represented on Wikipedia, but this is a particularly stark example.
en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...
October 6, 2025 at 10:24 AM