Iris van Rooij 💭
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irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Iris van Rooij 💭
@irisvanrooij.bsky.social
17K followers 1.2K following 2.1K posts
Professor of Computational Cognitive Science | @AI_Radboud | @Iris@scholar.social on 🦣 | http://cognitionandintractability.com | she/they 🏳️‍🌈
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irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · Feb 21
🧵Thread overview of ALL my publications related to "Cognition and Intractability" in chronological order: 🌟
Figure 3 from "The Tractable Cognition Thesis (van Rooij, 2008): "According to the Tractable Cognition thesis, the set of functions describing possible cognitive capacities is a subset of the set of tractable functions. The dotted line indicates that the set of tractable functions remains to be formalized."
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Was reading about Fodor's First Law of the Nonexistence of Cognitive Science because of a recent conversation with @olivia.science and @tjheffernan.bsky.social 🧵

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
On Fodor's First Law of the Nonexistence of Cognitive Science
In his enormously influential The Modularity of Mind, Jerry Fodor (1983) proposed that the mind was divided into input modules and central processes. Much subsequent research focused on the modules a...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 26, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
This figure for instance.

Probably too colorful and joyful 😁🩷💙

Here a video explaining it: m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bdK... 🎬🍿
Figure 3 in this paper https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tops.12506?af=R
December 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Seems relevant today, as any day
irisvanrooij.bsky.social Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 17d
“Women who think critically are always labeled difficult because it saves the world from admitting they’re right” — bell hooks

Repost of Charmaine Simpson, on LinkendIN: www.linkedin.com/posts/blackh...
Picture accompanying a post from Linked in by Charmaine Simpson https://www.linkedin.com/posts/blackhistorystudies_bell-hooks-understood-a-pattern-that-repeats-activity-7403886502771888128-CJiy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAFk0BcBSukv5EZ8IStyE-ugz6Io2JLp0iQ "bell hooks understood a pattern that repeats across generations. When a woman thinks critically, people often label her difficult before they ever engage with her ideas. The label is a shortcut. A way to dismiss her without confronting what she is actually saying. Critical thinking is powerful because it interrupts comfort. It asks why things are the way they are. It exposes contradictions that many would rather leave unspoken. So instead of addressing her insight, the world questions her tone. It reframes her clarity as attitude. It turns her precision into a flaw. But women who think critically are not difficult. They are necessary. They hold up mirrors that others avoid. They name truths that would otherwise stay buried. To think for yourself is not an invitation for conflict. It is an act of presence. It is choosing awareness over silence. And every time a woman refuses to apologize for her mind, she shifts the world a little closer to honesty. From Her Archives "
December 26, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
jensfoell.de
I won’t tag them but there are a few fairly large science-adjacent accounts on here (who are followed by a lot of y’all) who have been bashing the work and person of @irisvanrooij.bsky.social for the last few days.
I feel it important to note that, as far as I can tell, those people are full of shit
December 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Principle 2: AI applications should not receive special treatment in legislation and regulations

✍️ Open letter: openletter.earth/zorgvuldig-a...
Thoughtfully Shaping Our Digital Future
openletter.earth
December 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Principle 1: Value knowledge and expertise, and distinguish between hype and science to enable well-informed, careful, and thoughtful decision-making

✍️ Open letter: openletter.earth/zorgvuldig-a...
Thoughtfully Shaping Our Digital Future
openletter.earth
December 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
evpok.love
i think I'll start with metatheory.space but first i need to figure out how @olivia.science made the links gay
metatheory.space
metatheory.space
December 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
"Let us join forces to build a future that is not only desirable but also truly worth striving for—one grounded in common sense rather than automated thoughtlessness"

Open letter to Dutch government and forming parties

Join me in signing 🖊️ 🙏 openletter.earth/zorgvuldig-a...
Thoughtfully Shaping Our Digital Future
openletter.earth
December 13, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
📝 OPEN LETTER 📝

Are you based in NL 🇳🇱 ? Do you also want government to thoughtfully shape our digital future, with care for people and nature? Please share and sign 🖊️ this letter addressed to parties forming the new Dutch government and outgoing administration.

📝 openletter.earth/zorgvuldig-a...
12 December 2025 Thoughtfully Shaping Our Digital Future To the parties forming the government in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the outgoing administration, We are writing to you in recognition of your crucial responsibility for shaping current and future AI policy, overseeing digitization, and upholding public values. We are a coalition of scientists, experts, and representatives of civil society organizations. We believe it is essential to address these matters together. This letter has two objectives: a) Provide context for current plans, including the AI Delta Plan, the AIC4NL position paper, and the Invest-NL AI Deep Dive. These investment proposals often rely on assumptions that lack scientific evidence and do not fully reflect public values. b) To offer a constructive, well-substantiated alternative approach to digital futures based on people, nature, and democracy. We believe a collaborative process should guide decisions on the needs, scope, and nature of investments by bringing together scientists, civil society organizations, and stakeholders.
December 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
dingemansemark.bsky.social
Voor een monter, goed geïnformeerd en breed gedragen alternatief op het gebied van AI, zie deze open brief van de coalitie Zorgvuldig en Zorgzaam Digitaal: openletter.earth/nl/zorgvuldi...
Zorgvuldig & Zorgzaam Digitaal
openletter.earth
December 13, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Wanneer je tekent 🖊️ vergeet niet om de email die je ontvangt te bevestigen 📩 Anders wordt je naam niet zichtbaar onder de brief.

Dank voor de steun en solidariteit! 🙏 openletter.earth/nl/zorgvuldi...
Zorgvuldig & Zorgzaam Digitaal
openletter.earth
December 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
📝 OPEN BRIEF 📝

Wil jij dat onze regering zorgvuldig en zorgzaam vorm geeft aan onze digitale toekomst, met oog voor mens en natuur?

Teken dan 🖊️ deze open brief, gericht aan de formerende partijen in de Eerste en Tweede Kamer en aan de demissionaire regering.

📝 openletter.earth/nl/zorgvuldi...
Zorgvuldig & Zorgzaam Digitaal Aan de formerende partijen in de Eerste en Tweede Kamer en aan de demissionaire regering, Deze brief schrijven we u vanwege uw belangrijke verantwoordelijkheid over het huidige en toekomstige AI-beleid, digitalisering en publieke waarden. Wij zijn een coalitie van wetenschappers, experts en vertegenwoordigers van maatschappelijke organisaties. Met deze brief willen we twee dingen doen: a) Context bieden bij plannen die nu rondgaan zoals het AI Deltaplan, de AIC4NL position paper en de Invest-NL AI Deep Dive. In de investeringsvoorstellen staan aannames en voorstellen die niet gebaseerd zijn op wetenschappelijke inzichten en publieke waarden. b) Een andere, constructieve en onderbouwde aanpak bieden die uitgaat van mens, natuur en democratie. We zien waarde in een gedeelde aanpak waarin wetenschappers, maatschappelijke organisaties en belanghebbenden meebepalen of, hoe en welke investeringen noodzakelijk zijn.
December 13, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
kars.leapfrog.nl
Een andere AI is mogelijk. Als jij je, net als ik, zorgen maakt over beperkte economische belangen die de ontwikkeling van AI domineren, dan nodig ik je uit deze brief te ondertekenen en te delen, waarin wij onze politici oproepen om te werken aan AI-beleid dat bijdraagt aan sociale vooruitgang.
December 15, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
renderg.host
The challenge is people find deep thinking uncomfortable. AI doesn't just replace thinking, it soothes that discomfort. It's less a tool and more a cognitive sedative. A comfort blanket for the brain. Feels great to externalise all that thinking. Too great! That’ll be a hard habit to kick for many.
olivia.science Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Jul 29
Boiling here at home in Cyprus but I put the finishing touches a couple of days ago on this preprint: What Does 'Human-Centred AI' Mean? doi.org/10.48550/arX...

Wherein I analyse HCAI & demonstrate through 3 triplets my new tripartite definition of AI (Table 1) that properly centres the human. 1/n
title and abstract from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960 table 1 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960
November 2, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
timnitgebru.bsky.social
For those interested in more info.

Paper: firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
Resources: www.dair-institute.org/projects/tes...
My talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XT...
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TESCREAL
firstmonday.org
December 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
timnitgebru.bsky.social
One of these cult leaders had predicted that the "singularity" was gonna be in 2025. I think we all made it right? Barring anything happening in the next few days.

They'll update their so-called "calculations" (I.e. numbers out of asses) for the next "prediction."

Who STILL platforms these people?
December 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
timnitgebru.bsky.social
"Pressed on whether marketing an addictive AI chatbot to kids is ethical, Hardin shrugged: “I mean sure, but that’s not really our problem. That’s something parents or maybe lawmakers might want to look into.”
December 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
agnesbookbinder.bsky.social
When the people selling it are telling you they won’t stop without legislation forcing them to stop, that’s when you bring this quote to your lawmakers —as a parent.
timnitgebru.bsky.social Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.bsky.social · 7h
"Pressed on whether marketing an addictive AI chatbot to kids is ethical, Hardin shrugged: “I mean sure, but that’s not really our problem. That’s something parents or maybe lawmakers might want to look into.”
December 26, 2025 at 5:12 PM
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
This figure for instance.

Probably too colorful and joyful 😁🩷💙

Here a video explaining it: m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bdK... 🎬🍿
Figure 3 in this paper https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tops.12506?af=R
December 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
marcoderksen.bsky.social
Groeiende kritiek op de manier waarop Peter Wennink in zijn rapport met cijfers omspringt www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Groeiende kritiek op de manier waarop Peter Wennink in zijn rapport met cijfers omspringt
Rapport Wennink: Het ongemak groeit over de analyse die Peter Wennink maakte van de Nederlandse economie. De adviezen zijn het probleem niet, maar ze worden voorafgegaan door elkaar tegensprekende cij...
www.nrc.nl
December 26, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
olivia.science
yeah, I actually pouted a lot of pain and suggestions into this because of all these types of experiences, indeed Guest, O. & Forbes, S. H. (2024). Teaching coding inclusively: if this, then what?. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies. doi.org/10.5117/TVGN...
Teaching coding inclusively | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
Abstract We present our stance on teaching programming with the aim of increasing reflexivity amongst university educators through dissecting and destroying pervasive anti-pedagogical gendered framing...
doi.org
December 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
This is such an important point, and it is so sad that it needs spelling out, and still many academics mesmerized by “AI” do not get it irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2022/12/29/a...
October 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
alexhanna.bsky.social
Yeah this guy self-radicalized himself into an absolute batshit, esoteric techno fascist. Still works at Google in privacy, last I checked.
December 26, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
If you enjoy watching videos, this may also be an useful place to start irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2023/12/27/c...
Computational complexity for cognitive scientists
Here, I compile a set of videos that complement a course on computational complexity for cognitive scientists that I co-teach with Nils Donselaar. We use the textbook Cognition and Intractability, …
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Iris van Rooij 💭
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Thank you for your interest.

My advice would be to start with Chapter 1 in our Cognition & Intractability textbook: metatheorist.com/Chapter-1-fr...
Free Chapter 1 and Pizzas
metatheorist.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM