Jonathan F. Kominsky
@jfkominsky.bsky.social
(he/him) Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Central European University in Vienna, PI of the CEU Causal Cognition Lab (https://ccl.ceu.edu) #CogSci #PsychSciSky #SciSky
Personal site: https://www.jfkominsky.com
Personal site: https://www.jfkominsky.com
Pinned
Causal Cognition Lab
ccl.ceu.edu
#HiSciSky I study the cognitive science of causality: How we identify cause-and-effect in the world and how we think and reason about it. I'm the PI of the CEU Causal Cognition Lab in Vienna, Austria. (ccl.ceu.edu)
#CogSci #PsySci #DevSci
#CogSci #PsySci #DevSci
It is testament to how good the academic environment in the US was that it could do well on that market while at best tolerating foreign talent. I moved from the US to Austria and they practically rolled out the red(-white-red🇦🇹) carpet for me immigration-wise. Feeling valued is a draw, it turns out!
I see this on the right - the idea that the existence of foreign academic staff and faculty are evidence of discrimination against natives. It's not discrimination, its selection: academia is a global marketplace, the US is the biggest center of that market. So yes, some foreign talent will win.
Striking nativist editorializing by the federal judge who just upheld the $100,000 tax on high-skill immigrants.
She opines that it’s “troubling” that universities hire talent from abroad at all, instead of only native grads.
Then admits (!) that opinion is irrelevant (So why write it? Venting?)
She opines that it’s “troubling” that universities hire talent from abroad at all, instead of only native grads.
Then admits (!) that opinion is irrelevant (So why write it? Venting?)
December 27, 2025 at 6:03 PM
It is testament to how good the academic environment in the US was that it could do well on that market while at best tolerating foreign talent. I moved from the US to Austria and they practically rolled out the red(-white-red🇦🇹) carpet for me immigration-wise. Feeling valued is a draw, it turns out!
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
If A Christmas Carol were Jewish, how would it be different? Would it even be possible to adapt?
December 25, 2025 at 4:37 AM
If A Christmas Carol were Jewish, how would it be different? Would it even be possible to adapt?
Tis the season
Merry Christmas! It's the Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog | Defector
[Opens front door while holding a toy corgi in one arm] Merry Christmas! Oh my God, you made it! I thought you might be stuck at the airport for weeks! Well, because it’s such madness out there. Piper...
defector.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Tis the season
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
No. Oh no...
GREAT NEWS! This year’s Williams-Sonoma catalog is powered by AI! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
December 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
No. Oh no...
Hanukkah is a festival of defiant survival, but two mass shooting in a matter of hours, one that affects my friends and colleagues at Brown, and one targeting the Jewish community of Sydney, does not make for a festive mood.
My heart is with everyone affected.
My heart is with everyone affected.
December 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Hanukkah is a festival of defiant survival, but two mass shooting in a matter of hours, one that affects my friends and colleagues at Brown, and one targeting the Jewish community of Sydney, does not make for a festive mood.
My heart is with everyone affected.
My heart is with everyone affected.
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
🚨Super excited that Dartmouth's Society of Fellows is hiring a postdoc with the Program in Cognitive Science 🚨 Specialization in computational and empirical approaches to artificial and natural intelligence, including perception, representation, and complex planning: apply.interfolio.com/176946
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
🚨Super excited that Dartmouth's Society of Fellows is hiring a postdoc with the Program in Cognitive Science 🚨 Specialization in computational and empirical approaches to artificial and natural intelligence, including perception, representation, and complex planning: apply.interfolio.com/176946
Finally someone actually asked the right question to the right people.
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Finally someone actually asked the right question to the right people.
Looking for a funded Ph.D. in #CogSci in an interdisciplinary, research-first program? Apply to CEU!
cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission
Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students!
#PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych
cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission
Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students!
#PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych
Applications Are Now Open for Academic Year 2026-2027 | Department of Cognitive Science
cognitivescience.ceu.edu
November 24, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Looking for a funded Ph.D. in #CogSci in an interdisciplinary, research-first program? Apply to CEU!
cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission
Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students!
#PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych
cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission
Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students!
#PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych
Now that Word has an un-removable copilot button I am contemplating using scrivener for more of my professional writing. Only problem is I'd need to get all my co-authors to use it too...
Unlike most apps these days, Scrivener does not use AI in any way. However, if you’re on a Mac, you may see an AI prompt.
.
Here’s why, and what you can do if you want to remove this: buff.ly/MlAq0rL
.
Here’s why, and what you can do if you want to remove this: buff.ly/MlAq0rL
November 19, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Now that Word has an un-removable copilot button I am contemplating using scrivener for more of my professional writing. Only problem is I'd need to get all my co-authors to use it too...
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
I got a request in a recent review to insert a large number of wholly irrelevant citations.
I complained to the editor immediately, and that review was simply removed.
Blocking this kind of nonsense is an editor's responsibility, make them do it. (And I'm saying that as an editor myself!)
I complained to the editor immediately, and that review was simply removed.
Blocking this kind of nonsense is an editor's responsibility, make them do it. (And I'm saying that as an editor myself!)
Except that the net result is that the paper is retracted and has to be re-reviewed. At least the publisher notes this is not the fault of authors, but it sucks for them all the same.
November 12, 2025 at 10:29 AM
I got a request in a recent review to insert a large number of wholly irrelevant citations.
I complained to the editor immediately, and that review was simply removed.
Blocking this kind of nonsense is an editor's responsibility, make them do it. (And I'm saying that as an editor myself!)
I complained to the editor immediately, and that review was simply removed.
Blocking this kind of nonsense is an editor's responsibility, make them do it. (And I'm saying that as an editor myself!)
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
BlueSky is automatically hiding posts with cuss words in them.
You may want to adjust your settings:
You may want to adjust your settings:
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
November 7, 2025 at 3:03 AM
BlueSky is automatically hiding posts with cuss words in them.
You may want to adjust your settings:
You may want to adjust your settings:
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
i set these all to "warn" because i was wondering what it was catching (and I actually don't like to see language wishing violence, as people who have tried it in my mentions have found out) ....and immediately saw warnings on posts with phrases like "give a shit"
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
November 6, 2025 at 9:44 PM
i set these all to "warn" because i was wondering what it was catching (and I actually don't like to see language wishing violence, as people who have tried it in my mentions have found out) ....and immediately saw warnings on posts with phrases like "give a shit"
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
German train life
I hope my connecting train is delayed at about the same rate as my current train so that I can dash between platforms
😐
I hope my connecting train is delayed at about the same rate as my current train so that I can dash between platforms
😐
October 22, 2025 at 6:48 AM
German train life
I hope my connecting train is delayed at about the same rate as my current train so that I can dash between platforms
😐
I hope my connecting train is delayed at about the same rate as my current train so that I can dash between platforms
😐
I recently asked a class of undergrads what they actually use Siri/voice assistants for.
The list had one item: Setting timers, usually for cooking because their hands were dirty.
That was *it*
This whole branch of tech seems to be a dead end.
The list had one item: Setting timers, usually for cooking because their hands were dirty.
That was *it*
This whole branch of tech seems to be a dead end.
It's so funny how long companies have been trying to sell the '.... control computers... but with your voice' thing, which mostly seems to be a fantasy that seems to exist because it was the easiest way to present computers in sci-fi stories.
October 17, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I recently asked a class of undergrads what they actually use Siri/voice assistants for.
The list had one item: Setting timers, usually for cooking because their hands were dirty.
That was *it*
This whole branch of tech seems to be a dead end.
The list had one item: Setting timers, usually for cooking because their hands were dirty.
That was *it*
This whole branch of tech seems to be a dead end.
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
eh, It wasn't that high up... and 4-year-olds can take it. 😜
But if you're looking for other good moments in the paper... I also recommend reading the acknowledgments closely.
But if you're looking for other good moments in the paper... I also recommend reading the acknowledgments closely.
October 15, 2025 at 11:49 AM
eh, It wasn't that high up... and 4-year-olds can take it. 😜
But if you're looking for other good moments in the paper... I also recommend reading the acknowledgments closely.
But if you're looking for other good moments in the paper... I also recommend reading the acknowledgments closely.
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
Exciting news: My lab has published our first paper! Here, we review the literature on early social evaluation, and we make recommendations about how to best study social evaluation in infants and toddlers.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
The Study of Early Social Evaluation: Contextualizing Failures to Replicate and Looking Forward
Abstract. In classic research, Hamlin et al. (2007) found that infants preferentially reach to agents who help others over agents who hinder others. These early findings provided evidence that infants...
direct.mit.edu
October 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Exciting news: My lab has published our first paper! Here, we review the literature on early social evaluation, and we make recommendations about how to best study social evaluation in infants and toddlers.
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
Notably this problem is also solved 100% without any AI and instead, at zero cost, by journals adopting format-agnostic initial submissions (as many journals have already done)
Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Notably this problem is also solved 100% without any AI and instead, at zero cost, by journals adopting format-agnostic initial submissions (as many journals have already done)
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
If you're wondering whether or not to get a flu shot, I didn't get one in time, and I just had a fever dream where I was in the Drew Carey Show because several days ago I was on the Wikipedia page for the Drew Carey Show. You don't have to do this to yourself.
October 13, 2025 at 11:00 PM
If you're wondering whether or not to get a flu shot, I didn't get one in time, and I just had a fever dream where I was in the Drew Carey Show because several days ago I was on the Wikipedia page for the Drew Carey Show. You don't have to do this to yourself.
This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I noted that there are some disconnects between the causal perception literature and the core cognition literature on causality in a recent paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
October 10, 2025 at 7:26 AM
This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I noted that there are some disconnects between the causal perception literature and the core cognition literature on causality in a recent paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
Help! Do you know some great resources for teaching (grad or UG thesis) students how to manage their projects?
October 9, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Help! Do you know some great resources for teaching (grad or UG thesis) students how to manage their projects?
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
Whether it’s Joe Biden attending weekly mass or Donald Trump’s ICE agents shooting a priest in the face with a pepper ball, presidents of both sides have directly engaged with the Catholic faith.
October 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Whether it’s Joe Biden attending weekly mass or Donald Trump’s ICE agents shooting a priest in the face with a pepper ball, presidents of both sides have directly engaged with the Catholic faith.
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
When the Yankees get eliminated
October 9, 2025 at 2:44 AM
When the Yankees get eliminated
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.
October 7, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.
Reposted by Jonathan F. Kominsky
A wild exchange with Gemini Pro 2.5. In preparing some examples for my seminar (cogsci-llms.netlify.app) I remembered @randomwalker.bsky.social old tweet about playing Rock paper scissors with LLMs. Decided to see what it's like now ....
October 1, 2025 at 4:31 AM
A wild exchange with Gemini Pro 2.5. In preparing some examples for my seminar (cogsci-llms.netlify.app) I remembered @randomwalker.bsky.social old tweet about playing Rock paper scissors with LLMs. Decided to see what it's like now ....