Kevin Zollman
@kevinzollman.com
Philosophy and Game Theory at Carnegie Mellon 🦚 Research the interface between philosophy, economics, and biology 💱 www.kevinzollman.com
Pinned
We're going on the road for a book tour in April!
Author Alex Mayyasi will be joined by Planet Money hosts and special guests. Attendees can get swag, like a tour-exclusive tote bag (while supplies last/restrictions apply).
Ticket and tour info: planetmoneybook.com
Author Alex Mayyasi will be joined by Planet Money hosts and special guests. Attendees can get swag, like a tour-exclusive tote bag (while supplies last/restrictions apply).
Ticket and tour info: planetmoneybook.com
I'm very excited to be Planet Money's guest when they come to Pittsburgh! Stop by if you're in our (and Mr. Roger's) neighborhood.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
"The Muppets Take Edinburgh" has a nice ring to it.
Wouldn't you agree, @historyscience.bsky.social?
#HSS2026
Wouldn't you agree, @historyscience.bsky.social?
#HSS2026
As an officer of the Philosophy of Science association, I would like to officially invite the Muppets to the next PSA conference in San Diego
@philsci.bsky.social
@philsci.bsky.social
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 10:04 PM
"The Muppets Take Edinburgh" has a nice ring to it.
Wouldn't you agree, @historyscience.bsky.social?
#HSS2026
Wouldn't you agree, @historyscience.bsky.social?
#HSS2026
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Biological Laws with Kermit, Sweetums, and Elliott Sober
February 7, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Biological Laws with Kermit, Sweetums, and Elliott Sober
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
At Whipple where expired dicks are being thrown at ICE vehicles and those believed to be agitators. The area has been a place of protest since thousands of federal agents arrived in the city.
Near Minneapolis February 7, 2026
Near Minneapolis February 7, 2026
February 7, 2026 at 6:49 PM
At Whipple where expired dicks are being thrown at ICE vehicles and those believed to be agitators. The area has been a place of protest since thousands of federal agents arrived in the city.
Near Minneapolis February 7, 2026
Near Minneapolis February 7, 2026
As an officer of the Philosophy of Science association, I would like to officially invite the Muppets to the next PSA conference in San Diego
@philsci.bsky.social
@philsci.bsky.social
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 4:26 PM
As an officer of the Philosophy of Science association, I would like to officially invite the Muppets to the next PSA conference in San Diego
@philsci.bsky.social
@philsci.bsky.social
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
I had APA interviews that felt like this
February 7, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I had APA interviews that felt like this
Next time someone asks me what my philosophy is, I'm just going to tell them this
Humans: we like dumplings, bbq, and telling people about neat animals we saw in the woods one time.
February 7, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Next time someone asks me what my philosophy is, I'm just going to tell them this
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Humans: we like dumplings, bbq, and telling people about neat animals we saw in the woods one time.
February 7, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Humans: we like dumplings, bbq, and telling people about neat animals we saw in the woods one time.
I'm so glad to see this. Boo JD Vance every chance you get. And cheer for the Americans who want nothing to do with him.
Vice President JD Vance gets roundly booed at the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympics. "Those are a lot of boos for him, whistling jeering," says the presenter. US athletes receive a warm welcome from fans, though.
February 6, 2026 at 9:40 PM
I'm so glad to see this. Boo JD Vance every chance you get. And cheer for the Americans who want nothing to do with him.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Blueskyese and Xian share an obvious common root as both being Twitteric languages, the difference is that after the split Xian became a hybrid Twitteric/Channer-linkedin tongue, while Blueskyese changed less overall but did pick up some tumbleric and redditor loanwords
yeah Bluesky is primarily a Tumblric language
February 6, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Blueskyese and Xian share an obvious common root as both being Twitteric languages, the difference is that after the split Xian became a hybrid Twitteric/Channer-linkedin tongue, while Blueskyese changed less overall but did pick up some tumbleric and redditor loanwords
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
the Spectator accidentally recycled a subhed from a previous day’s article about Tehran
February 6, 2026 at 6:07 PM
the Spectator accidentally recycled a subhed from a previous day’s article about Tehran
I once said to my parents that it must have been very interesting to live during the Nixon years. I think I owe them an apology.
February 5, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I once said to my parents that it must have been very interesting to live during the Nixon years. I think I owe them an apology.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
This morning at the Minnesota State Capitol.
An ice sculpture that reads "PROSECUTE ICE". I'm told the organization behind the sculpture is Common Defense.
An ice sculpture that reads "PROSECUTE ICE". I'm told the organization behind the sculpture is Common Defense.
February 5, 2026 at 3:26 PM
This morning at the Minnesota State Capitol.
An ice sculpture that reads "PROSECUTE ICE". I'm told the organization behind the sculpture is Common Defense.
An ice sculpture that reads "PROSECUTE ICE". I'm told the organization behind the sculpture is Common Defense.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
actually I’d probably go even further and say that when regular people act supererogatorily it’s usually because they feel like it’s required of them (assuming they’re morally motivated in the first place)
a weird thing about the concept of supererogation is that moral exemplars often don’t really employ it in their own decision-making — they act supererogatorily bc they perceive it as obligatory
February 5, 2026 at 2:59 PM
actually I’d probably go even further and say that when regular people act supererogatorily it’s usually because they feel like it’s required of them (assuming they’re morally motivated in the first place)
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
I love the delighted kids jumping up and down with excitement at the end. Science!
Here’s an experiment for y’all with the kiddos. Always science
February 4, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I love the delighted kids jumping up and down with excitement at the end. Science!
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Working on a college campus and explaining to students: "I’ve wheat-pasted stuff, made zines, protested for long hours, and read about materialism too much, too, but all of that accomplishes 1/1,000th of what we could if y'all just voted in things like city council primaries consistently...
February 4, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Working on a college campus and explaining to students: "I’ve wheat-pasted stuff, made zines, protested for long hours, and read about materialism too much, too, but all of that accomplishes 1/1,000th of what we could if y'all just voted in things like city council primaries consistently...
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
The irony here is that I think the only way one plausibly achieves truly leftist goals in the United States is by using some milquetoast-seeming Will-Stancil-esque liberal as a trojan horse for them.
I am not particularly a socialist, but the only way to socialism in America is 'Sewer socialism.'
I am not particularly a socialist, but the only way to socialism in America is 'Sewer socialism.'
February 4, 2026 at 5:05 PM
The irony here is that I think the only way one plausibly achieves truly leftist goals in the United States is by using some milquetoast-seeming Will-Stancil-esque liberal as a trojan horse for them.
I am not particularly a socialist, but the only way to socialism in America is 'Sewer socialism.'
I am not particularly a socialist, but the only way to socialism in America is 'Sewer socialism.'
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
I find the @whstancil.bsky.social backlash strangely fascinating.
At its core it seems to be a desperate effort by folks further to the left to avoid having a liberal (with communication skills) become the face of their movement.
But, to be honest, winning was always going to require that.
At its core it seems to be a desperate effort by folks further to the left to avoid having a liberal (with communication skills) become the face of their movement.
But, to be honest, winning was always going to require that.
February 4, 2026 at 4:55 PM
I find the @whstancil.bsky.social backlash strangely fascinating.
At its core it seems to be a desperate effort by folks further to the left to avoid having a liberal (with communication skills) become the face of their movement.
But, to be honest, winning was always going to require that.
At its core it seems to be a desperate effort by folks further to the left to avoid having a liberal (with communication skills) become the face of their movement.
But, to be honest, winning was always going to require that.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
A thing that is funny about the moral grandstanding by Repubs re: Christopher Columbus is that nobody knew or cared about him 100 years ago. His "holiday" is barely 50 years old and was pushed through by Italian-American lobby groups in response to...anti-immigrant prejudice.
February 4, 2026 at 5:23 PM
A thing that is funny about the moral grandstanding by Repubs re: Christopher Columbus is that nobody knew or cared about him 100 years ago. His "holiday" is barely 50 years old and was pushed through by Italian-American lobby groups in response to...anti-immigrant prejudice.
Classical statisticians be like
I have a prior for every finite series of observations youre not gonna like
February 4, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Classical statisticians be like
A perfect summary of where we are
Newspapers provided news as a club good economically (non-rivalrous but excludable). The internet broke that. Now it's a public good. What you want is non-profit and/or public funding to produce news regardless of profit. The hope was Bezos would operate like that given his vast wealth. He didn't.
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 PM
A perfect summary of where we are
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
The meeting is adjourned. Mayor Kevin Sartor ended the long meeting by saying “We hear you, we have a lot to consider and your voices are impactful and powerful.” Surprise showed tf up. The overflow room filled + hundreds outside. It ended with only 2 speakers in favor of the ICE camp.
February 4, 2026 at 6:24 AM
The meeting is adjourned. Mayor Kevin Sartor ended the long meeting by saying “We hear you, we have a lot to consider and your voices are impactful and powerful.” Surprise showed tf up. The overflow room filled + hundreds outside. It ended with only 2 speakers in favor of the ICE camp.
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
"rich dipshit owner doesn't understand the industry he's bought into and clumsily destroys what made it good" feels less like a narrative unique to the washington post and more like the music that's been playing in the background of all our lives for at least 40 years
February 4, 2026 at 2:53 PM
"rich dipshit owner doesn't understand the industry he's bought into and clumsily destroys what made it good" feels less like a narrative unique to the washington post and more like the music that's been playing in the background of all our lives for at least 40 years
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Check out this recent podcast with our PI, Catherine Herfeld, which touches on her work on the history and philosophy of rational choice theory, her forthcoming book Conversations on Rational Choice, and, of course, #ModelTransfer!
In their great podcast, I try to answer a set of challenging questions asked by Jennifer Jhun and François Allison about my book Conversations on Rational Choice and about how I would classify my work in the disciplinary landscape, among other things: hetpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-nine...
Smith and Marx Walk into a Bar: A History of Economics Podcast: Episode Ninety Six
Jennifer and François are joined by our first return guest, Catherine Herfeld, Professor of Philosophy and History of Economics at the Institute of Philosophy at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany. ...
hetpodcast.libsyn.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Check out this recent podcast with our PI, Catherine Herfeld, which touches on her work on the history and philosophy of rational choice theory, her forthcoming book Conversations on Rational Choice, and, of course, #ModelTransfer!
Reposted by Kevin Zollman
Carnegie Mellon has a long history of using technology to improve learning.
Home to one of the world’s first university computation centers, CMU’s commitment to learning science continues today.
Learnvia scales these efforts widely and engages a broader set of educators in learning engineering.
Home to one of the world’s first university computation centers, CMU’s commitment to learning science continues today.
Learnvia scales these efforts widely and engages a broader set of educators in learning engineering.
A History of Learning Science at Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon University has a long history of using technology to study and improve learning.
www.cmu.edu
February 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Carnegie Mellon has a long history of using technology to improve learning.
Home to one of the world’s first university computation centers, CMU’s commitment to learning science continues today.
Learnvia scales these efforts widely and engages a broader set of educators in learning engineering.
Home to one of the world’s first university computation centers, CMU’s commitment to learning science continues today.
Learnvia scales these efforts widely and engages a broader set of educators in learning engineering.