Rachel Flood Heaton
@rachelfloodheaton.bsky.social
Cognitive and perceptual psychologist, industrial designer, & electrical engineer. Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I make neurally plausible bio-inspired computational process models of visual cognition.
Pinned
From Basic Affordances to Symbolic Thought: A Computational Phylogenesis of Biological Intelligence
What is it about human brains that allows us to reason symbolically whereas most other animals cannot? There is evidence that dynamic binding, the ability to combine neurons into groups on the fly, is...
arxiv.org
In our forthcoming paper, John Hummel and I ask what it would mean for a neural computing architecture such as a brain to implement a symbol system, and the related question of what makes it difficult for them to do so, with an eye toward the differences between humans, animals, and ANNs.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Brilliant.
Selten hab ich eine so intelligente Lösung gesehen, wie man den Eigentümer eines Geldbeutels kontaktieren kann.
Chapeau!
(Netzfundstück)
Chapeau!
(Netzfundstück)
November 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Brilliant.
It's a shame they're going to crash the economy in order to learn that current AI technology is less than half baked.
October 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
It's a shame they're going to crash the economy in order to learn that current AI technology is less than half baked.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
The details on the Kirkland Signature x Nike SB Dunk Low are insane
October 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
The details on the Kirkland Signature x Nike SB Dunk Low are insane
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
after careful study, I believe only people born between 1975 and 1995 should be allowed to use the internet
October 9, 2025 at 7:30 PM
after careful study, I believe only people born between 1975 and 1995 should be allowed to use the internet
Scenes from Chicago today
October 6, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Scenes from Chicago today
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Looks like Barney has finally had enough of Florida's bullshit.
September 29, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Looks like Barney has finally had enough of Florida's bullshit.
This is starting to look more and more like some sort of fraud or market manipulation
Premium newsletter: Based on my estimates and analysis, OpenAI needs one trillion dollars in the next four years to build 17GW of data centers and other commitments, with at least $500 billion needed for company operations. There is not enough capital to do this.
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
OpenAI Needs A Trillion Dollars In The Next Four Years
Shortly before publishing this newsletter, I spoke with analyst Gil Luria, Managing Director and Analyst at D.A. Davidson, and asked him whether the capital was there to build the 17 Gigawatts of capa...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 26, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is starting to look more and more like some sort of fraud or market manipulation
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
OpenAI needs at least $500 billion in cash to fund its operations in the next 4 years, and $432.5 billion *on the low end* to meet their other obligations - more than the combined available capital of the top 10 PE firms ($477bn) and US venture capital ($164bn).
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
September 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM
OpenAI needs at least $500 billion in cash to fund its operations in the next 4 years, and $432.5 billion *on the low end* to meet their other obligations - more than the combined available capital of the top 10 PE firms ($477bn) and US venture capital ($164bn).
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
I cannot express how wild this quote is. This is a top tech analyst at a well-regarded firm saying that there is not enough capital to actually pay for all the stuff that NVIDIA and OpenAI has promised. It is so important that everybody realizes that *there is not enough money to do this*
I spoke with analyst Gil Luria at D.A. Davidson, asking if the capital existed to build OpenAI's promised 17GW of data centers.
He said "of course there isn't enough capital for all of this," but "enough capital to do this for a at least a little while longer."
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
He said "of course there isn't enough capital for all of this," but "enough capital to do this for a at least a little while longer."
www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...
September 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I cannot express how wild this quote is. This is a top tech analyst at a well-regarded firm saying that there is not enough capital to actually pay for all the stuff that NVIDIA and OpenAI has promised. It is so important that everybody realizes that *there is not enough money to do this*
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Currently attending a conference & our field is quite a bit into fancy modeling, so it’s time to repost this blog post.
Don’t try to squeeze your research question into whatever model is fashionable right now; try to build the right model for your research question.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Don’t try to squeeze your research question into whatever model is fashionable right now; try to build the right model for your research question.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Let’s do statistics the other way around
Summer in Berlin – the perfect time and place to explore the city, take a walk in the Görli, go skinny dipping in the Spree, attend an overcrowded, overheated conference symposium on cross-lagged pane...
www.the100.ci
September 23, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Currently attending a conference & our field is quite a bit into fancy modeling, so it’s time to repost this blog post.
Don’t try to squeeze your research question into whatever model is fashionable right now; try to build the right model for your research question.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Don’t try to squeeze your research question into whatever model is fashionable right now; try to build the right model for your research question.
www.the100.ci/2024/08/27/l...
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
When a typo in your Google search leads to new and exciting philosophical positions
September 22, 2025 at 9:25 PM
When a typo in your Google search leads to new and exciting philosophical positions
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
I strolled in and it was a bit toasty. So I turned the thermostat down, and the room cooled off. Oh. My. God.
After living through 20 years of placebo thermostats in offices, classrooms, and labs, I'm flabbergasted.
After living through 20 years of placebo thermostats in offices, classrooms, and labs, I'm flabbergasted.
September 18, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I strolled in and it was a bit toasty. So I turned the thermostat down, and the room cooled off. Oh. My. God.
After living through 20 years of placebo thermostats in offices, classrooms, and labs, I'm flabbergasted.
After living through 20 years of placebo thermostats in offices, classrooms, and labs, I'm flabbergasted.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Oh man, thank you CNN.
It's been a heck of a day and I really needed the laugh.
It's been a heck of a day and I really needed the laugh.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told analysts that people without smart glasses may one day be at a "significant cognitive disadvantage" compared to those who do use the tech: https://cnn.it/47L2Y5a
September 15, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Oh man, thank you CNN.
It's been a heck of a day and I really needed the laugh.
It's been a heck of a day and I really needed the laugh.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
All I saw was cheesecake boat and ocean for at least 5 minutes
September 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
All I saw was cheesecake boat and ocean for at least 5 minutes
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
People who think that learning statistics will help people understand statistics have a very poor understanding of statistics.
September 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
People who think that learning statistics will help people understand statistics have a very poor understanding of statistics.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Some of the brightest lights I’ve known have been forced to eat shit repeatedly in their careers. And they were the “lucky” ones—in that they were able to stay in the game. Many more just got completely pushed out and we never know about them except as faceless statistics.
August 31, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Some of the brightest lights I’ve known have been forced to eat shit repeatedly in their careers. And they were the “lucky” ones—in that they were able to stay in the game. Many more just got completely pushed out and we never know about them except as faceless statistics.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Yes, @jamellebouie.net's thread is spot on. We know from lots of research in social & in cognitive psychology that perception can become reality for many (if not all) of us in small & big ways, even when the perception is not just flawed, but not based on reality until we manifest it in some ways.
This thread and its point is so unbelievably important — and why it is so absolutely essentially to accurately describe what Trump does and how he’s done it. Otherwise, you — looking primarily at journalists and lawmakers — are just making it easier for him to create that reality.
i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.
August 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Yes, @jamellebouie.net's thread is spot on. We know from lots of research in social & in cognitive psychology that perception can become reality for many (if not all) of us in small & big ways, even when the perception is not just flawed, but not based on reality until we manifest it in some ways.
Yesterday in the orientation for my first year course on 3D form a student raised their hand and asked whether they should leave the object in the wound or remove it when someone is impaled by a projectile during the course. While unlikely, I appreciate this level of intensity in the classroom.
August 28, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Yesterday in the orientation for my first year course on 3D form a student raised their hand and asked whether they should leave the object in the wound or remove it when someone is impaled by a projectile during the course. While unlikely, I appreciate this level of intensity in the classroom.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes
December 1, 2024 at 2:33 PM
who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
"there are no gray squares, man, it's just in your mind"
December 1, 2024 at 2:33 PM
"there are no gray squares, man, it's just in your mind"
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
Whenever I try to explain this to people who call themselves designers, I get a blank stare. But if you don't understand how your product mediates behavior, you should not be doing this job.
Great essay from @frank.computer!
"A chair orders you to sit and sit in a particular way, by its design.
Your being is intended through the tool: you are intended to sit still, face forward, and behave. Artificial intelligence works in exactly the same way."
"A chair orders you to sit and sit in a particular way, by its design.
Your being is intended through the tool: you are intended to sit still, face forward, and behave. Artificial intelligence works in exactly the same way."
Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used
I’m tired of this phrase and this simple way of thinking about tools. This blog post is a wandering train of thought on the topic of what tools are and why it matters to be even slightly more mature i...
www.frank.computer
August 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Whenever I try to explain this to people who call themselves designers, I get a blank stare. But if you don't understand how your product mediates behavior, you should not be doing this job.
Reposted by Rachel Flood Heaton
what an absolute and utter shambles this is, in just about every way americabydesign.gov
America by Design
A National Design Studio Initiative
americabydesign.gov
August 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
what an absolute and utter shambles this is, in just about every way americabydesign.gov