Thora Bjornsdottir
@thorabjorns.bsky.social
psychology lecturer at Stirling Uni
person perception, social groups, inequality
dogs, sci fi, punk 🏳️🌈🇮🇸
https://rthorabjornsdottir.wordpress.com/
person perception, social groups, inequality
dogs, sci fi, punk 🏳️🌈🇮🇸
https://rthorabjornsdottir.wordpress.com/
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3
AI is not a peer, so it can’t do peer review
If we still believe that science is a vocation grounded in argument, curiosity and care, we can’t delegate judgement to machines, says Akhil Bhardwaj
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:17 AM
'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
A new study on the Gaza genocide should shock you:
www.owenjones.news/p/dont-forge...
www.owenjones.news/p/dont-forge...
January 29, 2026 at 9:06 AM
A new study on the Gaza genocide should shock you:
www.owenjones.news/p/dont-forge...
www.owenjones.news/p/dont-forge...
"we are beset with the ideology of maximising having while minimising doing. This has long been capitalism’s narrative and is now also technology’s. It is an ideology that steals from us relationships and connections and eventually our selves."
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
What technology takes from us – and how to take it back | Rebecca Solnit
The long read: Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collectiv...
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:57 AM
"we are beset with the ideology of maximising having while minimising doing. This has long been capitalism’s narrative and is now also technology’s. It is an ideology that steals from us relationships and connections and eventually our selves."
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Ta-Nehisi Coates: With the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, "Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact—the culture war is an actual war"
“The Homeland” Is War on America: The Blood-and-Soil Nationalism That Killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti
In the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact: the culture war is an actual war.
www.vanityfair.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Ta-Nehisi Coates: With the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, "Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact—the culture war is an actual war"
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Government report: "Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse (irreversible loss of function beyond repair)".
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:32 AM
Government report: "Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse (irreversible loss of function beyond repair)".
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
While the pasty incels who work the federal agencies continue to churn out feeble, bloodless AI pastiches of Axis propaganda, here’s how a living breathing artist powerfully invokes design history. This is by illustrator Emily K in South Philly, a free poster-sized download on her website: →
January 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
While the pasty incels who work the federal agencies continue to churn out feeble, bloodless AI pastiches of Axis propaganda, here’s how a living breathing artist powerfully invokes design history. This is by illustrator Emily K in South Philly, a free poster-sized download on her website: →
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Artificial Unintelligence: the government is in full retreat over copyright, and the attempts to make it look dignified only make it funnier. My SKETCH.
thecritic.co.uk/arti...
thecritic.co.uk/arti...
January 13, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Artificial Unintelligence: the government is in full retreat over copyright, and the attempts to make it look dignified only make it funnier. My SKETCH.
thecritic.co.uk/arti...
thecritic.co.uk/arti...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
This was one of our most-read pieces way back in 2015. Unfortunately, it is still relevant today.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
Facepalm Pilot: Where Technology Meets Stupidity: An Interactive Guide to Ambiguous Grammar
Depending on whom you ask, the use of the active voice over the passive is arguably the most fundamental writer’s maxim, thought to lend we...
www.mcsweeneys.net
January 8, 2026 at 2:28 AM
This was one of our most-read pieces way back in 2015. Unfortunately, it is still relevant today.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Reupping, we start looking next week
Postdoctoral Position, full ad here: hehmanlab.org/ad
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
ad
hehmanlab.org
April 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reupping, we start looking next week
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
December 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
The term ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion life is returning to normal’
Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official, at least 70 are children
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official, at least 70 are children
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
‘Bloodshed was supposed to stop’: no sign of normal life as Gaza’s killing and misery grind on
The term ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion life is returning to normal’ for Palestinians squeezed into the remaining 42% of their land behind Israel’s ‘yellow line’
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:26 AM
The term ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion life is returning to normal’
Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official, at least 70 are children
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Since the US-brokered ceasefire was announced on 10 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 360 Palestinians in Gaza; according to a UN official, at least 70 are children
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls."
time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com/7335723/auto...
The Real Way Schools are Failing Boys
“If we really want boys to succeed, we need to ensure that they know how to both beat—and lose— to girls."
time.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:21 AM
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls."
time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com/7335723/auto...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
📣Do people across the world want to remember positive ingroup histories? Based on 7,665 ratings of 360 events in 7 countries, we find striking cross-national differences, showing that striving for positive ingroup memories is not a basic principle.
📘In press at JPSP. Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
📘In press at JPSP. Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 26, 2025 at 10:35 AM
📣Do people across the world want to remember positive ingroup histories? Based on 7,665 ratings of 360 events in 7 countries, we find striking cross-national differences, showing that striving for positive ingroup memories is not a basic principle.
📘In press at JPSP. Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
📘In press at JPSP. Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Hard to find a clearer distillation of the gen ai project.
White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia
World’s richest person wanted to ‘purge’ propaganda from Wikipedia, so he created a compendium of racist disinformation
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Hard to find a clearer distillation of the gen ai project.
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Sheffield Hallam University complied with Beijing demand to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project on supply chains and forced labour being dropped. It was reinstated after threat of legal action but chilling effect remains www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Sheffield Hallam University complied with Beijing demand to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project on supply chains and forced labour being dropped. It was reinstated after threat of legal action but chilling effect remains www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
We have a new tutorial out in Social Cog methods issue, a resampling tool we made in R that basically tells you when some average is "stable" and can be used to guide data collection or test hypotheses related to variance. Quick explanation here
1/n
guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/...
1/n
guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/...
October 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
We have a new tutorial out in Social Cog methods issue, a resampling tool we made in R that basically tells you when some average is "stable" and can be used to guide data collection or test hypotheses related to variance. Quick explanation here
1/n
guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/...
1/n
guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/...
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
If you'd asked me which celebrity would posthumously unveil a list of people she wanted fired into the sun, I would not have guessed Jane Goodall
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
If you'd asked me which celebrity would posthumously unveil a list of people she wanted fired into the sun, I would not have guessed Jane Goodall
Reposted by Thora Bjornsdottir
"The Architecture of Status Perception: Cues, Categories, and Consequences"
Co-chairs: Finneaz Moner, @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Speakers: Finneaz Moner, Ben (Ming Huang) Teo, Abhinanda Dash (w/ Kerri L Johnson & @thorabjorns.bsky.social), Bastian Weitz (w/ @freemanjb.bsky.social)
Symposium Abstract:
Co-chairs: Finneaz Moner, @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Speakers: Finneaz Moner, Ben (Ming Huang) Teo, Abhinanda Dash (w/ Kerri L Johnson & @thorabjorns.bsky.social), Bastian Weitz (w/ @freemanjb.bsky.social)
Symposium Abstract:
September 30, 2025 at 3:27 AM
"The Architecture of Status Perception: Cues, Categories, and Consequences"
Co-chairs: Finneaz Moner, @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Speakers: Finneaz Moner, Ben (Ming Huang) Teo, Abhinanda Dash (w/ Kerri L Johnson & @thorabjorns.bsky.social), Bastian Weitz (w/ @freemanjb.bsky.social)
Symposium Abstract:
Co-chairs: Finneaz Moner, @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Speakers: Finneaz Moner, Ben (Ming Huang) Teo, Abhinanda Dash (w/ Kerri L Johnson & @thorabjorns.bsky.social), Bastian Weitz (w/ @freemanjb.bsky.social)
Symposium Abstract:
"those who relate to others as though they are not worthy of respect ought to be treated with the regard that orientation deserves"
"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."
me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review
Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.
www.bostonreview.net
September 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
"those who relate to others as though they are not worthy of respect ought to be treated with the regard that orientation deserves"