Tomy Ames
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tomy.bsky.social
Tomy Ames
@tomy.bsky.social
Philosophizing @washu.bsky.social #Philosophy - #Neuroscience - #Psychology on #perception, #memory, #AI, & #epistemology. Former VP, #DataScience; AI Consultant; #Healthcare Administrator.
Really amazing pieces with neat ideas. It was an honor to judge the prize of someone who I respect so much. ❤️
The 2025 Munson Awards are out!
Graduate prize: “Protecting the Partity: In Defense of Companions in Guilt,” by DeWitt 'Witt' Spiller
Undergraduate prize: “Rationalityism: A Hierarchy of Discrimination and Oppression” by Eleanor Grissom Thanks to our judge, @tomy.bsky.social! #UMSLProud #philsky
April 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
"...human-specific NOVA1 substitution may have been part of an ancient evolutionary selective sweep in a common ancestral population of Homo sapiens, possibly contributing to the dev of spoken language through differential RNA regulation during brain development." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A humanized NOVA1 splicing factor alters mouse vocal communications - Nature Communications
The neuron-specific RNA binding protein NOVA1 has a single amino acid substitution unique to modern humans. Here, the authors characterize the evolutional specificity and the function of the substitut...
www.nature.com
February 18, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Not what we meant by “neuroplasticity.”
February 9, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Had to take advantage of the recent @princetonupress.bsky.social sale. Looking forward to reading these books!
January 13, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Ok, which one of you was it?? 🤣
December 26, 2024 at 9:11 PM
"This study provides evidence that TMS priming over motor process-related regions, specifically the dlPFC, contributes to eliciting and intensifying embodiment perception during MVF, which benefited from a superior MVF paradigm for improving rehabilitation outcomes."
Frontiers | Effect of motor process-related priming via repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation on embodiment perception during mirror visual feedback: a pilot study
www.frontiersin.org
December 12, 2024 at 8:12 PM
Libertarian Men: “You should be able to do what you want so long as it doesn’t harm others.”
Woman: Earns a doctorate with a thesis she enjoyed researching and writing for literal years of her life.
Men: “Not like that.”
December 3, 2024 at 10:09 PM
Appeal to Transitive Authority
The Elon Musk bias*
The false belief that if a person is successful in one area this means s/he is an expert in all areas.
November 29, 2024 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Tomy Ames
Dear #philsky I think we need a starter pack for people who work on epistemic injustice. Can be philosophers, psychologists, lived experience researchers, the sky is the limit! Suggest yourselves or others for inclusion in the replies. Thanks 🤩 go.bsky.app/RMAoxiW
November 29, 2024 at 9:25 AM
"...it is time to reconceptualize value as a multidimensional signal that tracks distance to the current task-goal, rather than accumulated reward." New research rethinks the role/function of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial-prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). #psychology #neuroscience
Representational spaces in orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: task states, values, and beyond
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial-prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) play a key role in decision-making and encode task states in addition to expected value. We review evidence suggesting a conne...
www.cell.com
November 26, 2024 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Tomy Ames
Resources for philosophers on Bluesky (updated)

1. Starter packs
go.bsky.app/kiKSKZ (individuals)
go.bsky.app/RMuQBg3 (orgs)

2. Philosophy feeds
bsky.app/profile/did:... – uses #philosophy, #PhilSky & other common hashtags
(see profile for others)

3. List of philosophers
bsky.app/profile/did:...
November 25, 2024 at 1:23 PM
"It is possible that although humans describe and measure these parameters [inclination/declination of the magnetic field] in the same way, that if two different senses are detecting them depending on the task, perhaps the birds are not viewing as the same thing..." Cool #perception research!
One sense or two? Magnetic navigation in reed warblers may require us to revisit our assumptions about its sensory basis | Royal Society
Professor Richard Holland from the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University tells us more about a new study that tested whether Eurasian reed warblers could determine their pos...
royalsociety.org
November 26, 2024 at 3:23 PM
I get it. I really do. The money to pay the author, and everyone else, has to come from somewhere. But this is one reason we lost. We paywall valuable, factual information, while harmful disinformation is freely disseminated and consumed.
November 24, 2024 at 4:18 AM
The philosopher's greatest skill is the ability to find a problem where none exists.
November 22, 2024 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Tomy Ames
Finally our editorial for the "What makes a good theory?" special issue is out (co-edited with @irisvanrooij.bsky.social, @jcskewes.bsky.social, Sashank Varma, and Todd Wareham). It's an interdisciplinary issue and the contents are transdisciplinary.

#philsci #metasci #cogsci #ai #psych 🧪
What Makes a Good Theory? Interdisciplinary Perspectives - Computational Brain & Behavior
Computational Brain & Behavior -
link.springer.com
November 14, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Let’s see how this does with #philsky, lol. IYKYK
November 17, 2024 at 7:47 PM
"We observed that, on the whole, children endorsed robots as having moral standing and mental life. [...] Older children's judgments more closely mirrored those of adult participants, who overwhelmingly denied these attributes to robots."
I'm over the moon to announce a new paper from me,
@mattiwilks.bsky.social, and @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social, out this week (open-access) in Cognition: "Developmental changes in the perceived moral standing of robots" 🤖 (1/7)
November 15, 2024 at 10:25 PM
Trying to rebuild my community here at #philsky. Let's all hope for a better future and help each other achieve it.
November 12, 2024 at 6:50 AM