Beau Sievers
@beausievers.bsky.social
Psychology, neuroscience, music, game design.
“They’ll believe what they like,” groans Mason, “in this Age, with its Faith in a Mechanickal Ingenuity, whose ways will be forever dark to them. God help this Mobility. They have to take all Projectors upon Trust,—half of whom have nothing to sell, who know nonetheless of this irrational need to
November 21, 2025 at 3:44 PM
“They’ll believe what they like,” groans Mason, “in this Age, with its Faith in a Mechanickal Ingenuity, whose ways will be forever dark to them. God help this Mobility. They have to take all Projectors upon Trust,—half of whom have nothing to sell, who know nonetheless of this irrational need to
Reposted by Beau Sievers
My fellow residents of the Friendly Honda waiting room are about to witness a stunning display of coffee drinking.
November 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
My fellow residents of the Friendly Honda waiting room are about to witness a stunning display of coffee drinking.
Reposted by Beau Sievers
✨New preprint! Why do people express outrage online? In 4 studies we develop a taxonomy of online outrage motives, test what motives people report, what they infer for in- vs. out-partisans, and how motive inferences shape downstream intergroup consequences. Led by @felix-chenwei.bsky.social 🧵👇
November 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
✨New preprint! Why do people express outrage online? In 4 studies we develop a taxonomy of online outrage motives, test what motives people report, what they infer for in- vs. out-partisans, and how motive inferences shape downstream intergroup consequences. Led by @felix-chenwei.bsky.social 🧵👇
Reposted by Beau Sievers
This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
October 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
From Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon:
“I do not enjoy regular Luncheon Engagements with these people, but I am close enough to tell you this,—they will not admit to Error. They rely upon colorful Madmen and hir’d Bullies to get them thro’ the perilous places, and they blunder on. Beware them.”
“I do not enjoy regular Luncheon Engagements with these people, but I am close enough to tell you this,—they will not admit to Error. They rely upon colorful Madmen and hir’d Bullies to get them thro’ the perilous places, and they blunder on. Beware them.”
November 8, 2025 at 5:02 PM
From Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon:
“I do not enjoy regular Luncheon Engagements with these people, but I am close enough to tell you this,—they will not admit to Error. They rely upon colorful Madmen and hir’d Bullies to get them thro’ the perilous places, and they blunder on. Beware them.”
“I do not enjoy regular Luncheon Engagements with these people, but I am close enough to tell you this,—they will not admit to Error. They rely upon colorful Madmen and hir’d Bullies to get them thro’ the perilous places, and they blunder on. Beware them.”
There are so many interesting variations on this move, and they all rile me up
Personally, I get anxious when people who I feel morally aligned with reject a good thing as bad people co-opt it
This splits communities into camps, driving social media repetition compulsion on both sides
Personally, I get anxious when people who I feel morally aligned with reject a good thing as bad people co-opt it
This splits communities into camps, driving social media repetition compulsion on both sides
If you do a good thing that's popular there'll be an incentive for bad people who want to do unpopular stuff to pretend that really actually their bad thing is the same as your good thing. This is not especially puzzling and does not tell us that much about any particular case. Sometimes people lie.
November 7, 2025 at 4:06 PM
There are so many interesting variations on this move, and they all rile me up
Personally, I get anxious when people who I feel morally aligned with reject a good thing as bad people co-opt it
This splits communities into camps, driving social media repetition compulsion on both sides
Personally, I get anxious when people who I feel morally aligned with reject a good thing as bad people co-opt it
This splits communities into camps, driving social media repetition compulsion on both sides
Reposted by Beau Sievers
ryan is right. people HATE hearing this. but it is just a matter of simple incentives. if you want a more representative legislature — and if you want a legislature more resistant to corruption — then you need to jack up the salaries. serving as mayor of NYC should net you a cool 500K *at least*
people hate hearing this but it's 100% true, creating a huge pay gap between political leaders, their staffs, and other elites is a recipe for corruption. of course the flip side of that is taxes on the rich should be jacked way the hell up
The Mayor of New York only makes $260k. I bet there are police that make more than that in NY with overtime.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
November 7, 2025 at 3:42 PM
ryan is right. people HATE hearing this. but it is just a matter of simple incentives. if you want a more representative legislature — and if you want a legislature more resistant to corruption — then you need to jack up the salaries. serving as mayor of NYC should net you a cool 500K *at least*
Reposted by Beau Sievers
If you do a good thing that's popular there'll be an incentive for bad people who want to do unpopular stuff to pretend that really actually their bad thing is the same as your good thing. This is not especially puzzling and does not tell us that much about any particular case. Sometimes people lie.
November 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
If you do a good thing that's popular there'll be an incentive for bad people who want to do unpopular stuff to pretend that really actually their bad thing is the same as your good thing. This is not especially puzzling and does not tell us that much about any particular case. Sometimes people lie.
Reposted by Beau Sievers
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Beau Sievers
ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections
November 5, 2025 at 12:49 PM
ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections
Good read! Raises the age-old question: is science crisp study results, or fuzzy community process?
When one camp in a debate rejects the fuzzy community process, it’s a red flag—a sign its incentives lie elsewhere. So I wish Hu covered how Bonica’s criticisms of moderation have been sidestepped.
When one camp in a debate rejects the fuzzy community process, it’s a red flag—a sign its incentives lie elsewhere. So I wish Hu covered how Bonica’s criticisms of moderation have been sidestepped.
"In claiming the mantle of science, the data-centered approach to politics has drawn ever tighter boundaries around what it takes to speak knowledgeably about politics and so in turn who can be entrusted to direct it."
Lily Hu for @bostonreview.bsky.social
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
Lily Hu for @bostonreview.bsky.social
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
How to Lie with (Political) Statistics - Boston Review
Inside the data wars over Democratic strategy.
www.bostonreview.net
November 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Good read! Raises the age-old question: is science crisp study results, or fuzzy community process?
When one camp in a debate rejects the fuzzy community process, it’s a red flag—a sign its incentives lie elsewhere. So I wish Hu covered how Bonica’s criticisms of moderation have been sidestepped.
When one camp in a debate rejects the fuzzy community process, it’s a red flag—a sign its incentives lie elsewhere. So I wish Hu covered how Bonica’s criticisms of moderation have been sidestepped.
Reposted by Beau Sievers
😎😎😎😎 GOOD THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN 😎😎😎😎
November 5, 2025 at 5:22 AM
😎😎😎😎 GOOD THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN 😎😎😎😎
On the misappropriation of Tolkien, I don’t think it’s media illiteracy. It’s willful, a product of the same drives that cause problematic dudes to profess admiration for Tony Soprano and other inarguably pathetic fictional characters
I.e., problematic dudes who profess that Tony Soprano is cool actually are not stupid. They are not missing the point. Rather, the show has hit them hard enough to provoke a defensive reaction, comprising private and publicly performed acts of defense and denial.
October 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
On the misappropriation of Tolkien, I don’t think it’s media illiteracy. It’s willful, a product of the same drives that cause problematic dudes to profess admiration for Tony Soprano and other inarguably pathetic fictional characters
Reposted by Beau Sievers
The Great Commission strives to tell the story of early Christian evangelists. I have complicated feelings on it. My review: spacebiff.com/2025/10/29/t...
Neither Board Nor Counters
I remember the first time I felt doubt. It was the night my little sister was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. Mom figured it out at the grocery store — we’d been through this once before — an…
spacebiff.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The Great Commission strives to tell the story of early Christian evangelists. I have complicated feelings on it. My review: spacebiff.com/2025/10/29/t...
Reposted by Beau Sievers
The first Pan-African neuroscience journal, the African Brain Journal, prepares to launch.
By Lauren Schenkman
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/f...
By Lauren Schenkman
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/f...
First Pan-African neuroscience journal gets ready to launch
The new journal hopes to give African neuroscience research much-needed international visibility.
www.thetransmitter.org
October 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The first Pan-African neuroscience journal, the African Brain Journal, prepares to launch.
By Lauren Schenkman
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/f...
By Lauren Schenkman
#neuroskyence
www.thetransmitter.org/publishing/f...
Reposted by Beau Sievers
How two mathematicians resolved a 50-year-old open problem by finding the solution in an 80-year-old paper. Human knowledge is unsearchable.
The fine art of crate digging
Alexeev and Mixon's resolution of Erdős problem 707 and the vastness of the library.
www.argmin.net
October 27, 2025 at 3:17 PM
How two mathematicians resolved a 50-year-old open problem by finding the solution in an 80-year-old paper. Human knowledge is unsearchable.
I remember the scientific consensus as of 2019/2020 was that conspiracy beliefs were not more widespread than in previous decades. Is this still the case?
October 27, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I remember the scientific consensus as of 2019/2020 was that conspiracy beliefs were not more widespread than in previous decades. Is this still the case?
This changes the subject a bit, but another path is affecting System 1 intuitions by changing our environments. E.g., the contact hypothesis suggests people in diverse cities have more favorable intuitions about those who look and act differently from them, and their intuitive politics follow
If populism is (as this argues) a rebellion against System 2 thinking—which requires symbols and remains frustratingly hard for most of us—it seems we’re stuck with it forever.
If only we could make some kind of, idk, cognitive prosthesis for symbolic reasoning? Yeah, never mind. Sounds hard. +
If only we could make some kind of, idk, cognitive prosthesis for symbolic reasoning? Yeah, never mind. Sounds hard. +
Populism fast and slow
It is natural that a person who is both concerned by the rise of right-wing populism and possessed of a bookish disposition might turn to the academic political science literature in search of a bette...
josephheath.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:47 PM
This changes the subject a bit, but another path is affecting System 1 intuitions by changing our environments. E.g., the contact hypothesis suggests people in diverse cities have more favorable intuitions about those who look and act differently from them, and their intuitive politics follow
Reposted by Beau Sievers
worth applying to politics as well. when you're criticizing an action people take "taking the better action next time" is only one of the alternatives people will consider, and worth remembering that "not bothering at all" is another.
October 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
worth applying to politics as well. when you're criticizing an action people take "taking the better action next time" is only one of the alternatives people will consider, and worth remembering that "not bothering at all" is another.
Finding myself contrasting how Weapons and Hereditary handled the witch-as-scapegoat. In H, the witch explained why the family was broken. But in W, the witch reflected and collided a mess of problems with their own causes and logic. In this way W felt more “true” to me, where H felt avoidant
October 25, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Finding myself contrasting how Weapons and Hereditary handled the witch-as-scapegoat. In H, the witch explained why the family was broken. But in W, the witch reflected and collided a mess of problems with their own causes and logic. In this way W felt more “true” to me, where H felt avoidant
Reposted by Beau Sievers
(my broad view is that everyone is trying to find an easy shortcut rather than the more difficult work of building an actual relationship between the party and both the voters it has and the voters it wants)
October 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
(my broad view is that everyone is trying to find an easy shortcut rather than the more difficult work of building an actual relationship between the party and both the voters it has and the voters it wants)
Kinda wish someone would direct a movie with no cute worldbuilding flourishes in the background. Like none.
October 25, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Kinda wish someone would direct a movie with no cute worldbuilding flourishes in the background. Like none.
Reposted by Beau Sievers
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Interactive Cognition Lab | USC
Interactive Cognition Lab at USC, led by principal investigator, Dr. Nina Rouhani.
rouhanilab.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I will be recruiting 🌟PhD students🌟 for my newish lab! If you're interested in learning & memory mechanisms applied to individual, interactive & collective behavior using computational modeling, real-world experiments and fMRI, email me! RTs much appreciated 🙏 rouhanilab.com
Reposted by Beau Sievers
Hypotheses based on models positing social class differences in psychological orientations towards ‘the self’ versus ‘others and the environment’ received less support
In sum: the social psychology lit on social class did't replicate but other fields largely held up.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In sum: the social psychology lit on social class did't replicate but other fields largely held up.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Advancing the psychology of social class with large-scale replications in four countries - Nature Human Behaviour
Social class is assumed to be associated with many different individual outcomes and behaviours. This Registered Report aimed to replicate 35 key hypotheses from 17 correlational and 5 experimental st...
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Hypotheses based on models positing social class differences in psychological orientations towards ‘the self’ versus ‘others and the environment’ received less support
In sum: the social psychology lit on social class did't replicate but other fields largely held up.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In sum: the social psychology lit on social class did't replicate but other fields largely held up.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Beau Sievers
A massive study on the effects of social class tested 35 hypotheses in 4 countries (N = 33,536)
Only 50% of findings replicated
Hypotheses based on differences between social class contexts in terms of constraints, uncertainty & status were supported:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Only 50% of findings replicated
Hypotheses based on differences between social class contexts in terms of constraints, uncertainty & status were supported:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
A massive study on the effects of social class tested 35 hypotheses in 4 countries (N = 33,536)
Only 50% of findings replicated
Hypotheses based on differences between social class contexts in terms of constraints, uncertainty & status were supported:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Only 50% of findings replicated
Hypotheses based on differences between social class contexts in terms of constraints, uncertainty & status were supported:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...