Brian Oakley
@broak.phd
big dork neuroscientist who likes video games and computer goggles • product scientist at australia’s favourite digital bank based in naarm •
broak.phd 🏳️🌈🇦🇺🇵🇭
broak.phd 🏳️🌈🇦🇺🇵🇭
Pinned
Brian Oakley
@broak.phd
· Oct 2
😴 evil algorithms
🫨 multi-harm bandits
🫨 multi-harm bandits
Reposted by Brian Oakley
My mother just asked if Roblox was the same thing as Steam and I laughed and told her that Roblox was a game with a stores in it and Steam was a store with games in it, and now I feel crazy
December 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
My mother just asked if Roblox was the same thing as Steam and I laughed and told her that Roblox was a game with a stores in it and Steam was a store with games in it, and now I feel crazy
December 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
zootopia 2 is very very good
November 27, 2025 at 12:36 PM
zootopia 2 is very very good
humans are beautiful but how long do we have?
November 23, 2025 at 6:05 AM
humans are beautiful but how long do we have?
Reposted by Brian Oakley
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
expedition 33 for goty, no question
November 18, 2025 at 6:30 AM
expedition 33 for goty, no question
i am artist
exquisite
writhing
exquisite
writhing
November 3, 2025 at 4:25 AM
i am artist
exquisite
writhing
exquisite
writhing
Reposted by Brian Oakley
I will say this: a lot of new folks are clinging to a nostalgia for ‘getting a publisher’ as a marker of validation, of being a ‘real game’.
And I’m here to tell you that’s bollocks. They need you more than you need them. If they can provide a service, awesome, but you hold the means of production.
And I’m here to tell you that’s bollocks. They need you more than you need them. If they can provide a service, awesome, but you hold the means of production.
October 18, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I will say this: a lot of new folks are clinging to a nostalgia for ‘getting a publisher’ as a marker of validation, of being a ‘real game’.
And I’m here to tell you that’s bollocks. They need you more than you need them. If they can provide a service, awesome, but you hold the means of production.
And I’m here to tell you that’s bollocks. They need you more than you need them. If they can provide a service, awesome, but you hold the means of production.
Reposted by Brian Oakley
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
October 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
one of the most beautiful examples of data vis i’ve seen in recent memory.
We used @sciam.bsky.social's 180th anniversary as an excuse to revisit an old favorite. Familiar with the efficiency of locomotion chart from the March 1973 issue? Here it is again, reimagined for 2025 by DTAN Studio, w/text by @parshallison.bsky.social 📊 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
The Most Efficient Traveler Isn’t a Bird or a Fish—It’s You on a Bike
A famous graphic, now updated, compares locomotion in the animal kingdom
www.scientificamerican.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:09 AM
one of the most beautiful examples of data vis i’ve seen in recent memory.
i just spoke on a panel at SXSW titled “the psychology of invisible money”.
the two other speakers were scary smart, the host was fantastic, and there i was yapping about doja cat being in fortnite 🫢
the two other speakers were scary smart, the host was fantastic, and there i was yapping about doja cat being in fortnite 🫢
October 14, 2025 at 11:47 AM
i just spoke on a panel at SXSW titled “the psychology of invisible money”.
the two other speakers were scary smart, the host was fantastic, and there i was yapping about doja cat being in fortnite 🫢
the two other speakers were scary smart, the host was fantastic, and there i was yapping about doja cat being in fortnite 🫢
Reposted by Brian Oakley
In my personal life I have moved away from thinking of people as stupid. Instead I just think of people as "incurious," where the Doing of learning has become something they are too tired, scared, or proud to pursue. Curiosity is, I think, the greatest human virtue, the Doing of learning.
to me, Doing is a knife that must be continually honed, however small the grind wheel available to you is, because to me it's not about how sharp the knife actually is it's about the process of honing itself. if you are Doing then you are living. there are always opportunities to Do if you seek them
October 14, 2025 at 5:37 AM
In my personal life I have moved away from thinking of people as stupid. Instead I just think of people as "incurious," where the Doing of learning has become something they are too tired, scared, or proud to pursue. Curiosity is, I think, the greatest human virtue, the Doing of learning.
Reposted by Brian Oakley
gamer who doesn't listen to audio logs or read journal entries in games because they respect privacy
October 13, 2025 at 5:41 AM
gamer who doesn't listen to audio logs or read journal entries in games because they respect privacy
see you soon SXSW Sydney!
October 12, 2025 at 10:09 PM
see you soon SXSW Sydney!
Reposted by Brian Oakley
have we not, as a society, moved past “elon musk says thing” as a headline
October 7, 2025 at 4:44 PM
have we not, as a society, moved past “elon musk says thing” as a headline
i guess we’re just accepting that we live in the new wild west?
October 6, 2025 at 10:21 PM
i guess we’re just accepting that we live in the new wild west?
Reposted by Brian Oakley
my actual advice for people in their early 30s is that being too old for something is a fake idea as long as you have your health
October 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM
my actual advice for people in their early 30s is that being too old for something is a fake idea as long as you have your health
Reposted by Brian Oakley
No broke boys ? In this economy?
October 2, 2025 at 11:43 AM
No broke boys ? In this economy?
😴 evil algorithms
🫨 multi-harm bandits
🫨 multi-harm bandits
October 2, 2025 at 4:13 AM
😴 evil algorithms
🫨 multi-harm bandits
🫨 multi-harm bandits