Hendrik Erz, PhD
@hendrik-erz.de
Political Sociologist, Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS)
I study discursive dynamics and lawmaking in U.S. Congress and Europe.
Program Chair @ic2s2.bsky.social
Website: https://hendrik-erz.de
I develop @zettlr.com, a free academic writing app.
I study discursive dynamics and lawmaking in U.S. Congress and Europe.
Program Chair @ic2s2.bsky.social
Website: https://hendrik-erz.de
I develop @zettlr.com, a free academic writing app.
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
We have just released the possibly final beta release before we can move Zettlr 4.0 to stable! If you'd like to have a sneak peek to what we have in stock, take a look here 👇🏼
github.com/Zettlr/Zettl...
github.com/Zettlr/Zettl...
Release Release v4.0.0-beta.4 · Zettlr/Zettlr
This fifth beta again includes a few improvements. These are mostly some cleanup, code refactoring, and a few additional fixes. Nothing major has changed. As always, see the changelog below for ful...
github.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:42 AM
We have just released the possibly final beta release before we can move Zettlr 4.0 to stable! If you'd like to have a sneak peek to what we have in stock, take a look here 👇🏼
github.com/Zettlr/Zettl...
github.com/Zettlr/Zettl...
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
Google Scholar Is Doomed
Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?
hannahshelley.neocities.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
This looks yummy 👀
Political communication research overwhelmingly relies on text. But parliamentary speech is multimodal! In our new @psrm.bsky.social article, Mathias Rask and I show that legislators also signal partisan conflict nonverbally— through changes in vocal pitch during floor speeches. 🧵 1/11 #polisky
December 4, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This looks yummy 👀
I'm always shocked how quickly eugenics is losing its “dirty” connotations these days, especially in scientific subdisciplines that broadly work with AI. And yes, this also includes my own related scientific fields.
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
December 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I'm always shocked how quickly eugenics is losing its “dirty” connotations these days, especially in scientific subdisciplines that broadly work with AI. And yes, this also includes my own related scientific fields.
Situation: Doing peer-review for a journal.
Footnote in the proof starts with the words: “As we do in an earlier study (NAME and NAME, YEAR)…”
Hach. The unavoidable pitfalls of peer review…
Footnote in the proof starts with the words: “As we do in an earlier study (NAME and NAME, YEAR)…”
Hach. The unavoidable pitfalls of peer review…
December 4, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Situation: Doing peer-review for a journal.
Footnote in the proof starts with the words: “As we do in an earlier study (NAME and NAME, YEAR)…”
Hach. The unavoidable pitfalls of peer review…
Footnote in the proof starts with the words: “As we do in an earlier study (NAME and NAME, YEAR)…”
Hach. The unavoidable pitfalls of peer review…
And thus it continues…! Looking forward to 2026!
IC2S2 2026 registration is open!
Explore the 2026 conference here ➡️ ic2s2-2026.org
✔️ Submissions open December 15th
✔️ Keynotes will be announced between now and February
✔️ Full program of selected talks and tutorials will be available in late April
Explore the 2026 conference here ➡️ ic2s2-2026.org
✔️ Submissions open December 15th
✔️ Keynotes will be announced between now and February
✔️ Full program of selected talks and tutorials will be available in late April
December 1, 2025 at 10:29 PM
And thus it continues…! Looking forward to 2026!
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++
Recently, I had my first encounter with a “vibe coded” PR. Vibe coding is performative production for the sake of production, detached from community and social norms. I argue why vibe coding is harmful from a social perspective.
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/vibe-co...
Recently, I had my first encounter with a “vibe coded” PR. Vibe coding is performative production for the sake of production, detached from community and social norms. I argue why vibe coding is harmful from a social perspective.
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/vibe-co...
Vibe Coding: The Final Form of Hyper-Individualism
A few days ago, I had to deal with the first "vibe coded" PR to my software. In this article, I reflect on this encounter, and analyze the social …
www.hendrik-erz.de
November 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++
Recently, I had my first encounter with a “vibe coded” PR. Vibe coding is performative production for the sake of production, detached from community and social norms. I argue why vibe coding is harmful from a social perspective.
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/vibe-co...
Recently, I had my first encounter with a “vibe coded” PR. Vibe coding is performative production for the sake of production, detached from community and social norms. I argue why vibe coding is harmful from a social perspective.
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/vibe-co...
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
I'm increasingly convinced the European model of scientific funding is a waste of time and talent and needs to change. Just one of many stories... 1/4
June 23, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I'm increasingly convinced the European model of scientific funding is a waste of time and talent and needs to change. Just one of many stories... 1/4
Today, I’m excited to be a guest at the Technical University of Braunschweig, where I will talk about my dissertation!
November 24, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Today, I’m excited to be a guest at the Technical University of Braunschweig, where I will talk about my dissertation!
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
So @mims.bsky.social is doing some of the best work in the mainstream media on AI and data centers, and is one of the few who is asking the difficult questions rather than looking for convenient ways to back up market consensus, it’s nice to see
Some great charts on #AI from the Wall Street Journal. t.ly/xvvbw "AI products would have to create an additional $650 billion a year, indefinitely, to give investors a reasonable 10% annual return. That’s more than 150% of Apple’s yearly revenue"
November 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
So @mims.bsky.social is doing some of the best work in the mainstream media on AI and data centers, and is one of the few who is asking the difficult questions rather than looking for convenient ways to back up market consensus, it’s nice to see
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
Shutdown, capitulation, and austerity: how Democrats failed to defend affordable healthcare - Peoples Dispatch
#united states#access to health care#donald trump#affordable healthcare act
#united states#access to health care#donald trump#affordable healthcare act
Shutdown, capitulation, and austerity: how Democrats failed to defend affordable healthcare
While the Democratic Party claimed to be defending working-class people in the US, its capitulation to a Republican spending bill leaves millions facing skyrocketing healthcare costs and exposes the limits of partisan opposition in the face of billionaire-driven austerity.
The post Shutdown, capitulation, and austerity: how Democrats failed to defend affordable healthcare appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
peoplesdispatch.org
November 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Shutdown, capitulation, and austerity: how Democrats failed to defend affordable healthcare - Peoples Dispatch
#united states#access to health care#donald trump#affordable healthcare act
#united states#access to health care#donald trump#affordable healthcare act
Excited! Looking forward to it! 🤩
We're excited to announce that the website and registration for IC2S2 2026 (July 28-31) will launch in early December! The Vermont Complex Systems Institute @vcsi.bsky.social at the University of Vermont will be hosting IC2S2 in 2026: youtube.com/watch?v=p412S4GnPkc&feature=youtu.be
IC2S2 2026 | Burlington, Vermont
YouTube video by UVM Office of Research
youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Excited! Looking forward to it! 🤩
Signs of an 8-hour workshop
November 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Signs of an 8-hour workshop
John Mohr has once called interpreting topic model results a form of "Rorschach Test", and I agree.
I just had a topic with completely odd word stems and had no idea what to do with them. And then it hit me. They were all (slightly butchered) names of Neural Network scholars.
I just had a topic with completely odd word stems and had no idea what to do with them. And then it hit me. They were all (slightly butchered) names of Neural Network scholars.
November 12, 2025 at 7:47 PM
John Mohr has once called interpreting topic model results a form of "Rorschach Test", and I agree.
I just had a topic with completely odd word stems and had no idea what to do with them. And then it hit me. They were all (slightly butchered) names of Neural Network scholars.
I just had a topic with completely odd word stems and had no idea what to do with them. And then it hit me. They were all (slightly butchered) names of Neural Network scholars.
I'm back in the phase of sitting idly in front of my computer while it works
*sips tea* ☕️
*sips tea* ☕️
November 12, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I'm back in the phase of sitting idly in front of my computer while it works
*sips tea* ☕️
*sips tea* ☕️
Dear potential contributors to ANY software. Please do not just open PRs entirely generated by an AI thingy. Clean them.
I just had a pretty good feature PR opened to my main repository, adding support for RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc).
BUT, it’s impossible to review on a volunteer basis:
I just had a pretty good feature PR opened to my main repository, adding support for RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc).
BUT, it’s impossible to review on a volunteer basis:
November 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Dear potential contributors to ANY software. Please do not just open PRs entirely generated by an AI thingy. Clean them.
I just had a pretty good feature PR opened to my main repository, adding support for RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc).
BUT, it’s impossible to review on a volunteer basis:
I just had a pretty good feature PR opened to my main repository, adding support for RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, etc).
BUT, it’s impossible to review on a volunteer basis:
This is amazing
This will spark some great papers: an open digital dataset of roads in the Roman Empire
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
www.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is amazing
How doing Computational Social Science with R sometimes feels
November 5, 2025 at 10:44 AM
How doing Computational Social Science with R sometimes feels
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
Can AI-generated images work as visual vignettes in survey experiments? I argue yes - and discuss how . in my new @sscratsage.bsky.social paper: doi.org/10.1177/0894...
November 4, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Can AI-generated images work as visual vignettes in survey experiments? I argue yes - and discuss how . in my new @sscratsage.bsky.social paper: doi.org/10.1177/0894...
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++
Shutdown on Capitol Hill — what remains of the lawmaking ability of U.S. Congress amidst one of its most dire political crises in over two hundred years?
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/shutdow...
Shutdown on Capitol Hill — what remains of the lawmaking ability of U.S. Congress amidst one of its most dire political crises in over two hundred years?
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/shutdow...
Shutdown on Capitol Hill: An Afterword to my PhD Thesis
After five years, we know a little bit more about the lawmaking processes in U.S. Congress. At the same time, Congress is barely legislating anymore, …
www.hendrik-erz.de
November 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++
Shutdown on Capitol Hill — what remains of the lawmaking ability of U.S. Congress amidst one of its most dire political crises in over two hundred years?
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/shutdow...
Shutdown on Capitol Hill — what remains of the lawmaking ability of U.S. Congress amidst one of its most dire political crises in over two hundred years?
www.hendrik-erz.de/post/shutdow...
This is what you get if all you want are citation counts, and a magic box appears that does exactly that.
I fully understand this decision.
Write your papers yourself, goddamnit!
I fully understand this decision.
Write your papers yourself, goddamnit!
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
FYI the blog post for the updated policy is out. Our llm future is dire:/
FYI the blog post for the updated policy is out. Our llm future is dire:/
October 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
This is what you get if all you want are citation counts, and a magic box appears that does exactly that.
I fully understand this decision.
Write your papers yourself, goddamnit!
I fully understand this decision.
Write your papers yourself, goddamnit!
Of course, it’s France.
A French cyclist survived for three days after a horrendous 130-foot fall into a ravine, kept alive by the bottles of red wine he had in his shopping bag, police said.
Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives 3 days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag
A helicopter airlifted him to hospital, with a rescue doctor calling his survival "a miracle."
cbsn.ws
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Of course, it’s France.
As an analytical sociologist, this is my secret guilty pleasure
October 31, 2025 at 6:29 PM
As an analytical sociologist, this is my secret guilty pleasure
Something seems to be shifting. Not at all a sign of relief yet, but maybe signs of small pieces of backbone slowly migrating back to Capitol Hill.
October 31, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Something seems to be shifting. Not at all a sign of relief yet, but maybe signs of small pieces of backbone slowly migrating back to Capitol Hill.
Reposted by Hendrik Erz, PhD
Tom Moran: Why Democrats will not yield to Trump on the shutdown - NJ.com
#health#trump administration#donald trump#trump
#health#trump administration#donald trump#trump
Tom Moran: Why Democrats will not yield to Trump on the shutdown
Democrats might be committing political suicide if they fold without winning meaty concessions on health care.
www.nj.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Tom Moran: Why Democrats will not yield to Trump on the shutdown - NJ.com
#health#trump administration#donald trump#trump
#health#trump administration#donald trump#trump