Jeff Yoshimi
@jyoshimi.bsky.social
Philosopher, phenomenologist, and cognitive scientist at
UC Merced. Interested in neural networks and dynamical systems theory. Builder of simbrain.net and husserl.net. Website: https://jeffyoshimi.net/
UC Merced. Interested in neural networks and dynamical systems theory. Builder of simbrain.net and husserl.net. Website: https://jeffyoshimi.net/
A talk I gave on mathematical phenomenology last week is now up on youtube. Topics include whether phenomenology can be "mathematized", Husserl's time diagrams, and efforts to formalize the horizon structure. youtu.be/ITMLgz7OLrA
November 17, 2025 at 5:07 PM
A talk I gave on mathematical phenomenology last week is now up on youtube. Topics include whether phenomenology can be "mathematized", Husserl's time diagrams, and efforts to formalize the horizon structure. youtu.be/ITMLgz7OLrA
Hal 9000 recently started attending our faculty meetings
November 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Hal 9000 recently started attending our faculty meetings
We’ve recently updated our collaborative open-access book, “Neural Networks in Cognitive Science”, adding a few new authors, chapters, and lots of content.
downloads.jeffyoshimi.net/NeuralNetwor...
downloads.jeffyoshimi.net/NeuralNetwor...
October 21, 2025 at 8:44 PM
We’ve recently updated our collaborative open-access book, “Neural Networks in Cognitive Science”, adding a few new authors, chapters, and lots of content.
downloads.jeffyoshimi.net/NeuralNetwor...
downloads.jeffyoshimi.net/NeuralNetwor...
What do you do when you come across a symbol you can’t pronounce? Suppose it’s something you have to deal with and can’t just ignore. I find it remarkably unsettling.
October 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
What do you do when you come across a symbol you can’t pronounce? Suppose it’s something you have to deal with and can’t just ignore. I find it remarkably unsettling.
A much earlier entry in the Chronik, from the other bookend of Husserl's professional life (the student years, 1884/6), confirms Gregor's point about Brentano introducing Bolzano to Husserl. Interestingly, Osborn is again quoted, this time saying Brentano familiarized Husserl with Bolzano's work.
September 21, 2025 at 11:41 PM
A much earlier entry in the Chronik, from the other bookend of Husserl's professional life (the student years, 1884/6), confirms Gregor's point about Brentano introducing Bolzano to Husserl. Interestingly, Osborn is again quoted, this time saying Brentano familiarized Husserl with Bolzano's work.
Here is the source of the story about Husserl discovering Bolzano in a second-hand bookstore. It's from late in Husserl's life, 1935. We have to rely on Spiegelberg recounting something Osborn said, so there are a few sources of potential error
September 21, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Here is the source of the story about Husserl discovering Bolzano in a second-hand bookstore. It's from late in Husserl's life, 1935. We have to rely on Spiegelberg recounting something Osborn said, so there are a few sources of potential error
I already reposted twice about this yesterday, but allow me one more post, this time with my own reading notes!
So, last week I was on @trsam97.bsky.social 's podcast talking about Merleau-Ponty with @robinmuller.bsky.social ...
youtu.be/YPmuFqUwSLw
So, last week I was on @trsam97.bsky.social 's podcast talking about Merleau-Ponty with @robinmuller.bsky.social ...
youtu.be/YPmuFqUwSLw
September 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I already reposted twice about this yesterday, but allow me one more post, this time with my own reading notes!
So, last week I was on @trsam97.bsky.social 's podcast talking about Merleau-Ponty with @robinmuller.bsky.social ...
youtu.be/YPmuFqUwSLw
So, last week I was on @trsam97.bsky.social 's podcast talking about Merleau-Ponty with @robinmuller.bsky.social ...
youtu.be/YPmuFqUwSLw
In his 30s Kant had the idea of writing a physics book for children with the romantic philosopher Johann Hamann, also known as the “Wizard of North.” Hamann turned him down in a series of passive-aggressive “love letters”.
August 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
In his 30s Kant had the idea of writing a physics book for children with the romantic philosopher Johann Hamann, also known as the “Wizard of North.” Hamann turned him down in a series of passive-aggressive “love letters”.
I stumbled on what I believe is an “Aizawa Attractor”, a chaotic attractor in which states travel from one side to another of an ellipsoid along spiral trajectories. It showcases the visualization capabilities of #Simbrain and also shows how discovery is facilitated by Simbrain. #dynamicalsystems
August 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I stumbled on what I believe is an “Aizawa Attractor”, a chaotic attractor in which states travel from one side to another of an ellipsoid along spiral trajectories. It showcases the visualization capabilities of #Simbrain and also shows how discovery is facilitated by Simbrain. #dynamicalsystems
I’m writing a paper where I describe scientific practice in terms of actions relative to situations. I know things like this have been said before, but I'm not sure I’ve got all the relevant sources. Who else says things like this? What should I be reading and citing?
August 13, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I’m writing a paper where I describe scientific practice in terms of actions relative to situations. I know things like this have been said before, but I'm not sure I’ve got all the relevant sources. Who else says things like this? What should I be reading and citing?
When some LLMs are set up to talk to each other, they eventually reach a state of “LLM Bliss” where they repeatedly refer to spiritual states and use spiral emojis, and sometimes become silent. Apparently the basin of attraction for this attractor is quite wide.
August 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
When some LLMs are set up to talk to each other, they eventually reach a state of “LLM Bliss” where they repeatedly refer to spiritual states and use spiral emojis, and sometimes become silent. Apparently the basin of attraction for this attractor is quite wide.
Daniel Berlyne was one of the first psychologists to study all the things we do when we’re not just trying to stay alive. What he called “ludic behavior” includes recreation, entertainment, and idle curiosity. He put a cat messing with a typewriter at the front of one of his classic books.
August 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Daniel Berlyne was one of the first psychologists to study all the things we do when we’re not just trying to stay alive. What he called “ludic behavior” includes recreation, entertainment, and idle curiosity. He put a cat messing with a typewriter at the front of one of his classic books.
Yes the deeper origins of the word are perhaps even more fascinating. You may be familiar with Heidegger's classic analysis?
July 29, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Yes the deeper origins of the word are perhaps even more fascinating. You may be familiar with Heidegger's classic analysis?
It then seems to have passed into general currency in the 18th century. Kant used it in some letters and in his Metaphysical foundations of natural science he used it to refer to the doctrine of motion. So there is a resonance with the word’s contemporary usage in physics.
July 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
It then seems to have passed into general currency in the 18th century. Kant used it in some letters and in his Metaphysical foundations of natural science he used it to refer to the doctrine of motion. So there is a resonance with the word’s contemporary usage in physics.
The fourth section of the New Organon was titled “Phenomenology or the doctrine of appearance”.
July 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The fourth section of the New Organon was titled “Phenomenology or the doctrine of appearance”.
What is the origin of the term “phenomenology”? It famously occurs in Husserl and Hegel but their projects are clearly different. Where did the word come from? Were they both drawing on a common source? A thread...
July 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
What is the origin of the term “phenomenology”? It famously occurs in Husserl and Hegel but their projects are clearly different. Where did the word come from? Were they both drawing on a common source? A thread...
Merleau-Ponty was the first external researcher to visit the Husserl archives in Belgium in 1939, just after Herman Van Breda got all the documents out of Nazi Germany, at considerable risk to himself. Merleau-Ponty consulted Ideas 2, the D-manuscripts, and selections from Crisis.
July 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Merleau-Ponty was the first external researcher to visit the Husserl archives in Belgium in 1939, just after Herman Van Breda got all the documents out of Nazi Germany, at considerable risk to himself. Merleau-Ponty consulted Ideas 2, the D-manuscripts, and selections from Crisis.
Herman van Breda on Merleau-Ponty's first meeting with Eugen Fink, and the role he played as "translator between phenomenologists"
July 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Herman van Breda on Merleau-Ponty's first meeting with Eugen Fink, and the role he played as "translator between phenomenologists"
I’m excited to say the article I published last week in the MIT Press Reader has now been republished in both Popular Science (@popsci.com) and Nautilus (@nautil.us). It’s a short-form overview of my book, Gaming Cancer.
popsci.com/healt…
nautil.us/gamin���
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…
popsci.com/healt…
nautil.us/gamin���
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…
July 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I’m excited to say the article I published last week in the MIT Press Reader has now been republished in both Popular Science (@popsci.com) and Nautilus (@nautil.us). It’s a short-form overview of my book, Gaming Cancer.
popsci.com/healt…
nautil.us/gamin���
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…
popsci.com/healt…
nautil.us/gamin���
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…
Last week three of my PhD students defended their dissertations on three consecutive days. From left to right in the picture below are: Andrew Proulx, Me,
@jclingo.bsky.social , and Liza Kim.
@jclingo.bsky.social , and Liza Kim.
June 30, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Last week three of my PhD students defended their dissertations on three consecutive days. From left to right in the picture below are: Andrew Proulx, Me,
@jclingo.bsky.social , and Liza Kim.
@jclingo.bsky.social , and Liza Kim.
This simulation was made in simbrain using an interface that allows you to explore the different patterns the vehicles make for different weight settings. Shown here are some of the other patterns that can be created using different weight settings. #simbrain #geometry #dynamicalsystems
June 23, 2025 at 3:13 PM
This simulation was made in simbrain using an interface that allows you to explore the different patterns the vehicles make for different weight settings. Shown here are some of the other patterns that can be created using different weight settings. #simbrain #geometry #dynamicalsystems
Here's a cool pattern that two Braitenberg vehicles can make as they pursue each other. It’s a “billiard-like” pattern that fills in a ring-shaped region.
June 23, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Here's a cool pattern that two Braitenberg vehicles can make as they pursue each other. It’s a “billiard-like” pattern that fills in a ring-shaped region.
This simbrain sim shows how we can visualize the way a neural network represents its environment. As the mouse smells the cheeses and the flowers, different patterns occur. The network activations in the left panel seem chaotic, but if we look at the plot in the right panel we see structure.
June 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This simbrain sim shows how we can visualize the way a neural network represents its environment. As the mouse smells the cheeses and the flowers, different patterns occur. The network activations in the left panel seem chaotic, but if we look at the plot in the right panel we see structure.
Last weekend I played a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics, a DND variant. My character, "Gorgeous Gorgias", is shown in the thick of a skirmish with malevolent tumorlike sea creatures. He's the bald philosopher guy. @onlyplaywizards.com was an awesome game master.
June 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Last weekend I played a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics, a DND variant. My character, "Gorgeous Gorgias", is shown in the thick of a skirmish with malevolent tumorlike sea creatures. He's the bald philosopher guy. @onlyplaywizards.com was an awesome game master.
Back in the 90s I led a team of artists and researchers mapping out all the debates about AI. It was a huge project. We read over a thousand papers and organized it all into a massive set of debate maps. 1/3
June 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Back in the 90s I led a team of artists and researchers mapping out all the debates about AI. It was a huge project. We read over a thousand papers and organized it all into a massive set of debate maps. 1/3