Matthew Perkins-McVey
@mperkinsmcvey.bsky.social
Assistant Professor • History and Philosophy of Science, Intoxication, Medicine, Psych and Pharma, specializing in 19th/early-20th century Germany • Book "Intoxicated Ways of Knowing" forthcoming at U. Chicago Press
Train university. Live on the trains. Teach on the trains. Conference on the trains. Academic Snowpiercer.
September 15, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Train university. Live on the trains. Teach on the trains. Conference on the trains. Academic Snowpiercer.
The problem of induction means we can all just shrug about underdetermination of historical evidence
September 14, 2025 at 9:59 AM
The problem of induction means we can all just shrug about underdetermination of historical evidence
Too close to home. "Why did I put these words together? Why would anyone?"
September 12, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Too close to home. "Why did I put these words together? Why would anyone?"
And in truth that AI summary could be useful for most purposes. Comparing two speakers? This might actually be the easiest way to do it. But as an academic researcher, I feel like more and more material is hidden away. Online research strats that worked don't work anymore.
September 8, 2025 at 8:46 AM
And in truth that AI summary could be useful for most purposes. Comparing two speakers? This might actually be the easiest way to do it. But as an academic researcher, I feel like more and more material is hidden away. Online research strats that worked don't work anymore.
Absolutely. What I mean is that even four years ago if I wanted to research something there would be a lot of noise, but you could still sift for useful stuff. What I fear is that the 'product' is an AI that sifts for you and spits out a summary, with increasingly opaque access to source.
September 8, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Absolutely. What I mean is that even four years ago if I wanted to research something there would be a lot of noise, but you could still sift for useful stuff. What I fear is that the 'product' is an AI that sifts for you and spits out a summary, with increasingly opaque access to source.
I died a little bit when I realized the projected future is one in which the AI trash summary is intended to be the termination point of the search. This is bad news for anyone who has ever done research, cares about context, thinks word choice matters, etc.
September 8, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I died a little bit when I realized the projected future is one in which the AI trash summary is intended to be the termination point of the search. This is bad news for anyone who has ever done research, cares about context, thinks word choice matters, etc.
There is only genre
September 5, 2025 at 11:29 AM
There is only genre
First coffee should have an extra dose of caffeine but always be the same. The second coffee is variable dose based on need. This message is brought to you by instant coffee.
September 4, 2025 at 3:08 PM
First coffee should have an extra dose of caffeine but always be the same. The second coffee is variable dose based on need. This message is brought to you by instant coffee.
Even preprint feels a bridge too far. It is an unaccepted, unreviewed draft of a paper.
September 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Even preprint feels a bridge too far. It is an unaccepted, unreviewed draft of a paper.
This isn't even the worst thing I've personally seen. The annoying thing being that its always at the top, so you can't help seeing it.
August 24, 2025 at 9:16 AM
This isn't even the worst thing I've personally seen. The annoying thing being that its always at the top, so you can't help seeing it.
My first thought was interrogation, at the border/by police, etc.
August 16, 2025 at 6:04 PM
My first thought was interrogation, at the border/by police, etc.
Imagine having to campaign for the legislation to protect the privacy of your own thoughts.
August 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Imagine having to campaign for the legislation to protect the privacy of your own thoughts.
Right? A STEM researcher at Yale surely knows the opt-out for STEM researchers is typically industry and it's no secret that many in industry want science done 'in-house' (nevermind how it all stands on university 'basic science' that no CEO wants to pay for, but, hey, its patentable).
August 14, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Right? A STEM researcher at Yale surely knows the opt-out for STEM researchers is typically industry and it's no secret that many in industry want science done 'in-house' (nevermind how it all stands on university 'basic science' that no CEO wants to pay for, but, hey, its patentable).
I clearly move in different circles because I have only really heard those terms applied to specific historical discussions.
August 6, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I clearly move in different circles because I have only really heard those terms applied to specific historical discussions.
Oh absolutely! He could really turn a phrase, without the need for pomp.
August 4, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Oh absolutely! He could really turn a phrase, without the need for pomp.
I actually prefer a more florid style. But I've always found Ian Hacking second to none in how clearly and unassumingly he can present ideas. The chapter on Foucault in Historical Ontology makes up almost entirely for the opacity of Foucault's own writing.
August 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I actually prefer a more florid style. But I've always found Ian Hacking second to none in how clearly and unassumingly he can present ideas. The chapter on Foucault in Historical Ontology makes up almost entirely for the opacity of Foucault's own writing.
That's the meritocratic dream (fantasy), isn't it?
August 1, 2025 at 8:53 AM
That's the meritocratic dream (fantasy), isn't it?
The reward for succeeding in academia is more work. Much as youth is wasted on the youth, postdoctoral research freedom is wasted on the postdoctoral period.
July 30, 2025 at 6:44 AM
The reward for succeeding in academia is more work. Much as youth is wasted on the youth, postdoctoral research freedom is wasted on the postdoctoral period.
Okay, but, that's not how YPLL measurements work
July 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Okay, but, that's not how YPLL measurements work
How easily we forget that there were no stimulants in Europe before coffee and tea arrived in early modernity. And, of course, coffee is no coca! Opium, on the other hand, is still regarded as eastern and exotic, but may be the only plant domesticated on the European continent.
July 22, 2025 at 12:44 PM
How easily we forget that there were no stimulants in Europe before coffee and tea arrived in early modernity. And, of course, coffee is no coca! Opium, on the other hand, is still regarded as eastern and exotic, but may be the only plant domesticated on the European continent.
Isn't just a modern retooling of the Kantian debates about "true sciences", a charge that followed medicine past Naunyn's day and which experimental psychology vainly failed to overcome?
July 20, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Isn't just a modern retooling of the Kantian debates about "true sciences", a charge that followed medicine past Naunyn's day and which experimental psychology vainly failed to overcome?
Ah, so you are unfamiliar with the conspiracy theory that 'the government' promotes the conspiracy theory cottage industry so as to undermine the basic credibility of real conspiracy theories.
July 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Ah, so you are unfamiliar with the conspiracy theory that 'the government' promotes the conspiracy theory cottage industry so as to undermine the basic credibility of real conspiracy theories.
So true. All pat-on-the-back, no substance.
July 17, 2025 at 7:15 PM
So true. All pat-on-the-back, no substance.