Ofer
@oferon.bsky.social
I am a psychology professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). I study cultural evolution and social learning in songbirds and humans
http://ofer.hunter.cuny.edu/
http://ofer.hunter.cuny.edu/
this is just the beginning (award cycle is 5 years)
May 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
this is just the beginning (award cycle is 5 years)
Many are complaining about the immediate damage of eviscerating The NIH & NSF, but beyond that, they fund basic research, from genes to behavior. It is the muscle driving progress, which shapes modern society. This muscle is now much smaller. The real damage will be seen long after Trump is gone.
May 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Many are complaining about the immediate damage of eviscerating The NIH & NSF, but beyond that, they fund basic research, from genes to behavior. It is the muscle driving progress, which shapes modern society. This muscle is now much smaller. The real damage will be seen long after Trump is gone.
Thank you Harvard University President Alan Garber for showing leadership and resistance. I hope this will convince Columbia University leadership to change course and resist as well. Just say No No No
April 15, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Thank you Harvard University President Alan Garber for showing leadership and resistance. I hope this will convince Columbia University leadership to change course and resist as well. Just say No No No
Musk just sold X to xAI (he already owns both) for 40B. Amazon and Apple are both reinvesting in X campaigns again. Terrifying. If you still have an X account, please consider closing it.
March 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Musk just sold X to xAI (he already owns both) for 40B. Amazon and Apple are both reinvesting in X campaigns again. Terrifying. If you still have an X account, please consider closing it.
DOGE put a $1 spending limit on all NIH scientists credit cards, halting basic operations, like to pay for gas for vehicles used to transport patients’ blood samples. Very efficient.
March 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
DOGE put a $1 spending limit on all NIH scientists credit cards, halting basic operations, like to pay for gas for vehicles used to transport patients’ blood samples. Very efficient.
NYT: "Domino’s pizzas arrived at the homes of judges without explanation. Trump: “We have judges that are destroying our country.” Musk made contribution to House members who supported judge impeachment, and posted X messages describing him as evil". CU gave up. This is a nightmare. Wake up!
March 22, 2025 at 11:46 AM
NYT: "Domino’s pizzas arrived at the homes of judges without explanation. Trump: “We have judges that are destroying our country.” Musk made contribution to House members who supported judge impeachment, and posted X messages describing him as evil". CU gave up. This is a nightmare. Wake up!
NYT (David French):Columbia has become Patient Zero in an outbreak of censorship and repression. And unless it’s stopped there, expect more universities to yield to Trump’s control. Expect political repression to spread far beyond the borders of the university.
March 16, 2025 at 12:34 PM
NYT (David French):Columbia has become Patient Zero in an outbreak of censorship and repression. And unless it’s stopped there, expect more universities to yield to Trump’s control. Expect political repression to spread far beyond the borders of the university.
Just watched the King's Speech: Isn't it funny that 77 years old Al Green was the only representative who had the courage to show real resistance, and get removed after disrupting Trump? Whose idea was it to wave these stupid signs instead of protesting loudly, and getting removed one by one?
March 5, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Just watched the King's Speech: Isn't it funny that 77 years old Al Green was the only representative who had the courage to show real resistance, and get removed after disrupting Trump? Whose idea was it to wave these stupid signs instead of protesting loudly, and getting removed one by one?
NYT: "State Dept. plans $400 million order for armored trucks from Musk’s Tesla". This is such a fantastic anti corruption work Musk is doing, so transparent! This decay will soon ruin everything. What can be done? Either resist, or diversify your investments.
February 13, 2025 at 3:28 AM
NYT: "State Dept. plans $400 million order for armored trucks from Musk’s Tesla". This is such a fantastic anti corruption work Musk is doing, so transparent! This decay will soon ruin everything. What can be done? Either resist, or diversify your investments.
I am tired of getting 'give me money' messages from Democrats, while academia and DOE are getting gutted. Please lead: help us organize resistance. We need to organize a nationwide strike. Let's close the universities and the medical hospitals. A strike now might prevent a real collapse.
February 9, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I am tired of getting 'give me money' messages from Democrats, while academia and DOE are getting gutted. Please lead: help us organize resistance. We need to organize a nationwide strike. Let's close the universities and the medical hospitals. A strike now might prevent a real collapse.
Trump nominated Michael Kratsios, a man with no degrees in science or engineering, to be his science adviser. Now we have the military, health services, and investment in science, decided by people who do not know what they are doing. How long would it take before something big goes wrong?
January 29, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Trump nominated Michael Kratsios, a man with no degrees in science or engineering, to be his science adviser. Now we have the military, health services, and investment in science, decided by people who do not know what they are doing. How long would it take before something big goes wrong?
An executive order from Trump, supported by his new friend Sam Altman, just ditched all safety standards on developing and implementing AI technology. Wellcome to the apocalypse!
January 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM
An executive order from Trump, supported by his new friend Sam Altman, just ditched all safety standards on developing and implementing AI technology. Wellcome to the apocalypse!
The wise withdraw their hands from the leadership of the world, because they know that there are wiser than them, in the meantime the foolish and the wicked jump in and take the world into their hands and rule the world according to their wickedness and according to their foolishness [Agnon 1948]
January 11, 2025 at 5:31 AM
The wise withdraw their hands from the leadership of the world, because they know that there are wiser than them, in the meantime the foolish and the wicked jump in and take the world into their hands and rule the world according to their wickedness and according to their foolishness [Agnon 1948]
"everything in the world is beautiful really, everything but our own thoughts and actions, when we lose sight of the higher aims of life, and of our dignity as human beings"
Chekhov, 1899 (The Lady with the Dog)
Chekhov, 1899 (The Lady with the Dog)
December 17, 2024 at 3:45 AM
"everything in the world is beautiful really, everything but our own thoughts and actions, when we lose sight of the higher aims of life, and of our dignity as human beings"
Chekhov, 1899 (The Lady with the Dog)
Chekhov, 1899 (The Lady with the Dog)
NYT: "Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences, a One-Day Record"
I bet this record is going to last 38 days
I bet this record is going to last 38 days
December 12, 2024 at 4:40 PM
NYT: "Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences, a One-Day Record"
I bet this record is going to last 38 days
I bet this record is going to last 38 days
"Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in the final months of this year’s election to help Donald J. Trump win the presidency, federal filings revealed on Thursday."
This should not be legal
This should not be legal
December 6, 2024 at 4:38 AM
"Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in the final months of this year’s election to help Donald J. Trump win the presidency, federal filings revealed on Thursday."
This should not be legal
This should not be legal
Reading about the morbid glee from patients after the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, I would like to say that my Health insurance, Emblem, is amazingly good: they rarely deny anything, and customer service is fantastic. What is the magic? Emblem is a non profit.
December 5, 2024 at 7:05 PM
Reading about the morbid glee from patients after the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, I would like to say that my Health insurance, Emblem, is amazingly good: they rarely deny anything, and customer service is fantastic. What is the magic? Emblem is a non profit.
I think this might be a good time for BlueSky users to consider unionizing. Any thoughts about this?
December 2, 2024 at 6:28 PM
I think this might be a good time for BlueSky users to consider unionizing. Any thoughts about this?
Biden just pardon His Son Hunter. So, like Trump, like Clinton, Biden gives immunity to friends and family. Saving democracy? No wonder people did not buy it.
December 2, 2024 at 1:10 AM
Biden just pardon His Son Hunter. So, like Trump, like Clinton, Biden gives immunity to friends and family. Saving democracy? No wonder people did not buy it.
“We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.”
Franklin Roosevelt (1936)
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
Franklin Roosevelt (1936)
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
Opinion | Democrats, It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Our Neoliberal Era
The Democratic Party can seize defeat to establish a new order, but the era of tinkering around the edges is over.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2024 at 11:52 AM
“We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.”
Franklin Roosevelt (1936)
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
Franklin Roosevelt (1936)
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
@colinmegill.com : I wonder if you have seen this paper? www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Seems highly relevant to your project
AI can help humans find common ground in democratic deliberation
Finding agreement through a free exchange of views is often difficult. Collective deliberation can be slow, difficult to scale, and unequally attentive to different voices. In this study, we trained a...
www.science.org
October 30, 2024 at 9:44 PM
@colinmegill.com : I wonder if you have seen this paper? www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Seems highly relevant to your project
Can a hundred million users defeat the richest man in the world?
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Can a hundred million users defeat the richest man in the world
<This is just a draft of an idea, feel free to use and implement> Can a hundred million users defeat the richest man in the world? Elon Musk has the desire and the means to shape a large chunk of hu...
docs.google.com
October 18, 2024 at 12:23 PM
Can a hundred million users defeat the richest man in the world?
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
and here is the real graph
November 29, 2023 at 1:29 AM
and here is the real graph
TIAA are manipulating the presentation of data to hide losses on retirement. They do it by including monthly investment in the 'rate of return'. For example, they show 3.72% gain in the last three month -- but if fact, they lost money. Here is what they present:
November 29, 2023 at 1:29 AM
TIAA are manipulating the presentation of data to hide losses on retirement. They do it by including monthly investment in the 'rate of return'. For example, they show 3.72% gain in the last three month -- but if fact, they lost money. Here is what they present:
Gaza hospital explosion: NYTime reader comment: “The NYT, AP, Reuters and other western media organizations owe a public apology on this one. Whatever safeguards to disinformation that are meant to be in place failed badly in this instance and caused grievous harm... the dangers of misinformation."
October 18, 2023 at 7:24 PM
Gaza hospital explosion: NYTime reader comment: “The NYT, AP, Reuters and other western media organizations owe a public apology on this one. Whatever safeguards to disinformation that are meant to be in place failed badly in this instance and caused grievous harm... the dangers of misinformation."