What makes play, especially to adults, so rewarding? Why is playing fun? It’s about honing predictive processing—“When we play, we deliberately choose to increase uncertainty in order to experience the pleasure of reducing it” buff.ly/SP6DeWg

The paper in question: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thirty years ago my weekends were for beer and hard rock. Now they’re for fretting about whether I overwatered the strawflowers and if rabbits will get my avocado tree.

The world needs more politicians... no, wait... more LEADERS like this.

May the Fourth be with you!

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein

I've worn eyeglasses for four decades and I still don't know how I'm supposed to keep them clean.

"Did you read the syllabus?"

As I was updating these lists, I found more than enough Education-themed journals to justify a new list. Thus I present to you "Academic Journals - Education": bsky.app/profile/did:... #AcademicSky #Edusky #research #journals

Dozens more journals added to this list today. Ideas and suggestions always welcome. #AcademicSky #Academics #PhDLife #HigherEd #Research

A number of academic journals have joined BlueSky in recent months, so I am updating my lists. First: #business and #management journals. Take a look and please let me know what I've missed. You can find the current list here: bsky.app/profile/did:... #Thread of all lists... #academicsky

All I'm saying is that as a university professor, I am contractually obligated to ensure my sport jackets have elbow patches.

Apropos of nothing….

SCTV is on Internet Archive if you'd like to enjoy the early work of Catherine O'Hara and her fellow sketch comedy gods. S1: archive.org/details/sctv... S2: archive.org/details/sctv... S3: archive.org/details/19-m... S4-5: archive.org/details/66-s... S6 + Cinemax: archive.org/details/sctv... #TVSky

I'm proud to say that I don't need AI to help me produce academic papers of diminished quality.

Professors hate this one simple trick…

Always glad to see that my ongoing side-eye at the manic promotion of AI isn't entirely unfounded.

In what is becoming an annual tradition, I present to you a playlist of songs that turn 40 years old in 2026: open.spotify.com/playlist/4pN...

Ah, the first week of classes... that special time of year when 95% of conversations involve the word "syllabus."

Daredevil (1964) #263 (via Reddit)

According to my wife, calling butter tarts “mini raisin quiches” does not make them appropriate breakfast food. I beg to differ.

Me: *playing with my Star Wars LEGO advent calendar* Wife: Oh, nice. You got a C-3P0 and an R2-D2 Me: That's not R2-D2! It looks like it's maybe supposed to be an R2 unit, but it is for sure an astromech droid. What's interesting about it is... where are you going?

I've long held that I will use this line at my eventual retirement party, decades hence.

This is the kind of thread for which social media was invented.

This one really hurts.

Who needs an MBA when you have Bluesky?!?

For a second I thought this was a Chronicle of Higher Ed article...

A fantastic argument for a liberal arts education. #highered

We’re living in an era where everyone wants authentic connection but also wants AI to write every thought they’ve ever had. My policy: if you try to connect with me on social media and your every single post is AI-generated, I’m not connecting back and I now hate you. #LinkedIn #BeHuman

Hey, so apparently you can ask what vaccines you should get. I’ve been due for my tetanus shot since 1991. Guess I’ll do that… at some point.

It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick. Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.

If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features." There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.

Suddenly it all makes sense.

every company in 2025

Somebody please explain to me the business case of AI companies.

So if I understand the current state of capitalism correctly, we can't have too many electric cars because that would overwhelm the power grid, but there is no upper limit on the number of data centers we can establish. Have I got that right?

For their first project, my Kids and Society students have to create an infographic clarifying a common misconception about "kids these days." I'd prefer that they not use AI to create their projects, so I made my own infographic explaining why : )

Imagine if the Cartoon Network relaunched as a free streaming service. #dreams

One of these rich dudes invested in a food company with all proceeds going to kids in need. The other started Sundance Institute, boosting the lives of countless artists. Hey modern rich dudes, don't be a typical greedy AI crypto-prick, be like these two.

Rule of thumb: don't kill people, even if they are assholes.

“We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.” - Charles MacKay (1841)

Now Lego needs to set terms that it'll only start shipping Lego back to the US once the Americans take the 's' off the end of their plural pronunciation.

Printed and distributed ahead of meeting.

Read a book. Read another book. And then read some more. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Hey everybody! @drjuliawester.bsky.social and I have a new paper! We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media. Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑 doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered.[...] Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” ― George Orwell, 1984

Thanks to ECPR political science journals. With their help, a more journals have been added to the list (bsky.app/profile/did:...) and starter pack (go.bsky.app/Jo9yr7F) for "Academic Journals - Political Science". Message me with any other journals I'm missing on these lists & starter packs!

Same. Except I’m firing my bank over my mortgage balance numbers.

there are so many great things about generative AI! here are some of my favorites <3