humans evolved and spread across an entire spherical planet developing unique cultures and adaptations over thousands of years but then representatives of all the groups gather to play one another in an elegant and emotional game of kick a ball into a net feels like utopian sci fi

It's a myth that sugar makes kids hyper. That said, it's not untrue that kids usually are hyperactive when they get a lot of sugar: it's just that they usually get a lot of sugar at exciting events.

Yesterday I came across someone "just asking questions" about how we could know the measles vaccine has saved millions of people a year for the last few decades I treated it like an honest question and linked her to the Lancet article that was the source for that number 🧵

Nice piece questioning the orthodox view of blindsight, drawing on mine and others' work.

I wrote about blindsight. I'd always accepted the standard narrative that blindsight is a dramatic dissociation between awareness and sight. But looking at the details, I'm unsure it tells us any more about consciousness than the more typical experience of barely being able to see in a dark room

Instead of just saying "I want [x]", my 2-year-old always adds "maybe" "Maybe I want Cheezits" "Maybe I don't want hug bear" He's like an old timey mobster, he needs the deniability that technically he did not, in fact, ask for the animal crackers he's now refusing to eat

I was at the department store with the 3-year-old, and he ran by the perfume section. He stopped suddenly, wide-eyed staring at all the bottles, and then shouted: "Daddy, look! Science!" He wasn't wrong.

What people don't understand about academia is that if you ever publish in a journal, you will forever receive spam from predatory journals telling you they would love to publish any of your brilliant work so they can collect a publication fee from you.

I'm convinced that the reason parents don't want their kids to learn swear words is because it's hilarious to hear an angry kid reach down for the worst word they know and shout with all the hostility their little bodies can muster: "Booger!"

"Despite their tiny brains, bees are able to learn abstract concepts, learn from each other, and behave flexibly in a way that defies the view of them as hardwired little robots."

I think 'neato' is my favorite word to use in writing. I have to use it sparingly, but when I do, it always gives me a little happy tingle.

New post: The Poetry of Math How analogy is the engine of thinking, and how this connects poetry and math 🧵

I feel like my 5-year-old should start offering courses in being high agency. He approached a couple of kids similar in age to him and asked if he could play with them They said "No" He asked why, and they said because they don't know him.

What matters is not only what you know, but also what you know you *know*, and what you know you *don’t* know, if you know what I mean. @tommyblanchard.bsky.social explains the importance of metaknowledge, and how we can address failures in it: buff.ly/iCgf9kD

They should invent kids that don't get sick

I feel like ~2 years is the perfect age gap between siblings because right around 5 the older one naturally wants a dog and the younger one naturally wants to be a dog

My review of Lars Chittka's excellent "The Mind of a Bee" cognitivewonderland.substack.com/p/the-mind-o...

The character of a man can be judged based on whether he uses heart emoji reactions in chat with other men

3-year-old to my wife this morning: I want to climb daddy, 'cause he's a big guy

One of the fun things about taking vocal lessons is how insane my practice notes look due to all the quirky cues and descriptors we come up during the sessions. From my last few lessons: Goblin or viking? in head Tongue back, cry, barbarian shout Dentist, swallow the dolphin

There are a ton of news stories (and online discussions) claiming attention spans have shrunk, but there isn't any evidence of this -- on the contrary, the only study I can find that looks into it concludes our ability to concentrate has increased cognitivewonderland.substack.com/p/attention-...

Incisive analogy from my HVAC guy explaining how air conditioning works: “It's exactly how a car's engine works. Except different.” He did not elaborate.

What it's like interacting with a 2-year-old: 2-year-old, holding a blueberry: Daddy, guess what's in this hand Me: I don't know 2: I will give you a hint -- it's a tiny elephant! Eats blueberry

You play Dark Souls without summoning I play Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime with a 4-year-old at the helm We are not the same

What Is Attention; Or, Why Can’t My Kid Find the Easter Eggs? A little exploration of a weird and intimate topic: how things come to our awareness

As a neuroscientist: pickles are delicious

You call your tummy your tum-tum I call my belly my bell-bell We are not the same -My 4-year-old probably, if he understood this meme format

My 5-year-old made protest signs (we're not going to a protest, these are apparently just for marching around the kitchen with)

Everyone keeps talking about Judith Butler but whenever I hear that name all I can think is "The existence of Judith Butler implies the existence of Judith Maid"

New article on loops and self-reference. A mash-up of Hofstadter and this quote from Pratchett: "Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. [...] Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."

Pros and cons of my toddler deciding he is a squirrel: Pro - easier to get him to try foods (just tell him it's an acorn) Con - harder to tell what he wants because he refuses to speak and only makes increasingly angry chittering noises to communicate needs

I have a new article out in The Conversation about metaknowledge (our knowledge about what we know!): theconversation.com/most-people-...

It's cool what you can find outside if you stop and look. I was out playing on a dirt mound in the woods (as one does when they have a 5 year old) and noticed a lot of ant activity, caught these tiny ants moving their babies

Perk of having kids: Getting to do all those kid “science experiments”. Spent my weekend playing with oobleck and hearing a four-year-old say “non-newtonian-fluid” a bunch of times 10/10 would recommend

Evolution is wild: "[H]awkmoths produce their [bat] confounding clicks by rubbing their genitals together. They seem to have evolved this ability on three separate occasions, with each group repurposing a different section of their sex organs" From An Immense World

The great thing about sharing your articles on Reddit is you get to hear what's wrong with your article from people who haven't read it

Some reflections about writing about science and philosophy for a general audience: cognitivewonderland.substack.com/p/thoughts-a...

Don’t worry, internet arguers. I’m reading the arguments and silently keeping score. I know who’s winning. At the end of the internet I’ll reveal who won

I Am The God Of Your Children. I Am The Final Parent. — theonion.com/i-am-the-god...

I wish more local music shows were earlier in the day I want to live that punk rock lifestyle but also be in bed by 8:30pm

Behavior change is hard. It's not a willpower problem. The evidence says mindset shifts and good intentions barely move the needle on long-term behavior. There's no simple trick you'll get from a Ted Talk to suddenly able to stop procrastinating, go to the gym, lose weight, or whatever. 🧵

Science citation practices are pretty wild. From The Hungry Mind by Susan Engel: [Children] can wander, grab things, climb, build, take things apart, and open things up (Campos et al. 2000)

Very annoyed to learn I was just granted a patent for the dumbest project I ever worked on

The cool thing about discussions on the internet is you can always take a step back and reflect on how you’re coming across. Without the pressure of needing an immediate response, you can always make a decision about how you want to present yourself.

My new favorite concept: stigmergy! It's how ants build complex nests without any central plan. One ant drops a dirt pellet, and that pellet becomes a signal for other ants to drop pellets there too. The environment itself becomes the blueprint cognitivewonderland.substack.com/p/memory-as-...

One of my kids will pretty much only eat pickles On the one hand, he's having trouble gaining weight and it's a constant concern for us and his pediatrician On the other hand, the kid has great taste

“Living well is the best revenge,” I repeat to myself in the mirror, psyching myself up for yet another idyllic day fuelled by the thought of my eudaimonia crushing my foes.

It sure is a lucky coincidence that I ended up with not just the best kid, but the two best kids in the world Sucks for the rest of you though, ngl

Recently I got mad about a science news story that was not only clickbait, but the article itself was fluff and left readers less informed than if they didn't read it. It made me question what the point of science news is anyways, if it's treated as cheap entertainment with no factual basis.

As a neuroscientist, I recommend disregarding any advice you read that begins with “As a neuroscientist”