German Wife: But what's the theme of her birthday party? Asian dad: Birthday. The theme of the party is "Birth Day".

😍 #TUC represent!

1/ Can AI be conscious? My Behavioral & Brain Sciences target article on ‘Conscious AI and Biological Naturalism’ is now open for commentary proposals. Deadline is June 12. Take-home: real artificial consciousness is very unlikely along current trajectories. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This is the way. Although, most academic institutions have gotten too big and dependent on federal funding to be able to afford academic freedom.

This is my PhD thesis I did not ask for this I did not consent to this I did not approve of this I was not compensated for this I would not have advised this I do not like this And worst of all, the number of people who've read my thesis has still not increased.

I'm watching Rain Man and it opens with Tom Cruise is trouble because his Lamborghini imports, built according to EU standards, cannot pass EPA standards. 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

New job in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, UK 🔹️ Successful applicants normally within 8 years of completing PhD or close to submitting 🔹️ 36 month contract 🔹️ Closing date: 22nd May 2025 🔹️ More info: durham.taleo.net/careersectio... #Psychology #AcademicSky #PsychJobs

As a foreign student, I did not have the finances (after paying tuition) to visit my family during my entire studies. Having my immigration status revoked willy-nilly would have ruined my future.

I read it…

*there are “1,360 children without confirmed reunifications”* www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

If any journalists are writing about the recent NSF cancellations, I can give you a good example of a grant that was framed as AI workforce development (and is not about misinformation) that seems as if it was cancelled due to a control-F for the word misinformation.

All kinds of woke. And wonderful.

If a father ate his child's chocolate egg, but there was no child around to witness it, did he really eat the chocolate egg?

This pub uses Gen AI for its kids menu. I'm not sure if they are disrespecting anyone's intellectual creation in doing so. It's simply late stage capitalism. We'll need to find other ways to express ourselves.

Reading [How Democracies Die](en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Dem...), written in 2018, and wonder if, like me, no one else bothered to read it until now. If the signs were so clear, why are we still so doomed to be human?

❓ Do public universities in the US have academic freedom & the right to self-governance? Or, are private Ivy Leagues special? In Germany, this is protected by the basic law (5.3). "Arts and sciences, research and teaching shall be free..." www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/...

The support of fascists in democracies is a failure of higher education.

Universities that do their jobs upset fascist authoritarian governments. We do not serve to produce useful employees. We serve to create active participants of society. #tucgether www.tu-chemnitz.de/tu/presseste...

MIT following Harvard's lead here

I used to wonder how any government could send its citizens to concentration camps without anyone caring.

Come work with Teresa Hirzle and me in a fully-funded PhD fellowship on extended reality and behavior change. The full add is at employment.ku.dk/phd/?show=16..., the application deadline is May 12th, and we will both be at #chi2025 to discuss. If you are not, feel free to reach out in other ways.

This semester, I find myself teaching 19 year olds, who scored well enough in exams to get into university, who are unable to download a file from a web page, or how to open a file from within a text editor. In pursuing usability, we might have unintentionally changed technology into magic.

Today, Philipp Fabritius taught his first tutorials (3x90 mins) on Creative Coding && submitted his second conference paper for Mensch und Computer since starting in my professorship. Welcome to 🔥🔥🔥. We 🫶 you too.

Ambassador Spock modeling the proper “fuck you, make me” response to intimidation tactics. Our current-day institutions could learn a lot from him.

Singapore is the definition of a neutral sovereignty. For it to speak out at all speak volumes of how much it anticipates global conflict to break out. Be well and stay safe. We're headed for difficult times.

In 2005, I was stuck in US customs for 2 hrs; Border police could not understand how a 🇩🇪 PhD could travel on a 🇸🇬 passport from 🇨🇦 to 🇺🇸 for a "business trip". They also searched my bags & questioned my ownership of a 🧑‍🚒 calendar. So, I'm saying 🙅🏻‍♀️ to all US business trips in the foreseeable future.

Looking forward to our Tech:Know workshop tomorrow. Meeting of sociologists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists,... to workshop ideas on how human knowledge influences the implementation of technology and how technology constrains our knowledge conceptions. Alt Text for English.

The White House reminded the French that if not for the US they would be speaking German now. I know both Germans & French who can speak both languages and English, thanks to the EU. 🇪🇺 And, we are better for it. @ec.europa.eu #tucgether youtu.be/oMD-CI2Xf8Q?...

I don't want to alarm anyone, but US Americans are now officially more unhappy than Germans. Full report: worldhappiness.report/ed/2025/

I'm not sure if this will make a difference. Most US Americans are unable to comprehend how the working conditions are different in different European countries e.g., higher taxes but "free" healthcare and cheaper groceries. We struggled to hire US postdocs for such reasons in the past.

"David and I approached the visual cortex as explorers of a new world. Neither of us had any preconceived ideas about what we would find on our journey; instead, we let our discoveries dictate what questions to ask next." --- Wiesel

I watched this video and it made me feel sick. I was fortunate to have a supportive Doktorvater, Prof. Bülthoff, who treated the mandate he received from the @maxplanck.de with utmost respect, who unreservedly gave his group a taste of & hunger for his academic freedom. youtu.be/n5nEd600iM0?...

The belief that good universities create good employees, not critical citizens. "The exchange ended with Mr. Trump telling Mr. Duffy that he had to hire people from M.I.T. as air traffic controllers. These air traffic controllers need to be “geniuses,” he said." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/u...

Apparently, there was a rejected petition in 2022, for King Charles to give Zelenskyy a knighthood, on bureaucratic grounds. I'm not waiting with bated breath but if it happens, it might convince me that the monarchy is good for something. petition.parliament.uk/archived/pet...

Well, if John Bolton thinks it's a mistake... I grew up in Singapore, a small multicultural city-state of immigrants, surrounded by countries who viewed us as a colonial aberration. War sucks but not being ready or able to defend one's way of life is not an option. www.dw.com/en/bolton-eu...

Education alone isn’t enough. If we teach people how to think critically but leave them without real ways to engage, we don’t strengthen democracy-we deepen the disconnect. These skills need to lead somewhere, toward participation, towards power, towards making truth matter.

Here I react to the shameful encounter between American leaders and media and the Ukrainian president. No doubt there were more, but I saw five failures on our side: of hospitality, decency, democracy, strategy, and independence. Please watch and share. snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...

"All Ukraine asks in return for winning NATO’s war is the past-expiration equipment sitting in storage facilities that NATO allies were going to throw away anyway."

Zelenskyy's official statement on why Ukraine needs security guarantees and not simply a ceasefire. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

This is an unusual opportunity in Germany where the idea of Tenure track is relatively new. A 'W1' is basically an Assistant Professor, (although the Germans translate it to the sad-sounding 'Junior Professor'). haushalt-und-personal.hu-berlin.de/de/personal/...

Zelenskyy's character can be judge more directly by how he treats others and whether you think he's protected his country. From what I've seen, he has treated Americans with respect. His attire is to remind people he's at war, not unlike Churchill wearing a siren suit to the White House in 1942.

Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine. We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor. Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.

Just learnt of GibberLink that won ElevenLabs hackathon. On the one hand, the contestants have enhanced efficiency and energy-savings. Yay 💦 🌎🔥. On the other hand, I don't want my far more capable servants are able to communicate in a language that I cannot understand. youtu.be/EtNagNezo8w?...

I agree on the premise in principle and am shocked by the attack on US scientific institutions. But I would also request my US colleagues to reflect on the last time they took an actual interest in European science policy eg, the AI Act, or the ethical conduct of animal research in China, or...

Micro sabbaticals for early career faculty at Princeton Psych

Friends! Tonight I’ll be at the Bamberg literature festival, reading from my new-ish book, “Fakten sind auch nur Meinungen”. Will I see any of you there? bamberger-literaturfestival.de/buchautor/je...

Also for the folks saying they add super long alt text- please don’t do this. I use screen readers and it will make my reader ramble off whatever you put. My recommendation is to imagine how convenient it is to glance at an image when scrolling; alt text should feel the same (fun extras still ok)