𝐖𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 There is a comforting lie we tell ourselves: "I would read high-quality, nuanced news, but the platform only shows me garbage."

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞! We often blame "the algorithm" for polarization, assuming that some dark engineer in Silicon Valley is turning a dial to make us hate each other. What if the algorithm is inside us?

𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐬 This Professional Mad Scientist is heading to the Alps. 🏔️🧪 I have been invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos many times over the years, but for one reason or another, the stars never quite aligned for me to take the stage in person. That changes in 2026.

𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐱 We obsess over what we learn, but we ignore how and why we learn. New research this week suggests that high-quality environments can literally override genetic disadvantages and that "tyrannical" rules (like phone bans) actually make us happier.

𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 by China Miéville This is the book you read when you want to see what happens when a Marxist PhD in International Relations decides to write a monster story and breaks the genre dial off at 11. libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐔𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 We like to think we have the willpower to ignore the supercomputer in our pocket. We don’t. And neither do students. The implications of that are…messy.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 There is a creeping biological fatalism in education and throughout society—the idea that DNA is destiny. A groundbreaking study prunes back these lazy myths to reveal that high-quality schools can substitute for genetic luck. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

||Free-Range Humans|| We often treat early childhood education like a race to the bottom of a worksheet or a competition to pack a 5-year-old’s resume. But a new, rigorous lottery-based study on public Montessori schools suggests we should be playing a very different, much longer game.

Will AI make us smarter about money, or just faster fools? That was the core question I tackled a couple weeks ago on a panel for the @Financial Times in #NYC. We dissected the future of wealth planning and inheritance.

We say we want meritocracy, but new research shows we reward what's easy to measure, not what truly matters. Why do firms keep falling for the Peter Principle, and why do VCs who fund founders that look like them get worse returns? The answer reveals a deep, costly flaw in how we think about risk.

I watched the first episode of "Pluribus" this week. Go watch and wonder, as I am, whether this is meant to be gift or weapon? I am reminder of "Babel-17" vs 'The Story of Your Life' (language is a weapon vs gift) and "Blindsight"* vs "Children of Time" (culture as cognitive weapon vs gift).

VC Beer Goggles: Want to look into the face of your next bad investment? Look in the mirror.

The Paradoxical Penalty for High-Achievers How do high-net worth investors make decisions? With the same cognitive biases as the rest of us.

"Rewarding the Past, Mortgaging the Future" Is the Peter Principle real? New research “using microdata on the performance of sales workers at 214 firms” offers a rather resounding, “Hell, Yes!” And it is costly.

" Rewarding the Past, Mortgaging the Future" Is the Peter Principle real? New research “using microdata on the performance of sales workers at 214 firms” offers a rather resounding, “Hell, Yes!” And it is costly.

@INvolve + @YouTube named 100 “Outstanding Role Models” list this year. I’m honored to be included. bit.ly/478FXZe

Our digital tools aren't just giving us information; they're building a profitable ignorance by exploiting our deepest psychological biases. In my latest piece, I connect three new studies to reveal the mechanics of this undeclared business model and what it means for the future of knowledge itself.

SciFriday: Want a little time travel in your life? How about 6 short stories by six SFF heavy hitters in the new collection The Time Traveler's Passport. www.audible.com/series/The-T...

Years ago, I gave a keynote for the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. It just happened to be during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This pure coincidence gave rise to the greatest compliment I've ever received: "Vivienne Ming is the funniest act at the Fringe this year." Infinite happiness :)

Have You Herd the Truth? We like to think of ourselves as independent rational thinkers, but the pull of social consensus is incredibly powerful. New research suggests consensus might even change “truth”.

The Sycophant in the Machine Many worry about a malevolent AI bent on our destruction, but what about AI that's too…nice?

Look at that: I’m an “Outstanding Role Model”! Thanks so much to @INvolve.people and @YouTube for giving me this same terribly misjudged honor again this year! I do genuinely appreciate it :)

Personalized Ignorance Personalization algorithms are designed to give us exactly what we want. It turns out most of us “want” intellectual blind spots.

The journey from "mad science" to a real-world tool that changes lives is one of the most thrilling parts of my work. I'm incredibly proud that Smithsonian Magazine has featured Dionysus Health and our first-in-the-world blood test to predict a new mother's risk for postpartum depression.

SciFriday Ever have a reading experience that felt like literary double exposure? I just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's grimly charming "House of Open Wounds" while coincidentally re-listening to Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods" (way back when, my 1st Discworld novel).

Our Uncertain Future…by design When is it better to be a flexible generalist, and when is it better to be an efficient specialist? The answer is uncertain…literally.

The Pivot Penalty As a serial entrepreneur I’ve been "raised" on the advice to pivot: if your current business plan isn’t working, discover a new one quickly. It turns out that same advice may not hold for careers.

Do you dream of your child being the next Messi or Einstein? Then forget any Tiggerish Battle Hymns or Whiplash-inducing obsession, and raise a generalist.

An Extemporaneous Keynote on an Impossible Subject? My Favorite! academy.socos.org/extemporaneo... Can AI create a better world? The answer from my research is a firm yes, but only if we explicitly design AI to augment our creativity, not replace it.

Why do attempts to reduce political polarization keep failing? Three new studies reveal a perfect storm: cognitive biases that make us see fraud, psychological profiles immune to facts, and interventions that fade in weeks. We can't fix a systemic problem by treating individual symptoms.

A debate I am having with my publisher right now: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/nerd-f...

SciFriday: I just watched the latest season of “Rick & Morty”, the newest episodes of “Smiling Friends”, and sat in as my kids began the long journey of an “Adventure Time” rewatch party.

It’s The Dynamics, Stupid We all want a less divided society, and countless well-intentioned interventions aim to reduce partisan animosity. But do they actually work? Not really, and not for long.

The Exception & The Rule Why do facts seem so ineffective against conspiracy beliefs? The answer might lie less in the specific claims and more in the believer's own mind.

Change Is Fraud: How does belief in election fraud can take hold, even without evidence? A surprisingly simple culprit might be our own cognitive biases, triggered by the very way we report election results. academy.socos.org/elections-be...

Here's my keynote for the SU Global Summit back in 2018. It was truly rewarding traveling around the world giving talks for SU: Bangkok, Athens, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, and more. academy.socos.org/fri-media-c/

We're witnessing a profound shift in AI. Foundation models are moving beyond language to learn the "grammar" of lives—predicting the progression of disease, forecasting our planet's climate, and even decoding the messy logic of human strategy. academy.socos.org/the-grammar-...

SciFriday: I offer a partial recommendation for “Echo of Worlds”. www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...

Me too www.smbc-comics.com/comic/asteroid

Perfect People Product The foundation model paradigm isn't just for modeling the external world of health or climate; it's now being turned inward to model one of the most complex systems of all: us. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A Foundation Model for a Big System The foundation model paradigm is proving its power far beyond language, now tackling the planet itself.

I'm in #DC on Oct 29th and #Baltimore the afternoon of the 28th. Want to chat at hashtag#Teaism (or your favorite spot)? Drop me a note. Or directly support our research at @TheHumanTrust (building a biobehavioral foundation model for human development) and book me for a research briefing.

Predicting Life Trajectories: Foundation models are breaking out of the text box to trace the trajectories of health, climate, and decision making. A new model, Delphi-2M, adapts the GPT architecture to a far more complex and consequential system: the progression of human disease over a lifetime.

Here I am talking AI and economic inclusion in Tel Aviv many years ago. I truly hope for the peace there, but so much hard work is yet to be done.

Political polarization isn't just an unfortunate side effect of our times. It's a machine. The latest neuroscience just handed us the schematic.

SciFriday I’m always going to say good things about John Scalzi books, and so if you are looking for that wonderful sweet spot of humor, adventure, and scifi, “The Shattering Peace” is your book. www.audible.com/pd/The-Shatt...

Political Theory 101 What's the fastest way to get a group of people to cooperate? Forget trust falls and team-building exercises. A new study suggests a much darker, and more effective, tool: threaten them.

The Timbre of Lies Ever feel like people who believe the same story are on the same wavelength? Their brains might just be.

Interbrain Synchrony & Political Extremism Ever feel like people at the political extremes are singing from the same hymn sheet, even when the lyrics are completely different? It turns out, you might be correct..neurologically.

We're still a few months out from the official release date, but my wonderful hosts in South Africa organized my first ever book signing. academy.socos.org/book-mark-si...