AndyPerfors - Network

@celestekidd @spiantado A few things worth mentioning:1) None of this will be new to people who study concepts and concept change. We...

@celestekidd @spiantado

A few things worth mentioning:

1) None of this will be new to people who study concepts and concept change. We thought it worth writing given the ubiquitous talking point that defining "man" or "woman" in any way other than "biologically" is delusional.

2) We actually tried for a long time to get this published in more popular outlets, often the very same ones who have published things from gender critical people about how they are being silenced and nobody wants "to hear both sides." Curious that none of them wanted to hear our side. 🤷‍♂️

3) There were very strict limits on how long our reference list could be, and the original bibliography was much, much longer. Like I said, this is all well-established cognitive science, about as well-established as anything in our field. What we've done new is just bring it all together.

4) 4) Huge thanks to my coauthors Celeste Kidd and Steve Piantadosi, who provided a thoughtful consideration, excellent writing, and much of the impetus to get this across the finish line. I've done something right in life to have ended up with friends and collaborators like these 😀

I'm very proud to have been a part of this paper written with @celestekidd and @spiantado. It is a short summary of why it is just...

I'm very proud to have been a part of this paper written with @celestekidd and @spiantado. It is a short summary of why it is just wrong, given what we know about the cognitive science of concepts, to think that biological sex is the only "scientific" way to define man/woman.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01657-y.epdf

Me * My 10yo * My 8yo

Me * My 10yo * My 8yo

Honestly the main reason I like working from home is that it means I can sit in whatever bizarre fashion I wish to. At work they have things...

Honestly the main reason I like working from home is that it means I can sit in whatever bizarre fashion I wish to. At work they have things like CHAIRS and DESKS which for some reason people insist on you using and get all disconcerted when you're on the floor

Funny kid story: for his birthday my 8yo got the weird jiggly rubber ball in the photo below. Rather than, you know, PLAYING WITH IT like a...

Funny kid story: for his birthday my 8yo got the weird jiggly rubber ball in the photo below. Rather than, you know, PLAYING WITH IT like a BALL he has named it "Covey" and sleeps with it at night. 😂 Covey is 19 years old and 8yo feels sorry for him because so many people dislike him, so 8yo gives him lots of cuddles all the time 💙

Really interesting article about the process of journalism and the self-reinforcing nature of our beliefs. I think The Loop is a danger to...

Really interesting article about the process of journalism and the self-reinforcing nature of our beliefs. I think The Loop is a danger to scientists as well.

---

"You enter the loop by taking a strong stand that attaches a considerable emotional component to something that should, theoretically, have some detachment. Once you’re inside of it, you end up getting trapped running in a circle that grows tighter with every cycle. Your original idea must be right, because it’s core to who you are, so criticism of your idea is criticism of you, so you have to defend your idea even more vociferously. Everybody has to understand! Soon, almost without realizing it, you’ve made yourself the subject of your writing, instead of the thing you are writing about."

--

https://episodes.ghost.io/the-loop/

So I've been riding my bicycle more and eating better lately and one of the most irritating things about that is IT WORKS and I FEEL...

So I've been riding my bicycle more and eating better lately and one of the most irritating things about that is IT WORKS and I FEEL BETTER and THAT MEANS I HAVE TO KEEP DOING IT

My 8yo wanted to take "a real personality test" so I sat down with him as he took the Big 5 this morning.Gotta say, I was very...

My 8yo wanted to take "a real personality test" so I sat down with him as he took the Big 5 this morning.

Gotta say, I was very impressed by his self-perception. I agreed with his assessment of himself on almost everything. So, so neat to see my kids being the people they are becoming 💙

The funniest question though was about whether he likes abstract thought. He dithered for a while because he wasn't sure if the things he liked truly qualified as abstract and I was like "you just got in a conversation about the dimensions of personality and the accuracy of self-report measures and yesterday got in a long conversation about whether it is truly possible to visualise the fourth dimension THE ANSWER IS YES MY KID YES YOU LIKE ABSTRACT THOUGHT" 😂

Had my eyes checked and apparently one of them is shortsighted and one is farsighted. As a result, I've been compensating for not-great...

Had my eyes checked and apparently one of them is shortsighted and one is farsighted. As a result, I've been compensating for not-great vision in both eyes for a long time by just switching which one is dominant depending on what I'm looking at. But this is rather tiring for my brain (explaining why my sight seems much worse at night) and also means that whenever I transition my gaze from far-to-near or vice versa I have a long delay where I can't see much of anything. Also apparently it means that my eyes aren't as coordinated in general as they could be.

Anyway, that was super interesting! And now I get to wear glasses and look all erudite and smart. :)

I have a desperate hope that this salting the earth activity will spur the self-awareness to develop ever-so-slightly faster 😂

I have a desperate hope that this salting the earth activity will spur the self-awareness to develop ever-so-slightly faster 😂

(Lest anybody utterly fail to read the tone here, it is very obvious to 10yo that I am being over-the-top and he finds it hilarious)

(Lest anybody utterly fail to read the tone here, it is very obvious to 10yo that I am being over-the-top and he finds it hilarious)

My new hobby is being unnecessarily dramatic about tiny things in an attempt to salt the earth for future teenage antics along similar...

My new hobby is being unnecessarily dramatic about tiny things in an attempt to salt the earth for future teenage antics along similar lines.

Me: Oh no! We are out of my crackers! Woe is me!

10yo: It's just a cracker. I think you can manage.

Me: Oh fruit of my loins, I gave you life and this is how you treat me? I shelter you and feed you and you dismiss my cares and worries so harshly? YOU DON'T LOVE ME

Content warning:Barbie thoughts, spoilersIf you saw my post you'll see I watched #Barbie a few hours ago, expecting that as a trans dude...

Content warning:Barbie thoughts, spoilers

If you saw my post you'll see I watched #Barbie a few hours ago, expecting that as a trans dude I would have Complicated Feelings ... and so I did.

A few of them, I guess:

I loved the mom. She was the first character I immediately gelled with - I saw a lot of myself in her, feeling pulled in a zillion directions at once, feeling like you're always failing no matter what you do. I thought her speech about the double bind was very powerful.

But - I think I expected it to be more subversive than it was. Like, it gave lip service to the idea that the patriarchy hurts everyone, but it was only lip service. There was no room in the movie for a similar "double bind" speech coming from a man, even though (speaking as someone who has lived both sides) it could totally be done. I know why -- the speech would be dismissed as whining -- and that is exactly the double bind that men are in. At most there were a few throwaway lines about how being a leader sucks but that does not get at the real double-binds of the patriarchy AT ALL.

So I am pretty disappointed with that, and feeling foolish I guess that I expected more.

Also, by far the most subversive characters -- the ones who didn't buy into ANY of it -- were Weird Barbie and Alan. And both were played for laughs and dismissed (ESPECIALLY Alan. And he didn't manage to escape!). I found that super disappointing too. I really really vibed with both of them and they were so underused. Like, the movie SAID its resolution was that all patriarchy is bad but that's not what it actually showed. The "happy" ending was more-or-less restoration of the status quo, with Barbie becoming human and the Kens maybe having slightly more power (a lower circuit judge, ha) but still nobody really questioning the premise that SOMEONE has to be in power.

And all the Kens were basically idiots. Total missed opportunity for depth there.

... That said, I am also aware that the entire thing can be interpreted as a trans allegory -- Barbie deciding to become something her creator didn't envision, and her creator rejoicing in that -- so I have to say I loved that part :)

I also loved the nostalgia, and the outfits, and the sheer funness of it. So many little tiny jokes hidden everywhere; it was really well constructed and just a pleasure to experience.

And on a meta-level I love that this was made and that many people -- women AND men -- have seen it and it's made them think thoughts they wouldn't otherwise have done. It was good. Just not as good as it could have been, not quite up to the hype I built up in my mind.

... Now out. As expected I have many complicated thoughts and feelings. Gonna have to wait to report back till I sort things out a bit....

... Now out. As expected I have many complicated thoughts and feelings. Gonna have to wait to report back till I sort things out a bit.

Complicated.

Sadly, neither child wanted to accompany me. I think they would have gotten a lot out of it but not gonna force it on 'em, they'll...

Sadly, neither child wanted to accompany me. I think they would have gotten a lot out of it but not gonna force it on 'em, they'll see it eventually. 😊 And this way I have space to feel my feelings about it without dealing with anybody else's too...

Decided to treat myself this morning by seeing the #Barbie movie. As a trans dude, I expect fractal layers of complicated feelings, but...

Decided to treat myself this morning by seeing the #Barbie movie. As a trans dude, I expect fractal layers of complicated feelings, but I've heard such good things I decided I had to give it a try! We'll see (I'm in the theatre now, waiting for it to start)

Adulthood appears to primarily consist of sitting in meetings, filling out forms, having various expensive things break, and managing weird...

Adulthood appears to primarily consist of sitting in meetings, filling out forms, having various expensive things break, and managing weird body aches and pains.

Also, there are no killer bees! or quicksand!

This is not quite what Child Me envisioned, I have to say

(When I say the "worst thing" this isn't even a complaint about awful people; I like nearly everyone I work with. Just, the...

(When I say the "worst thing" this isn't even a complaint about awful people; I like nearly everyone I work with. Just, the process of wrangling everyone, making sure expectations are clear, we're all on the same page, dealing with miscommunications, etc etc., is so very exhausting)

The worst thing about doing projects is dealing with the people involved... but that is also the best thing, and you can't ever predict...

The worst thing about doing projects is dealing with the people involved... but that is also the best thing, and you can't ever predict which it's gonna be ahead of time. 🤔

Definitely says something interesting about the cultural evolution of norms vis-a-vis the constraints and pressures they are evolving under,...

Definitely says something interesting about the cultural evolution of norms vis-a-vis the constraints and pressures they are evolving under, but I need to think more to figure out what precisely that "something interesting" consists of :)