Gillian Lynn Ryan
@gillianlynnryan.bsky.social
Associate professor of physics, drinker of tea, herder of cats, Bluenoser, Canadian in Pittsburgh. She/Her.
Statements and posts made here reflect only my own thoughts or feelings.
Statements and posts made here reflect only my own thoughts or feelings.
Holding on for one more day (of classes).
Wilson Phillips - Hold On (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by WilsonPhillipsVEVO
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Holding on for one more day (of classes).
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
I think too often physics students unconsciously have the idea that some people have brains that are "natural" for physics and some don't and who knows maybe that's true to some extent but regardless of natural tendency at some point everyone has to practice practice practice
December 4, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I think too often physics students unconsciously have the idea that some people have brains that are "natural" for physics and some don't and who knows maybe that's true to some extent but regardless of natural tendency at some point everyone has to practice practice practice
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
If you feel like you are behind or underprepared, the only way out is through: spend the time on the things you don't know, figure out who will answer your "stupid" questions. Then ask them, even if it's anonymously online
Learn to do your own calculations, even when it's tempting to lean on others
Learn to do your own calculations, even when it's tempting to lean on others
December 4, 2025 at 9:19 PM
If you feel like you are behind or underprepared, the only way out is through: spend the time on the things you don't know, figure out who will answer your "stupid" questions. Then ask them, even if it's anonymously online
Learn to do your own calculations, even when it's tempting to lean on others
Learn to do your own calculations, even when it's tempting to lean on others
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
"are you enjoying duo mobile" does a hamburger enjoy being made of quarks. does a fish enjoy linear time. does the mountain enjoy the first taste of a cup of hot chocolate when you get back to the ski lodge. your question means nothing to me. i couldn't enjoy duo mobile even if i tried
December 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
"are you enjoying duo mobile" does a hamburger enjoy being made of quarks. does a fish enjoy linear time. does the mountain enjoy the first taste of a cup of hot chocolate when you get back to the ski lodge. your question means nothing to me. i couldn't enjoy duo mobile even if i tried
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
December 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
I'm so tired of measles.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
Gallatin Co. reports 2nd measles case, warns of exposure sites nbcmontana.com/news/local/g...
December 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Frog knocked at Toad’s door. “Toad, wake up,” he cried. “Come out and see how wonderful the winter is!”
“I will not,” said Toad. “I am in my warm bed.”
“I will not,” said Toad. “I am in my warm bed.”
December 2, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Frog knocked at Toad’s door. “Toad, wake up,” he cried. “Come out and see how wonderful the winter is!”
“I will not,” said Toad. “I am in my warm bed.”
“I will not,” said Toad. “I am in my warm bed.”
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
The thing I keep coming back to about this is it’s the OU administration coming out against… learning
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
December 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
The thing I keep coming back to about this is it’s the OU administration coming out against… learning
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
These were my favorite candy growing up. Normally my dad mails me some every December, but the tariff shenanigans means he wasn’t able to do so this year. (He couldn’t figure out the online payment system.) Sad there will be no chicken bones this year.
November 29, 2025 at 2:35 AM
These were my favorite candy growing up. Normally my dad mails me some every December, but the tariff shenanigans means he wasn’t able to do so this year. (He couldn’t figure out the online payment system.) Sad there will be no chicken bones this year.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Every time someone jumps on socials and says there is no point to mass protest days and visible reaction in the streets, share this chart with them. The approval ratings are tanking not just because they're doing bad things but also because protestors won't let people forget it either.
Gallup poll | 11/3-11/25
President Trump approval
Disapprove 60% (+6)
Approve 36% (-5)
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
President Trump approval
Disapprove 60% (+6)
Approve 36% (-5)
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
November 28, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Every time someone jumps on socials and says there is no point to mass protest days and visible reaction in the streets, share this chart with them. The approval ratings are tanking not just because they're doing bad things but also because protestors won't let people forget it either.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
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.
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.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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.
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.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
AND supporting your local library is super important! If you actually DO want books to be available to everyone, the library *already exists* and is staffed by the people who are deep in the trenches of fighting censorship! Supporting the library is doing actual good for your community!
TAPS SCREEN
For like the zillionth time: Libraries are FREE for you, but WE still get compensated for our work!!
For like the zillionth time: Libraries are FREE for you, but WE still get compensated for our work!!
Just saw someone claim that authors who want to be paid for their work are "class traitors" because we "only let the wealthy" read our books, and I think I need to go into the woods to scream into the night for a bit.
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
November 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM
AND supporting your local library is super important! If you actually DO want books to be available to everyone, the library *already exists* and is staffed by the people who are deep in the trenches of fighting censorship! Supporting the library is doing actual good for your community!
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
In a round about way, this is quite funny
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
In a round about way, this is quite funny
Someday I will spell 'Berkeley' correctly on the first try, but today is not that day.
Happy grad school letter writing season, folks.
Happy grad school letter writing season, folks.
November 26, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Someday I will spell 'Berkeley' correctly on the first try, but today is not that day.
Happy grad school letter writing season, folks.
Happy grad school letter writing season, folks.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
"Men are in trouble, is the solution making them a problem for women and children too"
November 24, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"Men are in trouble, is the solution making them a problem for women and children too"
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
This is the kind of thing someone in tights and a cape is supposed to prevent
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat.
The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
Read more: politi.co/4iaojIc
The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
Read more: politi.co/4iaojIc
November 24, 2025 at 1:15 AM
This is the kind of thing someone in tights and a cape is supposed to prevent
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
People were arguing in my mentions today about whether the Earth is "round" when it's technically an irregular oblate spheroid and look "round" doesn't mean "absolutely perfect sphere" it means round. A soccer ball is round, a cantaloupe is round, a fluffy borb in winter is round, just go with it.
November 21, 2025 at 11:23 PM
People were arguing in my mentions today about whether the Earth is "round" when it's technically an irregular oblate spheroid and look "round" doesn't mean "absolutely perfect sphere" it means round. A soccer ball is round, a cantaloupe is round, a fluffy borb in winter is round, just go with it.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Meanwhile: "The UC San Diego report notes that more than a quarter of the students who placed into the elementary- and middle-school-level remedial course last year had earned straight A’s in their high-school math classes. Almost all of them had taken advanced math courses in high school." 🎢 ♾️ 🍎
‘A Recipe for Idiocracy’
What happens when even college students can’t do math anymore?
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Meanwhile: "The UC San Diego report notes that more than a quarter of the students who placed into the elementary- and middle-school-level remedial course last year had earned straight A’s in their high-school math classes. Almost all of them had taken advanced math courses in high school." 🎢 ♾️ 🍎
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
In a world in which people with too much power and influence desperately need to be told and to understand when they are wrong, we are suddenly all inescapably drowning in sycophancy machines.
November 21, 2025 at 3:53 AM
In a world in which people with too much power and influence desperately need to be told and to understand when they are wrong, we are suddenly all inescapably drowning in sycophancy machines.
Reposted by Gillian Lynn Ryan
Neither undergrad nor graduate physics degrees are job-training programs, and that’s part of what makes them so valuable on the job market.
so yeah, your students should learn basic physics, not just what's immediately required for their specialty
November 20, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Neither undergrad nor graduate physics degrees are job-training programs, and that’s part of what makes them so valuable on the job market.