samuel mehr
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mehr.nz
samuel mehr
@mehr.nz
i am a cognitive scientist working on auditory perception at the University of Auckland and the Yale Child Study Center 🇳🇿🇺🇸🇫🇷🇨🇦

lab: themusiclab.org
personal: mehr.nz
intro to my research: youtu.be/-vJ7Jygr1eg
Reposted by samuel mehr
i believe people when they say linux has gotten better in the last few years. what i'm skeptical of is that linux Guys have improved. i will not use an OS where i'm at high risk of someone calling me stupid for not liking some aspect of the experience. i must be allowed to hate the computer
November 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I reread @kvanaren.bsky.social's excellent NY Mag piece on Bluey (web.archive.org/web/20240415...) and am struck by her description of some (many?) American parents' feeling of inadequacy re: Bluey's parents

Is this an American thing? I honestly have not encountered this vibe in NZ at all
How Bluey Became the Best Kids’ Show of Our Time
No other series gets the strange, hilarious magic of play.
web.archive.org
December 13, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Do creationists not go to playgrounds because the clearest readily available evidence that humans are primates is watching a child on the monkey bars
December 13, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by samuel mehr
Actually it’s good if the one daily activity that kills other people if you fuck it up is heavily regulated
December 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I think it's good to recognize when your own views change. As a kid I loved dogs, then I grew up, experienced my child becoming terrified of dogs while people were dicks about it, and I no longer do.

David Sedaris recounts being bitten by the dog of fentanyl addicts; people sided with the dog
And Your Little Dog, Too, by David Sedaris
Two small dogs, both unleashed, rushed toward me, snarling, and one of them bit me on my left leg, just below the knee. It all happened within a second.
www.newyorker.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I don't give a shit what uni a student email address is from but I definitely ignore messages that read like chatgpt wrote them
Academics far more likely to reply to elite university students
Researchers sent emails to authors of recently published papers to test how much prestige matters in access to academic resources
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:16 AM
love 2 pay NZ$9 per espresso while in the states lol
December 12, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Alright everybody time to dust off that classic science twitter battleaxe, "NEVER submit papers over the holidays" vs "DONT TELL ME WHAT TO DO"
Friendly holiday reminder that people rush to submit before the holidays and declined reviews get even worse than usual. And editors want to enjoy holiday time, too. Patience and grace to all (and to all a good night)!
I sent someone a peer review request, and they accepted it within 15 minutes… I could cry. For the last paper I tried to send out, I had to request 14 reviewers to get 2 people to agree, and it took almost 2 months.
December 12, 2025 at 9:01 PM
the only Nuzzi news I want to hear is that someone else with that name has a book on cookie decorating whose deal came through last August
December 12, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by samuel mehr
TGV Québec-Toronto | Le premier tronçon à être construit reliera Montréal et Ottawa: ✱ Incroyable.
TGV Québec-Toronto | Le premier tronçon à être construit reliera Montréal et Ottawa
✱ Incroyable.
www.lapresse.ca
December 12, 2025 at 11:05 AM
the funniest thing, to me, about 6-7 is that there is a current active RM ('requested move') discussion on wikipedia, to change the title of the article about the meme from "6-7 (meme)" to simply "6-7"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:6-...
Talk:6-7 (meme) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 12, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by samuel mehr
"A nightmare of salad"

- Our friends' 9-year-old inadvertently inventing a new mass noun at the dinner table
December 11, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by samuel mehr
Big week for people maintaining the distinction between font and typeface
December 11, 2025 at 2:34 AM
just now 8yo ordered his own apple juice in a loud enough voice to be heard while also saying please and thank you and without getting scared

Other parents of a certain type of child will recognize that this is no small feat
December 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
🇨🇦🇨🇦 Just announced: a massive new program from the Canadian govt, separate from the well-known CRCs and CERCs, to recruit foreign scientific talent

Canada was already a destination for scientists but whoa. Real impressive for a new govt to back political talking points with serious investment
$1.7 billion to attract international researchers to Canada
Details of the major federal initiative to draw new talent to the country's universities were announced today at UdeM.
nouvelles.umontreal.ca
December 10, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by samuel mehr
Canadian job 👀 🇨🇦 ‼️ Second search this year! Our Dept of Psychology is hiring again, this time at the assoc/full level, for a prestigious, endowed position. Focus is social/affective neuroscience in any area (clinical, social, cog, or dev). Apply by Jan 30! Reposts, pls www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...
Employment Opportunities | Department of Psychology
Available Positions Position Title Position Details Posting Date Closing Date Queen's University National Scholar (QNS) Senior Faculty Position in Social and/or Affective Neuroscience, Department of P...
www.queensu.ca
December 10, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Reached a new level of peak expat when, observing antisocial behaviour at the gate, I, originally an American, audibly sighed "Americans!"
December 10, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Me to the one other guy in the airport wearing a mask, every time I fly
a man with red hair and a beard is standing in the woods
ALT: a man with red hair and a beard is standing in the woods
media.tenor.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:24 AM
the grinch who me cooking
stole christmas dinner
🤝
"there is garlic in your soul"
December 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
look there are real disadvantages to be a 12-hour flight from most other places, but in new zealand when your faculty committee gets catering, there's full morning tea including scones with cream and jam. just saying.
December 8, 2025 at 9:38 PM
hate to say it but this is like the thing where american academics threaten to leave the states. a small number do (hi 👋🏻) but most find out it's a far trickier situation than it seems, with many tradeoffs
"Kenneth T. Zemsky, a tax lawyer whose clients have included Martha Stewart, said that in his decades of practice, for every 10 people who have inquired about leaving New York, about one has ended up actually doing so."

📝: Matthew Haag
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/n...
Rich New Yorkers Threaten to Leave. Then They Find Out How Hard That Is.
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
among the best parts of ferry commuting: everybody on the top deck is always smiling
December 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
PAST LIVES fan club, assemble
December 8, 2025 at 6:33 AM
our house has four people and 12 passports, permanent residency visas, PR cards etc; as such, we refer jokingly to "the expat tax" which applies whenever some absurd effort or cost is incurred

depending on the circumstances, the expat tax can be paid in dollars, time, or both
December 7, 2025 at 8:40 AM
manuscript central wrapped (you can only see it after resetting your password)
December 7, 2025 at 7:45 AM