Rémy Furrer
@remyfurrer.bsky.social
Behavioral Scientist
PostDoc: Bioethics @MGH @HarvardMed
PhD: Psychology @UVA
Psychosocial implications of Genomics & Neurotechnologies
Public Attitudes | Decision Making | Causal Reasoning | Moral Cognition
PostDoc: Bioethics @MGH @HarvardMed
PhD: Psychology @UVA
Psychosocial implications of Genomics & Neurotechnologies
Public Attitudes | Decision Making | Causal Reasoning | Moral Cognition
Polygenic embryo screening is being marketed commercially – but how do IVF clinicians view it?
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
December 1, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Polygenic embryo screening is being marketed commercially – but how do IVF clinicians view it?
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
A meta-analysis of the impact of polygenic risk score disclosures on health outcomes. 27 RCTs, max follow up 12 months.
For 22 outcomes tested in >=2 trials,
"Meta-analysis revealed no statistically significant effects on any measured outcome"
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
For 22 outcomes tested in >=2 trials,
"Meta-analysis revealed no statistically significant effects on any measured outcome"
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Effects of polygenic risk score communication on health outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract Objective. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize evidence from all RCTs to-date on the efficacy of polygenic risk score (PRS) communication in changing healt...
www.medrxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:33 AM
A meta-analysis of the impact of polygenic risk score disclosures on health outcomes. 27 RCTs, max follow up 12 months.
For 22 outcomes tested in >=2 trials,
"Meta-analysis revealed no statistically significant effects on any measured outcome"
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
For 22 outcomes tested in >=2 trials,
"Meta-analysis revealed no statistically significant effects on any measured outcome"
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
there was some discussion on here recently about the scientific legitimacy of cognitive dissonance research. as someone who has spent years investigating this literature, i wanted to make a thread to explain why pessimism is not justified by careful inspection of the evidence
1/
1/
There’s growing evidence that something was going seriously wrong in the classic early work on cognitive dissonance
Latest revelation: The story in When Prophecy Fails seems to have been fabricated in the most egregious way
But this is not the only one…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Latest revelation: The story in When Prophecy Fails seems to have been fabricated in the most egregious way
But this is not the only one…
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”
In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:58 PM
there was some discussion on here recently about the scientific legitimacy of cognitive dissonance research. as someone who has spent years investigating this literature, i wanted to make a thread to explain why pessimism is not justified by careful inspection of the evidence
1/
1/
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Here is another way to put the paradox. If you ask, "If I had different genes, would my personality be different?" Then the answer is, "Probably, yes." If you ask, "If I had THESE genes, what would my personality be like?", the answer is, "We don't have any idea."
October 17, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Here is another way to put the paradox. If you ask, "If I had different genes, would my personality be different?" Then the answer is, "Probably, yes." If you ask, "If I had THESE genes, what would my personality be like?", the answer is, "We don't have any idea."
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
The reaction to this being essentially completely positive has me pleasantly surprised. I sometimes get so worried that such analyses aren't wanted anymore and people just want to be left alone to gloat while cheating on coursework and rot their brains with vibe coding... Thanks everyone. 💖
Boiling here at home in Cyprus but I put the finishing touches a couple of days ago on this preprint: What Does 'Human-Centred AI' Mean? doi.org/10.48550/arX...
Wherein I analyse HCAI & demonstrate through 3 triplets my new tripartite definition of AI (Table 1) that properly centres the human. 1/n
Wherein I analyse HCAI & demonstrate through 3 triplets my new tripartite definition of AI (Table 1) that properly centres the human. 1/n
July 31, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The reaction to this being essentially completely positive has me pleasantly surprised. I sometimes get so worried that such analyses aren't wanted anymore and people just want to be left alone to gloat while cheating on coursework and rot their brains with vibe coding... Thanks everyone. 💖
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
🚨 New preprint! 🚨 Inform and Do No Harm: A Novel Approach to Reduce Negative Effects of Mental Health Awareness
My student Dasha Sandra tackled growing concerns about false self-diagnosis following awareness efforts and found a promising solution. Thread /1
osf.io/preprints/ps...
My student Dasha Sandra tackled growing concerns about false self-diagnosis following awareness efforts and found a promising solution. Thread /1
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
May 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM
🚨 New preprint! 🚨 Inform and Do No Harm: A Novel Approach to Reduce Negative Effects of Mental Health Awareness
My student Dasha Sandra tackled growing concerns about false self-diagnosis following awareness efforts and found a promising solution. Thread /1
osf.io/preprints/ps...
My student Dasha Sandra tackled growing concerns about false self-diagnosis following awareness efforts and found a promising solution. Thread /1
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Our NEW STUDY on public views of neurotechnologies used for mood, memory, and motor🧠 conditions is out in @cellpress.bsky.social Device.
📰Open Access: cell.com/device/fullt...
From the Neurotech Justice Accelerator (NJAM) at MGB, a Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society
📰Open Access: cell.com/device/fullt...
From the Neurotech Justice Accelerator (NJAM) at MGB, a Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society
Public perceptions of neurotechnologies used to target mood, memory, and motor symptoms
Furrer et al. conducted a US-based survey on the perception of neurotechnologies for
treating mood, memory, and motor symptoms. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was seen as
the most invasive and risky, le...
www.cell.com
May 27, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Our NEW STUDY on public views of neurotechnologies used for mood, memory, and motor🧠 conditions is out in @cellpress.bsky.social Device.
📰Open Access: cell.com/device/fullt...
From the Neurotech Justice Accelerator (NJAM) at MGB, a Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society
📰Open Access: cell.com/device/fullt...
From the Neurotech Justice Accelerator (NJAM) at MGB, a Dana Center for Neuroscience and Society
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
I am seeing news that AI companies face “unexpected” obstacles in scaling up their AI systems.
Not unexpected at all, of course. Completely predictable from the Ingenia theorem.
Not unexpected at all, of course. Completely predictable from the Ingenia theorem.
The intractability proof (a.k.a. Ingenia theorem) implies that any attempts to scale up AI-by-Learning to situations of real-world, human-level complexity will consume an astronomical amount of resources (see Box 1 for an explanation). 13/n
May 17, 2025 at 8:48 AM
I am seeing news that AI companies face “unexpected” obstacles in scaling up their AI systems.
Not unexpected at all, of course. Completely predictable from the Ingenia theorem.
Not unexpected at all, of course. Completely predictable from the Ingenia theorem.
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
New preprint! My entry into the ongoing AI empathy discussion:
"Reframing the performance and ethics of 'empathic' AI: Wisdom of the crowd and placebos."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
"Reframing the performance and ethics of 'empathic' AI: Wisdom of the crowd and placebos."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
March 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
New preprint! My entry into the ongoing AI empathy discussion:
"Reframing the performance and ethics of 'empathic' AI: Wisdom of the crowd and placebos."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
"Reframing the performance and ethics of 'empathic' AI: Wisdom of the crowd and placebos."
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Suppose Person A orders Person B to hurt you. Then Person B does exactly what she was ordered to do. Who would you see as the main cause of what happened to you - Person A or Person B?
Intriguing new work from @vanessachg.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Intriguing new work from @vanessachg.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
March 12, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Suppose Person A orders Person B to hurt you. Then Person B does exactly what she was ordered to do. Who would you see as the main cause of what happened to you - Person A or Person B?
Intriguing new work from @vanessachg.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Intriguing new work from @vanessachg.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
🧵Thread overview of ALL my publications related to "Cognition and Intractability" in chronological order: 🌟
February 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
🧵Thread overview of ALL my publications related to "Cognition and Intractability" in chronological order: 🌟
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...
End of Term Web Archive – Preserving the Transition of a Nation | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
February 1, 2025 at 12:58 AM
The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Introducing PowerLMM.js!
A new tool for power analysis of longitudinal linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) – with support for missing data, plus non-inferiority and equivalence tests.
powerlmmjs.rpsychologist.com
Would really appreciate your feedback as I refine this app! Details below 🧵👇
A new tool for power analysis of longitudinal linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) – with support for missing data, plus non-inferiority and equivalence tests.
powerlmmjs.rpsychologist.com
Would really appreciate your feedback as I refine this app! Details below 🧵👇
December 11, 2024 at 10:20 AM
Introducing PowerLMM.js!
A new tool for power analysis of longitudinal linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) – with support for missing data, plus non-inferiority and equivalence tests.
powerlmmjs.rpsychologist.com
Would really appreciate your feedback as I refine this app! Details below 🧵👇
A new tool for power analysis of longitudinal linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) – with support for missing data, plus non-inferiority and equivalence tests.
powerlmmjs.rpsychologist.com
Would really appreciate your feedback as I refine this app! Details below 🧵👇
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Interventions that enable individuals to circumvent obstacles, offers social support, provides incentives, and highlights healthy social norms are very effective at changing behavior.
Changing emotions, attitudes, and beliefs, doesn't help much. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Changing emotions, attitudes, and beliefs, doesn't help much. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
September 22, 2024 at 9:48 PM
Interventions that enable individuals to circumvent obstacles, offers social support, provides incentives, and highlights healthy social norms are very effective at changing behavior.
Changing emotions, attitudes, and beliefs, doesn't help much. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Changing emotions, attitudes, and beliefs, doesn't help much. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Pronin & Kugler (2010) found:
People evaluated their own decisions & life events as less predictable than similar decisions & life events of others, presumably reflecting higher self-centered free will attribution.
A replication team paper I played a small part in just published: Mostly successful.
People evaluated their own decisions & life events as less predictable than similar decisions & life events of others, presumably reflecting higher self-centered free will attribution.
A replication team paper I played a small part in just published: Mostly successful.
December 8, 2024 at 9:39 AM
Pronin & Kugler (2010) found:
People evaluated their own decisions & life events as less predictable than similar decisions & life events of others, presumably reflecting higher self-centered free will attribution.
A replication team paper I played a small part in just published: Mostly successful.
People evaluated their own decisions & life events as less predictable than similar decisions & life events of others, presumably reflecting higher self-centered free will attribution.
A replication team paper I played a small part in just published: Mostly successful.
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
I was very struck by this new Moss et al. theory about why people sometimes endorse moral relativism
Just wanted to say a little more to bring out what is so deep and interesting about their new idea
Just wanted to say a little more to bring out what is so deep and interesting about their new idea
Studies find a mix of people espousing moral relativism and people saying that moral claims can be objectively true. What explains this mix?
Moss et al. provide evidence for a surprising answer: Espousing moral relativism is a way to signal tolerance; objectivism is a way to signal intolerance
Moss et al. provide evidence for a surprising answer: Espousing moral relativism is a way to signal tolerance; objectivism is a way to signal intolerance
Signaling (in)tolerance: Social evaluation and metaethical relativism and objectivism
Prior work has established that laypeople do not consistently treat moral questions as being objectively true or as merely true relative to different …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 22, 2024 at 2:56 PM
I was very struck by this new Moss et al. theory about why people sometimes endorse moral relativism
Just wanted to say a little more to bring out what is so deep and interesting about their new idea
Just wanted to say a little more to bring out what is so deep and interesting about their new idea
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Want to hear something funny? Yeah, me neither. But it's out of my control: My book, Understanding The Nature-Nurture Debate, was released today. Not today, but I hope everyone will forgive me if I write a little about it over the next few weeks.
www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
Understanding the Nature‒Nurture Debate | Genetics
www.cambridge.org
November 6, 2024 at 2:36 PM
Want to hear something funny? Yeah, me neither. But it's out of my control: My book, Understanding The Nature-Nurture Debate, was released today. Not today, but I hope everyone will forgive me if I write a little about it over the next few weeks.
www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
Ahead of tomorrow's election, I published a piece in the BOSTON GLOBE based on our research showing that gradient maps—unlike typical red-blue maps—reduce perceived polarization and empower voters by making them feel their vote has a greater impact.
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/03/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/03/o...
A better way to map the election - The Boston Globe
Researchers have found that adding nuance to the way we represent voting results on election night could help combat polarization and voter apathy.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 4, 2024 at 12:26 PM
Ahead of tomorrow's election, I published a piece in the BOSTON GLOBE based on our research showing that gradient maps—unlike typical red-blue maps—reduce perceived polarization and empower voters by making them feel their vote has a greater impact.
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/03/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/03/o...
🚨 NEW STUDY!!🚨 Sharing our latest paper published in JAMA Network Open:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
"Public Attitudes, Interests, and Concerns Regarding Polygenic Embryo Screening"
I share some thoughts on the findings in Harvard Medical School's news release:
hms.harvard.edu/news/study-r...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
"Public Attitudes, Interests, and Concerns Regarding Polygenic Embryo Screening"
I share some thoughts on the findings in Harvard Medical School's news release:
hms.harvard.edu/news/study-r...
May 17, 2024 at 1:41 PM
🚨 NEW STUDY!!🚨 Sharing our latest paper published in JAMA Network Open:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
"Public Attitudes, Interests, and Concerns Regarding Polygenic Embryo Screening"
I share some thoughts on the findings in Harvard Medical School's news release:
hms.harvard.edu/news/study-r...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
"Public Attitudes, Interests, and Concerns Regarding Polygenic Embryo Screening"
I share some thoughts on the findings in Harvard Medical School's news release:
hms.harvard.edu/news/study-r...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
The first study looks at election maps: "Red and blue states: dichotomized maps mislead and reduce perceived voting influence" by @remyfurrer.bsky.social , @kbschloss.bsky.social, @glupyan.bsky.social, @pniedent.bsky.social, @adriennewood.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1186/s412...
doi.org/10.1186/s412...
Red and blue states: dichotomized maps mislead and reduce perceived voting influence - Cognitive Res...
In the United States the color red has come to represent the Republican party, and blue the Democratic party, in maps of voting patterns. Here we test the hypothesis that voting maps dichotomized into...
doi.org
January 10, 2024 at 8:37 PM
The first study looks at election maps: "Red and blue states: dichotomized maps mislead and reduce perceived voting influence" by @remyfurrer.bsky.social , @kbschloss.bsky.social, @glupyan.bsky.social, @pniedent.bsky.social, @adriennewood.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1186/s412...
doi.org/10.1186/s412...
Coverage of our research demonstrating that "dichotomized maps mislead and reduce perceived voting influence" + More dataviz studies related to politics in the journal from the data visualization society
New Nightingale post!
Election season is upon us. How might dataviz 📊 fuel the coming dumpster fire 🗑🔥?
This post unpacks three recent visualization studies, exploring how cliches in political data journalism can subtly undermine the democratic process.
nightingaledvs.com/divisive-dat...
Election season is upon us. How might dataviz 📊 fuel the coming dumpster fire 🗑🔥?
This post unpacks three recent visualization studies, exploring how cliches in political data journalism can subtly undermine the democratic process.
nightingaledvs.com/divisive-dat...
Divisive Dataviz: How Political Data Journalism Divides Our Democracy
Recent dataviz research shows how the most popular tropes in political data journalism can distort the democratic process.
nightingaledvs.com
January 14, 2024 at 3:18 AM
Coverage of our research demonstrating that "dichotomized maps mislead and reduce perceived voting influence" + More dataviz studies related to politics in the journal from the data visualization society
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
Deviating from a preregistration can be justified if it leads to a test with higher validity - even if this comes at the cost of a less severe test (which is likely still more severe than if you had not preregistered). I give examples in Table 1.
December 20, 2023 at 7:49 AM
Deviating from a preregistration can be justified if it leads to a test with higher validity - even if this comes at the cost of a less severe test (which is likely still more severe than if you had not preregistered). I give examples in Table 1.
The Boston Globe covers our study on public opinion towards polygenic screening of embryos.
“… In the absence of regulation, at least in the United States, 'we need to start educating the public so that they can make informed decisions,' he says.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/07/o...
“… In the absence of regulation, at least in the United States, 'we need to start educating the public so that they can make informed decisions,' he says.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/07/o...
December 8, 2023 at 3:24 PM
The Boston Globe covers our study on public opinion towards polygenic screening of embryos.
“… In the absence of regulation, at least in the United States, 'we need to start educating the public so that they can make informed decisions,' he says.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/07/o...
“… In the absence of regulation, at least in the United States, 'we need to start educating the public so that they can make informed decisions,' he says.”
www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/07/o...
Reposted by Rémy Furrer
The talk recordings from the "Causality in Minds and Machines" workshop are live now.
sites.google.com/view/causali...
Thanks again to all the speakers and to the Society for Mathematical Psychology for sponsoring the workshop!
sites.google.com/view/causali...
Thanks again to all the speakers and to the Society for Mathematical Psychology for sponsoring the workshop!
November 20, 2023 at 6:59 PM
The talk recordings from the "Causality in Minds and Machines" workshop are live now.
sites.google.com/view/causali...
Thanks again to all the speakers and to the Society for Mathematical Psychology for sponsoring the workshop!
sites.google.com/view/causali...
Thanks again to all the speakers and to the Society for Mathematical Psychology for sponsoring the workshop!