Carl T. Bergstrom
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carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom
@carlbergstrom.com

Professor, UW Biology / Santa Fe Institute

I study how information flows in biology, science, and society.

Book: *Calling Bullshit*, http://tinyurl.com/fdcuvd7b

LLM course: https://thebullshitmachines.com

Corvids: https://tinyurl.com/mr2n5ymk

he/him .. more

Carl Theodore Bergstrom is a theoretical and evolutionary biologist and a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, United States. Bergstrom is a critic of low-quality or misleading scientific research. He is the co-author of a book on misinformation called Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World and teaches a class by the same name at University of Washington. .. more

Biology 21%
Mathematics 20%
Pinned
Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines?

Jevin West (@jevinwest.bsky.social) and I have spent the last eight months developing the course on large language models (LLMs) that we think every college freshman needs to take.

thebullshitmachines.com
INTRODUCTION
thebullshitmachines.com

Christchurch Art Gallery.

I’m so glad you’ve seen them. They’re utterly delightful.

I put everything into Lightroom and do a sort of half hearted job of tagging by species

They are such marvelous creatures. It was wonderful to see them here.

Unlikely — they’re only on the outlying islands here, not on the main three that I am visiting.

All three of Aotearoa's penguin species: little blue, fjordland crested, and yellow-eyed. 🪶

^U Otago

NGL the birding is pretty great too. Y'all don't sleep on Te Waipounamu now. 🪶

These kinds of interactions are what make it all worthwhile. I learned so much from you all. I've very grateful to @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social for bringing me to Aotearoa and to Trish Priest, Matthew Parry, and everyone else who contributed to making my visit such a delight.

I had the most delightful conversation around AI, social media, and human values this afternoon with researchers at Otago University.
@carlbergstrom.com is in Aotearoa and generously sharing his expertise with our early career researchers 🙌

Being in New Zealand has been glorious, and I’ve been trying to bring joy to our world that needs more joy and less rage posting.

But this is a rage post. You need to read this gift article because you need to be enraged.
F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom

@carlbergstrom.com is in Aotearoa and generously sharing his expertise with our early career researchers 🙌

A key distinction: Wikipedia is a reliable reference, but it still isn't an appropriate *source* for most academic work.

It's a reliable reference precisely because it's both well-vetted and *well-sourced*. It's so useful precisely b/c the claims therein are justified by citations to good sources.

Salvin's albatross

Caspian tern, the same bird that I love photographing in Seattle in the summers. 🪶

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!

White-capped albatross 🪶

Absolutely. Yesterday was marvelous for birding by ear on Ulva. I learned a ton from my guide and was very pleased to already recognize many of them.

NZ shorebird and seabird thread.

I'm going to go ahead and post some shots before carefully editing and sorting; I'm already falling hopelessly behind.

Let's start with a variable oystercatcher chick and parent. 🪶

Buller's albatross over Rakiura

Indeed

On the list! As well as a night on Kapati.

PSA you dogs

Are you telling me that I’m missing the Super Bowl for THIS?

I could hear them, but no, I couldn’t see them.

Flying back but picked up 5 albatross species and lord knows how many petrels on a pelagic trip today.

Six seats if you include the pilot and myself in the copilot seat. Great fun to fly in.

Enchanted by this magic and encouraged by @digs.bsky.social I hiked out to the lighthouse at Acker’s point tonight.

Walking without a light, I heard the kiwi before I saw him. He was completely unafraid and we spent 10 minutes together.

“I love you” I said as he disappeared into the scrub.