Andreas De Block
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andreasdeblock.bsky.social
Andreas De Block
@andreasdeblock.bsky.social
330 followers 160 following 210 posts
Philosopher, book lover, animal enthusiast, and curious wanderer of ideas.
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andreasdeblock.bsky.social
Andreas De Block @andreasdeblock.bsky.social · Dec 2
Research thrives on innovation and the diversity of ideas, yet our funding system often penalizes both. In our new study published in PNAS, we explore the hidden costs of competition in allocating scarce research funds. (1/10) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
Reposted by Andreas De Block
wdetavernier.bsky.social
While we've been quite good at predicting life-expectancy gains, we've systematically been too optimistic about future fertility trends. That means there's a significant risk we're underestimating population ageing today too.
We better prepare pension systems for a low-fertility future.
2/4
In 1994, the average total fertility rate in the OECD was around 1.9 and projections assumed fertility had reached its lowest level and would bounce up again. By 2012, it had decreased to 1.7, but projections assumed it had reached its lowest point and would bounce up again. By 2024, it had decreased to below 1.5, but projections yet again assume it has now reached its lowest point and it will bounce up again.
November 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
andreasdeblock.bsky.social
De linkse dominantie aan de universiteit is nefast voor de academische vrijheid. Op 4 december verdedig ik die stelling, terwijl Eric Fassin (Paris 8 St-Denis) mijn ongelijk zal proberen (!) aan te tonen. Iedereen is welkom, maar (gratis) registratie is verplicht.
November 25, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
joshmccrain.bsky.social
new paper by Sean Westwood:

With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
clpskuleuven.bsky.social
Are you a Dutch-speaking psychologist looking for an accessible introduction to #philosophy — one that also addresses topics such as the mind-body problem, #evolution & #psychopathology? Then look no further: Pieter Adriaens’s book is for you! 👇 www.pelckmansuitgevers.be/denken-over-... #HPS #cogsci
Book cover featuring a close-up photograph of a smooth, wood-toned anatomical sculpture of a human head and neck in profile. The sculpture has exaggerated features, including a prominent nose and lips. Across the lower portion of the cover runs a wide red band with the title “DENKEN OVER DENKEN” and the subtitle “Wijsbegeerte voor psychologen,” both in white serif type. Below them appears the author’s name, “Pieter R. Adriaens.” A round badge on the right reads “Herwerkte uitgave.” The publisher’s name, “Pelckmans,” is printed at the bottom.
November 15, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
alexh.bsky.social
" 60 per cent of UK university libraries are considering dropping their big deals with the five major academic publisher"
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing - Research Professional News
Buckling of commercial models alongside maturing of community-led efforts promises major shifts, says Caroline Edwards
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
"For instance, randomized controlled trials could explicitly manipulate multilingualism"
November 11, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
birchlse.bsky.social
Pretty much no one can make their ideas clear to others on the 1st attempt. The two main reactions are "let's painstakingly clarify this with some back and forth", and "doesn't matter as long as the various interpretations are themselves interesting", leading to the 2 main branches of philosophy.
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
clpskuleuven.bsky.social
In the new #openaccess companion on student notes from Latin Europe (@leuvenup.bsky.social), our own Lorenz Demey, together with collaborators, contributes a chapter arguing that student notes hold great promise as sources for intellectual #history 👇 lup.be/book/student... #HPS #earlymodern #philsky
Book cover of "Student Notes from Latin Europe (1400–1750): A Research Companion," edited by Xander Feys, Maxime Maleux, Andy Peetermans, and Raf Van Rooy. Published by Leuven University Press. The cover features a partial diagram of concentric celestial spheres and an anatomical drawing of a human head labeled with Latin terms for sensory faculties. The design is minimalist in beige and gray tones. There is also an open access logo and the logo of Lueven University Press in the bottom left corner.
November 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
ctennie.bsky.social
Is the psychology replication crisis (at last) catching up with animal cognition?

"Our results indicate low statistical power and inflated effect sizes in both primary studies and meta-analyses."

Preprint here:

ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
The statistical fragility of animal cognition findings: a meta-meta-analytic reappraisal
ecoevorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
rafdebont.bsky.social
*Globalizing Wildlife*, a book edited by @vbateman.bsky.social, Tom Quick, and myself, is now available for pre-order with @uncpress.bsky.social!
Using code 01SOCIAL30 at checkout, you can save 30%
www.uncpress.org/book/9781469...
Globalizing Wildlife
Humans have always incorporated wildlife into processes of work, capture, and exchange. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, globalization became t...
www.uncpress.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
roto-rub.bsky.social
"The Riddle of Organismal Agency" is now available as a paperback version! Edited by @alejandrofabregastejeda.com, Jan Baedke, Guido Prieto and Gregory Radick, the volume puts together reflections from #HistSci and #PhilSci on the topic of organismal agency.
#HPBio
www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o...
Book cover of "The Riddle of Organismal Agency: New Historical and Philosophical Reflections" (Routledge, 2024). The book belongs to the "History and Philosophy of Biology" series. The editors are Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda, Jan Baedke, Guido I. Prieto, and Gregory Radick. The design features a geometric pattern of interlocking, multicolored triangles and rectangular prisms in shades of red, yellow, teal, white, and pink. The Routledge logo appears in the lower right corner.
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
clpskuleuven.bsky.social
Research funds are scarce & competition is fierce. A recent paper by @andreasdeblock.bsky.social & colleagues explores how this competition shapes science—its practices, risks & ethics—and proposes ways to make funding fairer & more effective👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #AcademicSky #HPS #scipol 🧪
Screenshot of a PNAS article titled “The costs of competition in distributing scarce research funds,” authored by Gerald Schweiger, Adrian Barnett, Peter van den Besselaar, Lutz Bornmann, Andreas De Block, John P. A. Ioannidis, Ulf Sandström, and Stijn Conix. Edited by Neil Shubin. Published December 2, 2024, in volume 121, issue 50, article e2407644121.
November 2, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
robsica.bsky.social
"If the groups we rely on for information are, in fact, more ideologically captured than they were fifty years ago, then -- assuming we were right to trust them in the first place -- we are now justified in trusting them less."
Hrishikesh Joshi, Politics and Public Discourse - PhilPapers
This Element surveys some of the problems in modern public discourse, drawing from recent work in political philosophy and social epistemology, supplemented with empirical results from the social scie...
philpapers.org
November 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
jeffreyasnyder.bsky.social
Why are so many professors so afraid to speak their minds? @amnauncensored.bsky.social & I discuss this question with UPenn historian of education Jon Zimmerman. Inspired by "Why Aren't Professors Braver?" by @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social in @chronicle.com.

banished.substack.com/p/are-too-ma...
Are Too Many Professors Excellent Sheep?
Amna & Jeff talk to Jon Zimmerman about why some profs are afraid to speak their minds
banished.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
krishardies.bsky.social
De combinatie lage kost voor de student en zeer brede toegang is gewoon vreemd (problematisch). HO in Scandinavië is gratis voor student maar wel (erg) selectief. Vgl. bijv. deze cijfers voor Zweden met VL waar bijna iedereen met diploma secundair aan HO start.
More upper-secondary school graduates chose higher education studies during the pandemic
The proportion of those who started higher education studies within one year increased considerably among pupils who graduated from a higher education preparatory upper secondary programme in spring 2...
www.scb.se
October 30, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
alejandrofabregastejeda.com
Each generation seems to rediscover the riddle of organismal agency: are organisms agents that pursue intrinsic goals—and how could we know? Our 📕 gathers historians, philosophers & scientists to explore this debate—now available in paperback!👇 www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o... #philsky #HPS #evobio
Book cover of "The Riddle of Organismal Agency: New Historical and Philosophical Reflections" (Routledge, 2025). The book belongs to the "History and Philosophy of Biology" series. The editors are Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda, Jan Baedke, Guido I. Prieto, and Gregory Radick. The design features a geometric pattern of interlocking, multicolored triangles and rectangular prisms in shades of red, yellow, teal, white, and pink. The Routledge logo appears in the lower right corner.
October 27, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
pwgtennant.bsky.social
1-11% success rates for arts, humanities, and social science grant applications in the UK. What a monumental waste of time and energy.
anavaldi.bsky.social ana valdivia @anavaldi.bsky.social · Oct 23
Given that people is asking me for the numbers, here the table provided by UKRI:
October 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
hhbruun.bsky.social
"The decline in success rates is absolutely not satisfactory, because it sometimes borders on a lottery”
Nature 17 October 2025
Well, an honest lottery would IMHO be far better. For the reasons outlined here:
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Funding competition sabotages science - Impact of Social Sciences
Research funding competitions seem fair but are often flawed. Gerald Schweiger, Adrian G. Barnett and Stijn Conix argue lotteries may support better science.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
October 27, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
rmcelreath.bsky.social
The academic publishing industry is an oligopoly, an inefficient market. Oligopoly actors force us to buy a long list of crap so we can read the dozen journals we want. Anti-trust action would be rational. Let's hope at least that exploitative bundle deals are refused. We can walk away!
eicathomefinn.bsky.social Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Oct 23
'New proposals by Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage were sent to universities this week after their initial offers were decisively rejected by institutions in a sector-wide consultation run by Jisc,...negotiating jointly with Universities UK on behalf of universities.' 1/3
New offers from big five ‘still too costly’ for UK universities
‘Significant’ number of institutions predicted to drop deals with main scholarly imprints, leaving journal access much reduced
www.timeshighereducation.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
thecharleywu.bsky.social
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution posted on October 16, 2025 We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual for a ful...
hmc-lab.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
koopmandick.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
annaalexandrova.bsky.social
Latest by my colleague Tim Lewens. Most envious of people who manage to pack in arguments into 3000 words, especially such meaty arguments as this one #philsci #philsky
Values as Evidence in the Sciences
Abstract. Ethical statements can sometimes serve as legitimate evidence for purely descriptive hypotheses. This role for ethical statements need involve ne
academic.oup.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
twenseleers.bsky.social
🚨 Deadline to submit an abstract for our IUSSI winter meeting in beautiful Leuven, 18-19 December has been extended to 31st October 2025

🚨 Please register at: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings

Come and join us - will be great fun & great lineup of speakers! Plenaries by Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
iussi-nwes.bsky.social IUSSI-NWES @iussi-nwes.bsky.social · Sep 13
We are delighted that our Winter Meeting 2025 in Leuven 🇧🇪 is approaching!

Abstract submissions now open: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings

Date: December 18-19
Abstract deadline: October 15
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution at KU Leuven
Plenary: Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
October 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
andreasdeblock.bsky.social
“96% of statistical errors directionally supported scientists’ hypotheses, suggesting credulity among scholars toward favorable outcomes.”
October 16, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Andreas De Block
theramseylab.bsky.social
Are you curious about what computational methods can offer to #HPS? Then check out the edited volume by Grant Ramsey & @andreasdeblock.bsky.social, published by @upittpress.bsky.social, showcasing key tools, questions, and investigative perspectives 👇📕💻 upittpress.org/books/978082... #philsky #DH
Book cover of "The Dynamics of Science: Computational Frontiers in History and Philosophy of Science" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022), edited by Grant Ramsey and Andreas De Block (KU Leuven). The design features a circular, data-inspired visualization with red and blue network patterns radiating from the center, suggesting computational and dynamic structures in science.
October 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM