Dr Dean Burnett
@garwboy.bsky.social
"Top egghead neuroscientist" - The Daily Star
Author, science communicator/pundit, former psychiatry lecturer, occasional wit, frazzled parent, balding
Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/theneuroscienceofeverydaylife
Author, science communicator/pundit, former psychiatry lecturer, occasional wit, frazzled parent, balding
Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/theneuroscienceofeverydaylife
Pinned
Dr Dean Burnett
@garwboy.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Reminder that, if you're getting your kid a phone for Christmas (or know a kid who's getting one), an ideal companion gift is my latest book.
Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It
amzn.eu/d/2zxc9BR
So why not be the cool adult this festive season?
Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It
amzn.eu/d/2zxc9BR
So why not be the cool adult this festive season?
Odd question for the hivemind
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
November 21, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Odd question for the hivemind
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Chat/Pick-up lines; they're a strictly male thing, right? I've never heard any mention of a woman using one on a man.
Unless it's for a TikTok thing, but that's a whole other variable.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
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 12:51 PM
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
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 12:51 PM
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
Incredible headline.
Elon Musk Could 'Drink Piss Better Than Any Human in History,' Grok Says
Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc.
www.404media.co
November 20, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Incredible headline.
PSA: Using #AI to do your homework/assignments is the cognitive equivalent of taking all the ingredients of a healthy meal and dropping them directly into the toilet.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
November 20, 2025 at 10:56 PM
PSA: Using #AI to do your homework/assignments is the cognitive equivalent of taking all the ingredients of a healthy meal and dropping them directly into the toilet.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Same end result, none of the essential benefits.
Ran a 5k that was a lot slower than usual, due to fatigue and icy ground.
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
November 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Ran a 5k that was a lot slower than usual, due to fatigue and icy ground.
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
I DID NOT NEED TO COME HOME TO THIS SORT OF JUDGEMENT!
#pickle #running #Judgement
If I ever make £millions, I'm going to set up a bunch of Football-style academies for academic subjects
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
November 20, 2025 at 12:23 PM
If I ever make £millions, I'm going to set up a bunch of Football-style academies for academic subjects
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Send a load of scouts out to state schools to recruit working class kids with aptitudes for biology, history, physics, writing, music etc, and support the crap out of them, help them thrive.
Exactly this
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
November 19, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Exactly this
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
See people saying "Scientists need to rebuild trust" and my reaction is invariably "Ex-fucking-SCUSE me?!?"
Countless influential powers keep metaphorically urinating all over scientists and then we get told "You guys need to stop stinking of piss if you want to be taken seriously"??
My 13yo son needed his passport. I handed him the folder with all of the family's documents in.
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
November 19, 2025 at 11:08 PM
My 13yo son needed his passport. I handed him the folder with all of the family's documents in.
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Son: "How do I know which is mine?"
Me: "...what?"
Son: "How do I know which passport is mine?"
Me: "Which... *passport*? The global gold standard of identification?!
Me: "...Shut UP, Dad!"
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
Just watched ep 2 of #Pluribus. Weirdly, if you leave aside the plot-required sci-fi gubbins, Gilligan (or whoever) has done an impressive deep dive into the neuro/siociopsychological literature. Much of it really holds up and actually provides a lot of easter eggs if you know the background science
November 16, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Just watched ep 2 of #Pluribus. Weirdly, if you leave aside the plot-required sci-fi gubbins, Gilligan (or whoever) has done an impressive deep dive into the neuro/siociopsychological literature. Much of it really holds up and actually provides a lot of easter eggs if you know the background science
New rule when I'm in charge: if you don't use all your fireworks on November 5th, you don't get to set them off later as you please, you have to put them in a curry and spend every day of the next week eating it. Just add nature intended.
November 16, 2025 at 6:47 PM
New rule when I'm in charge: if you don't use all your fireworks on November 5th, you don't get to set them off later as you please, you have to put them in a curry and spend every day of the next week eating it. Just add nature intended.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
I have a series of new glass mini wreaths in the shop. They're gorgeous on Christmas trees but also look great as wall hangings. $50.
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
November 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I have a series of new glass mini wreaths in the shop. They're gorgeous on Christmas trees but also look great as wall hangings. $50.
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
I'm going to be adding more new stuff over the next few days as my health allows and will give 10% of this weekend's sales to the Roadrunner Food Bank.
nora.jewelry
This is a legitimately good idea. Studies show that heavy metal fans tend to be the least angry people. Presumably because their brains experience anger a lot, but in safe, controlled, voluntary ways, so they have a lot more practice dealing with it, but fewer upsetting incidents that triggered it.
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
buff.ly
November 15, 2025 at 6:07 PM
This is a legitimately good idea. Studies show that heavy metal fans tend to be the least angry people. Presumably because their brains experience anger a lot, but in safe, controlled, voluntary ways, so they have a lot more practice dealing with it, but fewer upsetting incidents that triggered it.
"You MUST submit invoice in PDF format and include [VERY SPECIFIC DETAILS]
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
"You MUST submit invoice in PDF format and include [VERY SPECIFIC DETAILS]
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
ANY DISCREPANCY between invoice and Purchase Order = claim is automatically REJECTED
You will NOT be informed"
Pretty sure my not doing excess admin to your exact tastes voids your legal obligation to pay me, guys...
"You need a list of all the people and organisations I've worked with for the important meeting? No worries"
[18 hours later, 6 years deep into old schedules]
"... I did a talk for a semiconductor manufacturer!?! When? How? WHY?"
[18 hours later, 6 years deep into old schedules]
"... I did a talk for a semiconductor manufacturer!?! When? How? WHY?"
November 12, 2025 at 10:29 PM
"You need a list of all the people and organisations I've worked with for the important meeting? No worries"
[18 hours later, 6 years deep into old schedules]
"... I did a talk for a semiconductor manufacturer!?! When? How? WHY?"
[18 hours later, 6 years deep into old schedules]
"... I did a talk for a semiconductor manufacturer!?! When? How? WHY?"
23-year-old me: "Come on!! I know it's a Wednesday but let's go to the pub, we can't just sit at home doing sod all! We'll be fine in the morning."
43-year-old me: [Changes worn out watch strap] "...well, that's enough excitement for one day".
43-year-old me: [Changes worn out watch strap] "...well, that's enough excitement for one day".
November 12, 2025 at 5:47 PM
23-year-old me: "Come on!! I know it's a Wednesday but let's go to the pub, we can't just sit at home doing sod all! We'll be fine in the morning."
43-year-old me: [Changes worn out watch strap] "...well, that's enough excitement for one day".
43-year-old me: [Changes worn out watch strap] "...well, that's enough excitement for one day".
Quite a roundabout and embarrassing way to arrive at an undeniably correct conclusion.
Kim Kardashian slams psychics who told her she'd pass the bar exam: 'All fucking full of shit'
Kim Kardashian slams psychics who told her she'd pass the bar exam: 'All f---ing full of s---'
'All f---ing full of s---': Kim Kardashian has some choice words for the psychics who predicted she'd pass the bar exam.
ew.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Quite a roundabout and embarrassing way to arrive at an undeniably correct conclusion.
Reposted by Dr Dean Burnett
I wrote a thing! Because I contine to be very normal!
Lloyd Didcot, 32, took the unusual step to not carefully prepare a mental script for his coffee order last Friday and, subsequently, experienced the actual, literal torture of eternal damnation for about five minutes in his local Costa.
Autistic man neglects to plan conversation in advance, experiences literal Christian hell
An autistic man who routinely plans his conversations well in advance decided to ditch the habit of a lifetime “to see what it was like”, landing him in a Biblical underworld of Christian hell,…
thedailytism.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I wrote a thing! Because I contine to be very normal!
In November 1996, the classic Simpsons episode 'You Only Move Twice' aired, where Homer, a poorly educated white American male, cluelessly helps his evil tech billionaire employer destroy American democracy
It's lucky this wasn't one of those times the Simpsons predicted the future. That'd be awful
It's lucky this wasn't one of those times the Simpsons predicted the future. That'd be awful
a man with a beard is holding a flamethrower in his hands
ALT: a man with a beard is holding a flamethrower in his hands
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:03 AM
In November 1996, the classic Simpsons episode 'You Only Move Twice' aired, where Homer, a poorly educated white American male, cluelessly helps his evil tech billionaire employer destroy American democracy
It's lucky this wasn't one of those times the Simpsons predicted the future. That'd be awful
It's lucky this wasn't one of those times the Simpsons predicted the future. That'd be awful
November 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
How about if I told you I have been making a living solely from writing for almost a decade now? Meanwhile, you're sending unsolicited "give me work" emails to complete strangers.
I think I'll be OK, thanks mate
I think I'll be OK, thanks mate
November 8, 2025 at 11:06 PM
How about if I told you I have been making a living solely from writing for almost a decade now? Meanwhile, you're sending unsolicited "give me work" emails to complete strangers.
I think I'll be OK, thanks mate
I think I'll be OK, thanks mate
Psycho-Logical: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong – and How to Make Sense of It
www.amazon.co.uk/Psy...
One of, if not THE most comprehensive books about mental health and neuroscience that I've ever written and published in 2021.
#Mentalhealth #brains #books
www.amazon.co.uk/Psy...
One of, if not THE most comprehensive books about mental health and neuroscience that I've ever written and published in 2021.
#Mentalhealth #brains #books
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Psycho-Logical: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong – and How to Make Sense of It
www.amazon.co.uk/Psy...
One of, if not THE most comprehensive books about mental health and neuroscience that I've ever written and published in 2021.
#Mentalhealth #brains #books
www.amazon.co.uk/Psy...
One of, if not THE most comprehensive books about mental health and neuroscience that I've ever written and published in 2021.
#Mentalhealth #brains #books
At my son's early morning football game. I'd sort of missed the constant yelling of the sideline Dads. It's like the dawn chorus for the inner city.
November 8, 2025 at 9:54 AM
At my son's early morning football game. I'd sort of missed the constant yelling of the sideline Dads. It's like the dawn chorus for the inner city.