Marek
@marekmcgann.bsky.social
Cognitive scientist. Teacher. Nerd.
Cognitive science of the enactive, ecological, and (redundantly) embodied sort. Also, some stuff on scientific practice in psychology.
I co-convene these: https://www.ensoseminars.com
(he/him)
Cognitive science of the enactive, ecological, and (redundantly) embodied sort. Also, some stuff on scientific practice in psychology.
I co-convene these: https://www.ensoseminars.com
(he/him)
Reposted by Marek
Reread this short piece I wrote a few years ago, and I don't hate it: www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/jakob-v...
"Jakob von Uexküll’s Concept of Umwelt" by Tim Elmo Feiten (Keywords: Biology; Metaphysics; Animals)
Jakob von Uexküll (1864-1944) believed that every living creature inhabits a world of its own. The structure of this world is largely determined by the species to which a creature belongs, by its phys...
www.thephilosopher1923.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reread this short piece I wrote a few years ago, and I don't hate it: www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/jakob-v...
Reposted by Marek
The philosophers were so preoccupied with whether they should that they didn't stop to think if they could.
December 3, 2025 at 9:35 PM
The philosophers were so preoccupied with whether they should that they didn't stop to think if they could.
Reposted by Marek
December 1, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Marek
This is super fun. I feel like this gimmick will be the next comic by @nsousanis.bsky.social or @tymgodek.bsky.social
A book from the 19th century that depicts the Rhine Valley by creating an impression of three-dimensionality and spatial distance.
@MasayukiTsuda2 #globalmuseum #books #travel #19thcentury
@MasayukiTsuda2 #globalmuseum #books #travel #19thcentury
December 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
This is super fun. I feel like this gimmick will be the next comic by @nsousanis.bsky.social or @tymgodek.bsky.social
Reposted by Marek
A Drive to Survive has now had a few reviews & I'm so grateful that they've been exceptionally generous and incisive. Thread here:
1st: Matteo Colombo in BJPS (particularly nice to read - given how pivotal his papers on the FEP were in helping me understand it)
www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook...
1st: Matteo Colombo in BJPS (particularly nice to read - given how pivotal his papers on the FEP were in helping me understand it)
www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook...
Kathryn Nave, A Drive to Survive | BJPS Review of Books
Matteo Colombo reviews A Drive to Survive, by Kathryn Nave
www.thebsps.org
December 3, 2025 at 8:37 AM
A Drive to Survive has now had a few reviews & I'm so grateful that they've been exceptionally generous and incisive. Thread here:
1st: Matteo Colombo in BJPS (particularly nice to read - given how pivotal his papers on the FEP were in helping me understand it)
www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook...
1st: Matteo Colombo in BJPS (particularly nice to read - given how pivotal his papers on the FEP were in helping me understand it)
www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook...
Reposted by Marek
Gaelic always coming through with a way more metal word or phrase than us in Irish lmao
Your annual reminder that the most revealing difference between Irish and Scottish Gaelic is definitely in the words for December: Mí na Nollag (Month of Christmas) in Ireland, and An Dubhlachd (the Blackness) in Scotland. So once again may I wish you all a lovely Blackness.
December 2, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Gaelic always coming through with a way more metal word or phrase than us in Irish lmao
Reposted by Marek
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
December 2, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
Reposted by Marek
Delighted to receive my own copy! Here is the press site where eventually the volume will be available as open access mitpress.mit.edu/978026255224... well done again @adrian-currie.bsky.social @phieveigl.bsky.social
December 1, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Delighted to receive my own copy! Here is the press site where eventually the volume will be available as open access mitpress.mit.edu/978026255224... well done again @adrian-currie.bsky.social @phieveigl.bsky.social
Reposted by Marek
SOUTHERN REACH READERS and weirdlings in general, here's a call for lighthouse photo submissions if you want a chance to be in the forthcoming Area X: The Southern Reach Files book. Starts Nov. 1, ends Jan 21. PLEASE read thoroughly. Questions, weirdos?
www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
October 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
SOUTHERN REACH READERS and weirdlings in general, here's a call for lighthouse photo submissions if you want a chance to be in the forthcoming Area X: The Southern Reach Files book. Starts Nov. 1, ends Jan 21. PLEASE read thoroughly. Questions, weirdos?
www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
Reposted by Marek
"All our humble bodily cells participate in the making of our experiences and cognitive processes, and not just the ‘noble’ neurons in the brain."
What if thinking doesn’t begin in the brain, but in the ceaseless labour of our cells? Today’s essay rethinks the question of how we become minds, arguing that cognition begins not in the mind but in the collective processes that keep a body alive @annaciaunica.bsky.social
Why you need your whole body – from head to toes – to think | Aeon Essays
Contemplating the world requires a body, and a body requires an immune system: the rungs of life create the stuff of thought
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 11:35 AM
"All our humble bodily cells participate in the making of our experiences and cognitive processes, and not just the ‘noble’ neurons in the brain."
Reposted by Marek
The December 2025 ENSO is next week!
Particularly delighted to have @xabibaran.bsky.social joining us to discuss "Generactive Midtended Cognition and AI: thinging with thinging things"
Thursday 4th Dec @ 1000 UTC (see link for details and time in your own timezone)
ensoseminars.com/presentation...
Particularly delighted to have @xabibaran.bsky.social joining us to discuss "Generactive Midtended Cognition and AI: thinging with thinging things"
Thursday 4th Dec @ 1000 UTC (see link for details and time in your own timezone)
ensoseminars.com/presentation...
ENSO Seminar Series
ensoseminars.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:21 PM
The December 2025 ENSO is next week!
Particularly delighted to have @xabibaran.bsky.social joining us to discuss "Generactive Midtended Cognition and AI: thinging with thinging things"
Thursday 4th Dec @ 1000 UTC (see link for details and time in your own timezone)
ensoseminars.com/presentation...
Particularly delighted to have @xabibaran.bsky.social joining us to discuss "Generactive Midtended Cognition and AI: thinging with thinging things"
Thursday 4th Dec @ 1000 UTC (see link for details and time in your own timezone)
ensoseminars.com/presentation...
Reposted by Marek
This kind of image plays differently if you’re familiar with the history of Ireland’s school system.
November 29, 2025 at 10:11 AM
This kind of image plays differently if you’re familiar with the history of Ireland’s school system.
Reposted by Marek
Mesmerizing indeed!!! 👀
November 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Mesmerizing indeed!!! 👀
Reposted by Marek
CogSci in Aarhus is hiring, open rank (assi, asso or full prof).
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!
international.au.dk/about/profil...
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!
international.au.dk/about/profil...
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor of Cognitive Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at School of Communication and Culture - Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Dept. of, Aarhus University
international.au.dk
November 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
CogSci in Aarhus is hiring, open rank (assi, asso or full prof).
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!
international.au.dk/about/profil...
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!
international.au.dk/about/profil...
Reposted by Marek
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
Betteridge's Law of Headlines applies in full.
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Betteridge's Law of Headlines applies in full.
Reposted by Marek
can’t fucking catch a breath
make it stop
make it stop
November 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
can’t fucking catch a breath
make it stop
make it stop
Reposted by Marek
we (@marekmcgann.bsky.social and I) have also written about this
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Large models of what? Mistaking engineering achievements for human linguistic agency
In this paper we argue that key, often sensational and misleading, claims regarding linguistic capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) are based …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
we (@marekmcgann.bsky.social and I) have also written about this
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Marek
Large language mistake
Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... great read from @benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... great read from @benjaminjriley.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Large language mistake
Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... great read from @benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... great read from @benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Reposted by Marek
Call for abstracts for the first conference of our new Center for Humanities and Technology. Please share!
uchumanitiestech.org/2026-confere...
uchumanitiestech.org/2026-confere...
2026 Conference
Call for Papers: Science and Technology in the Anthropocene April 2 – 3, 2026 A conference about human experience in a world with non-biological intelligent systems and the environmental prob…
uchumanitiestech.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Call for abstracts for the first conference of our new Center for Humanities and Technology. Please share!
uchumanitiestech.org/2026-confere...
uchumanitiestech.org/2026-confere...
Reposted by Marek
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Marek
If you look quickly at the start of the video of the scroll you can see a similar drawing as the popup card… bsky.app/profile/nsou...
Because I now can use video here: my 15 ft long continuous sequence (also divisible in 22 pgs) that opens #Nostos! Took about a year to make, longer to find a printer. I’d love to see it printed accordion-style - but we’ll see as the rest of the book gets closer to publication! #Unflattening 2
November 25, 2025 at 6:57 AM
If you look quickly at the start of the video of the scroll you can see a similar drawing as the popup card… bsky.app/profile/nsou...
Reposted by Marek
3) this may be particularly relevant when we're thinking about digital self control and the attention economy and the intention economy
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Musk is unambiguously describing an escalation of the problems we identify in these last two papers.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Musk is unambiguously describing an escalation of the problems we identify in these last two papers.
Autonomous Regulation of Social Media Use: Implications for Self-control, Well-Being, and UX | Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
dl.acm.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
3) this may be particularly relevant when we're thinking about digital self control and the attention economy and the intention economy
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Musk is unambiguously describing an escalation of the problems we identify in these last two papers.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Musk is unambiguously describing an escalation of the problems we identify in these last two papers.
Reposted by Marek
2) we have operational theories that address scales of user motivation but we (and sometimes the psychologists) neglect the implications of those different scales
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
2) we have operational theories that address scales of user motivation but we (and sometimes the psychologists) neglect the implications of those different scales
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
dl.acm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Marek
1. even well-meaning tech folk fail to differentiate aspects of agency and autonomy. Particularly we ignore different scales: what aligns with my immediate interests, what aligns with longer term interests, what enables me to engage and adapt flexibly over time
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
How does HCI Understand Human Agency and Autonomy? | Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
dl.acm.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
1. even well-meaning tech folk fail to differentiate aspects of agency and autonomy. Particularly we ignore different scales: what aligns with my immediate interests, what aligns with longer term interests, what enables me to engage and adapt flexibly over time
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...