G. Owen Schaefer
@owenschaefer.bsky.social
Bioethicist and Philosopher at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore (views are my own, not NUS's). Film critic, in another life.
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
In my professional opinion, ChatGPT is not conscious and does not have psychological states like beliefs and desires (yes I’m aware of the arguments to the contrary)
November 26, 2025 at 12:16 AM
In my professional opinion, ChatGPT is not conscious and does not have psychological states like beliefs and desires (yes I’m aware of the arguments to the contrary)
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
“As of November 5th, [the BU tracker] estimated that U.S.A.I.D.’s dismantling has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:51 AM
“As of November 5th, [the BU tracker] estimated that U.S.A.I.D.’s dismantling has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Star Wars discourse eh? Time for an aesthetically objective ranking of the films:
1. A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. Force Awakens
6. Attack of the Clones
7. Last Jedi
8. Phantom Menace
9. Rise of Skywalker
10. Revenge of the Sith
11. Solo
12. Ewok nonsense
1. A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. Force Awakens
6. Attack of the Clones
7. Last Jedi
8. Phantom Menace
9. Rise of Skywalker
10. Revenge of the Sith
11. Solo
12. Ewok nonsense
a close up of a monkey wearing goggles
ALT: a close up of a monkey wearing goggles
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Star Wars discourse eh? Time for an aesthetically objective ranking of the films:
1. A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. Force Awakens
6. Attack of the Clones
7. Last Jedi
8. Phantom Menace
9. Rise of Skywalker
10. Revenge of the Sith
11. Solo
12. Ewok nonsense
1. A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. Force Awakens
6. Attack of the Clones
7. Last Jedi
8. Phantom Menace
9. Rise of Skywalker
10. Revenge of the Sith
11. Solo
12. Ewok nonsense
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
Director of Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI resigns following sexual harassment investigation. Institute "set up about five years ago to examine the complex moral questions thrown up by artificial intelligence".
Sexual Harassment Investigations at Oxford - Daily Nous
John Tasioulas resigned from his position as director of the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI in September. Five months earlier, the university had begun an investigation into allegat...
dailynous.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Director of Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI resigns following sexual harassment investigation. Institute "set up about five years ago to examine the complex moral questions thrown up by artificial intelligence".
literally me rn
November 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM
literally me rn
I find this hilarious because Noah Smith has managed to negatively polarize people into defending Heathrow.
Noah Smith is paid in the high six-figures to write a blog read by Americans who believe themselves to be intelligent. Yet, he is both unable to read a sign and also for some reason chose to have a 90 minute layover for a flight that takes 90 minutes.
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
Economist Doesn't Follow Signs At Heathrow: Proof The UK Is Failing?
A economist had a bad experience connecting at Heathrow, suggesting it's reflective of bigger issues in the UK. There's only one issue...
onemileatatime.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:12 AM
I find this hilarious because Noah Smith has managed to negatively polarize people into defending Heathrow.
Fun fact: cannibalism is also in itself legal throughout the US, with the notable (?) exception of Idaho. Desecration of a corpse is more commonly outlawed, but there's loophole: lab-grown human flesh. Luckily, it turns out no one's keen to exploit this gap... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
November 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Fun fact: cannibalism is also in itself legal throughout the US, with the notable (?) exception of Idaho. Desecration of a corpse is more commonly outlawed, but there's loophole: lab-grown human flesh. Luckily, it turns out no one's keen to exploit this gap... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
For all the needless suffering they have caused domestically in the US, nothing will likely ever surpass this singular evil
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
For all the needless suffering they have caused domestically in the US, nothing will likely ever surpass this singular evil
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
I am so very excited about this new chapter of my life. Looking forward to working alongside talented colleagues to find creatives ways to leverage knowledge for the benefit of Canadians www.dal.ca/news/2025/11...
Dalhousie’s Dr. Françoise Baylis begins new chapter as president of the Royal Society of Canada
Global bioethics leader steps into a pivotal national role, aiming to deepen public trust in research, amplify Canadian voices on the world stage, and champion science for societal good.
www.dal.ca
November 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I am so very excited about this new chapter of my life. Looking forward to working alongside talented colleagues to find creatives ways to leverage knowledge for the benefit of Canadians www.dal.ca/news/2025/11...
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
The paper I co-authored with Hui Yun Chan has just been published in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences. In this paper, we compare Singaporean and Swiss data privacy and human research regulations, and how these may act as a barrier to cross border data sharing: academic.oup.com/jlb/article/...
Cross-border health data sharing between Singapore and Switzerland: controlling for competing regulatory requirements
Abstract. Research in biomedical and health sciences using data-intensive methods increasingly involve multi-party cross-border institutional collaboration
academic.oup.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:08 AM
The paper I co-authored with Hui Yun Chan has just been published in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences. In this paper, we compare Singaporean and Swiss data privacy and human research regulations, and how these may act as a barrier to cross border data sharing: academic.oup.com/jlb/article/...
Murakami, true visionary, presaging in 1979 countless failed Perception checks by generations of D&D players.
October 27, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Murakami, true visionary, presaging in 1979 countless failed Perception checks by generations of D&D players.
Cue Menswear Guy's take on classic gentleman thief attire in 5...4...3...
This photo accompanying a news story about the heist at the Louvre is perfection.
October 20, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Cue Menswear Guy's take on classic gentleman thief attire in 5...4...3...
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
Professor Emerita Bartha Maria Knoppers recently received McGill’s highest academic honour. “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Professor Knoppers’ landmark work in bioethics, the place where law and medicine meet” reporter.mcgill.ca/bartha-knopp...
Bartha Knoppers awarded McGill Medal for lifetime of pioneering work in bioethics - McGill Reporter
From literature to law to genetics, the founder of McGill’s Centre of Genomics and Policy built a career at the crossroads of science and ethics
reporter.mcgill.ca
October 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Professor Emerita Bartha Maria Knoppers recently received McGill’s highest academic honour. “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Professor Knoppers’ landmark work in bioethics, the place where law and medicine meet” reporter.mcgill.ca/bartha-knopp...
150 years on, Tolstoy vindicated!
October 11, 2025 at 12:43 AM
150 years on, Tolstoy vindicated!
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
"What is happening right now is an attack against science, knowledge and the public good."
🚨 Academic freedom in jeopardy. Yukiko Asada resigned from the NIH and calls on Canada to support at-risk scholars.
➡️ Read her open letter: http://bit.ly/4mG7UMb
#HigherEd #AcademicFreedom #ResearchIntegrity
➡️ Read her open letter: http://bit.ly/4mG7UMb
#HigherEd #AcademicFreedom #ResearchIntegrity
Help scientists ousted by America’s attack on knowledge - University Affairs
An open letter to leaders of higher education in Canada.
bit.ly
October 5, 2025 at 5:57 AM
"What is happening right now is an attack against science, knowledge and the public good."
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
📣 Introducing new JBI editors-in-chief (content) Chris Mayes and Diego Silva.
They both join our continuing editor-in-chief of production, Bronwen Morrell.
Thanks to our outgoing EiC (content) Michael Ashby, who is retiring from the JBI and leaving it in these great hands!
They both join our continuing editor-in-chief of production, Bronwen Morrell.
Thanks to our outgoing EiC (content) Michael Ashby, who is retiring from the JBI and leaving it in these great hands!
October 1, 2025 at 9:47 AM
📣 Introducing new JBI editors-in-chief (content) Chris Mayes and Diego Silva.
They both join our continuing editor-in-chief of production, Bronwen Morrell.
Thanks to our outgoing EiC (content) Michael Ashby, who is retiring from the JBI and leaving it in these great hands!
They both join our continuing editor-in-chief of production, Bronwen Morrell.
Thanks to our outgoing EiC (content) Michael Ashby, who is retiring from the JBI and leaving it in these great hands!
I know it's wrong, but ngl I like the Connections Bot feature as it periodically lets me feel smug and superior amongst the clique of fellow puzzle nerds.
October 1, 2025 at 7:03 AM
I know it's wrong, but ngl I like the Connections Bot feature as it periodically lets me feel smug and superior amongst the clique of fellow puzzle nerds.
Tbh, I would reject the idea that the list of artistically high quality games is small/constrained. There's a lot! The threads below scratch the surface, the lists can really go on and on esp in the indie space. If I had to pick one I'd highlight To the Moon, but really there's too many to count.
Half Life 1 and 2 (probably especially 2 even though I prefer 1), Braid and probably the Witness (Jonathan Blow makes it so annoying to admit, but, like, they are actually good), Pathologique (@hbomberguy.bsky.social convinced me), probs Disco Elysium. Ico/Shadow of the Colossus. Grim Fandango?
(honest question) what are the “good” video games? artistically i mean, not in a “i enjoyed this escapist slop” kind of way
September 30, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Tbh, I would reject the idea that the list of artistically high quality games is small/constrained. There's a lot! The threads below scratch the surface, the lists can really go on and on esp in the indie space. If I had to pick one I'd highlight To the Moon, but really there's too many to count.
Ngl, I get a little choked up on refs like this to the late great animator Satoshi Kon. An artist who passed in his prime, and the world is so much worse for it. RIP.
September 26, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Ngl, I get a little choked up on refs like this to the late great animator Satoshi Kon. An artist who passed in his prime, and the world is so much worse for it. RIP.
Not a hard call.
September 19, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Not a hard call.
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
August 8, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Reposted by G. Owen Schaefer
so glad to live after thomas bayes' illustrious theorem—now when i wake up and the sidewalk is wet, i can conclude that it rained last night. before father bayes, people would just sorta bump into walls
August 3, 2025 at 5:16 AM
so glad to live after thomas bayes' illustrious theorem—now when i wake up and the sidewalk is wet, i can conclude that it rained last night. before father bayes, people would just sorta bump into walls
'Great jeans" or "Great Genes"?
July 30, 2025 at 3:57 PM
'Great jeans" or "Great Genes"?
Understandably this flew in under the radar given recent events, but...the Newcastle Mitochondrial Replacement results are out! A lot to unpack here, but interesting the below coverage uses the contentious 'spared from disease' language... www.channelnewsasia.com/world/three-...
Three-person IVF technique spared children from inherited diseases: Scientists
Eight children in the United Kingdom have been spared from devastating genetic diseases thanks to a new three-person in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique, scientists from Newcastle University report...
www.channelnewsasia.com
July 17, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Understandably this flew in under the radar given recent events, but...the Newcastle Mitochondrial Replacement results are out! A lot to unpack here, but interesting the below coverage uses the contentious 'spared from disease' language... www.channelnewsasia.com/world/three-...