Andrew Perfors
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Andrew Perfors
@perfors.net
12K followers 5K following 3.4K posts
Prof at UniMelb. I'm a computational cognitive scientist studying human inference, learning, information systems, culture, and (mis/dis)info. Nerd & opinionated loudmouth in Oz, originally from America, citizen of both. Parent of two. 🏳️‍⚧️ perfors.net
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perfors.net
Timeline cleanse, there is still beauty in the world. 💚

#tinyjoys
A sulfur-crested cockatoo visiting me on my deck. It's a little irritated at me for not feeding it but we had a nice conversation nonetheless.
November 16, 2025 at 3:06 AM
perfors.net
Here's more of the list, again, with lots of scientists 😢
Lots of people including many repeats from above but also Gardner, Hoffman, Ramachandran, Christakis, Sheldrake, Gell-man, Seligman, Gould, Mandelbrot, etc
November 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
perfors.net
As for why I think this is Bannon? In addition to the clues mentioned previously, it's because Bannon was actually filming a documentary about Epstein when he died.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_B...
Connection to Jeffrey Epstein According to Michael Wolff, Bannon was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein in 2017 and Epstein introduced Bannon to some of his friends.[276] Bannon also worked with Ehud Barak and attorney Reid Weingarten to attempt to reform Epstein's public image.[277][276] Later reports showed Bannon reportedly prepped Epstein for an interview with 60 Minutes that ultimately never occurred. Bannon confirmed that he did tape 15 hours of interviews with Epstein but denied that he was coaching him for further interviews and that the footage was for an unannounced documentary on Epstein.[278][279][280]
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
perfors.net
Given this context I think the infamous list for Steve Bannon is a list of people Epstein wanted to be in this documentary they were filming. scientists etc as alluded to in one of the screenshots above.
One of the lists of names that's already been shared in lots of places, I'm not going to type them all out, but a bunch of scientists including Minsky, Kosslyn, Randall, Damasio, Gould, Seligman, Chomsky, Mandelbrot, Greene, Ito, Bach, Edelman, and Krauss are on it
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
perfors.net
And here is some more
Mysterious sender asks over the course of a few messages on 06/26/19: "Hate to be a pain on this but I've got to deploy my guys if we are going get this done in Tucson" Epstein: Have you been in contact with him Other person: Think dan has Epstein: We are set for Noam on Saturday -- have you told him what we are prepping for Immediately following last screenshot, all on 06/28/19: Epstein: nope Other person: He would be onboard correct ??? Or should I ask? Easy for me Again following the previous creenshot, still on 06/28/19: Epstein: Ask. and yes. I could of course Epstein: Im dealing with Ehud in Israel. Making me crazy Other person: Ehud massive-- can we announce I'm his strategic advisor? A bit later, after some stuff which is probably interesting from an international politics perspective but not about Chomsky, we get this on 06/29/19 from the other person who I think is probably Bannon: "Noam in no shape to film--clearly in some sort of pain and has grown a beard-- @90 we need to get him scheduled soon as practicable"
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
perfors.net
And it looks like less than a month before Epstein went to jail they were filming something that Chomsky and other scientists were in. My guess is that the person he's talking to is Bannon
Message from whoever Epstein is talking to (my guess Bannon) on 06/16/19 saying "Before shooting sked can I get subject matter experts in science , math, Wall Street -- I have overall smes need personal" (Note this came before the previous one I just copy-pasted in the wrong order and am too lazy to redo) 06/17/19, message from Epstein with a list of names (my guess is people he thinks should be in the film). "melanie walker. Brain surgeon. Martin Novak. . joscha back . Seth Lloyd, Lawrence Krauss, chomsky , mark tramo. Music. Not sure re summers.. should we use Michael Wolff..? John Brockman. Edge." 06/17/19: Epstein: Most dead Epstein: Minskys. Wife. gloria. Should be done asap Other person: We can pull footage -- just get me names whether living or dead Other person: Plenty of footage. A few messages at first which is part of why I think this is Bannon, referencing "In the closet of the Vatican" But then on 06/18/19 is a message from Epstein: "Chomsky asking when film"
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
perfors.net
They were actually friends who visited each other, as far as I can tell
Message from Epstein on 05/26/19 saying "Im going for lunch tomorrow at the Chomsky's'
November 14, 2025 at 12:23 PM
perfors.net
Good article here trying to make sense of the senseless (the Epstein emails).

So much about our current timeline makes sense when you realise that vastly more of the people with power are vastly more idiotic and more venal and more immoral than we thought.
That reading these emails feels surreal makes sense—they shatter the myth of genius and merit that the ruling class tries carefully and spends exorbitantly to cultivate, and they affirm the worst suspicions of the conspiracy-minded. As more revelations are made public, it may feel like the conspiracy theorists have won. But they’ve been wrong as well. Cabal is too flattering a word for this crowd of cosplaying, hunt-and-peck email addicts. Conspiracy theories are a flawed tool meant to help make sense of a nonsensical world. The truth is darker: You don’t need an elaborate master plan to dodge accountability when everyone’s all too willing to simply look the other way.
November 14, 2025 at 4:34 AM
perfors.net
Hello fellow nerds! The upcoming Australasian Mathematical Psych Conference (AMPC) is going to be on Feb 23-25, and they've just put out the call for abstracts.

Details below. This is one of my favourite conferences and this year it's in Singapore(!!) which should be awesome.
Call for Abstract (AMPC 2026): Applying Mathematical and Quantitative Psychology to Real World Complex Problems Singapore, 23-25 February 2026. Abstract submission deadline 26 November 2024 Plus a bunch of other info. Go to https://ampc2026.com/ for details.
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 AM
perfors.net
Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.
Slide is titled: You don't need to use LLMs. Science is a process of collaborative meaning making, by which we try to understand the world Even if AI were perfect, we rely on it at our peril — it is not science if we (i.e., humanity as a whole) do not understand and cannot recapitulate all parts of it I very, very rarely use LLMs myself. You can give yourself permission not to. Don’t FOMO yourself into it Conclusion: Don't rely on something you don't understand and can't control If you must use LLMS: 1. Treat them like you would an intern: only use them for things you can easily and thoroughly check 2. Make your process as robust as possible 3. Be aware of your own (human) cognitive biases
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM
perfors.net
Brilliant, lovely day here (except for the allergies). High of 26C. Tomorrow is going to be a shock!
Photo of a walk I took in the Dandenong ranges, with huge gum trees towering up into the bright blue sky. Forecast for tomorrow (Monday) showing a high of 12C (low of 9C) and solid rain
November 2, 2025 at 7:45 AM
perfors.net
Some days are tougher than others, but always remember that it is still a beautiful world. #tinyjoys
Close up of pink and white flowers which I think are rhododendrons Picture of large rhododendron bush, with fern trees in the background
October 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
perfors.net
10yo is writing a fantasy novel and it takes no prisoners
Excerpt of text saying "Prophecies, to me, honestly are just instructions written in the most annoying way possible."
October 19, 2025 at 11:19 PM
perfors.net
It is still a beautiful world, always remember that. 💕
Purple flowers in my garden
October 18, 2025 at 12:02 AM
perfors.net
It is still a beautiful world.
#tinyjoys
Photo of a flower with emerging orange petals with yellow pistils in the middle
October 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
perfors.net
This is exactly right too. Oh heck just read the whole thing
And as for winning, I think it is an indictment even of Klein's apparent intelligence that he thinks that the way to persuade people to join the Democrats is to have Democrats abandon what are their alleged ideals, especially since they just lost so badly not by standing up for trans people, but by doing exactly what Ezra Klein is now proposing, because they listened to people like Ezra Klein. You can't beat the mentality that leads to abuse by taking on the abuser's mentality. You can't defeat bad ideas by adopting them. You can't grow a coalition by selling out its members. And you can't persuade people who disagree with you that you can be trusted to fight for them when you won't even fight for those you say are with you. Eventually you have to stand for something, or somebody else will tell you where to stand, and if you'd rather not, they'll force you to stand there, and stand there you will. And there you'll be, standing in a place somebody else chose for you. You and the nothing you built inside.
October 6, 2025 at 11:17 AM
perfors.net
So many good parts of this, but I really liked this: when it comes to status quo centrist moderate people like Klein, it is very illuminating to realise who they instinctively empathise with and put themselves in the shoes of, and who they consider to be bargaining chips to appease the far right.
By his own admission, Kirk's murder affected Ezra Klein in a personal way that all the previous acts of supremacist violence committed against all its other targets across the span of history did not. So we see that Klein recognizes a "we" in Charlie Kirk that he does not recognize in trans people or in any of the other people I listed in the previous paragraph. In this, he reveals to us—perhaps without even knowing he is doing so—that for him, the disagreements he has with Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro are window dressing compared to the fundamental kinship he feels to them, three princes of public discourse, just trying their best to do what's best, whether "what's best" is feeding a hungry kid or blowing him up or zip tying his hands behind his back in the middle of the Chicago night. When Klein scolds that "we have to live here with each other" he is making a statement about who it is he is getting ready to live with and who he is getting ready to live without, and most gallingly he is ignoring the fact that when it comes to supremacists all of us have been living with them already all along. Nobody is suggesting mass deportation of white supremacists, or the dissolution of straight marriages, or stripping away health care for conservatives. The troops and the cops weren't ever sent down primarily white streets, masked kidnappers aren't terrorizing white churches or corporate courtrooms. These supremacist hatemongers are being criticized, yes, and opposed, yes, and yes the culture of violence they have created sometimes ricochets back on them, but we are living in the country they demanded on having. We are all now experiencing the Republican proposition for humanity. Many of us are demanding they stop pursuing this proposition, and Republicans and other supremacist hatemongers insist this demand represents violence against them. Klein, by drawing the lines where he draws them, is agreeing with Republicans about this.
October 6, 2025 at 11:17 AM
perfors.net
Anyway, here's my favourite excerpt, but read the whole thing:
Author Czeslaw Milosz wrote that “A man may persuade himself, by the most logical reasoning, that he will greatly benefit his health by swallowing live frogs; and, thus rationally convinced, he may swallow a first frog, then the second; but at the third his stomach will revolt.” How does a person convince themselves they need to swallow live frogs? They see themselves as being pragmatic in difficult times and willing to make difficult choices. They imagine that doing something unpleasant is the same as doing something effective. They think it will save them. But developing a rational theory of eating live frogs is not going to save anyone. I’m reminded of the large news organization my spouse used to work for years ago. When a maelstrom hit—one that was affecting all of journalism—a top editor called together the whole newsroom to talk about the future. They would, he announced, have to decide which of their core values to keep. The point is supposed to be that they’re your core values. The outlet lost its principles, and soon went into a tailspin that was in no way delayed and was perhaps accelerated by abandoning its values. If you’ve figured out your core principles, then they will guide you about what to do. Remember, you’re not just performing an idea, it’s your life. It’s who you are. I think Klein, like many former liberals, is getting rolled by his his exposure to people who imagine themselves to be free-thinkers but are actually adjacent to hacks like Christopher Rufo and Richard Hanania. (If you don’t already know who they are, they’re not really worth looking up.) Because Klein doesn’t seem to currently locate himself in a tradition or perhaps has lost the ability to do so, he imagines that the pain of trading away core values is a positive example of compromise. But those self-described freethinkers advocating surrendering whole communities will never become more like him. Klein will only become more like them.
October 4, 2025 at 11:49 AM
perfors.net
Nice essay! This bit in particular was really interesting to me (as someone who neither meditates nor knows much about Buddhism). It makes a lot of sense.
The Three-Legged Stool We Broke Within Buddhism, mindfulness meditation is one of several integrated practices. For example there’s a concepual trilogy in Theravada Buddhism called dana sila bhavana—a three-legged stool where all legs are necessary for stability. Dana means generosity and action directed toward others—social engagement, service, addressing collective suffering. Sila means ethics—following precepts, moral guidelines for how to live in community. Bhavana means mental development—meditation and mindfulness practice. Popular mainstream mindfulness practice focuses almost exclusively on bhavana. It strips away the social obligation (dana) and ethical framework (sila), leaving only the technique for training your individual mind. When I attended a meditation retreat at a Buddhist monastery (more on that in a post later this fall), one of the senior monks warned explicitly that practicing meditation without the other two legs was “dangerous.” But secular mindfulness doesn’t want the other two legs. It doesn’t want ethical precepts that might constrain individual freedom. It doesn’t want social obligations that might demand action beyond personal practice. It just wants the meditation technique—extracted, medicalized, and marketed as a tool for individual optimization. The result? A technique for individual stress management and performance optimization, completely divorced from Buddhism’s social and ethical dimensions.
October 4, 2025 at 12:46 AM
perfors.net
Chotiner interviews a Harper's Letter signatory
So you’re worried about cancel culture and free speech. Yes, it’s a huge problem. Can you give me an example? A campus organisation sent a mass email telling us to be mindful of pronouns and cultural appropriation. Oh. I see. Also, a woke student group protested someone who they didn’t like! It was very stressful for that person to be called a bigot. Extremely stressful and unpleasant. Are they a bigot? Nobody should be allowed to say they are. Free speech requires it. Well, the next time I hear someone complain about the government firing or deporting people for something they said, I will be sure to bring up the woke students to show that the issue is complicated.
September 25, 2025 at 3:51 AM
perfors.net
Checking in from Australia: there has been no Rapture. Repeat: NO RAPTURE.

It is, however, a lovely spring day 💚
#tinyjoys
Picture of some white flowers on a pear tree
September 23, 2025 at 12:26 AM
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Good day. Music festival with one kid, escape room with the other, gardening, reading... and most importantly, very little time spent on a screen or social media.

Just trying to "be here, now"

I need to do that a LOT more often. #tinyjoys
Purple flowers from my garden
September 14, 2025 at 8:07 AM
perfors.net
For those who, like me, could use the reminder today: it is still a beautiful world.

#tinyjoys
Tree with big white flowers with yellow centres Close-up of the same flowers
September 11, 2025 at 1:36 AM
perfors.net
I can't take credit for that part! It's from a lovely poem by Mary Oliver
Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean — the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down — who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver
September 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
perfors.net
And the last one. I find myself judging him as an arrogant schmuck for thinking this was an appropriate thing for a birthday book

(at least no evident pedophilia but that bar is so low as to be below ground)
Language is the one truly interesting thing that happened in the last 500 million years
September 9, 2025 at 7:15 AM