Richard G Clegg
@richardclegg.bsky.social
Academic studying complex networks at Queen Mary University of London and amateur scuba instructor. I do a lot of research using the Raphtory software for temporal networks, a fast efficient way to analyse network data:
https://www.raphtory.com/
He/Him
https://www.raphtory.com/
He/Him
I don't think anyone is claiming it is a mainstream theory among theoretical physicists.
November 21, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I don't think anyone is claiming it is a mainstream theory among theoretical physicists.
And being absolutely clear my knowledge comes wholly from reading pop science. I am in no sense expert just interested.
November 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
And being absolutely clear my knowledge comes wholly from reading pop science. I am in no sense expert just interested.
My reading of the original book was Penrose was fully aware that the microtubules were very much a maybe. His main argument rested on different things. But it is literally decades since I read it.
November 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM
My reading of the original book was Penrose was fully aware that the microtubules were very much a maybe. His main argument rested on different things. But it is literally decades since I read it.
Is there a TLDR way to know what within neuroscience leads you to this? (Genuine question, I have read a lot of assertions relating QM and consciousness but have an open mind on the topic.) I am totally ignorant of biology.
November 21, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Is there a TLDR way to know what within neuroscience leads you to this? (Genuine question, I have read a lot of assertions relating QM and consciousness but have an open mind on the topic.) I am totally ignorant of biology.
There is a particular stream of thought. Roger Penrose wrote "The Emperor's New Mind" which was very influential back in the day. He advocates that the combined theory of Quantum Gravity is necessary. Others have cited specific structures in the brain "microtubules" as linking QM and consciousness.
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
There is a particular stream of thought. Roger Penrose wrote "The Emperor's New Mind" which was very influential back in the day. He advocates that the combined theory of Quantum Gravity is necessary. Others have cited specific structures in the brain "microtubules" as linking QM and consciousness.
This is so comforting. I wonder how many were discovered by deliberate effort and how many were discovered just by people recognising them when they happened across them. Turns out all of those pictures were somewhere in my brain in moderate detail.
November 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This is so comforting. I wonder how many were discovered by deliberate effort and how many were discovered just by people recognising them when they happened across them. Turns out all of those pictures were somewhere in my brain in moderate detail.
I felt really sorry for him.
November 21, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I felt really sorry for him.
To be fair it is the only book series I read about people living underground (unless you count the time machine and Journey to the centre of the earth) so perhaps I am just unspoiled on the genre. :)
November 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
To be fair it is the only book series I read about people living underground (unless you count the time machine and Journey to the centre of the earth) so perhaps I am just unspoiled on the genre. :)
Did you see the story from a few years ago where 50% of Scots wikipedia was written by a teen who did not speak the language but thought he was being helpful.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020...
Shock an aw: US teenager wrote huge slice of Scots Wikipedia
Nineteen-year-old says he is ‘devastated’ after being accused of cultural vandalism
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Did you see the story from a few years ago where 50% of Scots wikipedia was written by a teen who did not speak the language but thought he was being helpful.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020...
From all those years you lived in a huge cylinder.
November 21, 2025 at 11:36 AM
From all those years you lived in a huge cylinder.
Hmm... Silo the TV show based on the book wool is very good. Could you somehow convince her it is the same show it just became post apocalypse?
November 21, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Hmm... Silo the TV show based on the book wool is very good. Could you somehow convince her it is the same show it just became post apocalypse?
Hmm.. so what *are* those costs? Runs that did not end with a good enough model? Feels like the biggest share of cost is "some other things we know not what". :)
November 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Hmm.. so what *are* those costs? Runs that did not end with a good enough model? Feels like the biggest share of cost is "some other things we know not what". :)
Great news for the DUCK tours.
November 17, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Great news for the DUCK tours.
To make him really happy tell him you have a solid alibi that uses a technology from the 1970s to prove you didn't do it.
November 16, 2025 at 9:42 PM
To make him really happy tell him you have a solid alibi that uses a technology from the 1970s to prove you didn't do it.
In the story you picked the best evidence moments are painfully obvious wishful thinking by the experimenter - the "smell helix" example is almost comic. I am sure they can perform operant conditioning on dogs and cats obviously but beyond that the gift here is mainly interpretation not animal.
November 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
In the story you picked the best evidence moments are painfully obvious wishful thinking by the experimenter - the "smell helix" example is almost comic. I am sure they can perform operant conditioning on dogs and cats obviously but beyond that the gift here is mainly interpretation not animal.
Very sceptical of some of those cat/dog buttons. A friend talks about it regularly and I am biting my lip not to say "coincidence". People want to believe their pets are clever and there is certainly a "Clever Hans" effect. The fad for ape sign language was nonsense
bigthink.com/life/ape-sig...
bigthink.com/life/ape-sig...
November 15, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Very sceptical of some of those cat/dog buttons. A friend talks about it regularly and I am biting my lip not to say "coincidence". People want to believe their pets are clever and there is certainly a "Clever Hans" effect. The fad for ape sign language was nonsense
bigthink.com/life/ape-sig...
bigthink.com/life/ape-sig...
Absolutely yes. Paired with some places having a cost-saving move from proctored exams it is absolutely disasterous. Coursework is a shambles. How do you get students to a standard where they can evaluate AI output when they can pass the test without udnerstanding it.
November 14, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Absolutely yes. Paired with some places having a cost-saving move from proctored exams it is absolutely disasterous. Coursework is a shambles. How do you get students to a standard where they can evaluate AI output when they can pass the test without udnerstanding it.
I am at a bit of an edge case where AI is still wonky at solving some basics in topics I teach. I don't think that will last for two years. I don't think it is useful to teach how to use current gen AI any more than teaching details of a popular calculator model in 1979.
November 13, 2025 at 11:36 PM
I am at a bit of an edge case where AI is still wonky at solving some basics in topics I teach. I don't think that will last for two years. I don't think it is useful to teach how to use current gen AI any more than teaching details of a popular calculator model in 1979.
The scandi model had always been more "we are tolerant if and only if you adopt our culture".
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
The scandi model had always been more "we are tolerant if and only if you adopt our culture".
Their hero admiral kept getting severe injuries but doesn't die (what is he, Sharpe of the seas? Talk about plot armour.) Then he finally dies in the crucial battle and on a ship called Victory - too on the nose, not convincing in the slightest. Who is scripting this?
November 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Their hero admiral kept getting severe injuries but doesn't die (what is he, Sharpe of the seas? Talk about plot armour.) Then he finally dies in the crucial battle and on a ship called Victory - too on the nose, not convincing in the slightest. Who is scripting this?
But only in dramatically necessary emergencies.
November 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
But only in dramatically necessary emergencies.
I really like it -- partly because it's beautiful and partly because while it is mean to remind me of a tree it actually reminds me of the saucer section of the Enterprise D.
November 10, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I really like it -- partly because it's beautiful and partly because while it is mean to remind me of a tree it actually reminds me of the saucer section of the Enterprise D.
Let's be fair this was more than a minor editing error -- it was pretty egregious by absolutely any standard.
November 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Let's be fair this was more than a minor editing error -- it was pretty egregious by absolutely any standard.
I'm over 100 hours into Silksong (punishingly hard recent game) where a major gameplay loop is just throwing yourself again and again at the same patterns until you learn to beat that section. Sadly I am getting to the age where slowing reactions is a huge factor.
November 8, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I'm over 100 hours into Silksong (punishingly hard recent game) where a major gameplay loop is just throwing yourself again and again at the same patterns until you learn to beat that section. Sadly I am getting to the age where slowing reactions is a huge factor.