Sebastian Dieguez
@sebastiandieguez.bsky.social
Cognition, neuroscience, belief, fiction.
Author: Total bullshit (2018), Le Complotisme: cognition, culture, société (2021), Croiver (2022), L’Expertise sans peine (2023), La Force de nos bugs (2023)
https://sites.google.com/view/sebastian-dieguez/home
Author: Total bullshit (2018), Le Complotisme: cognition, culture, société (2021), Croiver (2022), L’Expertise sans peine (2023), La Force de nos bugs (2023)
https://sites.google.com/view/sebastian-dieguez/home
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Who doesn't adore Wikipedia? As regards powerful figures, sometimes documentation alone is wonderful. Cf. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Ferry
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Who doesn't adore Wikipedia? As regards powerful figures, sometimes documentation alone is wonderful. Cf. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Ferry
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
OMG. The site is literally called the Dunning Kruger Times.
With a “WOW!,” President Trump posts a claim about DOGE and “royalties linked to Obamacare” that originated on a satirical website. That site’s own About section reads: “Everything on this website is fiction… If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.”
November 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
OMG. The site is literally called the Dunning Kruger Times.
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Evolutionary psychology makes a big to-do about their finding that sexual selection favors a "feminine body type" that "signals fertility/reproductive potential", including some rather... silly research. Turns out, those traits don't seem to signal reproductive success. Oops! doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
November 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Evolutionary psychology makes a big to-do about their finding that sexual selection favors a "feminine body type" that "signals fertility/reproductive potential", including some rather... silly research. Turns out, those traits don't seem to signal reproductive success. Oops! doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Just accepted at Nature Mental Health:
Crises and Opportunities for Psychological Science under Fascism
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nz42x_v3
1/9
Crises and Opportunities for Psychological Science under Fascism
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nz42x_v3
1/9
November 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Just accepted at Nature Mental Health:
Crises and Opportunities for Psychological Science under Fascism
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nz42x_v3
1/9
Crises and Opportunities for Psychological Science under Fascism
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nz42x_v3
1/9
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
My new article, in Res Publica.
"While most scholarship treats populism and post-truth politics as separate phenomena, we argue that their convergence creates a distinct and more corrosive force - one that combines epistemic distortion with political exclusion."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"While most scholarship treats populism and post-truth politics as separate phenomena, we argue that their convergence creates a distinct and more corrosive force - one that combines epistemic distortion with political exclusion."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The Mutual Reinforcement of Populism and Post-Truth in Undermining Deliberative Democracy - Res Publica
This paper examines the compounded threat that post-truth populism poses to the foundations of deliberative democracy. While most scholarship treats populism and post-truth politics as separate phenom...
link.springer.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:01 AM
My new article, in Res Publica.
"While most scholarship treats populism and post-truth politics as separate phenomena, we argue that their convergence creates a distinct and more corrosive force - one that combines epistemic distortion with political exclusion."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"While most scholarship treats populism and post-truth politics as separate phenomena, we argue that their convergence creates a distinct and more corrosive force - one that combines epistemic distortion with political exclusion."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
In case anyone is wondering if Watson was really THAT bad, @lpachter.bsky.social compiled a list of quotes that are absolutely not for the faint of heart.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
November 7, 2025 at 10:18 PM
In case anyone is wondering if Watson was really THAT bad, @lpachter.bsky.social compiled a list of quotes that are absolutely not for the faint of heart.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
🚨New publication in JEP:G!🚨 We find that, even when a belief serves as a marker of ideological identity, people do not think it is good to engage in partisan motivated reasoning. Instead, people endorse the pursuit of accuracy motives even if these lead to adopting outgroup beliefs. bit.ly/498S8Xk
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
🚨New publication in JEP:G!🚨 We find that, even when a belief serves as a marker of ideological identity, people do not think it is good to engage in partisan motivated reasoning. Instead, people endorse the pursuit of accuracy motives even if these lead to adopting outgroup beliefs. bit.ly/498S8Xk
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
🚨New Paper!🚨
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Challenges to Narrating a Multitudinous Self: Towards a Better Ethics of Code-switching - Topoi
We motivate and lay out the broad contours of a research program, namely that of developing a systematic ethics of code-switching. Such an ethics will articulate the values and norms that should gover...
link.springer.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
🚨New Paper!🚨
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Do you love authenticity? @ledaberio.bsky.social and I argue that maybe you shouldn't!
We think that everything would be better if we all just got over the idea of true selves and were cooler with the fact that we all contain multitudes.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Final version of a new paper on Davidson's triangulation argument and the requirement of an antecedent concern for what is true in any thinking and speaking creature.
philpapers.org/rec/SULTCF
philpapers.org/rec/SULTCF
Olivia Sultanescu, The Concern for What is True - PhilPapers
The concept of truth always had a special significance within Donald Davidson’s view of language and thought. For instance, Davidson always maintained that a basic requirement for understanding anothe...
philpapers.org
November 5, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Final version of a new paper on Davidson's triangulation argument and the requirement of an antecedent concern for what is true in any thinking and speaking creature.
philpapers.org/rec/SULTCF
philpapers.org/rec/SULTCF
J’aurais bien aimé disposer de cet article en écrivant ce chapitre sur L’Echec d’une prophétie et la dissonance cognitive! 1/
November 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
J’aurais bien aimé disposer de cet article en écrivant ce chapitre sur L’Echec d’une prophétie et la dissonance cognitive! 1/
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Le concept de « croivance » de @sebastiandieguez.bsky.social est effectivement utile et il remplit un important rôle descriptif. Mais il ne faut pas se tromper : « croiver » en masse suffit à détériorer l’espace public et l’intelligence publique.
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Le concept de « croivance » de @sebastiandieguez.bsky.social est effectivement utile et il remplit un important rôle descriptif. Mais il ne faut pas se tromper : « croiver » en masse suffit à détériorer l’espace public et l’intelligence publique.
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Car cela permet de s'intégrer à un groupe. Mais ils n'y croit pas "vraiment", dans le sens où ils ne vont pas agir en conséquence, en fuyant les réseaux sociaux "contrôlés par les élites", par exemple.
C'est une "croivance", comme dirait Sebastian Dieguez
C'est une "croivance", comme dirait Sebastian Dieguez
November 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Car cela permet de s'intégrer à un groupe. Mais ils n'y croit pas "vraiment", dans le sens où ils ne vont pas agir en conséquence, en fuyant les réseaux sociaux "contrôlés par les élites", par exemple.
C'est une "croivance", comme dirait Sebastian Dieguez
C'est une "croivance", comme dirait Sebastian Dieguez
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
New from us, led by the fantastic @elisavetpappa.bsky.social:
Who Are People with Psychosis Delusional about? A Study of Social Agents in the Phenomenology of Delusions karger.com/psp/article/...
Who Are People with Psychosis Delusional about? A Study of Social Agents in the Phenomenology of Delusions karger.com/psp/article/...
Who Are People with Psychosis Delusional about? A Study of Social Agents in the Phenomenology of Delusions
Abstract. Introduction: Delusions frequently involve strong beliefs about, or interactions with, illusory social agents. Although such agents have been systematically described in hallucinations, few ...
karger.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:56 AM
New from us, led by the fantastic @elisavetpappa.bsky.social:
Who Are People with Psychosis Delusional about? A Study of Social Agents in the Phenomenology of Delusions karger.com/psp/article/...
Who Are People with Psychosis Delusional about? A Study of Social Agents in the Phenomenology of Delusions karger.com/psp/article/...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
"Language models cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact"
NO SHIT SHERLOCK / NATURE MACHINE INTELLIGENCE!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
cc @melaniemitchell.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social
NO SHIT SHERLOCK / NATURE MACHINE INTELLIGENCE!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
cc @melaniemitchell.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social
Language models cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact - Nature Machine Intelligence
Suzgun et al. find that current large language models cannot reliably distinguish between belief, knowledge and fact, raising concerns for their use in healthcare, law and journalism, where such disti...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
"Language models cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact"
NO SHIT SHERLOCK / NATURE MACHINE INTELLIGENCE!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
cc @melaniemitchell.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social
NO SHIT SHERLOCK / NATURE MACHINE INTELLIGENCE!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
cc @melaniemitchell.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Do parents exaggerate the pronunciation of words they believe their infants don’t know yet? Our new paper suggests no. ❌ w/ @julienmayor.bsky.social & @nataliakartushina.bsky.social 🧵 1/ #DevSci #langsky #devpsy
APA PsycNet
dx.doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Do parents exaggerate the pronunciation of words they believe their infants don’t know yet? Our new paper suggests no. ❌ w/ @julienmayor.bsky.social & @nataliakartushina.bsky.social 🧵 1/ #DevSci #langsky #devpsy
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
🚨 New paper out in the European Journal of Social Psychology!
Across one study using aggregated nation-level data and four preregistered experiments, we examined how freedom of speech within a society influences belief in conspiracy theories.
Across one study using aggregated nation-level data and four preregistered experiments, we examined how freedom of speech within a society influences belief in conspiracy theories.
The Impact of Freedom of Speech on Conspiracy Beliefs
Conspiracy beliefs are often portrayed as a threat to democracies. However, less is known about the extent to which the state of democracy may affect conspiracy beliefs. Hence, we investigated the im...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
🚨 New paper out in the European Journal of Social Psychology!
Across one study using aggregated nation-level data and four preregistered experiments, we examined how freedom of speech within a society influences belief in conspiracy theories.
Across one study using aggregated nation-level data and four preregistered experiments, we examined how freedom of speech within a society influences belief in conspiracy theories.
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Thanks to @theguardian.com for this spotlight on "paradoxical insomnia".
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
You were asleep but swear you weren’t: what is paradoxical insomnia?
We don’t always know when we’re asleep or awake. This can affect how rested we feel
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Thanks to @theguardian.com for this spotlight on "paradoxical insomnia".
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
I wrote a thing on episodic memory and systems consolidation. I hope you all enjoy it and/or find it interesting.
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
Episodic memories are highly dynamic and change in nonlinear ways over time. This dynamism is not captured by existing systems consolidation theories …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:56 PM
I wrote a thing on episodic memory and systems consolidation. I hope you all enjoy it and/or find it interesting.
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
A neural state space for episodic memories
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#neuroskyence #psychscisky #cognition 🧪
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Prochaine lecture, motivée par mille raisons :
- culture visuelle et mise en série
- l'objet editorial et sa mise en page (les éditions Anamosa 🥰).
- j'ai beaucoup aimé le précédent livre de Bert et Lamy, Voir les savoirs
- culture visuelle et mise en série
- l'objet editorial et sa mise en page (les éditions Anamosa 🥰).
- j'ai beaucoup aimé le précédent livre de Bert et Lamy, Voir les savoirs
November 2, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Prochaine lecture, motivée par mille raisons :
- culture visuelle et mise en série
- l'objet editorial et sa mise en page (les éditions Anamosa 🥰).
- j'ai beaucoup aimé le précédent livre de Bert et Lamy, Voir les savoirs
- culture visuelle et mise en série
- l'objet editorial et sa mise en page (les éditions Anamosa 🥰).
- j'ai beaucoup aimé le précédent livre de Bert et Lamy, Voir les savoirs
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
It feels very appropriate that my article, A New Satanic Panic, 36 Yale J. L. & Feminism 102 (2025) has appeared on Westlaw on Halloween. Seems like a good time to do a thread on the piece!
SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Westlaw: www.westlaw.com/Document/Idc...
SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Westlaw: www.westlaw.com/Document/Idc...
A New Satanic Panic
<p>A broad backlash to LGBTQ visibility and equality has emerged in recent years. Its conservative proponents have asserted that queer people are Satanic, calle
papers.ssrn.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM
It feels very appropriate that my article, A New Satanic Panic, 36 Yale J. L. & Feminism 102 (2025) has appeared on Westlaw on Halloween. Seems like a good time to do a thread on the piece!
SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Westlaw: www.westlaw.com/Document/Idc...
SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Westlaw: www.westlaw.com/Document/Idc...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
Excited to see our research highlighted in @psychscience.bsky.social Observer!
With @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social , and Thomas Dheilly, we explored how people infer others’ knowledge: even from a single answer, they can estimate how much someone knows about a topic!
With @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social , and Thomas Dheilly, we explored how people infer others’ knowledge: even from a single answer, they can estimate how much someone knows about a topic!
Unearthing the Nature of Knowing
Research reveals how people process information, how they acquire—and sometimes reject—knowledge, and how that compares to artificial intelligence systems’ abilities to do the same.
www.psychologicalscience.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Excited to see our research highlighted in @psychscience.bsky.social Observer!
With @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social , and Thomas Dheilly, we explored how people infer others’ knowledge: even from a single answer, they can estimate how much someone knows about a topic!
With @oliviermorin.bsky.social , @hugoreasoning.bsky.social , and Thomas Dheilly, we explored how people infer others’ knowledge: even from a single answer, they can estimate how much someone knows about a topic!
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
My new paper has just been published online in @journalphp.bsky.social!
Popperian animals and instrumental reasoning: Philosophical Psychology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Popperian animals and instrumental reasoning: Philosophical Psychology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Popperian animals and instrumental reasoning: Philosophical Psychology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access
Browse all journals
www.tandfonline.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM
My new paper has just been published online in @journalphp.bsky.social!
Popperian animals and instrumental reasoning: Philosophical Psychology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Popperian animals and instrumental reasoning: Philosophical Psychology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
"only about 5% of the variance in personality can be
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
The (In)Effectiveness of Psychological Targeting: A Meta‐Analytic Review
The use of psychological targeting—employing machine learning to predict consumer personality from digital footprints and subsequently tailoring persuasive messages—has emerged as a controversial yet...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM
"only about 5% of the variance in personality can be
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
predicted from digital footprints, and personality‐tailored messages show negligible effects on behavior... When design and evaluation flaws are controlled, the combined end‐to‐end effectiveness of psychological targeting approaches zero."
Reposted by Sebastian Dieguez
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur.... Avec Camille Lakhlifi !! osf.io/preprints/ps... @institutducerveau.bsky.social
Sciences cognitives : les médecins se font-ils trop confiance ?
Les médecins prennent chaque jour des décisions complexes dans un contexte de stress, de fatigue et d’incertitude. Dans ce contexte, comment les médecins peuvent-ils évaluer la fiabilité de leurs prop...
www.radiofrance.fr
October 31, 2025 at 7:45 AM
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur.... Avec Camille Lakhlifi !! osf.io/preprints/ps... @institutducerveau.bsky.social