The NSF AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI) seeks Postdoctoral Research Fellows. Fellows will be based at @Columbia, NYC, but can work with ARNI researchers at multiple institutions. More info: arni-institute.org

Well, they did it. eLife fired Michael Eisen. Absolutely outrageous. The bounds of allowed thought tighten. Any criticism of Israel is out of bounds. A new McCarthyism, except instead of communists under the bed, it's people who think it matters both when Israelis are slaughtered AND when Palestinians are slaughtered. And many, many in the academic community, seeing this, are afraid to speak, especially those without tenure, & even w/ tenure especially those from Middle Eastern countries other than Israel. How easily they can be slandered as anti-semitic should they speak.

Please sign our petition calling for this *not* to happen, and to defend academic freedom: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI

Scientists in life/neuro sciences: defend academic freedom. Sign our petition to eLife/HHMI saying Michael Eisen should not be censured for expressing his political opinions. Can be anonymous.

A chill is setting into academia. Many, especially without tenure, are afraid to express their opinions on the situation in Israel/Gaza. The leading edge of this chill has been the attacks on Eisen. Whatever your personal opinion, defend academic freedom by signing this petition.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI

Open letter to HHMI and eLife, in defense of free expression

To the Board of Directors, eLife and Erin O’Shea, President, HHMI: We, the undersigned life scientists, are writing to express our view that Professor Michael Eisen's social media posts should not be grounds for removing him as eLife editor or otherwise censuring him by HHMI. Eisen posted on twitter an article in The Onion satirizing the view that people should not be allowed to criticize Israeli actions until they first criticize Hamas. Our opinion is not based on the merits (or lack thereof) of Eisen’s views. Rather, we believe that censuring Eisen would create a chilling effect on freedom of expression in academia. To be clear, there are contexts in which it may be entirely appropriate to remove people from positions of leadership for their views -- even when those views are expressed in their role as private individuals and are otherwise within the bounds of the law. We can think of at least three such contexts. One is when a leader’s views are antithetical to the value or mission of the organization (e.g., thus a gun control lobby might remove a spokesperson who conveyed support for the NRA, and the NRA might remove someone who advocated for gun control). Another instance is when the leaders’ views reflect poorly on their professionalism or undermine their ability to do their job effectively. This is the case when the views suggest ignorance or poor judgment on issues that ought to be within their professional purview, or are explicitly disrespectful of superiors, colleagues or subordinates within an organization. A final context is when the views are hate speech: abusive and pejorative language based on people's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. In short, we believe that organizations have broad license to ensure that the professional and social mission of their institution is not undermined by individuals who are the public face of that organization. It is another matter entirely when individuals might be removed for positions of leadership for expressing views that are a) independent of the mission or values of the organization; b) play no role in the individual's area of professional expertise; c) do not cast doubt on their professional qualifications; d) do not bad mouth other individuals in their organization, and e) are not hate speech. This is the context in which Michael Eisen may be asked to step down from his editorial position. This possibility is aligned with a culture of fear, intolerance and political repression. The spectre of losing positions of authority for questioning government policies has no place in a democracy, let alone within academia. This is especially egregious in this instance because the threat to remove Eisen from his role is directly contrary to the mission and values of both eLife and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (a funder and founding member of the journal). The journal eLife is "committed to create a future where a diverse, global community of scientists and researchers shares open and trusted results for the benefit of the greater good" and HHMI writes in its mission statement: "We embed equity and inclusion into our vision of scientific excellence". It should go without saying that forcing scientists out of leadership positions because they express opposition to government policies is not equitable, inclusive, committed to a diverse, global community, or in the interest of the greater good. It's already apparent that a move to displace Eisen from his role will have ramifications beyond eLife and HHMI. Many of us have received private communications from graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members working at institutions in the USA describing the vulnerability they feel either because they support Palestinian human rights, or because of their Middle Eastern ethnic backgrounds. Many of them have mentioned the backlash against Eisen as a primary reason for their fears. For example, one trainee wrote: “after seeing what happened to Michael Eisen I am extremely worried about my career trajectory and future in the United States...I don’t feel safe as a Middle Eastern neuroscientist in the United States.” An Iranian faculty member commented that he left Iran for the US so that he could speak openly, but now finds himself unable to speak openly even in the US. The right to express dissenting views is a cornerstone of our intellectual mission as scientists and citizens. Open debate in this country should never include promotion of violence, but it must allow the articulation of views that make some people uncomfortable. Censuring Eisen for expressing views uncomfortable to some would ally eLife and HHMI with one side of an ongoing political issue, create a chilling effect on open debate in American academia, and risk ushering in a new wave of McCarthy-esque targeting of peace activists. We urge eLife, HHMI, and other American academic institutions, not to censure Eisen or other scientists articulating legitimate (i.e. non-violent) political opinions. To do so harms the reputation of these institutions, places at particular risk the careers of junior scientists of diverse faiths and backgrounds, and undermines the free exchange of ideas necessary for scientific discovery. (The undersigned include many junior colleagues who are afraid of retribution for expressing their opinions, so they have signed anonymously. This in itself speaks volumes) Nancy Kanwisher, Professor, MIT Josh Dubnau, Professor, Stony Brook School of Medicine. Ken Miller, Professor of Neuroscience, Columbia University Mayank Mehta, Professor and Director of the Center for Physics of Life, UCLA Peter Sterling Professor of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania University of Pennysylvania Bence Ölveczky, Professor, Harvard Alfonso Caramazza, Professor, Harvard University Bevil Conway Michael Shadlen MD, PhD, Professor, Columbia University Anthony Zador, Professor, CSHL John W. Krakauer, Professor, Johns Hopkins University Joshua Tenenbaum, Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Laura Schulz, Professor of Cognitive Science, Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, MIT Grace Lindsay, Assistant Professor, New York UniversityAnonymous, professor, University of Bristol Maxine Sherman, Lecturer, University of Sussex Sebastiaan Mathôt, assistant professor, University of Groningen Suhasa Kodandaramaiah Pandelis Perakakis, Associate Professor of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid Adam Buchwald, Professor, NYU Anonymous graduate student Anonymous, Postdoc, Harvard University Alexis Makin, Dr, University of Liverpool Anonymous, Graduate Student, Harvard University Miguel Arocena, associate professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay Ahlem Assali, PhD, ICM-Paris Brain Institute Adrian Bondy, postdoctoral research fellow, Princeton University Anonymous graduate student Panagiota Theodoni, PhD, graduate student in philosophy, University of Athens Rob Reinhart, associate professor, Boston university Scott Rennie, Post doctoral researcher, Champalimaud Research Lara Urban, Principal Investigator, Helmholtz Munich Vincent Bonin, Associate Professor, KU Leuven Anonymous Postdoc, University of Nottingham Giacomo Aldegheri, Postdoc, University of Amsterdam Anonymous graduate student, University of Pennsylvania Anonymous trainee, Yale University Anonymous grad student, University of Toronto Anonymous Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Anonymous Postdoc, Rockefeller University Anonymous assistant professor Ruth Rosenholtz Todd Gureckis Shaul Pollak, Group Leader, University of Vienna Anonymous graduate student, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig Hakwan Lau, Team Leader, RIKEN Center for Brain Science Candas Sert, Graduate student, Humboldt University of Berlin, Mind&Brain Institute Anonymous Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard Medical School Siddhartha Das, Dr, IIIT Hyderabad Anonymous, Postdoc, CEA Anonymous, Postdoc, Harvard University Anonymous Graduate student, University of Glasgow Anonymous Graduate student, Université Paris-Cité Devang Mehta, Assistant Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium Asif Bakshi Anonymous postdoc, UNC Chapel Hill Paul LaFosse, graduate student, University of Maryland College Park Sean Escola, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Anonymous PhD Student, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Anonymous Postdoc, UConn Mazen Al Borno, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus Konrad Kording, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Anonymous Faculty, Harvard Medical School

docs.google.com

New work with Alessandro Sanzeni, Agostina Palmigiano, Tuan Nguyen, Nicolas Brunel & others in Neuron:

Unveiling the Mechanisms Behind Reshuffling Visual Responses via Optogenetic Stimulation in Mice and Monkeys.

Ale's tweeprint: twitter.com/AlessandroSzeni/st
Author's share link (free access to Dec 9): authors.elsevier.com/a/1hyQd3B

Nominations are open (until May 11) for the Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, which is given either for lifetime contribution or for particularly noteworthy/impactful recent advances. Nominations encouraged! sfn.org/careers/awards/outstan

Terrible news, Chethan Pandarinath posted on Twitter that Krishna Shenoy has died. He had long been battling cancer. A huge leader in the field, developing BCI and unraveling motor cortical dynamics, and as kind, generous, and gentle a soul as you could hope to meet.

Does anyone have expertise in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and how effective it is, as opposed to more standard approaches or other approaches, for trauma w/ flashbacks and related symptoms? Need info for a family member. Thank you.

Ken Miller boosted

RT @NickKnudsenUS@twitter.com

Please amplify Susan’s request to @UHC@twitter.com. This needs more daylight.

UnitedHealthcare: one of your underwriters is handing Susan (@Perri4health@twitter.com) a death sentence by not covering her treatment, against the judgement of her oncologist.

Fix it now.

Signed,
Everyone with a conscience

🐦🔗: twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/stat

Ken Miller boosted

And based on what's happened the past 48 hours on Twitter... think forward

Imagine - say - Washington Post revealed abuse of workers at a Tesla plant in Shanghai

What would happen?

Would it be dealt with fairly? Now I really doubt it. The reporter(s) would get blocked, and links to the story flagged.

Twitter is no longer a reliable and predictable place for news and the first take on the news.

Ken Miller boosted

So @.joinmastodon got unbanned from Twitter.

This is the first tweet that they sent after the unbanning:

"As a company from eastern Germany, we know that building a wall to try and keep people from leaving isn't a good idea."

What a response!

Ken Miller boosted

UPDATE: The tweets by @TwitterSupport@twitter.com this morning, announcing a new policy banning linking to competing websites, have been deleted.

The policy itself was deleted from Twitter’s website.

Apparently Twitter has removed the tweets announcing the new no-links-to-outside-social-media policy and musk has said they will only be forbidding users that exist purely to promote alternate sites. He's also put up polls asking if they should allow such users and whether he should continue as ceo, sounds like he's planning to quit. So sounds like Mastodon links won't be coming down after all.

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Since twitter is now banning having mastodon usernames in your bio, they won't be in bios much longer. So this is a good time to take a last sweep through your followers with fedifinder, debirdify, and twitodon, all of which will find your twitter follows that list mastodon usernames in their bio. You can then output a csv file that you can then import to add anyone you're currently missing (to import, go to 'edit profile', 'export and import', 'import', and be sure to click 'merge' so it will merge these lists with your existing follows rather than replacing your existing follows.

Twitter's new screamingly antitrust-violating policy against linking to or providing your username on any other social media platform (including Mastodon). Illegal, but I doubt the Biden administration will challenge them. (And if they did, it would be a years-long legal battle, tho perhaps DOJ could win an early injunction.)

It's a good thing musk wasn't born in the United States. He'd be running for president, and he could out-trump trump

A few weeks ago I had a conversation on twitter with Florian Engert about whether activity plays a role in normal neural development, that some of you may have seen. Florian doesn't seem to be on mastodon. I just (after gap of several weeks) made what I think is a last response to Florian. Some of you might be no longer monitoring twitter yet be interested in this, so I thought I'd point to it here: twitter.com/kendmil/status/159

Ken Miller boosted

Now that #COSYNE2023 abstracts are in I want to announce a #CIFAR workshop on #cognition, #AI and #consciousness that will take place *the day before COSYNE* (March 8) here at #Mila.

consiousnessworkshop2023.mila.

We have a great line-up and registration is *free*!

Please boost!!!!!

With happening, two resources I've found:
(1) twitodon.com: register with them to link your twitter and mastodon accounts. Then it will find (and output an importable .csv of) the mastodon addresses of all of your twitter follows that have registered with them. The more of us that register, the better it works.
(2) fedifinder.glitch.me/: put your mastodon address in your twitter bio. Then fedifinder will find all your twitter follows (or followers, or lists) who have put their mastodon address in their twitter bio, and output a .csv of them as above.
(To import the csv: edit profile -> import and export -> import, and be sure that 'merge' is clicked.)

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Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.