mneme @mneme@qoto.org

@freemo (Part 2/2) I've not done much research beyond varations on such searches, so I do apologise if I'm somehow missing widespread agreement amongst biologists that bee populations are fine. I'm just arguing on the basis that, your toot seemed to contradict both commonly held knowledge and my extremely rudimentary literature survey! :)

@freemo When I was surprised by your initial claim I searched on Google Scholar to see if published literature agreed. Eg Search for "bumblebee population": Of 10 results 4 mention decline, none say steady or increasing. Of particular note: "Patterns of widespread decline in North American bumble bees" published in PNAS: "We show that the relative abundances of four species have declined by up to 96% and that their surveyed geographic ranges have contracted by 23–87%, some within the last 20 y"

My American teammates all claimed to be out of the office due to Thanksgiving, but still seem to be replying even to non-urgent e-mails. I feel partly sad that they deserve a break but clearly can't stop. And partly annoyed that it creates pressure that I should do the same on my holidays.

@freemo Of course. I'm not really saying that it's bad that there are farmed bees. I'm saying that I'm not convinced that the abundance of human managed bees contradicts the narrative that bees are in trouble (especially given the evidence that non-human managed bees are in sharp decline). If an ecosystem is only working because humans are propping it up, we should be worried.

This podcast about #meditation and related topics is always interesting, but this weeks discussion with #ai researcher Joscha Bach is particularly good. https://deconstructingyourself.com/podcast/dy-029-what-can-ai-tell-us-about-the-human-mind-with-joscha-bach

@freemo I think honeybee population have not declined for the same reason that chicken populations have not declined: they are mostly farmed and managed by humans. Wild bees are a different story: http://www.pnas.org/content/108/2/662.short

Is the #ukgov finally going to fall apart today? Looks like a lot of people are rooting for that, but it's not clear to me how it helps achieve their #brexit aims.

Currently only animated by a heady cocktail of pseudo-ephedrine, dextromethorphan, paracetamol and caffeine.

@ElfLord That's most the ingredients of a hot toddy! Great for sore throats. Just need to add some cinnamon.

Well done #uspol. Maybe you are not quite as stupid as you look. Still, we'll be keeping a close eye on you.

@muninn It's very charitable of you to assume that high-school scaremongering about drugs would be based on a dubious studies in rats. I'd be inclined to assume that it was most likely made up on the spot. :)

Reckless believing is a hazard to you, and those around you.
https://aeon.co/ideas/believing-without-evidence-is-always-morally-wrong
#philosophy #epistemology #ethics

How #scifi author Greg Egan and an unknown 4-chan poster advanced a tricky problem in combinatorics.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/sci-fi-writer-greg-egan-and-anonymous-math-whiz-advance-permutation-problem-20181105/
#mathematics

Dear US. Please don't screw-up the election tomorrow. It's starting to feel like you might not get another opportunity, if you do. The rest of the world is counting on you. #uspol #midterms

Monday morning is the day of my weekly #meditation on the sound of the dustbin men doing their pickups in my neighbourhood. I don't remember which sutta the Buddha describes it in, but it's an exercise in advanced equanimity. which I don't also do well at.