On academic prose ...
Following writing a book that I hope will be accessible to all (but also interesting to my academic colleagues), I'm having a hard time switching back to academic writing style as I dive back in. I'm struggling with: How much do I need to? Maybe that's just a really bad way to write.
For instance, compare:
Mood is a continuous, ever-present feeling characterized by states like happiness, sadness, anxiousness, and calmness. It is often differentiated from emotions in that emotions are targeted at something specific (such as, "I am disgusted by rotting garbage") whereas we are not always aware of what drives our moods โ likely because mood reflects an integration of events that include both external experiences as well as internal physiological states like hunger and hormone fluctuations.
With:
Mood is an affective state typically defined in terms of its slow timescale, integrative properties, and contextual modulation.
Anyone can understand the first; the second is more opaque. But the second is more compact; spelling things out requires space.
Insights appreciated!
I'm looking for papers that *map individual differences in behavior onto neural data*. Like this one by Valeria Fascianelli, Stefano Fusi ++. Any type of creature; any type of mapping. Know any?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50503-w
This is remarkable. How do we talk about [and research] heavy things with the empathetic grace they deserve while also taking responsibility for contributing something valuable AND not self destructing?
Ed Yongโs advice.
How did John Hopfield decide to work on the topic that led to his Nobel Prize?
"I was now looking for A PROBLEM, not a problem ... How mind emerges from brain is to me the deepest question posed by our humanity. Definitely A PROBLEM."
More here:
The solution:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.79.8.2554
"In the model network each "neuron" has elementary properties, and the network has little structure. Nonetheless, collective computational properties spontaneously arose."
Incredible talk today by
@npub18rdr...efux about the development of a new treatment for severe depression. At Penn, we had all read and discussed the work.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06541-3
But seeing Chris present it was next-level. Iโm walking away in awe and inspired.
So excited to change my profile from "Writing a book" (which has been up since I joined the Furry Elephant movement in Dec 2022) to include a link to that very book.
Wow - this feeling!
