Sr. Tech PM building tools and distributed research networks for drug safety; Occasional Data Witch; 🚴🏻🏃🏻⛷️ Former goatherd & Data Ethics @HHI_Signal. Director of Human Alignment and Sin Eater, @skywatch.blue
Sr. Tech PM building tools and distributed research networks for drug safety; Occasional Data Witch; 🚴🏻🏃🏻⛷️ Former goatherd & Data Ethics @HHI_Signal. Director of Human Alignment and Sin Eater, @skywatch.blue
Both are scotch-based cocktails — scotch is their shared primary ingredient.
The NYT article is a journalistic report covering this original study published in Primates (A synthesis of evidence for heterospecific social behavior in primates). The NYT piece explains/communicates the study's findings to a general audience.
Both are part of Project CETI's research on deciphering sperm whale communication. This paper introduces the CDEV method (latent space exploration + causal inference) for analyzing how sperm whale codas encode information, while the coda vowels paper examines how codas pattern like human vowels phonologically.
A short blog post explaining the labeler relay
My Experience with Leverage Research
I was part of Leverage/Paradigm from 2017–2019. This is a description of my time there.
The Inside Story Of Leverage Research 1.0
Between 2011-2019, Leverage Research explored the deep psychology of Effective Altruism and Silicon Valley, then suddenly dissolved among rumors of "demons." What happened?
The Effective Altruism Kids Aren’t Alright
On sexual violence, Slutcon, and what happens when children take on adult responsibilities.
Further Notes on Rape Culture in AI Social Circles
On the Red Means No rape-roleplay party and how it relates to AI/safetyist culture.
How a fringe AI movement convinced Washington the end is near
Activists spent years cultivating allies on Capitol Hill. Now lawmakers in both major parties are discussing human extinction.
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
Nathalie Maréchal asks, why are we betting the economy and the future of democracy on cult-like beliefs?
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
Nathalie Maréchal asks, why are we betting the economy and the future of democracy on cult-like beliefs?
The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate
Podcast Episode · The Daily · September 18 · Subscribers Only · 34m
The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate
Podcast Episode · The Daily · September 18 · Subscribers Only · 34m
How a fringe AI movement convinced Washington the end is near
Activists spent years cultivating allies on Capitol Hill. Now lawmakers in both major parties are discussing human extinction.
For years, they warned AI could kill all humans. Now people are listening.
A doomsaying community once on the periphery of the tech industry has gained influence, as AI “agents” perform amazing and alarming feats.
How a fringe AI movement convinced Washington the end is near
Activists spent years cultivating allies on Capitol Hill. Now lawmakers in both major parties are discussing human extinction.
Effective Altruism Has a Hostile Culture for Women, Critics Say
Seven women connected to effective altruism tell TIME they experienced harassment and worse within the community
CEA's response to sexual harassment
In this piece, I discuss the sexual harassment I experienced at the Centre for Effective Altruism, the organisation’s response, the outcomes of two i…
Don Lockwood Old-Fashioned Cocktail Recipe | PUNCH
This easy whiskey cocktail recipe riffs on the Old-Fashioned with bourbon, Scotch, maple syrup, chocolate and Angostura bitters.
Pantheon Scotch Whisky Cocktail Recipe | PUNCH
The Pantheon is a cocktail recipe combining Scotch whisky, Bénédictine and fresh lemon juice that originated in Tokyo, Japan.
Further Notes on Rape Culture in AI Social Circles
On the Red Means No rape-roleplay party and how it relates to AI/safetyist culture.
CEA's response to sexual harassment
In this piece, I discuss the sexual harassment I experienced at the Centre for Effective Altruism, the organisation’s response, the outcomes of two i…
Effective Altruism Is a Dangerous Cult — Here's Why
Understanding the "Scientology of Silicon Valley." (7,700 words)
Effective Altruism Has a Hostile Culture for Women, Critics Say
Seven women connected to effective altruism tell TIME they experienced harassment and worse within the community
Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults?
There’s a lot to like about the Rationalist community, but they do have a certain tendency to spawn — shall we say — high demand groups. We sent a card-carrying Rat to investigate what’s really going on.
The Zizians and the Rationalist death cults
What is the deal with Rationalism and cults?
Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults?
There’s a lot to like about the Rationalist community, but they do have a certain tendency to spawn — shall we say — high demand groups. We sent a card-carrying Rat to investigate what’s really going on.
The Inside Story Of Leverage Research 1.0
Between 2011-2019, Leverage Research explored the deep psychology of Effective Altruism and Silicon Valley, then suddenly dissolved among rumors of "demons." What happened?
Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults?
There’s a lot to like about the Rationalist community, but they do have a certain tendency to spawn — shall we say — high demand groups. We sent a card-carrying Rat to investigate what’s really going on.
Humans Love Having Pets. Seems Like Some Other Primates Do, Too.
We aren’t the only animals that like to take care of other species. A new study finds that the roots of keeping a pet may stretch deep into our primate past.
Heterospecific social behavior in primates: insights into the evolutionary roots of pet-keeping
Primate interspecific interactions with both other primates and non-primate species range from predator–prey dynamics to affiliative behaviors such as grooming, play, and carrying. While many primates participate in interspecific associations or commensal relationships, to our knowledge interspecific social interactions have never been systematically synthesized. Here, we present the first comprehensive review of such interactions, compiling 427 cases from the literature, media sources, and a global survey of primatologists. These involved 88 primate species and 127 non-primate species (including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, malacostracans, and insects) across wild (n = 311) and captive (n = 111) contexts. The most frequent interactions occurred within or between primate families (e.g., Cercopithecidae–Cercopithecidae, Cebidae–Atelidae), though affiliative behaviors were also directed toward distantly related taxa such as dogs and birds. Play (n = 139) and grooming (n = 136) were most common. Juveniles and infants predominantly engaged in play, while adult females were more likely to groom. Adult males were less affiliative overall. Contrary to expectations, affiliative behaviors were not more often directed toward immature than adult heterospecifics. Primates were the initiators in most interactions. These findings offer new insights into the diversity and contexts of heterospecific sociality in primates and suggest that some behavioral tendencies relevant to later forms of human–animal companionship – such as caregiving, tolerance, and exploratory play – may be more widespread among primates than previously recognized.
Approaching an unknown communication system by latent space exploration and causal inference | Royal Society Open Science | The Royal Society
Abstract. We propose a methodology for discovering meaningful properties in data without ground truth by combining manipulation of the latent variables of
The phonology of sperm whale coda vowels | Proceedings B | The Royal Society
Abstract. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) communicate using series of clicks known as codas. In previous research, sperm whale codas have been shown
Labeler Relay
A tool for finding atproto labelers, aggregating their data, and rebroadcasting a unified event stream.
skywatch-bsky/labeler-relay
A relay which discovers and aggregates Bluesky labelers com.atproto.label.subscribeLabels
