grimalkina

grimalkina, 6 hours ago to random

I can't figure out if this is a good blogpost topic or not, but I've been thinking about how many conversations I see about human behavior in software overindex on like, differences between people* and not within-individual variation**

Overall malleability of our own traits and states over time is fascinating and underexplored in a very essentialist kind of culture***

• "all managers are like x"

** "some days I am like x and some days I am like y"

*** I find tech to be very essentialist

grimalkina, 8 hours ago to random

Small structured experiments designed the right way force organizations to do something very radical: pre-commit to the evidence that we agree would force a change.

grimalkina, 5 hours ago to random

What do you MEAN every single DAY I have to construct a sensory experience that works for me out of clothing 😭

grimalkina, 1 day ago to random

This kind of thing has been around the block for a bit -- the reality in my opinion is that "programming ability" is simply not something we've defined and possibly not a single thing. The many decades of interest in predicting programming ability have sometimes succeeded at pushing against our stereotypes that it is math associated (as this work), but "math ability" is ALSO a fraught measure. It's important to bring a lot of context to the prediction of ability...

https://fosstodon.org/@yabellini/112470616882303876

grimalkina, 1 day ago to random

This One Weird Trick (seeking to surround myself with people who choose bravery and kindness over box ticking that is easily legible to HR) has never let me down

grimalkina, 3 days ago to random

Being able to read science papers that explain some of my experience but knowing this science has not yet made its way into practice or been integrated into my healthcare is excruciating.

So in that way I understand the visceral reaction that people have sometimes to our social science in tech. It is really painful folks.

I hope we can all move forward with empathy and demand BOTH the science and the practice that we deserve. In so many parts of the world we need this.

grimalkina, 3 days ago to random

For me as a social scientist, being in tech is a constant experience of being really surprised at what so many people seem wildly certain about (organizing teams, contextless conversations about productivity that treat all individuals as interchangeable) and what people seem so wildly uncertain about (the possibility that there are often systematic patterns in human behavior we can learn from, the effect size of culture)

grimalkina, 3 days ago to random

Last night I was sitting on the couch having major lung issues wrapped in a blanket but enjoying ultra high def absolutely wild national geographic footage of mountains. I know there is so much that's so garbage fire in this world, but I am always so grateful for the creative humans who go out and do things like this and the entire creative process that brings this beautiful stuff to my living room when I feel bad. For most of history ill people have not had anything like this.

grimalkina, 6 days ago to random

The answer to "how can we make more technology work better and more for everyone" PROBABLY can't hinge on "individual software developers are responsible for knowing internalizing and perfectly executing every single thing in the world and perfectly understanding the needs of billions of people" eh?

grimalkina, 6 days ago to random

Being chronically ill is the worst but also occasionally breathtakingly funny like once I was having nerve pain and I was so so so scared and playing Sims to distract myself and then the Sims version of me (because I always play as myself because I am a wild narcissist who wants five rooftop pools) suddenly got immensely afraid of DEATH which was a moodlet I had zero idea existed

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

Pointed to this paper from a column on it: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4464593

Folks in dev psych and elsewhere often talk about girls being underconfident. But how rarely we frame in terms of boys' overconfidence.

"Across a range of countries, contexts, and domains, men have been found to exhibit higher degrees of confidence in their ability than women (Kay and Shipman, 2014). This phenomenon has been particularly salient in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)."

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

So I think this is a cool point too for those who are already trying to create good culture. Lots of people are interpersonally WARM, but not in a way that validates contributions and skills. In fact sometimes you can accidentally diminish contributions with warmth if the only way you've learned to say supportive things is very deprecating ("oh gosh we all make mistakes" is fine sometimes but if it's all someone hears?! Try "actually I saw that x was really good...")

https://blog.auengun.net/@gregdosh/statuses/01HYNKMHG0GCAP7NRFTN6JCX6Z

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

Great day to be reminded that when you are creative and different and innovative, most business structures will basically do everything they possibly can to suffocate that and stuff you into their pre-existing little well controlled boxes.

Intellectual and knowledge work is no protection in a world where the meritocracy of intellect is a distraction narrative.

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

Extremely typical of @analog_ashley that she is capable of giving a talk in a bar that's both a full stand-up comedy routine that has people shouting with laughter yet also teaching how to engage with open datasets in neuroscience

Lord do I wish tech conferences had more talks like this

Ashley stands in front of a large projector screen on stage at a small bar. She gestures expressively in front of a slide that shows a picture of a dopaminergic neuron. The neuron is shown on a phone as if it is a tinder profile and it is described as having the hobby of making others feel good and the toxic trait of making a lot of others feel good

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

I finished these absolutely delicious high waisted trousers in a sustainably sourced chocolate brown herringbone fabric with a slightly oversized but tapered fit and a sewed-down pleat that creates the most pleasing line from a deep side pocket and also the pocket lining is this stunning surprise red jacquard WITH. TINY. LADYBUGS. SEWN. INTO. IT.

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

By the way this is a great reason that research into what marginalized people experience and how they (brilliantly) navigate and craft meaningful connection in the face of adversity benefits ALL OF US. It's not just "bonus theory" or a "special topic" but can reveal fundamental social science that we can then work to apply and extend to many situations and cases (although of course very specifically does apply to these experiences in uniquely important ways)

https://blog.auengun.net/@gregdosh/statuses/01HYNM7QGKDSEV6K51232SRDRT

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

By the way just a general comment that if I only studied the things I liked and supported personally I wouldn't be much of a social scientist

grimalkina, 7 days ago to random

Hearing my wife telling a student that she remembers how scary it feels to lift a really expensive piece of equipment out of the box when you first work in a neuro lab 😭😭😭 THIS is the hidden curricula/the mentorship first gens and other underserved students need.

This is why inclusive STEM education matters and elevating STEM educators who genuinely have lived what their students go through matters.

grimalkina, 9 days ago (edited 9 days ago) to random

Well I'm finally reading this study and yah this is about as depressing as I thought it would be

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2818061

grimalkina, 9 days ago to random

Even though I'm not and will never be a software developer, I can't tell you how it has enriched my life with technology to understand and immediately think about developers so constantly, those who made what I encounter every day. When my texts work and when I get a security message and when I notice some feature I have this little ping of empathy & awareness that someone built that. It has un-alienated me from so much technology and I wish more people-who-aren't-developers felt this with me

grimalkina, 10 days ago to random

One of my favorite things about playing lever harp is that all my folk music books have "easy arrangement" on one side and "hard arrangement" on the other and I feel like more things in life should present us with that choice in our day

grimalkina, 10 days ago to random

This post made me feel like maybe I would consider allowing knowledge about Linux into my brain

https://kind.social/@PurpleJillybeans/112480588977913630

grimalkina, 10 days ago to random

We are trying to find/pick a place to stay for a few months for my wife's sabbatical and omg. We're not even going that far from home for that long and we are so stressed about it. How do people even do this.

grimalkina, 10 days ago to random

THIS is what scientists are like

https://jorts.horse/@nasamuffin/112476563602199433

grimalkina, 12 days ago to random

I have NOT read this paper yet so this is not a Cat endorsement yet but the title and premise is good enough to share 👀

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(24)00105-0