@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

NicoleCRust

@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social

Professor (UPenn). Brain researcher. Author (nonfiction). Advocate for community based progress & collective intelligence.

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NicoleCRust, to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

How do you pack a 95K word (nonfiction) book into a 40 minute talk?

How many words are in 40 minutes? My estimate is 4-5K. That's ~20-fold compression. Something like half of 1 (of 10) chapters in the book.

Obviously you don't just read off the first half of the first chapter. But an outline of all of it is also super unsatisfying; it needs more depth than that. Clearly you present the central thesis and why it matters. But what to support it? This is a problem I've never encountered before. Not yet sure how to wrap my head around it.

Any advice? Any pointers to book talks you love?

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@aram
Helpful - thank you!

NicoleCRust, (edited ) to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

Podcast: this one is so good. True story. Female spy. Comes close to assassinating Hitler. Contemplates murdering her childhood nanny to keep things under wraps. All the while completely underestimated because she was a she & a mom. And a love story that follows from a marriage for a passport to boot.

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-mom-who-stole-the-blueprints-for-the-atomic-bomb/

nadege, to random French
@nadege@neuromatch.social avatar

Here is Sophia, a short-skirted high-heeled young researcher and the hero of the OSF tutorial video, enjoying her lab meeting 7 minutes into the tutorial... I'll never get tired of female scientists' representations.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@nadege
Sigh โ€ฆ

NicoleCRust, (edited ) to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

Another great @PessoaBrain salon: ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐˜†๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€?

Neuroscience & Philosophy Salon discussion with Anneli Jefferson & @awaisaftab, plus @eikofried, Alexey Tolchinsky & yours truly ๐Ÿ˜Šโ€‹ chiming in.

Mar 21, 12pm US-east

Register here:
https://umd.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0vc-6hpjwoHt3QkJSC7gmndwYYUiaf5S2F#/registration

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@wikicliff
Thatโ€™s fair. Progress can happen via reconciling definitions (but itโ€™s a bit boring).

My read is that thereโ€™s more going on here. Especially with regard to the most promising investment in bio/psycho/social research going forward. By my count, there are 5ish clusters of positions in a high-D space. I encourage anyone so inclined to join in and decide with which cluster they best fit!

willbuckingham, to random
@willbuckingham@zirk.us avatar

Had a WhatsApp call last night from my mum (aged 87) and my niece (aged 18), who are travelling together by train through Thailand and Malaysia. They're having a blast, getting in and out of trouble, and it's just brilliant how much fun they are having.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@willbuckingham
I want to read this as a novel. Same adventure. These two sets of eyes.

axoaxonic, to random
@axoaxonic@synapse.cafe avatar

In this society that emphasizes competition and mastery to create value, so many people say you have to focus on one thing to be successful, but no one really says how to do that.. When I was younger I heard that advice, I decided to focus on neuroscience, but even within this field there's actually millions of potential things to focus on.

If anyone wants to share their method/s of deciding what to devote serious time to, feel free to reply

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@axoaxonic
Fascinating question.

I think value is to be found in many types: mile wide/inch deep; inch wide/mile deep; hedgehogs vs foxes; Michelangelo vs DaVinci.

Moreover, we canโ€™t deny our natures. To some extent, we just have to add value via what weโ€™re most drawn to.

But yes, youโ€™ll ultimately have to pick something to work on (as you canโ€™t work on ALL the interesting things). Sometimes itโ€™s helpful to acknowledge when all the options before you are good. I like to call those champagne decisions. My favorite type!

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@axoaxonic
It sounds to me like you are well aligned and calibrated with a lot of possible futures, including a career in neuroscience!

tdverstynen, to random
@tdverstynen@neuromatch.social avatar

People may balk at the price, but I imagine that being a moose milker doesnโ€™t come with a long life expectancy.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/moose-cheese

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@tdverstynen
For sure! Maybe second only to mama grizzly bear cheese?

davidtoddmccarty, to random
@davidtoddmccarty@me.dm avatar

As much as I struggle with a belief in a supernatural deity, Iโ€™m equally flummoxed by the complexity of life, especially the human brain, and the notion that itโ€™s a happy accident. No, an infinite string of happy accidents.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@davidtoddmccarty
Me too.

davidtoddmccarty, to random
@davidtoddmccarty@me.dm avatar

Itโ€™s a bit ironic, and slightly scary, that the big complaint about AI is that itโ€™s merely predictive, while our own brains, and the reality they create for us, are almost entirely predictive rather than real. Trying to think how to write about this.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@davidtoddmccarty
Tough one. Not exactly that topic, but this might provide some inspiration:

https://medium.com/@matthew.botvinick/have-we-lost-our-minds-86d9125bd803

NicoleCRust, to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

Declaration โค๏ธ ๐Ÿฆฃ

Finally updated my website (that was overdue!). And declared to the world that yโ€™all are my favorites.

https://www.nicolerust.com/

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@jonny
Thank you! Means more than you know.

vbuendiar, to random
@vbuendiar@fediscience.org avatar

So yesterday night I wrote down my thoughts of . In case you are interested, you can find them here: https://victorseven.github.io/2024/03/cosyne2024

If the post it's too long for you, the short version would be: it was great but I want better sandwiches at the lunch break and stronger philosophy in the panel discussion :)

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@vbuendiar
Thanks for this! Wonderful takes here.

NicoleCRust, (edited ) to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

Brain and mind researchers of all types: I hope you'll join this conversation at Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (August 6-9, Boston).

There, I'll be zooming out to 40,000 feet to inspire discussion around the question: Why have we been learning so much about the brain and mind for so many decades, but our ability to treat its dysfunction has been so frustrated?

The answer to that question informs what I affectionately call the Grand Plan โ€” a description, in broad strokes, of how brain and mind researchers of all types plan to move from where we are now to societal benefits (including treating brain dysfunction).

I'm envisioning a community-centered conversation unlike any I've seen before; because it's unusual, I unpack it here:
https://www.nicolerust.com/grandplan

I'm grateful to the CCN organizers for providing an opportunity for this. I hope you'll join in!

https://2024.ccneuro.org/

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@PessoaBrain
They have a long history of that, so I imagine so! I certainly wonโ€™t hold that back.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@jonny
Insightful! I appreciate the point you make here.

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@hosford42
I hear you and recognize this issue. In my book, the stories of individuals with a wide variety of diagnoses are elevated (often firsthand accounts). There are so many dimensions to these issues.

NicoleCRust, (edited ) to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

On our recent conversations about opt-in polls ....

An alarming poll last December suggested Holocaust denial was widespread. Pew research followed it up with questions like, "Are you licensed to drive a nuclear submarine?" (Answer: No one is). The answer: 12% of certain edit: self reported to be (but suspected not really to be) demographics say yes. And that demographic matched up with those that polled as Holocaust deniers.

They conclude that (big surprise?) we need to be careful when interpreting the results of opt-in polls.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/05/online-opt-in-polls-can-produce-misleading-results-especially-for-young-people-and-hispanic-adults/

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

To be clear: that Holocaust denial is happening at all, that's horrible. This post simply speaks to how incredibly tricky it is to measure the degree.

jonny, to random
@jonny@neuromatch.social avatar

Can you imagine being a boss and trying and get someone back to work after having a baby. Anything aside from "holy shit you just had a goddamn baby go ahead and do whatever forever" is just unimaginable behavior to me

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@neuralreckoning @jonny
I second this nomination.

elduvelle, to academia
@elduvelle@neuromatch.social avatar

Is it common that US universities donโ€™t pay their faculty for 3 months every year? Whatโ€™s up with that ๐Ÿค”

NicoleCRust, (edited )
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@jonny @neuralreckoning @elduvelle
Yes, this is approximately (but not 100%) true. The rationale behind it (not advocating for it, just explaining) is that you need to do something that pays your salary. If you do get a 9 months salary, you probably do so because you teach (tuition paying individuals). Typically you only engage in that 9 months a year (and you spend the other 3 doing research).

Medical school faculty don't teach; instead, they draw the bulk of their salary from grants. But not 100%, because they do participate in service. It ranges from ~60-90%. If you ask the money guys at a university, they'll tell you that they barely break even with grants (including overhead); if the salary isn't going to come from there, from where then? Of course for clinicians this is a different story (they provide a bankable service).

Someone with a 9 month salary can draw those extra 3 months from research grants as well (if that's what they are doing those 3 months).

There are other things that you can engage in that also cover those extra 3 months (like admin such as serving as department chair, etc).

NicoleCRust, to random
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

Gratitude to Kay Tye at Cosyne.

"Raise your hand if you or someone you know experienced sexual harassment or misconduct .... next time you are asked this question, you can all raise your hand because you know me ..."

Wisdom and grace- this talk is full of it.

https://youtu.be/Tr97HwgQ9ik?t=4549

NicoleCRust,
@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social avatar

@manisha
๐Ÿซถ. And gratitude to you and everyone involved.

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