There's a side question of whether learning a skilled craft - any craft - teaches us that the world *can* be reshaped, and what people learn from a world where everything is presented as a final product
I guess what I'm getting at is that the products of expertise can be mass-produced, but not expertise itself.
So devaluation of 'the human touch' really does reduce the availability of human hands with the skills needed to shape the world
Science and innovation depend on a level of facility to create new, custom-tailored objects, analytical tools, organizational structures, etc that the logic of off-the-rack industrial-scale solutions doesn't support
The range of scientific inquiry is limited by what knowledge exists to be built on.
The edge has always pushed against *empirical* knowledge (e.g. no x-ray imaging before we knew about x-rays) but I wonder whether we've entered an era where we'll have a second *tacit knowledge* based boundary
For instance, we used to have a scientific glassblower in the department who retired and, due to the rarity of the skill (and probably perceptions of its obsolescence), is not being replaced.
We were once able to design experiments that require custom glassware at no/low cost and now we can't.
De-skilling has come up a lot lately in the overlapping circles of craft, research, and innovation that I frequent.
The negative consequences of devaluing the abilities needed to apply knowledge aren't new, but I think they're starting to be felt in science and technology and that is kind of new
Returning to recommend this video (and series):
youtu.be/jQmxfzVaUIU?...
I think so. "The trick about white supremacy is that it functions without intention or consent..." is just as true for patriarchy, and probably for anytime someone in a systematically privileged class moves into spaces, skills, sciences or arts built by people disempowered by that same system
It’s tiring that we are increasingly stuck organizing our intellectual lives around arguing for the value of having an intellectual life
When I saw the news story about the girls school being bombed, one of my first thoughts was about how unlike American physics, Iranian physics is 50% women at the undergrad level and how some of those girls who had been murdered were going to be physicists one day
#Chemsky -- PhDs in Canada in chemistry--brief. Reskeets welcome.
🧵
Seeing that a lot of excellent US students are not receiving admission to PhD programs for...the obvious reasons...I want to make sure mentors, students, and advisors are aware that Canada might still be an option. 1/n
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University is hiring a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Biochemistry beginning July 1, 2026. Applications will be accepted until March 9, 2026 | 11:59pm. For more info: careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo... @chemjobber.bsky.social
Applications for Science Meets Parliament Ontario and BC are being accepted until December 20, 2025!
SMP Ontario: sciencepolicy.ca/programs/science-meets-p...
SMP BC: sciencepolicy.ca/programs/science-meets-p...
#SciParlON2025 wouldn’t be possible without the support of our incredible sponsors! 👏 #SciParlON2025 ne serait pas possible sans le soutien de nos incroyables partenaires !
Thank you, Royal Military College of Canada! Merci, Collège militaire royal du Canada !
sciencepolicy.ca/programs/sci...
Thinking a lot about moral integrity this weekend (coincidentally, voting opened in Canada).
From @theradr.bsky.social:
"We must not just seek just goals ... we have to get there by striving to be the people we're supposed to be, every single step of the way."
www.lifeisasacredtext.com/pursue/
This easy letter writing tool by @e4dca.bsky.social lets you contact all your local candidates to ask them to commit to protecting and promoting science in Canada!
Take one minute to help put science on the radar this election 👇 #elxn45 #CdnPoli #CdnSci 🧪 🇨🇦
Let’s give this starter pack business a go! Here are (mostly) 🇨🇦 accounts I follow for science policy. Will continuously update! #scipol 🧪
go.bsky.app/UMLZfh5
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University invites applications for a Tenure Track faculty position at the Assistant Professor level in Physical Chemistry. Applications will be accepted until March 28th, 2025. #chemjobs
careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo...
Completely condemn the highly disappointing decision by @acs.org to take down and then amend their pages on Diversity, equity, and inclusion - www.acs.org/about/divers... - this is not what #RealTimeChem stands for.
Who runs the ACS? Is it a member-run organization that serves that membership. Or is it a money making publishing house.
This move does real damage to the profession. This move does real damage to my colleagues and peers and trainees and our future chemists.
Grow a spine @acs.org
#ChemTogether.
Forever.
#RealTimeChem #ChemSky #Chemistry
Besides showing basic respect for human dignity, active inclusion and equal recognition of diverse standpoints work to correct long-standing social failures that sabotage science and scholarship.
Attacks on inclusion must be met as attacks on the fundamental mission of higher learning.
My piece in the Hill Times today is relevant to the challenges Canada is facing in this new version of North America.
Yes, the immediate issue with tariffs is the threat to our economy/trade. But the solutions are not just economic.
www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
Science is political. It wouldn't necessarily have to be partisan.
But when one party is opposed to science-based policy, scientists have a choice between saying "you're right, thoughts and prayers are probably as effective as reducing carbon emissions" or saying "fuck that."
I keep thinking about what might have happened if people had listened to Patricia Williams, Charles Lawrence, Mari Matsuda, Gary Peller, Jonathan Kahn, and other actual critical race theorists about the shift away from racial justice towards diversity as a framework
medium.com/space-anthro...
Registration for the 16th Canadian Chemical Crystallography Workshop is open! Taking place immediately after #CSC2025 in Ottawa. For more information, including general topics and suggestions for accommodations, check out our website: xtallography.ca/index.php/xt...
Hundreds. Love everything these two touch.
"You do not need a weird evil machine for that, go make a friend" is a great response to most llm applications, really.
Oh my but this looks beautiful
Having now scanned the Wikipedia article, I can see why the experience might put you in mind of postmortem suffering.