Well...this stinks! At least it waited until after the meeting...
Anyone have an idea what might be causing my custom #HSS23 feed to go haywire?
(In the short term, sorry about this, #histsci/#histSTM friends!)
After a superb time at #HSS23 (kudos to co-chairs @cethompson.bsky.social and @jaivirdi.com!) I’ve been exploring #Portland some more. Wonderful exhibits at Oregon Historical Society, a very fine sushi burrito, and a few choice autumnal colours!
I think this photo was taken right before @nickytheprof.bsky.social's Distinguished Lecture that was NOT about Harvey's ideas on the circulation of the blood. #HSS23
All the photos, etc of #hss23 made me reminisce about the first meeting I attended/presented. It was 1999 in Pittsburgh, and then 2001 in Denver, 2005 in Minneapolis and then a long hiatus until Utrecht more recently. I remember meeting Allen Debus and hearing Janice Neri speak. Christ, I am old.
And that’s a wrap for #HSS23!
Thanks to the @historyscience.bsky.social team (Fa-ti, J.P., Morgan, et al.), the program chairs (@jaivirdi.com & @cethompson.bsky.social) & everyone else who made this meeting so successful!
(And thanks to anyone following my Bsky commentary. I hope it was useful…)
A humorous moment during #HSS23: commentator @jdhamblin.bsky.social invoking Christopher Walken' style of speech during the Sunday session on sound and silence.
@mysdick.bsky.social concludes the session by asking the panelists to reflect on the ways that changing ideas about science were embedded in each of the projects under discussion.
#HSS23
An audience at a conference looking at the podium.
Thank you for the #HSS23 memories at @historyscience.bsky.social in Portland!!
Until next year in Mérida for #HSS100!!!
Lemov: Although the FB experiment has been examined in other contexts, there has been less attention to the various psychosocial tools used for emotional manipulation.
One such tool was Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (a.k.a., LIWC), a textual analysis software platform. #HSS23
Our final presenter is Rebecca Lemov, who is discussing Facebook’s 2012 Contagion Experiment, which involved subtle changes to ~700K users’ newsfeeds to manipulate people’s emotions.
(This story is part of her new book project on the history of brainwashing and mind control tech.) #HSS23
“It’s like a massive nuclear Choose Your Own Adventure…” -Joy Rohde highlights the labor-intensive rule-writing process that allowed RSAC analysts to claim that their system had captured the dynamics of human judgment.
#HSS23
Rohde: RSAC allowed analysts to pit two agents—Red (aka Ivan) & Blue (aka Sam)—who competed against each other and adapt to each other’s decisions.
Since it was uncertain how the USSR would respond, programmers created a wide range of Ivans w/varying levels of aggression, impulsivity, etc. #HSS23
Rhode describes various methods that military & civilian policymakers used to simulate crises, notably a “hard” quantitative systems analysis approach and “soft” politico-military role-playing games.
RSAC attempted to bridge the gap b/w the two, using AI to simulate US-USSR conflict. #HSS23
Next up on this #HSS23 panel is Kat Maxson Jones with "The “Bermuda Principles” for DNA Sequence Data Sharing, and How History Can Inform Science Policy Standards"
Our next speaker, Joy Rhode, is discussing the RSAC (RAND Strategic Assessment Center), a Pentagon effort to simulate political & military conflicts b/w US & USSR during the 1980s.
It attempted to capture how people “really thought”, combining social sci. & computing. #HSS23 #ColdWar
Babintseva: Easley eventually became a critic of cognitive psychology. He concluded that educational computing systems controlled the learning process in ways that ultimately hindered children’s creative thinking. #HSS23
Babintseva describes Easley’s efforts to measure how students interacted w/PLATO in order to gain insight into how they learned & thought. These experiments revealed several challenges associated w/designing programs that effectively simulated the process of scientific inquiry. #HSS23
As a historian of consumer electronics, I feel obligated to note that in addition to its importance to the history of computing & cognition, PLATO also inspired the creation of the first plasma displays!
More info: distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/exhibit/plas...
#HSS23
Our next speaker is @babintsevak.bsky.social (2021-22 LHL fellow), who is discussing logic, embodiment, and human cognition at the University of Illinois.
She is interested in the work of Jack Easley’s efforts to make the PLATO system into an instrument to teach creative thinking. #HSS23
Clever: Howells’ work reflected two major trends in physical anthropology:
1. Statistics offered a new level of objectivity to anthropometry (building on Pearson)
2. Genetics altered assumptions re: race/variation, even if new tools could reinforce old ideas about different ethnic groups. #HSS23
After describing the early history of anthropometry, Clever turns her attention to anthropologist William Howells, who embraced the use of multivariate statistics & electronic computers to correlate many different cranial measurements.
(Image source: scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcont...) #HSS23
After a brief coffee break, I’m back in the Pavilion ballroom for one last #HSS23 session on Human and Social Sciences @ the Computer Interface.
Session chair @mysdick.bsky.social introduces our first speaker, Iris Clever, who is discussing the evolution of physical anthropology in the digital age.
As #HSS23 wraps up, now seems like a good time as any to advertise the MIT Museum's fantastic digitized photograph collection of 86,953 photographs, all ready for your publication needs. We're rolling out new prices at the end of the year, making costs for academic publishing pretty reasonable.
Hey #HSS23, be aware that PDX has some long lines today for security. Even Precheck has a long line!
Last panel of #HSS23: Setting Standards in Genetics and Genomics: Diagnosis, Data Sharing Policies, and Reference Genomes.
First up is Michelle LaBonte with "Blood, Sweat, and Diagnostics: The Persistence of the “Gold Standard” Sweat Test for Cystic Fibrosis"
Oh my god I won the #HSS23 lifetime membership!!
HSS president Fa-ti Fan announces the winner of the Society’s raffle for a lifetime membership: @jowiph.bsky.social!
Congratulations, Jon!
#HSS23
Can’t make it to the #HSS23 business meeting? You can still read all of the Society’s committee reports here:
cdn.ymaws.com/hssonline.or...
Beautiful weekend at the Huntington for Women in Art + Science in the Early Modern World - we saw the most beautiful illustrations, ate fantastic Chinese food, got behind the scenes tours, and listened to productive talks. Thanks for having me! Sorry to miss you, #HSS23 folks!
