Sebastiaan Mathôt

14 Sept 2025

Als een 🦚 zo trots om *Een wereld vol denkers* door heel Nederland in de boekhandels te zien liggen! Een ontdekkingsreis door de gedachtewerelden van mens, dier, plant en #AI! #boeken #wetenschap #psychologie #biologie

ukrant.nlSebastiaan maakt zich druk om zijn wetenschappelijke houdbaarheidsdatumColumnist Sebastiaan Mathôt zat met zijn vriend de oude AI en zijn goudvis in café De Wolthoorn en vroeg zich af wat hij nieuwe generaties nog kan leren. 'Soms ben ik bang dat ik de event horizon onge...

Nieuwe #column! "De event horizon is het punt in je carrière waarna je als onderzoeker precies nul meer bijdraagt aan je eigen onderzoek. Het is voor iedereen om je heen duidelijk wanneer dit gebeurt. Maar zelf heb je niets door." 🌑🫨 @ukrant.bsky.social ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-m... #wetenschap

Legend has it there's an AI so powerful that a single unconnected key is enough for it to escape from its sandbox.

Trying to be a serious scientist in times of AI.

🤯 #StorySpotlight 🫥 The Holographic Principle 🫥 (15 min. read) "I left with a handshake, a death sentence, and a prescription for anti-anxiety drugs." www.suchwasnot.com/the-holograp... #writing #scifi #shortstory #booksky

The Holographic Principle is a short story about the blurry boundaries of consciousness. #writing #scifi #shortstory #booksky

ukrant.nlSebastiaan filosofeert over ongewassen vliegenpootjes en vrije wilAls columnist Sebastiaan Mathôt morgen niet op zijn werk verschijnt, is hij mogelijk vertrokken naar Portugal. Uit vrije wil. Maar wat is dat eigenlijk, die vrije wil?

🛎️ Nieuwe column in @ukrant.bsky.social! "De vlieg gaat sowieso na het eten op je gezicht zitten om verzadigd te baden in het vocht van je lippen." ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-f... #wetenschap #schrijven #column #Groningen

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

UKrant

@ukrant.bsky.social

Als columnist Sebastiaan Mathôt morgen niet op zijn werk verschijnt, is hij mogelijk vertrokken naar Portugal. Uit vrije wil. Maar wat is dat eigenlijk, vrije wil? En heeft een vlieg vrije wil? ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-f...

🚨 Story Spotlight: Top Quant (⏱️ ±1h15m) 🚨 "You're afraid that if you tell me all of this is a giant computer simulation, I'll have an existential crisis?" www.suchwasnot.com/top-quant #writing #scifi #booksky #shortstories #reading

A lonely soldier finds shelter in an abandoned office building. But he's not quite as alone, nor quite as innocent, as he seems. #writing #scifi #booksky #shortstories #reading

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

Lisa

@tuexplorer1.bsky.social

@noncompliantcyborg.bsky.social check out the amazing zooms on this Lobate Ctenophore! Epic flying, Pilots! @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 969 #samplinggap #MarineLife

Join us at the Tammes Talks tomorrow at the @rug.nl House of Connections in #Groningen! I'll talk about #humanintelligence in times of #AI. 🧠🤖 www.rug.nl/jantina-tamm... #science #psychology #education

ukrant.nlA confusing discussion with a goldfish and an old AIColumnist Sebastiaan Mathôt and his goldfish went look for a larger fish bowl. This wasn’t as simple as it might seem.

"One day, my goldfish complained on social media about her cramped housing." A new column for @ukrant.bsky.social ukrant.nl/a-confusing-... #science

ukrant.nlEen verwarrende discussie met een goudvis en een oude AIColumnist Sebastiaan Mathôt en zijn goudvis gingen op zoek naar een grotere vissenkom. Dat bleek minder eenvoudig dan het lijkt.

"Op een dag klaagde mijn goudvis op sociale media over haar beperkte woonruimte." ukrant.nl/een-verwarre... Nieuwe column op @ukrant.bsky.social! #wetenschap #natuurkunde #wiskunde

nobelprize.orgSveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2002The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2002 was divided equally between Daniel Kahneman "for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic sc...

22 Sept

Just read Daniel Kahneman's essay on the Nobel website. (He won the prize for economics in 2002.) Such a good mix of personal history and science. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/econo... #science #psychology #scicomm

rug.nlTammes Talks (7 Oct)Tammes Talks is a new initiative at the JTS. In short, they are shared Theme Coordinator events, during which we bring the JTS (sub)communities together no...

22 Sept

On Oct 7, the @rug.nl organizes a mini conference on #AI and the #digitalsociety more broadly. 🤳👨‍💻🤖 I will close the day with a keynote about human intelligence in times of AI. 🧠 Join us! www.rug.nl/jantina-tamm... @rug-gmw.bsky.social

19 Sept

🔦 Story Spotlight 🌼 Never of the Past or The Future 🌼 "He caught fragments of the buttercups' whispered conversations. They spoke mostly of the sun." (reading time ±15 min) www.suchwasnot.com/never-of-the... #fiction #reading #writing #booksky

19 Sept

A short, poem-like story about a boy who slows down his thoughts to the speed of plants while life continues for the people around him. 🕰️🍃

quest.nlHoe de klok ons ziek maakt (en wat je daaraan kunt doen)Opzij, opzij, opzij. Maak plaats, maak plaats, maak plaats. Herman van Veen zong het al in 1979. We verliezen grip op ons schaarste bezit: tijd. En dat kan zorgen voor mentale klachten. Hoe zit dat?

16 Sept

Leuk artikeltje in de Quest over tijdsperceptie, met een korte bijdrage van mij www.quest.nl/mens/psychol... #wetenschap #tijd @mpi-nl.bsky.social

ukrant.nlSebastiaan komt tegen wil en dank met een boodschap van hoopSebastiaan Mathot is als neurowetenschapper verbonden aan de Faculteit Gedrag- en Maatschappijwetenschappen. Vanaf nu schrijft hij elke twee weken een column voor UKrant.

Ik kijk hier erg naar uit!

UKrant@ukrant.bsky.social

Sebastiaan Mathôt is als neurowetenschapper verbonden aan de Faculteit Gedrag- en Maatschappijwetenschappen. Vanaf nu schrijft hij elke twee weken een column voor UKrant. ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-k...

Here's another figure that combines a few authoritative datasets/ meta-analyses about IQ and PISA (scholastic aptitude) scores over time (partly the same as the ones I posted a few days ago). All of these are based on very large samples, so measurement error is very low. What to make of this?

I mislabeled the OECD-23 results as Europe in the figure. This group also includes a number of non-European countries, such as Japan and Australia.

The first of a biweekly science column that I'll be writing for @ukrant.bsky.social! 🧠🔬🌞 Lighthearted, fun science plus anecdotes and occasional surrealism. ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-b... #science #communication #column @rug.nl

Vanaf deze week schrijf ik elke twee weken een wetenschapscolumn voor @ukrant.bsky.social! 🧠🔬🌞 Lichte en leuke wetenschap, gemengd met anecdotes en surrealistische situaties. ukrant.nl/sebastiaan-k... #wetenschap #communicatie #column

Why do I post this? Substantial evidence suggests that cognitive abilities are declining across the board, at least in some parts of the world. If true, this is a worrying trend that could have real consequences. I feel this should not be brushed aside, as often happens. ("It's just …")

(Technical note: these datasets do not have a natural Y axis, so the way they are visualized is a bit arbitrary. What is important are the relative tendencies over time.)

However, when looking at (some) EU countries, the trend seems to have reversed, with IQ peaking in the late 90s and declining up to 2010 or so. There appears to be no reliable data after this point. However, European PISA data suggests a continuing decline.

Of course, PISA tests are not direct IQ tests. However, historically these scores correlate very highly (and can be converted), so PISA scores are a reasonable proxy for IQ.

Historically, IQ has increased dramatically, and in some forms this has happened across the world. This is the well-known Flynn effect. When looking at global IQ, this trend seems to continue at least in some places up to around 2010 (and then the data stops).

10 Sept

🔦 Story spotlight 🌟 Silverback Empire 🌟 “Just look at those tiny wings covered in down. So soft and white. Who could blame parents for wanting one?” (reading time ±1h15m) suchwasnot.com/silverback-empire #sciencefiction #writing #reading #booksky

10 Sept

Hugo is set to become the next CEO of a large biomedical firm that is reshaping the world with its genetic-engineering technology. But the handover of power does not go smoothly. Silverback Empire is one of my more intricate and hard-hitting stories. Enjoy reading! #writing #reading #booksky

9 Sept

#PISA data confirms that adolescents' cognitive abilities, as indicated by standardized test scores, continue to decline. This has been happening gradually for over a decade (i.e. not just COVID-related) and holds for most areas and most EU countries (figure show NL data). #education 1/4 🧵

And finally IQ data from Bratsberg & Rogeberg (2018), based on Norwegian military conscripts. This shows a similar decline, but starting even earlier, with IQ peaking for people bron around 1980 and declining since. 3/4 🧵

ecologicalvalidity.wordpress.comCall for expressions of interest: PhD positionThe Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation is about to publish a call for pre-doctoral scholarships (FPI) adhered to scientific projects that have been approved for funding in 2026. We invite …

9 Sept

I don't think anyone really knows why this is happening, and there's likely many factors at play: COVID, social media, helicopter parenting, etc, etc. But the (western) world seems to be undergoing a generalized generational decline in cognitive ability, which is a worrying development. 4/4 🧵

Here's a similar figure based on US data. The same pattern, although the decline starts a bit later, suggesting perhaps a stronger contribution of COVID. 2/4 🧵

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

Susana Monsó

@susanamonso.com

7 Sept

Interested in doing a PhD in philosophy of animal minds in lovely Murcia? We have just published a call for expressions of interest to do a PhD as part of our research project on ecological validity in comparative cognitive science. Please consider applying if this is up your street!

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

The Arthur C. Clarke Award

@clarkeaward.bsky.social

7 Sept

Some scams are easier to spot than others. That said, we get these semi-regularly and they are only getting more focused and custom-tailored, so be careful writers! And, no, we didn’t reply, but it was super-tempting.

dx.doi.org<em>Psychophysiology</em> | SPR Journal | Wiley Online LibraryWe report a previously unknown response in the human retina and visual cortex that is locked to pupil constriction and likely reflects a retinal response to a sudden decrease in retinal light exposur...

3 Sept

Very excited to visit Hangzhou, #China! This afternoon in the 14:00 session, @veerahelmisofia.bsky.social @anavili.bsky.social and I will talk about pupil size, attention, and retinal responses. 👁️ ⭐ #escopcopm2026

Then @veerahelmisofia.bsky.social will talk about her most recent work, dissociating contributions of arousal and optics to the correlation between pupil size and behavioral performance. dx.doi.org/10.64898/202...

And finally I will talk about a large group project in which we show that pupil-size changes alone (independently of external stimuli) trigger retinal responses. dx.doi.org/10.1111/psyp... with @olaf.dimigen.de @hakankarsilar.bsky.social @anavili.bsky.social @veerahelmisofia.bsky.social

@anavili.bsky.social will kick off by talking about this preprint, in which she uses pupillometry to track how attention shifts within after images. Very innovative work! dx.doi.org/10.64898/202...

dx.doi.orgdx.doi.org

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

Ana Vilotijević

@anavili.bsky.social

2 Sept

Arrived to Hangzhou to attend ESCoP CoPM 2026 @escop.bsky.social ! I’ll be talking tomorrow at 14.30 (Room 4) about the pupil size and attention! 👁️

Sebastiaan Mathôt reposted

Veera Ruuskanen

@veerahelmisofia.bsky.social

20 Aug

Super excited to see our review out in TiCS! Here me & @cogsci.nl present the first comprehensive framework of the mechanisms driving relationships between spontaneous pupil-size fluctuations, neural activity, and behavior 👀🧠👩🏻‍💻 Spoiler: arousal is only one of at least four 😶‍🌫️ doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

With @veerahelmisofia.bsky.social !

Trends in Cognitive Sciences@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social

Online Now: Beyond arousal: pupil fluctuations, neural activity, and behavior

dlvr.itBeyond arousal: pupil fluctuations, neural activity, and behaviorSpontaneous fluctuations in pupil size are correlated with neural activity and behavior in many ways. This is generally attributed to a single underlying cause: arousal. This unitary account disregards other potential underlying causes. To address this gap, we propose a comprehensive framework of four mechanisms that jointly underlie the complex and context-dependent relationships between spontaneous pupil-size fluctuations, neural activity, and behavior. In addition to arousal, we consider optical effects, brightness constancy, and self-generated visual stimulation. Based on this framework, we argue that pupil fluctuations should be considered beyond arousal, as a functionally important, yet still poorly understood, component of visual processing.

suchwasnot.comSuch Was Not the Way Things WereSpeculative fiction by Sebastiaan Mathôt.

21 Aug

Very proud of @veerahelmisofia.bsky.social ! This thorough review, in which she sheds new light on the meaning of spontaneous #pupilsize fluctuations, now out in Trends! This is also the latest publication and opening chapter of her #PhD thesis – impressive work! 🥳 #psychology #neuroscience #vision

Veera Ruuskanen@veerahelmisofia.bsky.social

Griffinfly was inspired by a trip to Florida, where I stayed for a few days after a conference (VSS). Everyday I walked to the beach through a wealthy but desolate neighborhood. Empty streets without sidewalks. Scorching heat. And at dusk a fog of insects, mostly dragonflies. #writing #booksky

Sebastiaan Mathôt@cogsci.nl

📖🔦 Story spotlight: Griffinfly (±1h⌛) “This is how a man came to enter my practice without either of us knowing why.” suchwasnot.com/griffinfly #sciencefiction #fantasy #writing #reading #booksky 🧵1/2

suchwasnot.comSuch Was Not the Way Things WereSpeculative fiction by Sebastiaan Mathôt.

13 Aug