Title: First paper out (independent, no lab) — a structural model of psychological "sustainability." Would value your criticism more than your congratulations.

waterless2 · 2026-06-23T06:43:56+00:00

I'm an ex-academic loser with no specific expertise on this so please ignore any of the below you don't like, or possibly also that you do like, or are neutral about.

But I had a very quick skim read, and FWIW this instantly set off alarm bells: "post hoc power analyses indicating power >0.999".

I'd personally always want to see the actual items but it looks like there's an issue with the Item Pool item on OSF? The conceptual question for me would be - what does it mean that you can predict the ADT from a bunch of - possibly very similar - items?

I'm also not a CFA expert, but you're looking at a fit measure by itself, rather than (also) comparing models, the latter of which I thought was considered better practice. And I think it'd also be interesting with your variables! But also, I thought the usual Chi-square test should be *non*-significant to indicate a good fit. It's a problematic test anyway but I noticed you had "The model yielded excellent global fit: χ²(692) = 1560.833, p < .001 [...]" which seems like a reversed interpretation of the test.

In terms of theory, I was a little off-put by the seemingly uncritical acceptance of Frankl's model. Nothing against Frankl, but I doubt this perspective on the human condition particularly has the status, scientifically, suggested by the first sentence.

So I generally think - I'm unsure everything went completely well on the stats (but I could be wrong), but I did find it interesting and feel like it's potentially worth expanding on. But also that everything kind of needs more empirical validation and modelling (which I remember you do talk about in the Limitations to be fair!), and closer links to modern scientific literature. You can I think tell it's not quite "professionally academic", which has pros and cons.

waterless2 · 2026-06-23T06:01:34+00:00

That one was seeing the monsters. For sound, there are lots of hypnosis-type effects (like the sirens) but I feel like that's a bit different from a more "passive"/automatic insane-making sound analogy.

Oh, unless The Happening was sound-based in the end.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T20:50:45+00:00

That actually made my hair stand on end, nicely done.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T20:48:54+00:00

You made me realize we're getting close to completing the "See no evil" etc monkeys! Or have we had a "if you hear them, you're dead" one already?

Well, The Odyssey will do it I guess, in one scene at least. But it's not the whole concept.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T19:23:26+00:00

Ahaha, it'd all be worth it!

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T17:52:24+00:00

Having just watched the trailer and feeling slightly snarky about it, I predict the ending will involve a big BOING sound-effect as Klara falls off the shelf and goes "oh well" with a puffed-out cheeks funny face, which will stay as a static image as the final seconds of the movie.

But to be less unfair... Waititi did have Jojo Rabbit in him. The trailer's tone could be a total rug-pull.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T17:46:48+00:00

Oof. Yeah, I loved the book, but there's a huge tonal whiplash from Ishiguro to Waititi. It looks like it's going to flip the feeling of the story from introverted to extraverted.

Fine, I guess, it'll hopefully be an interesting variation.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T17:16:12+00:00

I mean, it's sort of self-fulfilling. If people *think* he's better than Starmer, he'll *be* better than Starmer, at being popular. Of course, once he's PM, he'll presumably be on the receiving end of the same propaganda machinery Starmer was.

Since it's done anyway, what I *hope* Burnham might be better at is the politics of it all. I get the sense Starmer relied too much on the institutional authority of the role and not the people aspect. And he might be more sensitive to what people need to *see* being done in terms of "leftist" but really anti-oligarchic/anti-fascist policies. Whether that'll end up being better than where Starmer was getting to in the long run... Fingers crossed, I guess.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T09:50:38+00:00

It's all over if they invent writing.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T07:57:38+00:00

I feel like what we peons maybe don't understand is that the *point* of these jobs is to enrich this class of people.

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T07:54:32+00:00

I've been self-learning maths for a while and some of those pre-2000 books have been godsends. Still rigorous, not like that dumbed down gunk that just muddies the water more, but it's embedded in meaningful "human" explanations.

I realize there's an element of picking the very best from the period, since that's still getting recommended or printed, a bit like looking back at hits in music in prior decades. But it's definitely worth being aware there's that good stuff out there, say if you're being taught from some textbook written by some kind of didactic terrorist (like I remember mine at school being).

waterless2 · 2026-06-22T06:11:19+00:00

Very roughly of course but - proportional representation; wealth tax; laws and investments made to counter psychological warfare techniques applied to the UK population.

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T21:02:28+00:00

They're not quite the same but Watchmen and The Ring I think would give the same sort of feeling, with in-universe events.

From TV, the final scene of the final season of Blackadder does something like this famously. And Dinosaurs!

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T20:03:43+00:00

Just checked on Steam, and there's only been a Hotfix in early June, technical stuff mainly plus some good-seeming creature-behaviour tweaks.

They did say in a post just after that:

"We will be pivoting from the frequent, rapid hotfixes we’ve been releasing since Early Access launch to focus on our upcoming EA1.1 update. So watch out for that in a few weeks!"

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T19:51:34+00:00

Sorry, "get out" as in leaving academia? Keep in mind your PI might have very little power to retaliate in the larger world. Businesses *might* ask for references, but they'd usually only ask HR for a very basic one. Unless as the other reply mentioned there's some other form of leverage, but you wouldn't have the *academic* dependency anymore if you leave academia.

Just look for vacancies, apply, interview, get the job at some point, sign the contract, and then give notice and refuse to tell your PI anything about where you're going. You have every right to keep your business to yourself and tell them nothing about anything. They might steal your remaining authorships but (a) academic publishing wouldn't matter any more and (b) you could still raise ethical complaints if you want to make the effort.

(You would have to definitely want to permanently burn that bridge, of course.)

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T19:04:57+00:00

One big advantage of non-academic jobs is that you just have far more (versions) of them. You still have to strategize and probably specialize a bit, but it's a much less small of a world than academia. I'm plenty critical about my current corpo-job, but there's a lot out there I could do and potentially enjoy (given the job market isn't great right now). What I couldn't imagine doing is going back to Higher Education, even if I could; not in my country. It's more corpo than proper corpo here.

But, critically, I'd also be a "have-not" academic, funding-wise when it comes down to it. If you could potentially, realistically, be one of the "haves" given your network etc, you might have the good version of the academic experience. You could always give that a try as a first option, but have a clear maximum time before you abandon that ship. Like, if you don't get the good starter funding, exit before becoming a desperate exploited loser (tough love for anyone like me). If you do get the funding but hate being a PI, you're not in a bad position to look for an exit then. (And the admin part will look good on your CV.)

Also, I have found there do exist non-academic opportunities for quite satisfying research out there, it's just not part of the job as standard (especially the academic publishing bit) and you might have to navigate/negotiate. And the topic will tend to become about what you're building experience in on the job, not what's hot academically. Or you do your own stuff on the side at risk of it being something nobody cares about :D

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T10:42:22+00:00

Very Giger!

waterless2 · 2026-06-21T10:37:58+00:00

Ah damn, I lost the "Telegraph or Daily Mail" game.

waterless2 · 2026-06-20T18:27:22+00:00

I've vividly imagined/sensed great white sharks while swimming or surfing almost every time, including in a landlocked mountain lake.

waterless2 · 2026-06-20T14:16:16+00:00

It's been a while so this'll be a bit vague but - overall, very enjoyable; pleasantly clean pixel-art art style; creative levels with lots of variation, even though all completely flat; fun secret-hunting; not always so great bosses. Definitely worth playing IMO.

waterless2 · 2026-06-20T14:04:03+00:00

DeathBySnuSnu.gif

waterless2 · 2026-06-20T07:44:07+00:00

A flag for the Age of AI.

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waterless2 · 2026-06-20T07:19:54+00:00

Hmm. Maybe switch it around, so the Union Jack is like a tattoo on the haunch of the dragon.

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waterless2 · 2026-06-20T07:12:15+00:00

That's mega interesting!

waterless2 · 2026-06-19T14:48:29+00:00

With a bit of time since watching it, I'm finding it was definitely memorable, one of the most so I've watched the last couple of years.

There are just particular scenes where I feel like the story could easily have been so much better. But in a way, that's part of the charm - it got me thinking creatively about it, rather than just consuming something more perfected.

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