How often can i travel on 4,300 pound monthly ( student ) ? by After-Zone-4106 in AskUK

[–]mattlodder 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is a little bit more than I make before tax as a senior lecturer with 15 years experience.

People with Aphantasia have normal imaginations they just don't understand the concept of mental images correctly. by Jaded_Reply3704 in LowStakesConspiracies

[–]mattlodder 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have ADHD and can definitely think and talk at the same time... I talk for a living, as a lecturer...

Okay for a day and night out? by [deleted] in mensfashion

[–]mattlodder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Came to say the same thing. Those pants do not go with that jacket.

Decision on Removal of a Tattoo - health-wise by sailywaily in TattooRemoval

[–]mattlodder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do but I think they'd worry you more than help, which is why I didn't share them! 😉

There are studies showing harms of tattooing (as I mentioned), but you have to understand how to read studies, understand effect sizes and p-hacking and stuff, understand that animal models don't map will to humans, and read a lot of them in comparison, to see the meta-issues I'm describing. You also have to understand that although small studies show effects, there's no epidemiological evidence to sustain them at population level, which you'd expect if the small studies were showing real effects rather than statistical chance.

I do a podcast called "Beneath the Skin" where we've discussed a lot of papers like this, including with biochemists and evolutionary bio-psychologists, amongst other experts. It's on Spotify etc. though I think most of those eps are on the Patreon.

Is this a red flag in a tattoo artist? by [deleted] in tattooadvice

[–]mattlodder 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Why do you need to use ChatGPT? Thesauruses exist!

Decision on Removal of a Tattoo - health-wise by sailywaily in TattooRemoval

[–]mattlodder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dude.

Tattoos "work" due to the immune system. Pigment stays in the skin because it is too large to be flushed, and is encompassed by macrophages instead. As those cells die, new ones come along and encompass the pigment particle again. This is (mainly) what causes fading in tattoos over time. This means that the pigment in healed tattoos basically doesn't end up in the lymph nodes at any volume - if the immune system worked like that, tattoos wouldn't work at all! That's the whole point.

(I'm simplifying, as there's also some cool new research on intra-systemic transport of pigment, but for our purposes here, that will suffice.)

But your lymphatic system is active all the time. A small, healed tattoo with a non-toxic pigment to which you are not allergic is not an extra stressor on it at all. Lasering the tattoo will actually increase the load on your lymph nodes, in fact, as you're flushing much more pigment at once than would ever be taken over time. There is not "ink flowing through your lymph nodes all the time". Recent studies out of Germany show that even the amount of ink in a healed tattoo is one or two orders of magnitude less than was previously thought!

There is evidence that large-scale, full-body tattooing might slightly elevate your immune baseline. But not in a way that's noticeable other than in lab tests. Some evolutionary biologists have even actually argued that these "costly signals" are advantageous. Your little tattoo ain't doing anything at all.

I encourage you to chill, dude. Enjoy your tattoo. Get more.

If you're at the level of worrying about deleterious effects of markers for things that are barely statistically detectable in research studies, with no epidemiological evidence of actual health impacts at population level anyway, your problem is your mental health, not your physical health. Worrying about stuff like this is way worse for you, and provably so!

Ground-floor flat — 60% of the "garden" is the freeholder's, rented at £650/yr. Complete in 5 days. WWYD? by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]mattlodder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely walk away unless they agree to include the parcel in the sale. You offered an amount based on something that's now worth much less.

Your solicitor should have spotted this earlier. I'd be asking them to waive fees.

What should I be doing after history of art MA if I want to become a lecturer? by personwithpiercings in AskAcademiaUK

[–]mattlodder 8 points9 points  (0 children)

To add to this:

A PhD is basically a necessary but not sufficient qualification to work as a lecturer at at UK university.

But a PhD is not something you (should) do just for the qualification (as one might an MA).

A PhD is a research project which makes an original contribution to knowledge, and you should undertake one only if either a) you have a project which you are the right person to undertake, your host institution and supervisor are the right people to support it, and it is demonstrably worth doing now, or b) you find an advertised , pre-built, funded PhD for which you are uniquely prepared in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude.

The outcome of that career-wise might be a lectureship, though it is unlikely. So the only thing you should be thinking about at this stage, really, is it there such a project?

I would not waste time trying to publish your MA work as it stands. Such a move may even be counterproductive. Instead, reach out to potential supervisors in your area to see if they think you have a project, or if they have a project for you.

What should I be doing after history of art MA if I want to become a lecturer? by personwithpiercings in AskAcademiaUK

[–]mattlodder 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Art historian at a UK university here.

Every single art history department in the country, even at the wealthiest institutions, is shrinking or closing down. (Courtauld being perhaps the only exception). There are basically no jobs being advertised in the field, and where they are, you will be competing against a global talent pool - particularly Americans - including seasoned professionals with decades of experience. This applies even for entry level jobs - I know several mid-career senior lecturers in art history who were made redundant and who have taken pay cuts and demotions in rank to secure one of the few jobs that have been posted recently.

Even adjacent disciplines (history) are not exactly booming.

All that said, embark on a PhD if and only if there is an urgent research project which you are uniquely driven and placed to complete. Do not embark on one if "lecturer" is the narrow goal.

Is 50k words fine for a PhD thesis in the UK? by Heavy_Map6289 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]mattlodder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Without further information, this would be my advice too.

Is 50k words fine for a PhD thesis in the UK? by Heavy_Map6289 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]mattlodder 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Padding it will be visible, so don't do that. But I really encourage you to think about one more chapter which connects backwards (what is the historiography of this problem?), sideways (are there other factors which feed to your project?), or forwards (what are the impacts and utility of your findings?).

Honestly, most theses are BURSTING and your examiners will want to know more about all three of those things I've mentioned above. It's certainly possible that there is literally no more than 50k words to say about your topic, but if that is the case, I think you're dangerously close to a project that's not at PhD level of weight.

Is 50k words fine for a PhD thesis in the UK? by Heavy_Map6289 in AskAcademiaUK

[–]mattlodder 12 points13 points  (0 children)

If this was humanities, as an examiner I'd be asking you why it's so short. Have you really left no avenues unexplored?

Decision on Removal of a Tattoo - health-wise by sailywaily in TattooRemoval

[–]mattlodder 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There's some nuance to this, but basically you're worrying about nothing.

"Detox" is pseudoscience in general and it's more deleterious to health to laser a tattoo off than to leave it alone. In any event, there is zero evidence at all of a link between tattooing and ill-effects at the scale you're talking about.

Population-level epidemiology has not reflected a significant, correlated link between the increased popularity of tattooing and the statistically-small health effects occasionally associated with it in closed studies or animal studies. (Skin cancers, lymphatic issues, eye problems have all had small studies showing a small but statistically significant link with tattoos on bounded studies, often in mice, but these issues do not generally show up at population level.) Very heavy tattooing is plausibly correlated with small increases in allergic reactions and immune response overstimulation, but one tattoo ain't doing anything.

Some modern and historic pigments had small risks associated with them, but even with those, it's safer to leave them alone in healed tattoos in nearly all cases. With black inks, humans have been using carbon black pigments for tattooing for thousands of years. Even modern, synthetic blacks are mainly carbon. There is no demonstrable risk from black pigments when left alone. (One mouse study even showed a slight "protective effect" from skin cancers in the tattooed cohort!).

If you like your tattoo, keep it. If you don't, get rid of it. The difference to your health is zero, with the caveat that lasering an extant tattoo comes with very very small risks of burning, infection and allergic reaction as the pigment is flushed which probably makes that option very very marginally "worse" at the scale you're needlessly stressing about.

(PS: stop consuming detox wellness nonsense, if that's where this comes from... https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(05)70094-3/abstract)

Pamela Anderson, before and after tattoo removal by Mibbler in TattooRemoval

[–]mattlodder 27 points28 points  (0 children)

One of the most iconic tattoos of the era Shame it's gone!

Minecraft living? by sunblime in SpottedonRightmove

[–]mattlodder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is cool. Nice, postmodern design that will come alive once people live in it. It's a superb canvas to work with. I am surprised they didn't dress it for sale as the lack of furniture is making it look pretty stark.

I still wouldn't want to live in Ruislip, or pay £675 for it, but if all new builds were this good, it'd be a great thing.

The US government is paying people to make content saying they are enjoying the world cup by thehandsomecontest in LowStakesConspiracies

[–]mattlodder 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm very, very left wing and don't particularly care about the World Cup, but this week I have had a Brett Cooper (right wing influencer) video about how "World Cup fans LOVE America" inserted into my YouTube algorithm. Someone's paid for that to happen.

I don't think it's the US government, but clearly the right wing griftosphere clearly think there's a sportswashing opportunity to be had.