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Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
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5 Oct, 4 tweets, 2 min read
MIT cancels geophysics lecture by @DorianAbbot about the climates of extra-solar planets after some people are outraged re his unrelated views on the harm arising from certain kinds of diversity initiatives. Prof. Abbot reacts with grace. newsweek.com/mit-cancels-ge…
There is no right to be invited to speak at a college. But, once a person is invited, a college should never yield to demands to withdraw an invitation. People can protest if they want. But honoring demands for disinvitation is incompatible with the mission of a great university.
Princeton steps in.
The Academic Freedom Alliance @AFA_Alliance writes to @MIT to express its "firm view that this disinvitation represents an egregious violation of the principles of academic freedom and an abnegation of MIT’s own stated commitment to freedom of thought." academicfreedom.org/wp-content/upl…

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More from @NAChristakis

Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
26 Sep
An epidemic sweeps through a population unwilling to take it seriously: Idaho -- an act in four parts.
Down with masks! March 6.
Down with vaccines! apnews.com/article/joe-bi…
Read 6 tweets
Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
24 Sep
Love at first sight is such a fascinating scientific (and not just literary) phenomenon. cnn.com/travel/article… It's possible to imagine evolutionary origins for this experience. Its often reciprocated nature is an important clue.
Here is another recent example in the news (among many "Woodstock" couples; here Judy and Jerry Griffin): people.com/human-interest…
I think there are important environmental triggers to the love-at-first-sight phenomenon (including a heightened sense of expectation), and not just biological underpinnings, of course.
Read 5 tweets
Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
13 Sep
Southern California parents die of covid-19, leaving behind five children — including a newborn.

The grief-making capacity of serious epidemics should not be underestimated. washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09…
Another similar case. Detroit couple with 7 children die one day apart after falling ill with COVID-19.

The grief-making capacity of serious epidemics should not be underestimated.
detroitnews.com/story/news/loc… via @KevinMahnken
Another similar case. A mom of 4 who died of covid days after her husband makes one final wish: ‘Make sure my kids get vaccinated’

The grief-making capacity of serious epidemics should not be underestimated.

washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08… via @sbclifton77
Read 4 tweets
Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
9 Sep
Back-to-school special re #COVID19:

Here is an informative new tool via @dukeU @DEL_Duke for teachers and students to calculate their risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 over the course of a semester, via aerosol spread. …re-modeler-data-devils.cloud.duke.edu 1/
Though initially developed for use on college campuses, the calculator can also be used by K-12 schools to inform decisions on school re-openings and assess the effectiveness of different control measures for COVID19 in settings like classrooms, cafeterias, and gyms. 2/
Many caveats apply to using this tool for assessing faculty and student risk of COVID-19 in the classroom, but it is still informative. Write up here: nicholas.duke.edu/news/online-to… 3/
Read 10 tweets
Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
7 Sep
I missed this when it came out. Ouch. “Cleansing Yale of its Republicans is necessary to live up to Yale’s mission statement to educate future leaders through the “free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community.” yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/04/1…
I missed this one too. “What more objective account of the world can there possibly be than the one constructed from your (my, in this case) personal experience?” columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2015/0… via @homoludio
Yale does not represent political diversity of USA.

2020 gallup data
news.gallup.com/poll/15370/par…

R: 28%
I: 40%
D: 29%

2017 YDN faculty survey yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/09/1…

8% conservative
19% moderate
75% liberal

2017 YDN freshmen survey features.yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/09/1…

9% C
14% M
77% L
Read 5 tweets
Nicholas A. Christakis Profile picture
31 Aug
"After Daniel Elder, a prizewinning composer posted a statement on Instagram condemning arson in Nashville, where BLM protesters had set the courthouse on fire after the killing of Floyd, he discovered that his publisher would not print his music and choirs would not sing it."
"The writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recently described how two younger writers she had befriended attacked her on social media, partly, she wrote, because they are 'seeking attention and publicity to benefit themselves.'"
"Once it becomes clear that attention and praise can be garnered from organizing an attack on someone’s reputation, plenty of people discover that they have an interest in doing so."
Read 7 tweets

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