James Reilly

Adrift in the Cyberverse / At work in ELT

[TPM: The Philosophers Magazine @philosophersmag]

The Trouble with Expertise: Why You Should Usually Trust Experts (But It’s Complicated)
https://t.co/LQ4tIVT4fo

[CHEM Trust @CHEMTrust]

Did you miss #DarkWaters on BBC 2 last night? There's still time to catch it on iPlayer for the next 30 days
📽️ https://t.co/U3PyO4wuGL

You can also check out our FAQ on the film, including tips to reduce your exposure to #PFAS
https://t.co/0cGyWNgBsi

[The Cultural Tutor @culturaltutor]

The letters "ough" can be pronounced at least 8 different ways in English.

How did that happen?!

[James Reilly @jamreilly]

@LaymansLinguist Weird, I can choose to hear either depending which I prime myself to hear (not McGurk Effect per se, as that relies on seeing lips, doesn't it?)

[James Reilly @jamreilly]

@EltKaty Judy Gilbert's booklet "Teaching Pronunciation Using The Prosody Pyramid" has interesting insights and ideas about thought groups and intonation: https://t.co/5GIiSsgXCq

[Incunabula @incunabula]

European civilization is built on ham and cheese, which allowed protein to be stored throughout the icy winters.

Without this, urban societies in most of central Europe would simply not have been possible.

This is also why we have hardback books. Here's why. 1/

[Cadernos de Linguística @CadernosL]

For obvious and very good reasons the study of human communication is dominated by the study of language. But from a psychological point of view, the basic structure of human communication is totally independent of language.
New article by M. Tomasello.
https://t.co/Foe0wCPAhU

[World birds @worldbirds32]

🐦🦜🐤❤️❤️🐤🦜🐦

[Prof. Christina Pagel - @chrischirp.bsky.social @chrischirp]

https://t.co/Aqe9QKKV89

[David Spiegelhalter @d_spiegel]

excellent article on acknowledging uncertainty abut Covid from @mendel_random, @MarcusMunafo and Michael Blastland. https://t.co/lbg3vBHU1Z The Footnote nicely demonstrates their own epistemic humility

[Samuel Beckett @samuelbbeckett]

I am still alive then. That may come in useful.

[Wellcome @wellcometrust]

💉 There are more than 320 #Covid19 vaccines in development - but what are the different types and how might they help us develop immunity?

@Reuters explains ⤵️
https://t.co/8RMyXMe0Cl

[Jay Rosen @jayrosen_nyu]

I'm nominating this article for the Rosen Prize in explanatory writing. Rules for awarding the prize combine three factors: clarity in explanation, yes, but also underlying complexity of the thing being explained, AND urgency of the subject to the public. https://t.co/6qPfs0m06Q

[Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing]

📍FAUCI SAYS THE CORONAVIRUS IS AIRBORNE—it’s not official until the Fauci sings. And Dr Fauci has come out strongly:

“Bottomline, there’s much more aerosol 💨 than we thought”. #COVID19

Moreover, #SARSCoV2 also found in:

📌Stool
📌Blood
📌Semen
📌Eye secretions

➡️ Thread🧵

[Atul Gawande @Atul_Gawande]

Important results: Remember the 2 MO hairstylists who saw 140 clients over 8 days while infected with COVID but everyone had worn masks? Contact tracers found ZERO secondary infections. More evidence that masks work. https://t.co/yAgi1MeATk

[Max Roser @MaxCRoser]

Washing your hands is our most important protection from COVID19.

I thought I know how to do that, but I didn't.

Few of us know – see the image below.

If you don't know how to wash your hands, let this nurse teach you:
https://t.co/w2sCyyXCtC

[James Reilly @jamreilly]

"in most of our utterances we are creatures of habit, immensely predictable, rehearsing the same old platitudes and the same old clichés in almost everything we say. If it were not so, ordinary language would become unworkable" (Patrick Hanks, 2013)

[James Reilly @jamreilly]

"Spoken language has evolved in a way that allows a listener to parse speech in real time, in the most effective manner given the specific resources of our short-term memory." (Michael Rost, 2011)

[James Reilly @jamreilly]

"A satisfactory mental life depends on a balance between the expected and the unexpected, the stimulating and the comfortably reinforcing" (Wallace Chafe, 1994)