Phil Davignon

Sociology prof. at Union U. | Author of "Practicing Christians, Practical Atheists" | Studies secularization & Christian community | Hillsdale & Baylor alum

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

I'm excited to announce my first book, Practicing Christians, Practical Atheists: How Cultural Liturgies and Everyday Social Practices Shape the Christian Life (1/11) https://t.co/TbJduz41b3

[Charlie Bilello @charliebilello]

Americans bet over $165 billion on sports last year, which is more than they spent on movies, books, concerts and sports tickets - combined.

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

@lukeburgis Would be curious to know some of your favorite biographers/biographies.

[Nostalgia @NostalgiaFolder]

When TVs had those bright green volume bars

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

@cwjones89 Anthropic has been working on something that can do this 😂

[Cole Maritz @ColeMaritz]

The same is true at Stanford, where there are now more admins than students: 18,369 staff vs. 17,314 students.

We need to dramatically reduce the number of administrators at these universities.

[David Rattigan @davidmrattigan]

buying this and then dying immediately and forcing my descendants to finish building it over the next 100 years

[Amazing Maps @amazingmap]

The surprisingly diverse world of state highway signs

[Neil Renic @NC_Renic]

Need the Pope to release an encyclical against Teams calls

[Jean Twenge (author of 10 RULES, GENERATIONS) @jean_twenge]

Reading scores, 3rd graders to 8th graders, 2015 to 2025. This is a national tragedy.

[Lyman Stone 石來民 🦬🦬🦬 @lymanstoneky]

Our survey wasn't perfect . Reality probably differs somewhat from the exact numbers we show here.

But even if we have over-estimated the "can't leave house share" by 200%

The share of kids prohibited from playing in the yard SHOULD BE 0%!!!

[The Knowledge Archivist @KnowledgeArchiv]

"I've searched all the parks in all the cities — and found no statues of Committees."

— G.K. Chesterton

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Brain scans are revealing early dementia-like changes in kids and teens from heavy screen use.

60 Minutes Australia reported toddlers spending just 2–3 hours daily on devices already show abnormal white matter development. Teens averaging 6–8 hours display widened brain ridges and thinning in key areas — patterns that mirror early Alzheimer’s.

Excessive screens appear to weaken neural pathways that normally strengthen through real-world movement, play, and face-to-face interaction.

We’re also seeing the first IQ drops in recorded history, plus a nearly 400% rise in early-onset dementia signs among 35–44 year olds. Correlation, not proven causation — but devices are the major new variable.

This is one of those reports that makes you rethink default habits. The convenience of screens is undeniable, but the potential long-term brain impacts on developing kids are hard to ignore.

We may be unintentionally running a massive experiment on the next generation’s cognitive health.

Are we underestimating the risks of heavy screen time, or is this concern overblown?

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

Has OSHA seen this?

[Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs]

Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, climbs a 35-foot ladder and casually drains a behind-the-back half-court shot

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

Kids these days are never hear "we'll be right back after these messages" or "join us next week." It's only "like and subscribe."

[Josh Kale @JoshKale]

Anthropic said Mythos was too dangerous to release. Then four random guys in a Discord gained access on day one by guessing the URL...

This is pretty insane:
→ Group in a private Discord guessed the endpoint from Anthropic's naming conventions
→ They figured out the conventions from the leak in the Mercor breach three weeks ago
→ Used a contractor's legit eval credentials to walk in
→ Have been using it ever since to build simple websites

The AI that finds zero-days in every operating system on earth was defeated by address bar autocomplete... big yikes

[Angela Morabito @AngelaLMorabito]

Tonight is the 251st anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride.

If he were to make the same journey from Boston to Lexington today, he could stop at 7 Dunkin locations. (via Reddit)

[David Daines @daviddorg]

Stanford paid 35,000 people to quit Facebook and Instagram for 6 weeks

Depression dropped. Anxiety dropped. Happiness went up. Women under 25 on Instagram saw the biggest gains

That was 6 weeks. I'm going a full year.

[All day Astronomy @forallcurious]

UNUSUAL🚨: Scientists discover that silence regenerates the brain─ being in complete silence for at least 2 hours a day can stimulate the creation of new brain cells, especially in regions linked to memory and learning.

[Phil Davignon @PhilDavignon]

@michaelbd Every civilization has some people who are born on second base.

[Brad Wilcox @BradWilcoxIFS]

"By 2024, 3 out of 4 boys and half of girls don’t disagree w/ the idea that it’s best if men are the achievers & women take care of the home and family. Those numbers are all-time highs in the history of the survey." @jean_twenge