This is the bi-weekly visible open thread (there are also hidden open threads twice a week you can reach through the Open Thread tab on the top of the page). Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. You can also talk at the SSC subreddit or the SSC Discord server. Also:

1. The rationalist community now has a community center – the former La Renaissance Cafe on 3045 Shattuck in Berkeley. There are scheduled meetings there throughout the week, or you can just drop by (it’s usually open from about 11 AM – 5 PM, and once you know the people there they can give you a key if you want to do something during other times). Sarah is currently managing this and paying for the space herself, but she can’t keep doing that forever and is looking for financial assistance. Please see their Patreon and donate if you feel so inspired. The Patreon also has a list of when the different meetups are and what kind of things go on there. If they’re able to stay afloat, I may move SSC meetups there and you won’t have to stand awkwardly in the university quad.

2. Comment of the week is nostalgebraist on the neurogenesis post, best read in combination with this new study arguing that the study I cited was wrong and there is adult human neurogenesis after all. In retrospect, I probably framed the original post incorrectly. I originally wrote of it as “here’s all of this research that claims to have nailed down subtle and specific details of adult human neurogenesis, when adult human neurogenesis doesn’t even exist”. It might have been equally interesting, and more correct, to frame it as “here’s all this research that claims to have nailed down subtle and specific details of adult human neurogenesis, when it’s still a hotly debated topic whether adult human neurogenesis even exists.” Not only would this have been more accurate, but I think it generalizes better too. The experience of reading science in these kinds of fields is rarely one where we have proof that anything is wrong, and more often one where we always have to worry that things are built on flimsy foundations that might or might not survive later research.