Andy Wills

Hi, I'm Andy J. Wills, Ph.D. (he/him) and a Professor of Psychology at the School of Psychology , University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. I have researched cognitive processes in biological intelligences (mostly humans), and taught psychology to undergraduates, for over 25 years.

This is a personal website; it is not affilitated with or endorsed by my employer.

Myrakaru - Tammetoru

Drift into the horizon with precision melodies...

Posted on June 19, 2021

Today, I’m listening to Myrakaru’s excellent Tammetoru - again. From 2004, it’s an ambient, downtempo, somewhat glitch-based electronic instrumental album. Beautiful and relaxing, I think I must have listened to this while working more than 100 times over the years. I’ve always assumed, on no particular basis, that Myrakaru was... [Read More]

Tags: music

Paying for free stuff

Business models in a post-scarcity digital world

Posted on June 2, 2021

Just got my Patreon invoice for June, which reminds me to blog briefly about patronage as one business model when what is being produced is digital, and hence has basically zero marginal cost per additional consumer. Patreon is a system for making regular (monthly) payments to creators you want to... [Read More]

Tags: open culture

Invisible women

The gender data gap

Posted on May 30, 2021

I came across this 2019 book in a second hand bookstore in Salisbury in the summer of 2020, and rediscovered it on my home office bookshelf a month or so back. Written by Caroline Criado Perez it’s an accessible and scholarly list of the very many ways in which the... [Read More]

Tags: books

A World Without Email

Or...the hyperactive hive mind

Posted on May 24, 2021

I heard Cal Newport talking about his new book, A World Without Email on Lex Fridman’s podcast, where Cal said the book really should have been called The Hyperactive Hive Mind, but that wouldn’t have sold as many copies. An even less exciting but yet more accurate title would have... [Read More]

Tags: books

The Early Asimov

Twenty-seven stories from the Campbell years

Posted on May 23, 2021

Bought this three-volume set in The Book Cupboard shortly after first lockdown, and finally finished them (in between several other books) last night. An interesting and varied collection of early writings from the science fiction writer I have probably read the most over the years, but if you’ve not read... [Read More]

Tags: books