IACESR call for paper closes Feb 6th. Come join us to talk about the cognitive and evolutionary science of religion in Brno in July! iacesr.com/conferences/

New paper: Three evolutionary radiations shaped the evolution of global religious diversity

I see your Krampus and Mari Lwyd, and raise you Newfoundland Mummers as the most terrifying Christmas tradition 🎄❄️🧟‍♀️

This video was made about our folk medicine project. It talks about our recent PNAS project, and also this study we did in Mauritius www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

On a roll with papers this week. PNAS paper with @michealdebarra.bsky.social giving some evidence to the idea that people turn to the supernatural because of uncertainty about causal processes. BONUS of curing whooping cough with donkeys and warts with snails 🐌

1/ 🎙️ New paper by Dr Aiyana Willard argues it’s time to retire HADD = “we’re hardwired to see agents EVERYWHERE” and replace it with something that *actually* fits the evidence 🪦➡️📚 @brunelpsy.bsky.social 🔗 Read it 👇

I wrote a paper on my least favourite theory of religion: HADD It’s good, you should read it! 😆

This is my wee baby cousin who I used to babysit. The hippy Willards are just out there spawning scientists 😆 www.mcgill.ca/channels/art...

Teaching a fun science & critical thinking course this semester. Trying out THAMES as a handy mnemonic for what to look for in evaluating science papers & such (obvs not all are as relevant for every paper)...

🧵 1/ Excellent and impactful work from CCE second in command @loraadair.bsky.social published in the New Metro over the weekend about Outcry Witness It’s an anonymous website where sexual-assault survivors can safely tell their stories. No names, no pressure. Just a record in their own words 🗣️🛡️

First day of school, grade 33? (I think?)

I am on vacation in the place I grew up. I used to come here (meeting of the waters, Illecillewaet) everytime we drove through the rockies when I was a kid. At least once a year. Still as impressive as I remember it.

🧠 Want to integrate cultural evolution into your course using award winning materials created by the field's experts, and get paid $2000 to do it? 💵 🚨 The Cultural Evolution Society is seeking applications for the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards. 🔖 Apply here: vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

I complain, but I got not one, not two, but three (!) papers off my desk this week.

I love writing because I get to engage with so many other people’s brilliant ideas and read about cool research. I hate editing papers because I have to engage with my very familiar ideas and read the same thing 300 times.

The Spirits and Sources folks attended the Goddess Conference last week 🧙‍♀️🪬🧚 lots of fieldwork 🏞️🔍, participant observation and ethnography 🧑‍🤝‍🧑📋🖊️, and community building 🌐🤝🏘️ as well as embodied experience 🙏💃🌀 @brunelpsy.bsky.social @brunelgradschool.bsky.social

Free to a good home. Will bring you live bats while you sleep.

I bought a new book! I am very excited to read it! @manvir.bsky.social

Jumping a fire for Beltane in Glastonbury with @loraadair.bsky.social and @michelleakline.bsky.social. #BestFeildsiteEver

Ayesha Ali from @brunelcce.bsky.social presenting on the importance of Spiritual-But-Not-Religious practices providing community for people in Glastonbury, including a slide with the first quote from a male witch I’ve seen so far at #ehbea2025

@brunelcce.bsky.social graduate Nachita Rosun presenting research at #ehbea2025 on the cultural transmission of Spiritual-But-Not-Religious behaviours in the UK (about 20% of the prolific sample identified this way); collaborative work including @aiyanakoka.bsky.social

Lovely recent CCE social in the *always sunny* London 🌞🤩🎡 If this doesn't sell us.... 🤷‍♀️ @loraadair.bsky.social @aiyanakoka.bsky.social @rebeccasear.bsky.social @nicolewen.bsky.social @michelleakline.bsky.social @matthewmgervais.bsky.social ❤️

Come do a masters degree with the coolest culture and evolution group around!

If you’ve got $20,000 a month to spend on a “PhD level” ai agent, just hire a person.

🎙 Exciting news! Transmissions Episode 1 features Dr. Cristina Moya. In this episode, we explore her fieldwork in Peru, and discuss how pilgrimage sites emerge and sustain themselves over time. It will be out on YouTube this week—Stay tuned for the link!

1/ 🧵 🚨New paper!🚨 Cross-cultural research is expanding in the social sciences — but are we measuring what we think we are? Our recent paper argues that construct validity is an overlooked challenge, especially in developmental research. Let’s break it down. 🌍 🧠 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Things I often think about: of places I have lived, people think of London as place with a violent crime problem, Vancouver as very unsafe in some places, and Austin generally quite safe. Austin’s murder rate is 2x that of Vancouver and 3x that of London. London is the safest of the three.

If you're considering grad school (:cough: outside 🇺🇸), @brunelcce.bsky.social has a Psychology, Culture, & Evolution MSc with absolutely top-notch staff. Plenty of expats to help plug you into UK life & academia, MSc -> PhD & beyond. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements & feel free to email w/ Qs!

I saw a talk on this project last year, and five stars, two thumbs up, just very cool, interesting, and utterly enjoyable science. (unless perhaps you live is Sydney and are being outsmarted by trash birds)

Please share this PhD opportunity with your colleagues, students, and recent graduates. This is an exciting opportunity to study the role of cognitive stimulation in supporting the developmental outcomes of children growing up in linguistically diverse families.

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I did a thing. I really like this thing.

The (Mis)conceptions exhibition with a session led by CCEs amazing @loraadair.bsky.social, Julieta Barker and Ayesha Ali has been a massive success 🥳❤️💅

I did a thing. I really like this thing.

So, @willgervais.com, me and others wrote a paper in grad school which essentially says people _learn_ religion, it doesn’t just spring fully formed out of our brains. Should it be obvious? Yes. Do I still have to have this argument? Also yes. Paper has been cited almost 300 times 🤷‍♀️

The awesome @aiyanakoka.bsky.social from @brunelcce.bsky.social will be speaking in this series, on “The practice and function of witchcraft in Mauritius and in the UK”, along with many other fine speakers 👇😊

I think the popular thing these days is to say how hard the previous year was in the New Year. But honestly, 2024 was great for me. My biggest complaint consist of having too many cool opportunities to do them all.

Terrific talk by @djsmith90.bsky.social on inherent messiness of trying to make causal claims about religion & mental health -- causal conclusions not easy to pin down, and data don't match some big claims (in part because available data *often aren't capable* of supporting them, analyzed properly)

The 🌍 2nd most gifted in atheism @wgervais.bsky.social is background reading for @michaelhobbes.bsky.social excellent postcast If books could kill. Both are full of sass, snark and top quality critiques 💅 🎧 find it here 👇 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

1/ 4🧵 Curious about the spiritual community in Glastonbury?? Of course you are so let’s dive into the Spirits and Sources project! 👇✨

CCE's @loraadair.bsky.social was invited to Oxford Brookes this week to present her 🌟amazing 🌟research on women's health from psychological and evolutionary perspective 🧠🧬 @brunelpsy.bsky.social #womenshealth

1/3 🧵 “The Worldbreaker Heuristic” by CCEs @wgervais.bsky.social remains a must-read for anyone passionate about critical thinking 🧠 when it comes to stats👇 @brunelpsy.bsky.social #Statistics #worldbreaker #howbigisbig

Fully-funded PhD position on the cultural evolution of environmental management! Link evolution, ecology and behavioral science to study how people manage environmental challenges in the ACE Lab (timwaring.info). Position Details: timwaring.info/wp-content/u...

🌞 1/4: What makes Glastonbury a spiritual and cultural magnet? 🔮 From ancient legends to modern practices, the #SpiritsAndSources project is exploring the beliefs, stories, and experiences that give Glastonbury its mystical reputation. #Glastonbury #SpiritualResearch

“Just as it was then, the current renaissance of eugenics and race science is nothing more than bigotry dressed up as biology” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Welcome new folks! Wanna get the good stuff? Follow cool culture & evolution nerds here 👇 go.bsky.app/8yXwjAn

Comparative Sociology (Brill) Contemporary Social Science (Taylor & Francis) Philosophia (Springer) Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences (affiliated with American Psychological Association) Scientific racism will thrive as long as academia treats these political actors as if they were real scientists

Evolutionary Psychological Science (Springer) Journal of Religion & Health (Springer) Personality & Individual Differences (Elsevier) Intelligence (Elsevier) Twin Research & Human Genetics (CUP) Scandinavian Journal of Psychology (Wiley) Psychological Inquiry (Taylor & Francis) ...

How does academia facilitate these actors? Here's just a selection of journals which have recently published them: PNAS (National Academy of Sciences, US) Perspectives on Psychological Science (Sage) Evolutionary Psychology (Sage) Monash Bioethics Review (Springer) cont...

This is a very important read. An investigation has revealed clear links between the far-right & scientific racist outlets such as Aporia magazine. The scientific racism crowd can no longer claim to be only interested in science. Academia needs to stop facilitating these dangerous political actors