Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
@rcc-au.bsky.social
📤 357
📥 132
📝 40
Aarhus University
reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Theiss Bendixen
26 days ago
It's alive! 🎉 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 is out -- an introduction to causal inference in practice. The first two chapters are available for free here:
theissbendixen.com/dag-book/
More below 👇
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RCC alum Ingela Visuri's book just released! *Autism and the Supernatural: Experiential Dimensions of Religiosity, Spirituality and Imagination* is out now from
@equinoxpub.bsky.social
. Congrats Ingela!
equinoxonlinelibrary.com/book/59571/a...
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Theiss Bendixen
about 2 months ago
Imagine a short book (~200 p.) introducing Bayesian statistics in the context of clinical trials and drug development. Scope would be introductory -- sort of "your first short course on Bayes". But practical enough to be applied out of the box. What would you like to see covered in such a text? 👇
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Dan Major-Smith
2 months ago
Do supernatural punishment beliefs promote cooperation beyond parochial boundaries? And is this effect stronger in "moralistic" religious traditions (eg Christianity, Hinduism)? Working with some of best & brightest in our field, that's what our new prereg aims to answer:
github.com/bgpurzycki/G...
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https://github.com/bgpurzycki/GGSL-Project/blob/main/Pre-Registration/Objective%201%20-%20Omnibus/SupernaturalPunishmentAndCooperation_Omnibus_Prereg.pdf
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Rob Sica
4 months ago
"'Genius' is one of the most overused words in the language, with 'asshole' not far behind, and I have known few people who truly deserved either label. Robert deserved both."
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Remembering Robert Trivers
Robert Trivers, who died on March 12, 2026, was arguably the most important evolutionary theorist since Darwin.
https://robertc12.substack.com/p/remembering-robert-trivers?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=72238&post_id=191432924&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=i9pa&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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Coming soonish!
5 months ago
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Just published open access at Field Methods! Uncertainty and ethnographic methods!
@djsmith90.bsky.social
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
.
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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RCC’s
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
makes a cameo on
@templetonrelig.bsky.social
’s SCORE project vid!
youtu.be/73kb1mddsZY?...
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Using Science’s Tools to Understand Religion’s Impact on Cooperation
YouTube video by Templeton Religion Trust
https://youtu.be/73kb1mddsZY?si=Pvs21FulqP4wJA-u
7 months ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
AnthroTools: A Package in R
8 months ago
"Modeling Uncertainty around Free-list Cultural Salience Scores" by
@rcc-au.bsky.social
's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
and
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
OnlineFirst up now at Field Methods
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
#AnthroTools
#quantethnography
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Nicholas Gibson
9 months ago
If you're a data scientist interested in a full-time or part-time role working with developmental psychologists on cross-cultural data from parents and children, check out this position with the Developing Belief Network. Application review begins October 15, 2025.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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Position: Full-Time Data Scientist, Developing Belief Network
Position: Full-Time Data Scientist, Developing Belief Network Description: We are looking for a full-time data scientist to join the Developing Belief Network, a global team of psychologists studying...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1it3OHsBxrB7ZwXR_9k1CM6uN10uVSQmoQ1y0WurMeuU/
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RCC's Lauritz Holm Petersen successfully defended his dissertation, *The Ebb and Flow of Apocalypse: A Systems Theory Approach to Religious Endtime Narratives*! Tillykke Lauritz!
9 months ago
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Congratulations to RCC’s Jesper Sørensen on successfully defending his higher doctoral dissertation today! Skål!
10 months ago
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RCC representing at IAHR 2025 in Krakow!
@djsmith90.bsky.social
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
10 months ago
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Double whammy just out with RCC's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
Longitudinal projects and causal inference! Religion and trauma:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Climate change concern and mental health:
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
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Does concern regarding climate change impact subsequent mental health? A longitudinal analysis using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) | Royal Society Open Science
Climate change is having a substantial—and increasingly severe—impact on our planet, affecting people’s health, security and livelihoods. As a consequence, the concept of ‘climate anxiety’ has recentl...
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251099
11 months ago
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Book symposium for Jesper Sørensen’s *Why Cultures Persist* posted online at Religion, Brain and Behavior. With commentaries from, among others, RCC’s Anders Klostergaard Petersen and
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
.
www.tandfonline.com/action/showA...
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Latest articles from Religion, Brain & Behavior
Browse the latest articles and research from Religion, Brain & Behavior
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showAxaArticles?journalCode=rrbb20
12 months ago
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RCC’s
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
talking about gods on
@artefr.bsky.social
’s show Stimmt es, dass…?
www.arte.tv/de/videos/12...
12 months ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Justin Weinberg
about 1 year ago
Philosopher Helen De Cruz has died.
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Helen De Cruz (1978-2025) - Daily Nous
Helen De Cruz, professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University, has died. Professor De Cruz specialized in philosophy of religion and cognitive science. They were the author of Wonderstruck: How Won...
https://dailynous.com/2025/06/20/helen-de-cruz-1978-2025/
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Free online for the next two weeks:
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
‘s *Morality and the Gods*.
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
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Morality and the Gods
Cambridge Core - Applied Psychology - Morality and the Gods
https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/morality-and-the-gods/B8BF0E8ECE1EF915F9560F8A459123D5
about 1 year ago
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New from RCC's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
et al.!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Elspeth Ready
about 1 year ago
Job announcement 🚨: paid fieldwork opportunity with Sanguatsiniq research project! Details in thread ⬇️ Please share!
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Nicholas Gibson
about 1 year ago
Post-doc opportunities in religious cognition don't come up too often these days, but here's a good one in the Czech Republic with
@martinlangcz.bsky.social
www.muni.cz/en/about-us/...
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Postdoctoral researcher in social cognition | Masaryk University
https://www.muni.cz/en/about-us/careers/vacancies/79198
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
AnthroTools: A Package in R
about 1 year ago
AnthroTools 2.0 is live! Nine new functions that propagate, plot, and summarize uncertainty around item and cultural salience values.
@djsmith90.bsky.social
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
@rcc-au.bsky.social
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Another offering from RCC's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
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Warm preprint from RCC's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
and
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
! Embracing uncertainty in quantitative ethnography!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
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No clear co-causal evidence of religion and mental health! Hot off the digital press from RCC's
@djsmith90.bsky.social
!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Ruth Mace
over 1 year ago
Having a monk in the family is associated with lower mortality in older Tibetans: a seven-year prospective cohort study Liqiong Zhou
@erhaoworld.bsky.social
et al |Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core -
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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Having a monk in the family and all-cause mortality: a seven-year prospective cohort study | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Having a monk in the family and all-cause mortality: a seven-year prospective cohort study - Volume 7
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/having-a-monk-in-the-family-and-allcause-mortality-a-sevenyear-prospective-cohort-study/6D55F54F8D41F89F05D34BC038072E65?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=bluesky&utm_source=socialnetwork
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Léo Fitouchi
over 1 year ago
Where do moralizing religions come from? Useless cognitive by-products?Cultural group selection for complex societies? Our Psych Review paper argues: neither. Let’s rethink their cognitive & evolutionary origins🧵 w/
@manvir.bsky.social
@nbaumard
@jbaptistandre.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1037/rev0...
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Valerie van Mulukom
over 1 year ago
Apply for a fellowship to join us for 2 years at Oxford Brookes Uni! Deadline is 18 March. (<7 years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application)
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Martin Lang
over 1 year ago
Postdoc position available in our team! We are testing a computational model explaining the decision-making process during in normative/moral situations while incorporating the formative role of culture in this process.
www.muni.cz/en/about-us/...
#socialpsyc
#PsychSciSky
#cogpsyc
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Postdoctoral researcher in social cognition | Masaryk University
https://www.muni.cz/en/about-us/careers/vacancies/78890
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Interested in examining culture, cultural models, and what people think, know, and believe? New book from RCC’s
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
coming soon as part of Sage’s “Little Green Book” series!
collegepublishing.sagepub.com/products/eth...
over 1 year ago
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From the desk of RCC's
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
: "Does cultural variance lie more between or within groups? The AnthroTools R package now includes a cultural FST calculator for two or more groups."
anthrotools.wordpress.com
over 1 year ago
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Jana Nenadalová and RCC's Armin Geertz engage in a spirited debate about the "neuroscience of religion" out now in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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On Methodological Agnosticism and Neurotheology: A Reply to David B. Yaden | Request PDF
Request PDF | On Nov 5, 2024, Jana Nenadalová and others published On Methodological Agnosticism and Neurotheology: A Reply to David B. Yaden | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Researc...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385562980_On_Methodological_Agnosticism_and_Neurotheology_A_Reply_to_David_B_Yaden
over 1 year ago
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Pre-print *Morality and the Gods* from RCC's
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
www.academia.edu/126919815/Mo...
over 1 year ago
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In-browser app for coding qualitative data. Something to check out.
add a skeleton here at some point
over 1 year ago
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RCC’s Berniūnas, Geertz, Schjødt, Sørensen, and
@bgpurzycki.bsky.social
represent the “Aarhus School” in a batch of commentaries on John Teehan’s RBB target article “Toward an embodied cognitive science of religion: enaction, evolution, emergence”
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rrbb20/0/0
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Latest articles from Religion, Brain & Behavior
Browse the latest articles and research from Religion, Brain & Behavior
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rrbb20/0/0
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Centre for Culture and Evolution
over 1 year ago
📢 The final CCE seminar of 2024 is coming up soon with
@djsmith90.bsky.social
leading us into the 🎄 festive 🎄season with a presentation on *Religion and mental health: a causal Christmas carol* 🎅 📆 18th Dec 2024 - 12:45 in person start with food, 13:00 online talk start 🔓Open to all
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Evolution of twinning! Cog. and evo. of religion folks take note!
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A gene–culture co-evolutionary perspective on the puzzle of human twinship | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
A gene–culture co-evolutionary perspective on the puzzle of human twinship - Volume 6
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/geneculture-coevolutionary-perspective-on-the-puzzle-of-human-twinship/E81184315552107BF5D2C203052B7F30#article
over 1 year ago
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ATTN: folks in Portugal!
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Dominik Deffner
over 1 year ago
How to link theory and data in cultural evolution (and beyond)? We propose a computational workflow that starts from generative models of empirical phenomena and logically connects statistical estimates to both theory and real-world explanatory goals. Out now in PNAS:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Bridging theory and data: A computational workflow for cultural evolution | PNAS
Cultural evolution applies evolutionary concepts and tools to explain the change of culture over time. Despite advances in both theoretical and emp...
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2322887121
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Informal survey on the global ubiquity of using monsters to scare naughty children.
thetoyzone.com/nightmare-fu...
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Nightmare Fuel: Iterations of the Boogeyman in (Almost) Every Country - TheToyZone
Kids playing up? Sometimes positive reinforcement isn’t going to cut it. Sometimes, you need to bring in the big guns.
https://thetoyzone.com/nightmare-fuel-iterations-of-the-boogeyman
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Dan Major-Smith
over 1 year ago
New blog post I cobbled together for the Bristol Reproducibility Network Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/e...
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Ethical Academic Publishing: How to Make Academic Publishing Fairer, More Open and Less Wasteful – Open Research at Bristol
https://openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/09/23/ethical-academic-publishing-how-to-make-academic-publishing-fairer-more-open-and-less-wasteful/
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RCC is happy to welcome
@djsmith90.bsky.social
to Aarhus! We're all looking forward to working with Dan over the next few years and excited to have him here!
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Dan Major-Smith
almost 2 years ago
We all know that – alongside global warming, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and other evils – selection bias is one of the largest threats to humanity* But how bad exactly is selection bias? This is what we aimed to explore in our recent paper:
doi.org/10.1080/2153...
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration…
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AnthroTools for R now has a triad test builder and analysis function. More on the way!
anthrotools.wordpress.com
#cognitiveanthropology
#likertscalesareboring
almost 2 years ago
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"The baboon as a statistician: Can non-human primates perform linear regression on a graph?"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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The baboon as a statistician: Can non-human primates perform linear regression on a graph?
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.06.16.599196v1.abstract
almost 2 years ago
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Minds of Gods out in PB form Aug-22! Cracking good edited volume if we may say so ourselves!
almost 2 years ago
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First RCC meet of the academic year with Dr. Renato Matoso from PUC-RIO presenting on the religious landscape of Brazil
almost 2 years ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Dan Major-Smith
about 2 years ago
Here's a short blog post I wrote on 'Using Synthetic Datasets to Promote Research Reproducibility and Transparency' for the Bristol Reprpducibility Network
openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/u...
TL;DR: Share your data! (But if you can't, share synthetic data) 😀
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Using Synthetic Datasets to Promote Research Reproducibility and Transparency – Open Research at Bristol
https://openresearchbristol.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/05/10/using-synthetic-datasets-to-promote-research-reproducibility-and-transparency/
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RCC alum Theiss Bendixen et al. root out the pressures that led to cephalopod brain size in this pre-print:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Coleoid Cephalopods Demonstrate Asocial Path to the Evolution of Big Brains
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.01.592020v1
about 2 years ago
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reposted by
Aarhus University's Religion, Cognition, and Culture Unit
Mohammad Atari
about 2 years ago
We (w/ Josh Jackson) are very excited to announce the Special Issue “Historical Psychology” to be published at CRESP. Send your papers our way! Deadline: 9/1/24
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