Putting together this whole special issue has been an adventure, but one of the most rewarding parts has been the opportunity to write with one of my very favorite cognitive anthropologists - I'll let @schrisomalis.bsky.social sell it for us below!

🚨 New paper alert! (slightly belated) We (with @joshcjackson.bsky.social) suggest that complex technologies, as they need several (often many) people to use them, require innovations that distribute cognition to help regulate cognitive load and coordinate. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@helenamiton.bsky.social and I have a new paper out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Past theories focus on how we evolve complex technologies (jet engines), but neglect cultural innovations that help us operate these technologies (pilot checklist) Paper has tons of examples and new theory!

Check out this excellent new article by Ekstrom et al., "The Phoneme as a Cognitive Tool", in the special issue of Topics in Cognitive Science, "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories", which I'm co-editing with @helenamiton.bsky.social. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Check out Penelope Scott's great new article, "Medical Recipes in Early Medieval English" part of the special issue I'm co-editing with @helenamiton.bsky.social in Topics in Cognitive Science, "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories". onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

In 'Cosmovision as cognitive technology', @helendecruz.net and Johan de Smedt analyze the Cruz-Badianus (Nahua / Aztec) herbarium as a tool to scaffold knowledge of a distinctive cosmology of the body. 3/3 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

In 'Time Tools', @kensycoop.bsky.social investigates the concepts, practices, and artifacts we use to concretize, coordinate, and measure time. 2/3 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Two new articles came out this week in the special issue of Topics in Cognitive Science "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories", edited by @helenamiton.bsky.social and me: 1/3

🚨Job alert! Two-year postdoc to join the Rep2SI project at @lsemethodology.bsky.social! We're looking for a modeller to join our team of ethnographers & experimentalists studying the role of reputation and reputational concern in perpetuating social inequality. Apply by 4 May: tinyurl.com/yjccd3vv

The CultureLab at PSL, Paris, is recruiting a research engineer in #dh, computational social sciences and cultural evolution. We're looking for skills in data science, machine learning and programming. 4 years position. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/323661

I'm hiring a new lab manager! Deadline to apply is April 1st. More details here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu... I formed some of my deepest and most impactful partnerships as a lab manager, and it's a position that I highly value. If you are a PI, please circulate to possible applicants!

"Information Architectures: A Framework for Understanding Socio-Technical Systems" is in press at npj Complexity. Normally I might wait until publication to share, but given the relevance to our rapidly-changing world, it seemed worth sharing now. osf.io/preprints/so...

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 If you use a writing system and/or a language with sounds (which, come on, if you're reading this, you do!), and are curious to learn more about how these systems encode information (you should be), please enjoy our latest paper - fresh off the press!

Alberto said it all - it's a pretty fantastic opportunity for a Junior researcher in Computational Social Sciences, go apply! Deadline is March 20th, 2025.

💥Postdoc Opening! 💥We (@lucasmolleman.bsky.social & Piet van den Berg) seek a postdoc to study social learning and cultural evolution. We are looking for someone with math/computational modeling skills & interest in human behavior. Get in touch if you have any questions! shorturl.at/W6Qsb

For our junior colleagues in the US looking for opportunities, Europe is a great place to do science 🧪 We have a #postdoc call open right now! #complexity csh.ac.at/education/po...

🏰 PhD position on computational modelling | collective dynamics | cultural evolution 🏰 Get in touch with any questions you might have and join me in beautiful Marburg! stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/c... (Deutsch) stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/3... (English)

So it's hard to believe, but it has been 10 years (!) since my first scientific publication - on the cultural success of bloodletting with @hugoreasoning.bsky.social and Nicolas Claidière. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We're hiring! Are you a cultural evolutionary modeller who wants to understand how and why children's peer cultures evolve? Here's a postdoc position for you! @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social @durhampsych.bsky.social @ehbea.bsky.social @eslr.bsky.social Apply here: durham.taleo.net/careersectio...

Major JOB ALERT! I and close colleagues have 4 (!) positions open. So if you're looking for a postdoc or PhD, do read on:

New article in our special issue 'Cognitive Technologies and their Histories': Ottaviano et al., "Metaphors and the invention of writing" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@schrisomalis.bsky.social already said it better than I will, but @antiquethought.bsky.social's article on memory palaces is exemplary in how to explore what "dead minds" did. And if it's your jam, stay tuned! We have more cool stuff coming up in this special issue :)

In this fantastic new article, @antiquethought.bsky.social talks about ancient Roman 'memory palace' practices in light of modern cognitive science research on memory. (This is the first article in a special issue on historical cognitive technologies, edited by @helenamiton.bsky.social and me.)

For folks who have had to navigate early career stages with an unstable personal/romantic life/heartbreak(s), especially if they are far geographically from most of their support system, do you have any advice on how to do it? Does it ever get easier?

So cool to meet all these fantastic scholars in person for the first time after interacting (collaborating, reviewing, debating, etc) only virtually for many years @masonyoungblood.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social @helenamiton.bsky.social

Information Architectures: A Framework for Understanding Socio-Technical Systems New paper that came out of a workshop I co-organized at @sfiscience.bsky.social in May 2023 with a large interdisciplinary group. osf.io/preprints/so...

We're hiring 2 data scientists to work w/faculty and students in our new Social Science Data and Computing Lab. Master’s preferred, but BA/BS + strong evidence of relevant skills also encouraged to apply. Pay begins at $83K. Apply / share with your students! searchjobs.dartmouth.edu/postings/738...

Looking for a PhD student interested in finding out what makes human cognition special, studying symbolic thought, compositionality, behaviour & 🧠, co-supervised by Paul Muhle-Karbe, Sarah Beck, School of Psychology, Uni of Birmingham Lab meetings in 🌳👇 reach out by 24/5 more in 🧵 Please share 1/n

Our new paper w/ @masonyoungblood.bsky.social & @oliviermorin.bsky.social. Are early members of music genres more popular than late adopters? Or: Is there first-mover advantage in music? We tested this question using ~1 mil songs from Spotify 🧵/1 epjdatascience.springeropen.com/articles/10....

Big paper just published led by @sampassmore.bsky.social combining Global Jukebox songs with global genetic and linguistic data to find surprising (to me) dissociations. Coauthors Anna Lomax Wood, Chiara Barbieri, @dorshilton.bsky.social, Hideo Daikoku, & Quentin Atkinson: rdcu.be/dHzzO

Come do a PhD in Trento! www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/58...

Reminder of this postdoc, deadline next Monday (15th April)

We are readvertising this postdoc at Mannheim University in social learning, cultural evolution and personality/individual differences, with Jochen Gebauer, me, Daniel Haun & Wilhelm Hofmann. Deadline 15 April, more details here: www.psy.de/evo.pdf #culturalevolution #personality #postdoc

My group at Stanford GSB is inviting applications for a postdoc for AY 2024/5. Please apply if we're your jam!

If you like my work and think we could learn from each other and have fun doing research together, Marie Curie postdoctoral applications will soon open and my university has wonderful support for writing one. Write me a mail explaining your idea and why we'd match! 1/

Exciting news!! Abstract submission for 2024 Cultural Evolution Society conference is opening today!! Look out for information, including from @durhamdcerc.bsky.social and the culturalevolutionsociety.org . Can't wait to see you all in Durham Sept 9-11th 🎉

I am actively recruiting MA and PhD students in linguistic, historical, and cognitive anthropology at Wayne State for Fall 2024. No GRE; no application fee; multi-year funding for all PhD students. Application deadline 01/15 - still lots of time. Share widely, or contact me for more info.

As someone on Steve's panel at 8am on Sunday, I'd join in saying - please come see us!

Job alert! Postdoctoral and teaching fellow at Mannheim University in social learning, cultural evolution and personality/individual differences, with Jochen Gebauer, me, Daniel Haun & Wilhelm Hofmann. Deadline 1st Dec, more details here: www.psy.de/evoad.pdf #culturalevolution #personality #postdoc

🚨 last days to apply (deadline 15 Nov.) ! The ERC project LostMA is recruiting: 1. a post-doc in #complexity science for 2 years (renewable for 2 more); 2. a data-architect and curator for 4 years. Menu: medieval manuscripts, evolutionary models & data analysis at a scale rarely attempted!

I am delighted to announce that the Department of Biology at the University of Washington is advertising for a tenure-track assistant professor position on the quantitative understanding of collective behavior. I will be chairing the search; details are here: apply.interfolio.com/130336

I don't often get FOMO, but definitely feeling it for this workshop - if you can make it to Paris Dec 6-8th, this will be an absolute 🔥 event!

I'm accepting applications for prospective grad students to join my lab. Nov 1 is the next deadline to be considered for University of Auckland PhD scholarships starting from March 2024: auckland.ac.nz/en/study/sch... Please see my lab manual for details: drive.google.com/file/d/1ayBI...

I guess it’s time for an update!  My chapter on Cultural Attraction for the Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution is now officially out! doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...

We have two postdoc positions at the Center for Philosophy of Science at Pitt. Join us in this unique place for philosophy of science. Please share widely.

I'm excited to announce that the English Department at UCSB is hiring an assistant professor (tenure-track) in Digital Humanities. Applications due Nov 10. Info here: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02587 Please share widely!

Job offer! 2-year postdoc on analysis of social media from a cultural evolution perspective. More details at the link. Contact me if interested - please share! #CulturalEvolution #cssky acerbialberto.com/post/2023_po...