Cultural Evolution Society
@culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
The official account for the Cultural Evolution Society. Our mission is to promote the study of cultural evolution in research and practice.
www.culturalevolutionsociety.org
www.culturalevolutionsociety.org
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
Why does every decade promise a method, a language, or now #AI that will “fix” #software #complexity?
Software never behaved like an engineered artifact.
Our research shows it evolves like an #ecosystem.
A thread ↓
Software never behaved like an engineered artifact.
Our research shows it evolves like an #ecosystem.
A thread ↓
December 4, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Why does every decade promise a method, a language, or now #AI that will “fix” #software #complexity?
Software never behaved like an engineered artifact.
Our research shows it evolves like an #ecosystem.
A thread ↓
Software never behaved like an engineered artifact.
Our research shows it evolves like an #ecosystem.
A thread ↓
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
December 4, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
Only 4 days left!
Abstract submission for CES 2026 in Rabat has been extended to 30th November! @ces2026.bsky.social
The deadline has been extended - there is still time to get your abstracts in to join us in Morocco!
November 26, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Only 4 days left!
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
Young chimps play weird with tools and other objects & this can lead to innovation! Moss sponging, doll play, leaf clipping to ask for carrying. If copied and retained, rare kid innovations can contribute to cultural complexity 🧪🔬🐵
My fav article I've ever worked on: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
My fav article I've ever worked on: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 21, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Young chimps play weird with tools and other objects & this can lead to innovation! Moss sponging, doll play, leaf clipping to ask for carrying. If copied and retained, rare kid innovations can contribute to cultural complexity 🧪🔬🐵
My fav article I've ever worked on: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
My fav article I've ever worked on: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Animal culture paper alert 🚨
In this study, Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for allowing orangutans to acquire varied diets.
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Animal culture paper alert 🚨
Cultural evolution postdoc alert 🚨
Postdoc position in individual-level incentives, social
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
files.newsletter2go.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Cultural evolution postdoc alert 🚨
The deadline has been extended - there is still time to get your abstracts in to join us in Morocco!
The submission deadline for #CESRabat has been extended to 30 November
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
November 16, 2025 at 3:40 AM
The deadline has been extended - there is still time to get your abstracts in to join us in Morocco!
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
A reminder for those on the fence, there are still 3 days left to apply for the ACE teaching innovation awards!
Don't hesitate, apply for our Advancing Cultural Evolution Teaching Innovation awards -
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
Grants and Awards - Cultural Evolution Society
culturalevolutionsociety.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 AM
A reminder for those on the fence, there are still 3 days left to apply for the ACE teaching innovation awards!
Only 2 days left to get your abstracts in!
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES
aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Only 2 days left to get your abstracts in!
Don't hesitate, apply for our Advancing Cultural Evolution Teaching Innovation awards -
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
Grants and Awards - Cultural Evolution Society
culturalevolutionsociety.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Don't hesitate, apply for our Advancing Cultural Evolution Teaching Innovation awards -
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
The deadline is the 17th of November, so you've got one more week to get your application in!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
📢 Here is my commentary about the pitfalls of taking an impoverished evolutionary approach to culture, which include 'the limitations of a unidirectional model of evolution' and 'the neglect of niche construction theory'. #ehbea #evolution #psychscisky 🧪
🧵 1/2
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧵 1/2
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The pitfalls of an impoverished approach to culture: Commentary on Baumard and André
www.sciencedirect.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
📢 Here is my commentary about the pitfalls of taking an impoverished evolutionary approach to culture, which include 'the limitations of a unidirectional model of evolution' and 'the neglect of niche construction theory'. #ehbea #evolution #psychscisky 🧪
🧵 1/2
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧵 1/2
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
November 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES
aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
Social learning is critical to breastfeeding success: evidence from rural Namibian pastoralists
AbstractBackground and objectives. Lactation is one of the defining features of mammals, yet many humans struggle with breastfeeding. One reason for this i
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
🚨 Cultural Evolution PhD Alert!
Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution
posted on October 16, 2025
We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual for a ful...
hmc-lab.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:35 PM
🚨 Cultural Evolution PhD Alert!
🚨 New CE paper alert!
🚨 Excited to share a new paper 📃, years in the making, with Zach Wood.
We propose that human evolution is characterized as an Evolutionary Transition in Inheritance and Individuality (ETII).
Explainer and OA paper below:
We propose that human evolution is characterized as an Evolutionary Transition in Inheritance and Individuality (ETII).
Explainer and OA paper below:
October 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
🚨 New CE paper alert!
Our recently announced ACE Course Design Awards showcased excellent teaching materials from CE courses.
We're now pleased to announce the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards, aimed at those looking to include more CE in their courses. Find out more @ the link below!
vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
We're now pleased to announce the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards, aimed at those looking to include more CE in their courses. Find out more @ the link below!
vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
vuw.qualtrics.com
October 18, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Our recently announced ACE Course Design Awards showcased excellent teaching materials from CE courses.
We're now pleased to announce the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards, aimed at those looking to include more CE in their courses. Find out more @ the link below!
vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
We're now pleased to announce the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards, aimed at those looking to include more CE in their courses. Find out more @ the link below!
vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Thanks Paul for catching that error in our original post! Congratulations to @psmaldino.bsky.social on his ACE Course Design Awards for "Cultural Evolution" and for "Modeling Social Behaviour".
Honored to have won TWO Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards for my courses “Cultural Evolution” and “Modeling Social Behavior”.
We're pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards! This competition recognises leading educators in the field of cultural evolution and their existing efforts to advance its teaching.
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
October 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Thanks Paul for catching that error in our original post! Congratulations to @psmaldino.bsky.social on his ACE Course Design Awards for "Cultural Evolution" and for "Modeling Social Behaviour".
Cultural Evolution Paper Alert 🚨
Out today in @plosbiology.org (1/5)
Siblings and non-parental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits 🐦🧩
Link to study:
10.0.5.91/journal.pbio...
Co-authors:
@lucymaplin.bsky.social
@galarconnieto.bsky.social
Siblings and non-parental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits 🐦🧩
Link to study:
10.0.5.91/journal.pbio...
Co-authors:
@lucymaplin.bsky.social
@galarconnieto.bsky.social
October 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Cultural Evolution Paper Alert 🚨
We're pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards! This competition recognises leading educators in the field of cultural evolution and their existing efforts to advance its teaching.
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
October 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
We're pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards! This competition recognises leading educators in the field of cultural evolution and their existing efforts to advance its teaching.
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):
ACE Teaching Innovation Awards empower scholars to incorporate high-quality cultural evolution course materials into their teaching. This is a great opportunity for those from majority-world countries and ECR academics, but everyone can apply!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
vuw.qualtrics.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:57 AM
ACE Teaching Innovation Awards empower scholars to incorporate high-quality cultural evolution course materials into their teaching. This is a great opportunity for those from majority-world countries and ECR academics, but everyone can apply!
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
I just had a lovely morning teaching memo with Lio Wong at #COSMOS2025 in Tokyo! Charley and Wataru have put together an absolutely *fantastic* summer school. Fascinating talks, delightful people… and excellent location. I feel so lucky to be here. If you ever get a chance to attend COSMOS, take it!
Now up at #COSMOS2025: @kartikchandra.bsky.social & Lio Wong giving a tutorial on recursive social reasoning using MEMO github.com/kach/memo
Fun fact: those flowers between them and 🗻 are called "cosmos".
Collab notebook here to follow along 👉 cosmossummerschool.github.io/materials/#g...
Fun fact: those flowers between them and 🗻 are called "cosmos".
Collab notebook here to follow along 👉 cosmossummerschool.github.io/materials/#g...
October 1, 2025 at 7:14 AM
I just had a lovely morning teaching memo with Lio Wong at #COSMOS2025 in Tokyo! Charley and Wataru have put together an absolutely *fantastic* summer school. Fascinating talks, delightful people… and excellent location. I feel so lucky to be here. If you ever get a chance to attend COSMOS, take it!
Reposted by Cultural Evolution Society
How to quantify the impact of AI on long-run cultural evolution? Published today, I give it a go!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
September 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
How to quantify the impact of AI on long-run cultural evolution? Published today, I give it a go!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
September 13, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright