| Web | https://www.martinlang.cz |
| LEVYNA lab | https://www.levyna.cz/en |
| Google Scholar | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xMQTDugAAAAJ&hl=en |
New synthetic paper on the evolution of human collective ritual!
With Radek Kundt, we tried to answer when and why ritual evolved in the hominin lineage in a target article in Religion, Brain, & Behaviour (open access!).
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2153599X.2023.2197977
tl;dr: rituals evolved gradually to facilitate cooperative communication
1/3 I recently wrote a paper on the role of theorizing in scientific research, particularly in light of recent credibility crises in psychology. The paper argues for a greater emphasis on theorizing, as scientific progress relies on properly functioning theories.
To study theories more effectively, I introduce a new approach called cognitive metascience. This approach emphasizes the importance of evaluating theories based on specific epistemic criteria for theory selection.
The 2023 edition of my long-running anti-establishment art-science-fusion code-therapy smooth-baritone causal inference & Bayesian data analysis course is complete. 20 lectures, from the basics of causal inference & Bayesian updating to mixed models & Gaussian processes.
Lecture recordings, slides, homework sets and solutions are all listed here. Take it at your own pace. First half is a solid course in regression and causal inference. Second half turns it up to 11. https://github.com/rmcelreath/stat_rethinking_2023#calendar--topical-outline
10 years after we created Registered Reports, the thing critics assured us would never (in a million years) happen has happened: @Nature is offering them.
The Registered Reports initiative just went up a gear and we are one step closer to eradicating publication bias and reporting bias from science.
Congratulations to all involved in achieving this milestone.
🚨New preprint 🚨
With Radim Chvaja and Ben Purzycki, we experimentally show that costly signals of cooperative intentions assort cooperators during intergroup conflict, and that these cooperative groups beat other groups in competition over shared resources.
We are excited to announce that Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN) 2023 will take place this year in Oxford from August 24 - 27, 2023. The conference will take place at the Examination Schools – more information can be found here:
www.venues.ox.ac.uk/our-venues/examination-schools/.
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Confirmed speakers for this year's CCN include Stan Dehaene, Helen Barron, Cate Hartley, Jay McClelland and Tim Kietzmann [email protected]
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We also want to note that the paper submission period will be earlier this year than in previous years: abstract submissions will open end of January, and will close March 31.
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For the most up-to-date information about CCN 2023, including reminders about deadlines, join our mailing list (https://mail.securecms.com/mailman/listinfo/ccneuro-announce) and also follow us here on Twitter (https://twitter.com/CogCompNeuro) or Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@CogCompNeuro@qoto.org)
Please boost!!
Ten years ago today the 1st edition of my & @ct_bergstrom's Evolution textbook came out!
Happy birthday "Evolution"!
The 3rd edition of this book is in the final production phase right now and will be available very soon.
More on the third edition here:
https://wwnorton.com/books/Evolution/
Together with Radim Chvaja, we argue that ritual reduction of anxiety can be beneficial (even if not mitigating the threat itself) in situations that constantly provoke anxiety yet are difficult to control. Rituals might manage unnecessarily high anxiety, which may be harmful in the long term.
The chapter is part of this spectacular volume edited by Yair Loir & Justin Lane:
https://bit.ly/ritual_anxiety
The past two decades have seen a growing interest in evolutionary and scientific approaches to religion. The Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Approaches to Religion is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems and debates in this exciting and emerging field. Comprising over thirty chapters by a team of international contributors the handbook pulls together scholarship in the following areas: evolutionary psychology and the cognitive science of religion (CSR) cultural evolution the complementarity of evolutionary psychology, cognitive science and cultural evolution Within these sections central issues, debates and problems are examined, including: Cliodynamics, cultural group selection, costly signaling, dual inheritance theory, literacy, transmitting narratives, prosociality, supernatural punishment, cognition and ritual, meme theory, fusion theory, sexual selection, agency detection, evoked culture, social brain hypothesis, theory of mind, developmental psychology, emergence theory, social learning, cultural cybernetics, cultural epidemiology, evolutionary and cultural psychology, memetics, by-product and adaptationist theories of religion, systems and information theory, and computer modeling. This Handbook is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and anthropology. It will also be very useful to those in related fields, such as psychology, sociology of religion, cognitive biology, and evolutionary biology.
Marcin Miłkowski
Richard McElreath 🦔
Chris Chambers
CogCompNeuro
Patrick Mineault
Lee Dugatkin
Explaining Atheism