Aaron Lightner

Cognitive & evolutionary anthropologist. Postdoc researcher in religious studies @RCC_AU.

[Alexandra Wormley @AlexandraWorm]

The project I've been working on since Day 0 of grad school is finally published! We find that ecology explains a decent chunk of cultural variation-- across 66 different cultural variables https://t.co/PkTzD3evyH

[Dan Williams @danwilliamsphil]

In those cases, the result is not an "infodemic" but what I have elsewhere called a "marketplace of rationalizations" in which misinformation behaves more like a consumer good than a contagious virus. https://t.co/mB1ycR6gF4

[Dan Williams @danwilliamsphil]

Is misinformation a dangerous virus? Are we living through an infodemic? Is there a vaccine for misinformation? In this review of Sander van der Linden's (@Sander_vdLinden) new book 'Foolproof', I argue that the answer to these questions is "no". A thread:
https://t.co/15kR6JuVbJ

[Jan K. Woike @jan_k_woike]

(1/5)
New paper out in Cognitive Psychology with Ralph Hertwig (@arc_mpib) and Gerd Gigerenzer (@mpib_berlin).

We investigate how participants infer Bayesian posterior inferences based on an analysis of >10,000 human inferences and computer simulations.

https://t.co/xNMgkA5hOn

[Marius Warg Næss @mwnass]

Opportunity for a fully funded PhD Research Fellow position (3 year-scholarship) to study the #cross-cultural patterns of #nomadic #pastoral #cooperation on my @ERC_Research project. Deadline 15th of June.👇
https://t.co/u5WiuJx3vw

[Ed Hagen @ed_hagen]

@David_S_Wilson @jodyhoffergit @ProSocialWorld @tvolmag @myACBS In case you haven't seen it (ABM and field study of interdependence). Project led by @adlightner, with @AnnePisor
https://t.co/60zxHJgADx

[Rob Sica @robsica]

"[R]eligious narratives, though false or seemingly irrational, often turn out to reflect concerns about behaviors that matter for people's livelihoods. With radical uncertainty, they are often all we have."
-@adlightner https://t.co/6ZKhAgkKuf

[Aaron Lukaszewski @SpeciesTypical]

More special issue content just dropped! This one from @adlightner @AnnePisor & @ed_hagen

In need-based sharing, sharing is more important than need

https://t.co/GcIIQKFab5

[Anne Pisor @AnnePisor]

Need is central to many models of human cooperation including need-based sharing: asking for help only when in need & sharing when asked. But it ends up that even if individuals ask when *not* in need, sharing can still enhance survival for all involved 1/
https://t.co/schluCX5yk

[Kevin Hong @KevinHong1991]

New theory paper on the sociocultural dynamics of medical technologies: I show that when individuals can entertain multiple treatments simultaneously, both ineffective and effective medical treatments may stably coexist:
https://t.co/QyVLivvWQ1

[Religion, Cognition and Culture @RCC_AU]

HB out today from RCC's BGP and @Theiss_Bendixen!
With contributions from many of the RCC crew including @adlightner and @AnneMauritsen! A stellar group of chapters from @GuessRita @abaimel @WesleyWildman @herebehumans
and more! @BloomsburyBooks @BloomsburyRS @lilymacmahon1

[Manon Berriche @berriche_manon]

1/12 🚨 New publication in @SocialMedia_Soc 🚨 with @Sacha_Altay and @acerbialberto

“Misinformation on Misinformation: conceptual and methodological challenges”

https://t.co/cQQItXCTsl

[Tia Gong @Tianwei_Gong]

How do people intervene in a dynamic system to learn its causal structure?🔧⏰

In this new Cogn Psych paper, we found people generate causal events that are both informative and simple to interpret. W/@tobigerstenberg, Ralf Mayrhofer, and @NeilBramley

https://t.co/bbxgNEoF5g
🧵

[Tadeg Quillien @TadegQuillien]

This is such a cool paper.

Elegant evidence that children sample one possibility out of many and treat it as actual.
https://t.co/K42Y77HXsb

[Rob Sica @robsica]

Published version of @adlightner & @ed_hagen's intriguing paper:

[https://t.co/akqHzAJkrc]

[Aaron Lightner @adlightner]

@juemos Definitely -- we cite and mention it briefly in the discussion, and it's one of the takeaways that I've been really interested in pursuing further

[Aaron Lightner @adlightner]

New preprint with @AnnePisor & @ed_hagen: https://t.co/ymUjQJSwiM

🧵: Models of cooperation often highlight that sharing is esp. useful for risk pooling when recipients actually need help

But how strictly does this need-based sharing rule map onto real-world traditions?

/1

[Aaron Lightner @adlightner]

There are, of course, many assumptions, alternatives, caveats, etc. that we also discuss in the paper

preprint: https://t.co/ymUjQJSwiM

github repo: https://t.co/U6EufMpRDA

/end

[Aaron Lightner @adlightner]

So although need-based sharing is important, the cost of failing to share when someone needs help greatly outweighs the cost of sharing with someone who doesn't

In fieldwork, we also observed people behaving in a way that seems sensitive to these different costs

/9