Dorsa Amir
@dorsaamir.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at Duke University studying kids & culture. Director of the Mind & Culture Lab. Mom x3. Some people just want to watch the world learn.
dorsaamir.com | mindandculturelab.com
dorsaamir.com | mindandculturelab.com
Pinned
Dorsa Amir
@dorsaamir.bsky.social
· Jan 25
Does the culture you grow up in shape the way you see the world? In a new Psych Review paper, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I tackle this centuries-old question using the Müller-Lyer illusion as a case study. Come think through one of history's mysteries with us🧵(1/13):
Wheeled toys were all the rage in the ancient world. Here are four lovely examples: a Greek horse, a Mesopotamian ram, an Iranian hedgehog & a Mesoamerican jaguar. The jaguar one is particularly cool because it shows that Mesoamericans knew about wheels; they just didn't use them for transport.
November 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Wheeled toys were all the rage in the ancient world. Here are four lovely examples: a Greek horse, a Mesopotamian ram, an Iranian hedgehog & a Mesoamerican jaguar. The jaguar one is particularly cool because it shows that Mesoamericans knew about wheels; they just didn't use them for transport.
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Somehow I spoke to more anthropologists for my silly little podcast than Yuval Harari did for his bestselling book
Really enjoyed chatting with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode! In addition to being a delight to talk to, Michael was _extremely_ committed to getting the facts right & engaged very earnestly with our feedback. A scientist's dream.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Somehow I spoke to more anthropologists for my silly little podcast than Yuval Harari did for his bestselling book
Really enjoyed chatting with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode! In addition to being a delight to talk to, Michael was _extremely_ committed to getting the facts right & engaged very earnestly with our feedback. A scientist's dream.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Really enjoyed chatting with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode! In addition to being a delight to talk to, Michael was _extremely_ committed to getting the facts right & engaged very earnestly with our feedback. A scientist's dream.
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
⚠️ New Postdoc or PhD position open (3 years+) ⚠️
🚩Developmental milestones across cultures 🌍
Based @leuphana.bsky.social , in collaboration with @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
Please share/apply!
Link: tinyurl.com/58dsn43u
🚩Developmental milestones across cultures 🌍
Based @leuphana.bsky.social , in collaboration with @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
Please share/apply!
Link: tinyurl.com/58dsn43u
jobs-praktika-aktuell
tinyurl.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:39 AM
⚠️ New Postdoc or PhD position open (3 years+) ⚠️
🚩Developmental milestones across cultures 🌍
Based @leuphana.bsky.social , in collaboration with @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
Please share/apply!
Link: tinyurl.com/58dsn43u
🚩Developmental milestones across cultures 🌍
Based @leuphana.bsky.social , in collaboration with @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
Please share/apply!
Link: tinyurl.com/58dsn43u
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
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!🙏
Child’s tunic with hood, Egypt, ca. 600-900 AD. Turns out hoodies have been around for a while!
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Child’s tunic with hood, Egypt, ca. 600-900 AD. Turns out hoodies have been around for a while!
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
In a world without forest and creeks, where do the children play? My new essay explores peer cultures and the strangeness of Western childhood. Heavily inspired by work from @dorsaamir.bsky.social and Sheina Lew-Levy :)
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
Where Do the Children Play?
On the need for a world without us
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
In a world without forest and creeks, where do the children play? My new essay explores peer cultures and the strangeness of Western childhood. Heavily inspired by work from @dorsaamir.bsky.social and Sheina Lew-Levy :)
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Really enjoyed this podcast with @sheinalew.bsky.social and @dorsaamir.bsky.social on evolution and childhood. Super-smart people talking about a super-interesting topic
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
Varieties of childhood
Podcast Episode · Many Minds · 10/07/2025 · 1h 29m
podcasts.apple.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Really enjoyed this podcast with @sheinalew.bsky.social and @dorsaamir.bsky.social on evolution and childhood. Super-smart people talking about a super-interesting topic
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Another great PhD opportunity: An ERC-funded project on “Children as agents of cultural evolution,” lead by @sheinalew.bsky.social at Durham University. Come do fieldwork with Mayan groups in Belize with her, @dorsaamir.bsky.social, and I! One of three, 3-year PhD positions starting Fall 2026.
Fees and Funding - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
October 27, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Another great PhD opportunity: An ERC-funded project on “Children as agents of cultural evolution,” lead by @sheinalew.bsky.social at Durham University. Come do fieldwork with Mayan groups in Belize with her, @dorsaamir.bsky.social, and I! One of three, 3-year PhD positions starting Fall 2026.
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
1/
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
October 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM
1/
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3
October 2, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
October 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Every developmental psychologist Is like “but my lecture slides!”
This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇
October 9, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Every developmental psychologist Is like “but my lecture slides!”
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
If you could win a prize by guessing the number on a die 🎲 hidden under a cup, would you want to guess before the die was rolled, or after?
The odds of winning are the same in both, but they can feel different. 🧵
The odds of winning are the same in both, but they can feel different. 🧵
October 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
If you could win a prize by guessing the number on a die 🎲 hidden under a cup, would you want to guess before the die was rolled, or after?
The odds of winning are the same in both, but they can feel different. 🧵
The odds of winning are the same in both, but they can feel different. 🧵
While this looks like it could have been painted yesterday, it’s actually a 1,700 year old (!) portrait from a Fayum mummy in modern day Egypt. This is one of ~900 of these portraits from the era, which broke from a more stylized tradition, and represented the subject more naturally.
September 29, 2025 at 11:23 AM
While this looks like it could have been painted yesterday, it’s actually a 1,700 year old (!) portrait from a Fayum mummy in modern day Egypt. This is one of ~900 of these portraits from the era, which broke from a more stylized tradition, and represented the subject more naturally.
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
Fees and Funding - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
September 11, 2025 at 9:12 AM
@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
Been reading recently about attempts to circumnavigate the globe & how 16th century ships pulled it off. Steering a ship was complicated & relied on hundreds of adjustments to complex rope systems. So, it often took a new sailor a long time to..... "learn the ropes"! So that's where that comes from.
August 28, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Been reading recently about attempts to circumnavigate the globe & how 16th century ships pulled it off. Steering a ship was complicated & relied on hundreds of adjustments to complex rope systems. So, it often took a new sailor a long time to..... "learn the ropes"! So that's where that comes from.
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Do you fall for the Müller-Lyer optical illusion? Psychologists had long thought that it depends on your cultural background—the famous "carpentered-world" hypothesis. Now, that hypothesis is widely disputed. Here's why. 🧪 by @norabradford.bsky.social
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
Why a Classic Psychology Theory about Vision Has Fallen Apart
The downfall of a long-standing theory in psychology raises a question: How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we literally see the world?
www.scientificamerican.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Do you fall for the Müller-Lyer optical illusion? Psychologists had long thought that it depends on your cultural background—the famous "carpentered-world" hypothesis. Now, that hypothesis is widely disputed. Here's why. 🧪 by @norabradford.bsky.social
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Why do societies reliably develop strikingly similar traditions like dance songs, hero stories, shamanism & justice institutions?
In a new BBS target article, I propose a theory for such "super-attractors" + cultural evolution more broadly. Now open for commentary: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
In a new BBS target article, I propose a theory for such "super-attractors" + cultural evolution more broadly. Now open for commentary: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
August 25, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Why do societies reliably develop strikingly similar traditions like dance songs, hero stories, shamanism & justice institutions?
In a new BBS target article, I propose a theory for such "super-attractors" + cultural evolution more broadly. Now open for commentary: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
In a new BBS target article, I propose a theory for such "super-attractors" + cultural evolution more broadly. Now open for commentary: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A little write-up of our Psych Review paper (with @chazfirestone.bsky.social) on culture and visual illusions — out now in Slate! 👇
Could it really be that our very eyes tell us something different about the world depending on where we grew up? slate.trib.al/OrluVlN
We Looked at 100 Years of Research on Perception. What We Found May Surprise You.
Do you see what I see? It’s a classic question.
slate.trib.al
August 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
A little write-up of our Psych Review paper (with @chazfirestone.bsky.social) on culture and visual illusions — out now in Slate! 👇
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Thanks so much @dorsaamir.bsky.social and @chazfirestone.bsky.social, along with @mcxfrank.bsky.social, for your input on this! And ofc @sarahexplains.bsky.social and @parshallison.bsky.social for your editing!
How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we see the world? Wonderful piece in @sciam.bsky.social by @norabradford.bsky.social, ft. an interview with @dorsaamir.bsky.social about our work on the 'cultural byproduct hypothesis'.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
Why a Classic Psychology Theory about Vision Has Fallen Apart
The downfall of a long-standing theory in psychology raises a question: How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we literally see the world?
www.scientificamerican.com
August 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Thanks so much @dorsaamir.bsky.social and @chazfirestone.bsky.social, along with @mcxfrank.bsky.social, for your input on this! And ofc @sarahexplains.bsky.social and @parshallison.bsky.social for your editing!
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we see the world? Wonderful piece in @sciam.bsky.social by @norabradford.bsky.social, ft. an interview with @dorsaamir.bsky.social about our work on the 'cultural byproduct hypothesis'.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
Why a Classic Psychology Theory about Vision Has Fallen Apart
The downfall of a long-standing theory in psychology raises a question: How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we literally see the world?
www.scientificamerican.com
August 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we see the world? Wonderful piece in @sciam.bsky.social by @norabradford.bsky.social, ft. an interview with @dorsaamir.bsky.social about our work on the 'cultural byproduct hypothesis'.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...
Reposted by Dorsa Amir
Children are often cast as passive vessels into which we pour culture. But children create cultures of their own—vibrant ones with special properties.
Just one of the topics discussed in our recent episode with @dorsaamir.bsky.social & @sheinalew.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/varieties-of...
Just one of the topics discussed in our recent episode with @dorsaamir.bsky.social & @sheinalew.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/varieties-of...
July 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Children are often cast as passive vessels into which we pour culture. But children create cultures of their own—vibrant ones with special properties.
Just one of the topics discussed in our recent episode with @dorsaamir.bsky.social & @sheinalew.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/varieties-of...
Just one of the topics discussed in our recent episode with @dorsaamir.bsky.social & @sheinalew.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/varieties-of...
Nothing like having fraternal twins to realize how big individual differences are. All baby advice seems to assume that babies are interchangeable but let me tell you: we treat them exactly the same & it is incredibly clear that they are two _very_ different people with very different preferences.
July 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Nothing like having fraternal twins to realize how big individual differences are. All baby advice seems to assume that babies are interchangeable but let me tell you: we treat them exactly the same & it is incredibly clear that they are two _very_ different people with very different preferences.