Johan Lind
@johanlind.bsky.social
Scientist | Behavior | Cognition | Culture
Latest book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240770/the-human-evolutionary-transition
And Nature Photographer/biodiversity junkie:
www.jlind.se & www.instagram.com/jlindphoto
Latest book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691240770/the-human-evolutionary-transition
And Nature Photographer/biodiversity junkie:
www.jlind.se & www.instagram.com/jlindphoto
Pinned
Johan Lind
@johanlind.bsky.social
· Feb 18
Everything's quite new here at #bsky, so perhaps a quick intro could be useful.
Abt science, published this book recently (with 2 colleagues): An attempt at a theoretically plausible evolutionary trajection of a world with a little culture to a world where culture is human nature 1/n
Abt science, published this book recently (with 2 colleagues): An attempt at a theoretically plausible evolutionary trajection of a world with a little culture to a world where culture is human nature 1/n
November 23, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Johan Lind
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Johan Lind
En ny studie visar att inga av de undersökta svenska skogarna som kalhuggits sedan 1950-talet har återhämtat sig helt när det gäller biologisk mångfald, över 70 år senare.
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/skog...
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/skog...
Skogar som kalhöggs på 1950-talet är fortfarande artfattigare
Även 65-85 år gamla produktionsskogar har betydligt sämre förutsättningar för rödlistade arter och naturvårdsarter än vad naturreservat har.
www.natursidan.se
November 23, 2025 at 6:38 AM
En ny studie visar att inga av de undersökta svenska skogarna som kalhuggits sedan 1950-talet har återhämtat sig helt när det gäller biologisk mångfald, över 70 år senare.
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/skog...
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/skog...
Reposted by Johan Lind
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
Just saw this, Wisdom's back, again! 🥳
November 20, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Just saw this, Wisdom's back, again! 🥳
There are so many (conflicting) hypotheses out there.
"Hence, the CEH currently provides a theoretical framework that risks confusing, rather than informing, inferences about the evolution of human external eye appearance and its selective drivers." (CEH=cooperative eye hypothesis)
"Hence, the CEH currently provides a theoretical framework that risks confusing, rather than informing, inferences about the evolution of human external eye appearance and its selective drivers." (CEH=cooperative eye hypothesis)
"The cooperative eye hypothesis proposes that human eyeballs are uniquely conspicuous and evolved under selective pressures to behave cooperatively....but lacks robust empirical support: human eye pigmentation does not uniquely stand out among primates, is not uniform at species level..."
Look past the cooperative eye hypothesis: reconsidering the evolution of human eye appearance
The external appearance of the human eye has been prominently linked to the evolution of complex sociocognitive functions in our species. The cooperative eye hypothesis (CEH) proposes that human eyeb....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:22 AM
There are so many (conflicting) hypotheses out there.
"Hence, the CEH currently provides a theoretical framework that risks confusing, rather than informing, inferences about the evolution of human external eye appearance and its selective drivers." (CEH=cooperative eye hypothesis)
"Hence, the CEH currently provides a theoretical framework that risks confusing, rather than informing, inferences about the evolution of human external eye appearance and its selective drivers." (CEH=cooperative eye hypothesis)
Reposted by Johan Lind
Det har skapats ett nytt nätverk för unga naturfotografer i Sverige för att inspirera varandra och hitta andra med samma intresse. Nyligen har de också arrangerat sin första tävling – här är de fem bäst placerade bilderna:
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/vinn...
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/vinn...
Vinnarbilderna i svensk tävling för unga naturfotografer
Det har skapats ett nytt nätverk för unga naturfotografer i Sverige för att inspirera varandra och hitta andra med samma intresse. Nyligen har de också arrangerat sin första tävling – här är de fem bä...
www.natursidan.se
November 16, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Det har skapats ett nytt nätverk för unga naturfotografer i Sverige för att inspirera varandra och hitta andra med samma intresse. Nyligen har de också arrangerat sin första tävling – här är de fem bäst placerade bilderna:
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/vinn...
www.natursidan.se/nyheter/vinn...
Reposted by Johan Lind
Don't just take my word for it ... @stephanielking.bsky.social and Denise Herzing provide insightful comments in this piece: www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-n...
November 14, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Don't just take my word for it ... @stephanielking.bsky.social and Denise Herzing provide insightful comments in this piece: www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-n...
Sometimes scientific papers surprise you. Info on new papers will appear below :)
We have identified that non-hum animals struggle with remembering and using sequential information, in general. (See e.g. this TiCS paper and references therein: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) 1/n
We have identified that non-hum animals struggle with remembering and using sequential information, in general. (See e.g. this TiCS paper and references therein: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) 1/n
A sequence bottleneck for animal intelligence and language?
We discuss recent findings suggesting that non-human animals lack memory for stimulus sequences, and therefore do not represent the order of stimuli f…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Sometimes scientific papers surprise you. Info on new papers will appear below :)
We have identified that non-hum animals struggle with remembering and using sequential information, in general. (See e.g. this TiCS paper and references therein: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) 1/n
We have identified that non-hum animals struggle with remembering and using sequential information, in general. (See e.g. this TiCS paper and references therein: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) 1/n
Oops, something fishy with the silver medal-winning photo of barn swallows, reward was removed last week. This photo from the competition Bird Photographer of the Year has disappeared from many sites, but has remained on this site (so far):
www.forbes.com/sites/cecili... #bpoty #photography
www.forbes.com/sites/cecili... #bpoty #photography
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Oops, something fishy with the silver medal-winning photo of barn swallows, reward was removed last week. This photo from the competition Bird Photographer of the Year has disappeared from many sites, but has remained on this site (so far):
www.forbes.com/sites/cecili... #bpoty #photography
www.forbes.com/sites/cecili... #bpoty #photography
Reposted by Johan Lind
07-Nov: On this day in 1913, Alfred Russel Wallace died. Wallace famously came up with a near-identical explanation for how evolution occurs independently of Charles Darwin. You can read about their friendship here: friendsofdarwin.com/articles/dar... #histsci
Modesty and candour: the Darwin-Wallace friendship
To mark the 200th anniversary of Wallace’s birth, an article exploring the friendship between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
friendsofdarwin.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
07-Nov: On this day in 1913, Alfred Russel Wallace died. Wallace famously came up with a near-identical explanation for how evolution occurs independently of Charles Darwin. You can read about their friendship here: friendsofdarwin.com/articles/dar... #histsci
Reposted by Johan Lind
Is the psychology replication crisis (at last) catching up with animal cognition?
"Our results indicate low statistical power and inflated effect sizes in both primary studies and meta-analyses."
Preprint here:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
"Our results indicate low statistical power and inflated effect sizes in both primary studies and meta-analyses."
Preprint here:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
The statistical fragility of animal cognition findings: a meta-meta-analytic reappraisal
ecoevorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Is the psychology replication crisis (at last) catching up with animal cognition?
"Our results indicate low statistical power and inflated effect sizes in both primary studies and meta-analyses."
Preprint here:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
"Our results indicate low statistical power and inflated effect sizes in both primary studies and meta-analyses."
Preprint here:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Just submitted a book ms! An edited volume, edited together with super scientist @annajonand.bsky.social. Now I'm going #birding for the rest of the weekend <3
#submissionfriday
#submissionfriday
October 31, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Just submitted a book ms! An edited volume, edited together with super scientist @annajonand.bsky.social. Now I'm going #birding for the rest of the weekend <3
#submissionfriday
#submissionfriday
Reposted by Johan Lind
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.
We highlighted the problem that arbitrarily chosen statistical models provides a heaven for cherry picking here journals.plos.org/plosone/arti.... Down propagation of "slicing errors" makes it all worse :o #brainevolution?
October 27, 2025 at 8:14 AM
We highlighted the problem that arbitrarily chosen statistical models provides a heaven for cherry picking here journals.plos.org/plosone/arti.... Down propagation of "slicing errors" makes it all worse :o #brainevolution?
Reposted by Johan Lind
📢 We have an open position for a postdoc to join my lab. It's a great position @animecol-uu.bsky.social, fully salaried for 2.5 years with all benefits.
www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
The project is about transmission patterns of bacteria and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic insects. 🧬🦠 (1/3)
www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
The project is about transmission patterns of bacteria and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic insects. 🧬🦠 (1/3)
Postdoctoral researcher in molecular ecology - Uppsala University
Postdoctoral researcher in molecular ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University
www.uu.se
October 27, 2025 at 7:43 AM
📢 We have an open position for a postdoc to join my lab. It's a great position @animecol-uu.bsky.social, fully salaried for 2.5 years with all benefits.
www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
The project is about transmission patterns of bacteria and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic insects. 🧬🦠 (1/3)
www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
The project is about transmission patterns of bacteria and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in aquatic insects. 🧬🦠 (1/3)
Reposted by Johan Lind
Same opinion here! Academics no longer engage in critical thinking, and their views are anything but intellectual. I'm old already, though and grumpy, especially about this.
I think this is true in a deep and troubling way. I have been observing this too. I am getting old & maybe I’m wrong, but I really feel basic academic, critical and intellectual, attitudes that were normal and prominent 20 years ago seem to have eroded. I agree, we need to understand how and why.
The scenario in which there are oligarchs powerful enough to succeed at their AI con and force LLMs onto the rest of society is the outright fascist and dystopian scenario. That higher ed has largely capitulated to the scam means it had already been deskilled. We need to understand how and why.
October 18, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Same opinion here! Academics no longer engage in critical thinking, and their views are anything but intellectual. I'm old already, though and grumpy, especially about this.
Fun bet on scientific prediction :)
Take-home message resonates well with ideas in #culturalevolution and #developmentalpsychology, mental skills take time to learn, need social input, & they don't mature spontaneously. Challenging to pinpoint their genetics.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Take-home message resonates well with ideas in #culturalevolution and #developmentalpsychology, mental skills take time to learn, need social input, & they don't mature spontaneously. Challenging to pinpoint their genetics.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Fun bet on scientific prediction :)
Take-home message resonates well with ideas in #culturalevolution and #developmentalpsychology, mental skills take time to learn, need social input, & they don't mature spontaneously. Challenging to pinpoint their genetics.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Take-home message resonates well with ideas in #culturalevolution and #developmentalpsychology, mental skills take time to learn, need social input, & they don't mature spontaneously. Challenging to pinpoint their genetics.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Johan Lind
Vi hittade en artikel på F&F:s webb som satte myror i huvudet på oss. Vad ÄR detta, undrade vi. Den verkar inte ha tryckts i tidningen utan bara varit på webben.
Det visar sig vara vinnaren i en tävling för skolelever, att skriva om en vetenskaplig expedition, "utan verklighetens begränsningar" 😁
Det visar sig vara vinnaren i en tävling för skolelever, att skriva om en vetenskaplig expedition, "utan verklighetens begränsningar" 😁
Hemlig Resa! | Forskning & Framsteg
Genom kontakter inom USA:s rymdflygstyrelse (NASA) lyckades jag få ett stipendium och blev antagen till astronaututbildning inom NASA:s Apollo-projekt som startade 1962. Rymdkapplöpningen mellan USA …
fof.se
October 15, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Vi hittade en artikel på F&F:s webb som satte myror i huvudet på oss. Vad ÄR detta, undrade vi. Den verkar inte ha tryckts i tidningen utan bara varit på webben.
Det visar sig vara vinnaren i en tävling för skolelever, att skriva om en vetenskaplig expedition, "utan verklighetens begränsningar" 😁
Det visar sig vara vinnaren i en tävling för skolelever, att skriva om en vetenskaplig expedition, "utan verklighetens begränsningar" 😁
Reposted by Johan Lind
Hi Bluesky, I need your help. Please share broadly:
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
Edital nº 161/2025-Progep - Professor Visitante Estrangeiro | Progep
progep.ufes.br
October 14, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Hi Bluesky, I need your help. Please share broadly:
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
Reposted by Johan Lind
This is an awe-inspiring and fascinating study that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. However, the overall framing in terms of "innate versus learned” is unnecessary. The innate versus acquired dichotomy is outdated and has been for a long time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.
www.nature.com
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This is an awe-inspiring and fascinating study that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. However, the overall framing in terms of "innate versus learned” is unnecessary. The innate versus acquired dichotomy is outdated and has been for a long time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Johan Lind
Am slowly making my way through this paper. And it is an impressive body of work by a collection of great researchers.
However, I have a couple of problems with it...
1/n
However, I have a couple of problems with it...
1/n
Benchmarks for Associative Learning Models: https://osf.io/qsgz8
October 7, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Am slowly making my way through this paper. And it is an impressive body of work by a collection of great researchers.
However, I have a couple of problems with it...
1/n
However, I have a couple of problems with it...
1/n
Reposted by Johan Lind
October 7, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I usually don't do film tips, but if you're into birding (I think any kind of bird appreciation suffices), or subcultures, then Listers is not a bad documentary.
#birding #birds #birdwatching
youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
#birding #birds #birdwatching
youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
YouTube video by owen reiser
youtu.be
October 1, 2025 at 5:51 AM
I usually don't do film tips, but if you're into birding (I think any kind of bird appreciation suffices), or subcultures, then Listers is not a bad documentary.
#birding #birds #birdwatching
youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
#birding #birds #birdwatching
youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...