I link della settimana (#112)
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
I link della settimana (#112)
(i) Dan Williams (sempre lui) argomenta che il problema dei social media è che ci danno troppa democrazia e non troppo poca. Naturalmente sono d’accordo, ma come bonus link vi metto anche una risposta...
open.substack.com
...topic (William, the first author is) so I would tend to trust him! (Also, in any case, our main argument is independent from the claim in question).
...the question is how robust is the current empirical evidence. We cite some support in the paper, but I saw the blogpost you mention claims that this support come from WEIRD samples (but, on the other side, we cite some cross-cultural experiments...). I am not really an expert on the specific...
...is reported that something similar to X does not happen does not necessarily show that there is not a evolved cognitive predisposition towards X. One should look for patterns in the ethnographic literature and see if it is possible to conclude something. Said so...
The ethnographic evidence is interesting, but I do not think it is sufficient to disprove a claim. For any non-obvious behaviour X we would expect some cross-cultural variance, as many cultural forces (including drift) act. So showing that in some culture...
Reposted by Alberto Acerbi, Ruth Mace, Rebecca Sear , and 1 more Alberto Acerbi, Ruth Mace, Rebecca Sear, Jean‐Baptiste André
🚨𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
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#EHBEA2026
Overview | EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com
by Alberto Acerbi — Reposted by Martín Haspelmath
“It is precisely because social media has democratised the public sphere that it has contributed to trends liberals (including myself) are so worried about.” 👏
www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/is-social-...
www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/is-social-...
Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?
It’s easier to blame the algorithm than the bewildered herd.
www.conspicuouscognition.com
I link della settimana (#111)
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
I link della settimana (#111)
(i) Francis Fukuyama, che non è l’ultimo arrivato, dice che il colpevole per l’ondata populista degli ultimi anni è…tadà…Internet! Non sorprendentemente non sono convinto. Del resto c’aveva preso male...
open.substack.com
Bottom line: Incel stories stick not because they reflect reality, but because they resonate with evolved cognitive biases.
Understanding this is crucial for journalists, policymakers & educators to avoid counterproductive responses.
Link again: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Understanding this is crucial for journalists, policymakers & educators to avoid counterproductive responses.
Link again: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
But exaggerated and sensationalist portrayals of incels could backfire by:
- Reinforcing incels’ persecution narratives and their own tribal psychology
- Fueling moral panic
- Distracting from other important issues (e.g., mental health, loneliness, suicidality)
- Reinforcing incels’ persecution narratives and their own tribal psychology
- Fueling moral panic
- Distracting from other important issues (e.g., mental health, loneliness, suicidality)
Why it matters: cultural virality ≠ empirical accuracy.
The Netflix drama Adolescence was so powerful that UK policymakers discussed showing it in every school, despite it being misleading fiction.
That’s cultural attraction in action.
The Netflix drama Adolescence was so powerful that UK policymakers discussed showing it in every school, despite it being misleading fiction.
That’s cultural attraction in action.
Incel narratives press many of these “buttons” at once:
We attend to sex & status
We feel disgust about moral violations
We're alert to coalitional threats
We have a negativity bias
We’re morbidly curious about dangerous men
We’re protective of women
...
We attend to sex & status
We feel disgust about moral violations
We're alert to coalitional threats
We have a negativity bias
We’re morbidly curious about dangerous men
We’re protective of women
...
Our paper argues the answer lies in cultural attraction theory.
Certain stories “stick” because they align with our evolved cognitive biases.
Certain stories “stick” because they align with our evolved cognitive biases.
The gap between incels’ relatively small community/limited violence and their huge cultural visibility raises two questions:
1. Why are incels so interesting to us?
2. What might be the consequences of elevating such a marginal group to such cultural prominence?
1. Why are incels so interesting to us?
2. What might be the consequences of elevating such a marginal group to such cultural prominence?
New preprint!
You may have seen Netflix’s Adolescence. It quickly became their most-watched mini-series ever, even prompting roundtable discussions between writers & the Prime Minister.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
You may have seen Netflix’s Adolescence. It quickly became their most-watched mini-series ever, even prompting roundtable discussions between writers & the Prime Minister.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Here the bsky of the new project I’ve just started working on with @chiara-bonacchi.bsky.social, @zachhorne.bsky.social, and @johnmartindale.bsky.social at the University of Edinburgh! We will investigate, from a cultural evolution perspective, the spread of heritage-based hostility on social media.
Reposted by Alberto Acerbi
Welcome to Weaponised Pasts! The website for our investigation into heritage-based hostility is now live at weaponisedpasts.org. Find out more about the project there.
Weaponised Pasts
weaponisedpasts.org
Alle 18:30 sarò live qui per un dialogo con il gruppo di lettura di "Tecnopanico" promosso dall'AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche). Tutti benvenuti!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a2...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a2...
BIBLIOLETTURA Alberto Acerbi Tecnopanico.
YouTube video by AIB Associazione Italiana Biblioteche
www.youtube.com
...and results in a narrow policy script of platform crackdowns + literacy “vaccines.” What’s sidelined are deeper issues, such as trust, accountability, and democratic dialogue.
Here the link again!
osf.io/preprints/so...
Here the link again!
osf.io/preprints/so...
OSF
osf.io
We believe this narrative is both self-absolving (blame shifted to platforms, hostile states, gullible citizens) and fatalistic (disinfo is everywhere, dangerous, and inevitable)...
Epidemic (virus and poison) and battle (weapon) metaphors, as well as misconceptions (it is a social media problem, "spreads faster than truth", etc.) abound.
We analysed 238 European Commission speeches with topic modelling, text community detection and qualitative thematic analysis to understand how disinformation has been framed in the official EU discourse.
New preprint!
"Weapon and Poison: Framing Disinformation in European Commission Speeches, 2016–2024"
osf.io/preprints/so...
"Weapon and Poison: Framing Disinformation in European Commission Speeches, 2016–2024"
osf.io/preprints/so...
OSF
osf.io
Updated website with the new Hugo Blox, deploying directly in GitHub, without all the "old" R + blogdown infrastructure. Still need to migrate most of the content, but I did everything in a couple of hours!
acerbialberto.com
acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi
The highly-customizable Hugo Academic theme powered by Hugo Blox Builder. Easily create your personal academic website.
acerbialberto.com
Self-promotion (and cultural evolution specific...): acerbialberto.com/IBM-cultevo/
Individual-based models of cultural evolution
Individual-based models of cultural evolution
acerbialberto.com
Reposted by Alberto Acerbi, Margot C. Finn, Catherine J. Frieman
This week, it was exciting to host @acerbialberto.com at @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social to launch our @leverhulme.ac.uk-funded *Weaponised Pasts* research project, through three days of teamwork, followed by a kick-off event at @edfuturesinstitute.bsky.social
I link della settimana (#108)
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
open.substack.com/pub/albertoa...
I link della settimana (#108)
(i) Politici & co.
open.substack.com