Hugo Mercier
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hugoreasoning.bsky.social
Hugo Mercier
@hugoreasoning.bsky.social
2.5K followers 1.2K following 130 posts

Evolutionary and cognitive psychologist. Author, Not Born Yesterday (http://tinyurl.com/yyh929ns), The Enigma of Reason (http://tinyurl.com/6hbpn84).

Videos
Psychology 27%
Sociology 17%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Johanna Laakso

thomscottphillips.bsky.social
Thom Scott-Phillips @thomscottphillips.bsky.social · 11d
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?

A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social

This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language

cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...

1/20
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? | Cadernos de Linguística
cadernos.abralin.org

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Brendan Nyhan, Hugo Mercier , and 2 more

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 11d
Woah.

Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success.

The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points.

The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.

Reposted by David Lazer, Stuart Soroka, Hugo Mercier , and 3 more

claesdevreese.bsky.social
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 11d
Excellent job opportunity: Full professorship in Digital Society and Democracy @ddc-sdu.bsky.social and @d-ias.bsky.social.

Top conditions, environment & colleagues.

Candidates welcome across places and disciplines.

🗓️ DL: March 15, 2026

fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
DIAS Professorship in Digital Society and Democracy
Application deadline: March 15, 2026, 11.59 PM/23.59 CET/CEST.
fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Andrew K Przybylski, Ian Hussey , and 2 more

dingdingpeng.the100.ci
Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 11d
The "smartphones/social media" discourse suffers from some amazing historical amnesia. There was no 2008 financial crisis and no global pandemic starting in 2020, it's all SCREENS SCREENS SCREENS. Major world events? Just the backdrop against which SCREENS happened.

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Rebecca Sear, David W. Lawson

acerbialberto.com
Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 12d
"misinformation is widespread in biological systems spanning levels of organization, and [...] is probably an inevitable property that inherits from fundamental constraints on biological communication systems, rather than a pathology"
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
A brief natural history of misinformation
Abstract. The idea that organisms benefit by acquiring information through social connections is a cornerstone of our understanding of social evolution and
royalsocietypublishing.org

hugoreasoning.bsky.social
Hugo Mercier @hugoreasoning.bsky.social · 13d
In case someone isn't getting the reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_Tib...
CIA Tibetan program - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

Reposted by David G. Rand, Nicholas A. Christakis, Hugo Mercier , and 1 more

profsanderlinden.bsky.social
Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · 14d
New paper out in @science.org! We unveil the online manipulation market with the Cambridge Online Trust & Safety Index (COTSI). We show in real time the cost of purchasing fake accounts across every social platform around the world - so they can be held accountable

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Mapping the online manipulation economy
A market perspective on digital manipulation may help improve online trust and safety
www.science.org

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Brian Weatherson, Woodrow Hartzog , and 4 more

kevincollier.bsky.social
Kevin Collier @kevincollier.bsky.social · 15d
New! We worked with the Public Interest Research Group to test a bunch of LLM-driven toys ahead of the Christmas. That sexual talking teddy bear wasn't a one-off; it turns out disturbing behavior is deeply built into these toys across the board.
AI toys for kids talk about sex and issue Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests show
New research from Public Interest Research Group and tests conducted by NBC News found that a wide range of AI toys have loose guardrails.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Hugo Mercier, Philipp Schmid , and 5 more

lfoswaldo.bsky.social
Lisa Oswald @lfoswaldo.bsky.social · 15d
It's out!!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Big thank you to my coauthors @small-schulz.bsky.social and @lorenzspreen.bsky.social, and to all participants who discussed 20 political issues over 4 weeks in 6 subreddit, 3 experimental conditions and let us observe.

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Brendan Nyhan, Hugo Mercier , and 3 more

andyguess.com
andyguess @andyguess.com · 16d
The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work with an interdisciplinary team (me, @bstewart.bsky.social, and @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social).

Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!
We are seeking a Fellow to lead cutting-edge research on short-form video content and its societal implications. Bridging the gap between computer vision, causal inference, and computational social science, the Fellow will focus on the large-scale analysis of TikTok data (using an existing, massive dataset). The position involves developing novel multimodal methods to understand how short-form algorithmic content shapes public opinion, political polarization, and online culture. This is a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of the field, combining rigorous social science research designs with state-of-the-art computational techniques.

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, John Kennedy, James P. Collins , and 26 more

scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 16d
Big new blogpost!

My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.

--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
screenshot of my post

Reposted by Hugo Mercier

epthepod.bsky.social
Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) @epthepod.bsky.social · 16d
This week, we talk to @hugoreasoning.bsky.social about all things "epistemic". Are we gullible and prone to misinformation? Are we vigilant in favor of our interests? Enjoy the wide-ranging conversation!
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-wphps...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
youtu.be/nf42LNg6y-A
Reasoning and Epistemic Vigilance with Hugo Mercier
YouTube video by Evolutionary Psychology (The Podcast)
youtu.be

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Stuart Soroka, Steven Van de Walle , and 9 more

janvogler.bsky.social
Jan P. Vogler @janvogler.bsky.social · 17d
🚨 3-Year Postdoc in Political Science at Aarhus University 🚨

I’m seeking to recruit a postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu research project 𝑬𝑸𝑼𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑴 on state-citizen interactions.

Link and more information in second post.

Position Start: Fall 2026
Application Deadline: ‼️ February 5, 2026, 23:59 CET ‼️

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, David G. Rand, Robert Böhm , and 4 more

David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 17d
Paper out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com:

1) those groups (women, African Americans, lower SES, rural) that are underrepresented in science have been less trusting of science.

2) If you improve representation in science, you improve trust among those groups.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Representation in science and trust in scientists in the USA - Nature Human Behaviour
Druckman et al. document gaps in trust in scientists in the USA. People from groups less represented among scientists (for example, women and those with lower economic status) are less trusting. Incre...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Hugo Mercier, Jason Reifler , and 1 more

neurograce.bsky.social
Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 17d
Spread the word: I'm looking to hire a postdoc to explore the concept of attention (as studied in psych/neuro, not the transformer mechanism) in large Vision-Language Models. More details here: lindsay-lab.github.io/2025/12/08/p...
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
Lindsay Lab - Postdoc Position
Artificial neural networks applied to psychology, neuroscience, and climate change
lindsay-lab.github.io

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Efrén O. Pérez, Ben Worthy , and 3 more

semrasevi.bsky.social
Semra Sevi @semrasevi.bsky.social · 17d
🚨Excited to share our new paper published in PNAS (joint with @yamilrvelez.bsky.social and Don Green)! AI can enhance political knowledge and provide balanced information about politics with proper guardrails and vetted sources (e.g., party platforms).

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Reposted by David G. Rand, David Lazer, Brendan Nyhan , and 8 more

jbenmenachem.com
jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 17d
Our new study provides rare causal evidence about NYC’s speed camera program. We find large reductions in collisions (30%) and injuries (16%) near intersections with cameras. www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... @astagoff.bsky.social ky.social @brendenbeck.bsky.social nbeck.bsky.social 🧪
Can speed cameras make streets safer? Quasi-experimental evidence from New York City | PNAS
Each year, approximately 40,000 people die in vehicle collisions in the United States, generating $340 billion in economic costs. To make roads saf...
www.pnas.org

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Valerie Mueller, Raúl Pacheco-Vega , and 1 more

cmolho.bsky.social
Catherine Molho @cmolho.bsky.social · 18d
📣 One week left to apply to our Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences!

We have an exciting program for this year: www.tse-fr.eu/sites/defaul...

🗓️ May 26 to June 19, 2026
📍 Toulouse

Application deadline: December 15

Apply here: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...

@tse-fr.eu @iast.fr
www.tse-fr.eu

Reposted by David Lazer, Hugo Mercier, Julie Novkov

sbagen.bsky.social
Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 20d
If you read one piece on Trump’s pernicious new National Security Strategy, read this by @himself.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/programm...
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
open.substack.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Hugo Mercier, Benjamin Braun , and 4 more

himself.bsky.social
Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 20d
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Jill A. Jacobson

markrubin.bsky.social
Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 21d
"Replication rates are higher than experts predicted and p-hacking is much less common than we expected!"

replications.clearerthinking.org/three-surpri...
Three Surprises From Attempting To Replicate Recent Studies in Top Psychology Journals Amanda Metskas December 4, 2025 How has the replication rate of psychology studies changed in recent years? Are we still experiencing a “replication crisis,” where only 40-60% of results replicate when the study is conducted again?

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Mark J. Brandt, Ingo Rohlfing , and 4 more

ruben.the100.ci
Ruben C. Arslan @ruben.the100.ci · 23d
Want to make nice graphs with me, starting next year? I'm hiring for a position at the University of Witten/Herdecke.
uni-wh.softgarden.io/job/61280592...
‘A fragmented field: Construct and measure proliferation in psychology.’ (2025) From ‘Language models accurately infer correlations between psychological items and scales from text alone.’ (2025) From ‘Not within spitting distance: salivary immunoassays of estradiol have subpar validity for predicting cycle phase.’ (2023) Work in progress with cycle tracking data from the app Clue

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Hugo Mercier

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 23d
"The Credibility Revolution in Political Science"

osf.io/preprints/so...

Reposted by Hugo Mercier

chazfirestone.bsky.social
Chaz Firestone @chazfirestone.bsky.social · 24d
Well this is exciting!

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank!

Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, David Brady, Hugo Mercier , and 2 more

jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 25d
Has this been posted yet
2+7= _ I caNnot aNswer this qwestion, as it is agaiNst My reLigious principles. ٠١٨٨ IT'S WORTH A SHOT. aMI, 7 january 1986 NAITION

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Hugo Mercier, Efrén O. Pérez

davidamodio.bsky.social
David Amodio @davidamodio.bsky.social · Nov 26
So, is "When Prophesy Fails"—the foundation of cognitive dissonance theory—debunked?

Unclear. The article making this claim is... odd.

It describes Festinger and Schachter as leftwing radicals, critiques the political slant of their funding, generally refers to their work as failed...

1/n
briandavidearp.bsky.social Brian D. Earp, PhD @briandavidearp.bsky.social · Nov 24
Wow - debunking “When Prophesy Fails” - the canonical foundation of cognitive dissonance theory onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Reposted by Hugo Mercier

stepalminteri.bsky.social
Stefano Palminteri @stepalminteri.bsky.social · Nov 26
🚨Friends, we’re happy to share that our book is available for pre-order! 🎉
We aimed to cover all the foundations of the topic in an accessible manner for a large audience.
It could help set up a bachelor-level curriculum on the topic.
Pre-orders are very key for the fate of books: shorturl.at/Dxbif

Reposted by David M. Amodio, Hugo Mercier, Larry W. Hunter

fusaroli.bsky.social
Riccardo Fusaroli @fusaroli.bsky.social · Nov 26
CogSci in Aarhus is hiring, open rank (assi, asso or full prof).
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!

international.au.dk/about/profil...
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor of Cognitive Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at School of Communication and Culture - Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Dept. of, Aarhus University
international.au.dk

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Ruth Mace, Hugo Mercier , and 2 more

boonfalleur.bsky.social
Mélusine Boon-Falleur @boonfalleur.bsky.social · Nov 26
Happy to share our latest study published in PNAS.

Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Waiting time during admission procedures increases social inequalities in higher education | PNAS
Many domains in life require people to wait to access better outcomes, such as waiting in line to access prized tickets for a show, waiting to obta...
www.pnas.org

Reposted by Jon Pierre, Ruth Dassonneville, Jochen Müller , and 8 more

floriso.bsky.social
Florence So @floriso.bsky.social · Nov 25
🌟 JOB ALERT! 🌟

I’m hiring 1 postdoc for my ERC project ECONENGAGE (@ Gothenburg 🇸🇪)! Starting ca. Aug '26! Congenial colleagues + int'l & supportive environment. 💸 for conferences + workshops! Lots of professional networking opportunities with scholars! Deadline Jan 7th. Apply! (see more below 🧵)
Postdoctoral Fellow in Political Science PAR 2025/838
The Department of Political Science is an international academic environment that welcomes students, researchers and
web103.reachmee.com