Simon J. Greenhill
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simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill
@simongreenhill.bsky.social
1.8K followers 910 following 540 posts

I study how languages and cultures evolve. Primarily with phylogenies and other assorted computational methods. Based at @Biology_UoA. Never met a language phylogeny or a cultural phylogeny I didn't like. #phylolinguistics .. more

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Simon James Greenhill is a New Zealand scientist who works on the application of quantitative methods to the study of cultural evolution and human prehistory. He is well known for creating and building various linguistics databases, including the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database, TransNewGuinea.org, Pulotu, and many others. In addition to Austronesian, he has contributed to the study of the phylogeny of many language families, including Dravidian and Sino-Tibetan. .. more

Computer science 19%
Communication & Media Studies 19%
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simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 12h
Infants expect plants to be food:

"Watching what others put in their mouths is a powerful way to learn what to eat. Yet ... not everything that goes into another person's mouth is food: The fusilli is edible, but the fork is not"

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Expectations about plant edibility in 6-month-old infants
Watching what others put in their mouths is a powerful way to learn what to eat. Yet human diets and eating behaviors are complicated, and not everyth…
www.sciencedirect.com

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 12h
We've forgotten what universities are for.

thespinoff.co.nz/society/10-1...
We’ve forgotten what universities are for
With New Zealand universities facing not only a funding crisis but a philosophical challenge to their role, the soul of tertiary education is at stake.
thespinoff.co.nz

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill

twigtechnology.bsky.social
Michael Haslam @twigtechnology.bsky.social · 1d
On the left, Alan Turing’s 1950 paper introducing the imitation game, where he says that using public polling as a guide to whether machines are intelligent is absurd.

On the right, yesterday’s NYT opinion piece using public polling as a guide to whether machines are intelligent.

🧪🤖
The introduction to Turing’s paper titled ‘Computing Machinery and intelligence’: I PROPOSE to consider the question, 'Can machines think ?' This should begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms "machine' and "think'.The definitions might be framed so as to reflect so far as possible the normal use of the words, but this attitude is dangerous. If the meaning of the words 'machine' and 'think' are to be found by examining how they are commonly used it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the meaning and the answer to the question, 'Can machines think ?' is to be sought in a statistical survey such as a Gallup poll. But this is absurd. Instead of attempting such a definition I shall replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words. Introduction to an opinion piece published in the New York Times on 8 November 2025, by Barbara Gail Montero, titled ‘A.I. Is on Its Way to Something Even More Remarkable Than Intelligence’: Not long ago, A.I. became intelligent. Some may dismiss this claim, but the number of people who doubt A.I.'s acumen is dwindling. According to a 2024 YouGov poll, a clear majority of U.S. adults say that computers are already more intelligent than people or will become so in the near future.

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 3d
congratulations! looks great

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 3d
another day, and more deafening silence from university admins regarding major cuts to humanities and science funding everywhere.

why don’t they care about these major revenue streams that support most research staff?

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill

smhsci.bsky.social
Stella Hurtley @smhsci.bsky.social · 3d
www.aaas.org/news/prize-w...
Prize winners harness interdisciplinary tools to investigate climate apathy and human health | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill

smhsci.bsky.social
Stella Hurtley @smhsci.bsky.social · 3d
Congratulations to our two NOMIS & Science Grand Prize Winners @rachitdubey.bsky.social and Jiacheng Miao whose essays just published in @science.org
www.science.org/content/page...

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
i will provide a quote for the cover in smoke

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
Oh I haven’t read that one. I’ll have to dig up a copy

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
Please Do - I’d read it!

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
Yes! I loved James Gleick’s The Information which has some
Of that but there is definitely a lot more to say there

around.com/the-informat...
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood - James Gleick
From the reviews: The Information is so ambitious, illuminating and sexily theoretical that it will amount to aspirational reading for many of those who have the mettle to tackle it. Don’t make the mi...
around.com

Reposted by Paul E. Smaldino

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
why has no-one written a book on the evolution of cooperation titled "Decent with Modification"?

#evolution #culturalevolution

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
Today I learned that Grizzly Bears and Polar Bears can hybridise to become Pizzly Bears (or Grolars).

Although all 8 known examples come from the same female polar bear, who I guess, has a certain taste in men.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly...
Grizzly–polar bear hybrid - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
Rats have better taste than I do 🍷

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties - Animal Cognition
In the olfactory literature there is considerable debate about how differences in olfactory receptors across different species map onto variations in perceptual acuity and performance. Although humans...
link.springer.com

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 4d
All languages are their sisters badly pronounced

www.frenchclasses.com/tablettes-de...
The English language doesn’t exist – it’s just French that’s badly pronounced
www.frenchclasses.com

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 7d
Excellent science is extremely fragile.
All government shutdowns disrupt science − in 2025, the consequences extend far beyond a lapse in funding
The Trump administration is not just reforming the US research system – it is trying to remake it.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill

sapiens.org
SAPIENS Magazine @sapiens.org · 7d
From the archive. New DNA analysis has revealed surprising diversity among remains from burial sites in Peru. A genetic anthropologist explains what this suggests about the 15th century Inca palace. Read more: www.sapiens.org/biology/inca...
Decoding Diversity and Power at Machu Picchu
A genetic anthropologist explains the diversity revealed in DNA analysis of remains recovered from Machu Picchu and Cusco.
www.sapiens.org

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Jesse M. Shapiro, Simon J. Greenhill , and 8 more

tomerullman.bsky.social
Tomer Ullman @tomerullman.bsky.social · 7d
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting

I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:

Reposted by Kori Schake, Joanna Bryson, Meredith Broussard , and 46 more

lswisnom.bsky.social
Dr Selena Wisnom @lswisnom.bsky.social · 7d
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Simon J. Greenhill

quantamagazine.bsky.social
Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · 8d
Language can be tricky to parse without context. For instance, the sentence “Rowan fed his pet chicken” is ambiguous. Is the chicken Rowan’s pet or his pet’s meal? Some AI models can recognize the syntactic differences between these two possible meanings.
In a First, AI Models Analyze Language As Well As a Human Expert | Quanta Magazine
If language is what makes us human, what does it mean now that large language models have gained “metalinguistic” abilities?
www.quantamagazine.org

Reposted by Joanna Bryson

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 11d
basic research funding is vital. Cant harvest the fruit without feeding the trunk.
magdalenaskipper.bsky.social Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 11d
In praise of fundamental research
Our editorial this week argues that I n these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different
🧪
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected
In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Nicholas A. Christakis, Simon J. Greenhill , and 2 more

emilymsanford.bsky.social
Emily M. Sanford @emilymsanford.bsky.social · 11d
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Martin Paul Eve

magdalenaskipper.bsky.social
Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 11d
In praise of fundamental research
Our editorial this week argues that I n these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different
🧪
@nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected
In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Maksym Polyakov

mehr.nz
samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 12d
yesterday on RNZ I talked with Kathryn Ryan about cuts to NZ science funding and the risk of losing talent www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

here's some correspondence about the opposite problem: kiwi scientists who want to return home to work, but can't, given the bleak funding environment

#nzpol
Hi Sam! I'm XXXXX a postdoctoral researcher in XXXXX. I'm from NZ, was born and raised in Auckland, and did my PhD at the XXXXXXXXXXX. I've never lived anywhere else other than NZ, I used to want to build my scientific career there. And now, I don't ever see that happening. It feels like I have to choose between science and living in NZ. Maybe I was naive? I don't know, I thought maybe we learned lessons from the pandemic about how research was important and had benefits to humans? Let alone the fucking economy?? Anyway, pardon my french. Thank you for saying what you said. I'm proof of it, and there are so many others in my shoes. You better believe we will all be voting from wherever we are in the world. Ngā mihi nui, -- XXXXXXXXXXX - Postdoctoral Researcher

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Niklas Johansson

tommyhigham.bsky.social
Tom Higham @tommyhigham.bsky.social · 13d
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Lesley A. Hall

rebeccasear.bsky.social
Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 13d
The person Musk is quote-tweeting refers to himself as an “evolutionary behavioral scientist”. Having people like this “representing” us in the public eye, without much obvious pushback, is doing enormous reputational damage to the field
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 13d
Elon Musk continues to try to socialise civil war, political & inter-ethnic violence in Britain. He combines an argument that violence is inevitable with his call at the Tommy Robinson rally for pre-emptive violence, on grounds of an existential threat & the inevitability of violence

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill

michaelerard.bsky.social
Michael Erard @michaelerard.bsky.social · 13d
The problem with linguists proposing attention to language in the world is that their solution often seems to be just make people linguists. Which isn’t tenable, nor reasonable.

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 13d
we are our own worst enemy. Why are we not shouting this stuff from the tree tops!

simongreenhill.bsky.social
Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · 14d
I'm sure OpenAI is being very compassionate and empathetic about how they're handling this :eyeroll:

techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/o...
OpenAI says over a million people talk to ChatGPT about suicide weekly | TechCrunch
OpenAI released data on just how many of ChatGPT's users are facing mental health challenges, and how it's addressing them.
techcrunch.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Simon J. Greenhill

alexisjbreen.bsky.social
Alexis Breen @alexisjbreen.bsky.social · 15d
#CrowCoG is hiring🚨MULTIPLE PAID RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITIONS 🚨for our 2026 field season (May - Sep)! Field and aviary-based positions - come help us study the remarkable tool-making New Caledonian crows. Apply here: bit.ly/3WlxxHE