Alex Mesoudi

@alexmesoudi.com

1.9K followers 380 following 140 posts

Cultural evolution researcher at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus), UK.
President of the Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
Website: alexmesoudi.com

Videos

Sociology 29%

Psychology 21%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 1d

A week before his defence @rug.nl, the publication of @euantheyoung.bsky.social's chapter on the lifespan cost of reproduction in @science.org Advances - with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social and myself - couldn't have been better timed! 👍 🥳 🥂https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz6422

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Jolyon Troscianko @jtroscianko.bsky.social · 5d

BehaveAI is live!

Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.

Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.

Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · 5d

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...

Varieties of childhood

Podcast Episode · Many Minds · 10/07/2025 · 1h 29m

podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 7d

👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.

🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026

We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!

Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES

aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi , and 3 more Hugo Mercier, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi, Alberto Acerbi, Andreas De Block, Massimiliano Simons

Charley Wu | hiring PhDs/Postdocs @thecharleywu.bsky.social · 22d

Fully-funded 4-year #PhD in Cultural Evolution! Join my @erc.europa.eu project exploring how compression & compositionality drive cultural innovation: hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur...
Apply by Nov 12!
Maybe of interest to folks from #COSMOS2025 or @eslr.bsky.social? Please feel free to share! 🙏

ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution

ERC funded PhD position on Cultural Evolution posted on October 16, 2025 We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual for a ful...

hmc-lab.com

Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Alex Mesoudi

Tim Waring @twaring.bsky.social · 25d

Excited to announce the first ACE Course Design Awards for excellent cultural education teaching. Those award winning classes will be placed in an open teaching repository for anyone looking to enhance cultural evolution content in their courses.
culturalevolutionsociety.org/news-and-eve...

ACE Course Design Awardees Announced - Cultural Evolution Society

culturalevolutionsociety.org

Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · 28d

Agreed! It was one of my 5 recommended books on cultural evolution here:
shepherd.com/best-books/c...

Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi , and 1 more Rebecca Sear, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi, Luke Rendell

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Oct 10

We're pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards! This competition recognises leading educators in the field of cultural evolution and their existing efforts to advance its teaching.

We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):

Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Alex Mesoudi

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Oct 1

ACE Teaching Innovation Awards empower scholars to incorporate high-quality cultural evolution course materials into their teaching. This is a great opportunity for those from majority-world countries and ECR academics, but everyone can apply!

culturalevolutionsociety.org/grants-and-a...

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

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vuw.qualtrics.com

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi, Hansraj Gautam

Darren Croft @darrencroft.bsky.social · Sep 23

We are hiring - PDRA position exploring how information access shapes social dynamics in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social Prof Dan Franks (York) start 1st Nov (or ASAP) end 31st Oct 2028. Apps close on 19th Oct.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOT336/p...

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

David Garzón Ramos @dgarzonramos.com · Sep 16

🚨 Last days to submit! 🚨

Join the Workshop on Cultural Evolution of Planet X at @alife2025.bsky.social (Kyoto, Oct 7).

We welcome abstracts on cultural evolution and emergent culture in artificial systems. Work presented elsewhere too!

📅 Deadline: Sept 20
🔗 sites.google.com/view/planetx...

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, John Kennedy, Ruth Mace , and 5 more Joanna Bryson, John Kennedy, Ruth Mace, Alistair Munro, Charles West, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi, Dean Eckles

Bret Beheim @babeheim.bsky.social · Sep 16

How to quantify the impact of AI on long-run cultural evolution? Published today, I give it a go!

400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!

Miyagawa Shuntei's 1898 painting, "Playing Go (Japanese Chess)"

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Hugo Mercier, Rebecca Sear

Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · Sep 15

Abstract submission now open for the next Cultural Evolution Society conference in Rabat, Morocco next May @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social @ces2026.bsky.social

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Sep 13

We are delighted to announce that the CES2026 conference website is now live! We invite you to submit your presentation proposals using the link on the webpage, deadline November 16th:
airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026

Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES

airess.fgses-um6p.ma

Reposted by Ruth Mace, Simon J. Greenhill, Nathan Nunn , and 5 more Ruth Mace, Simon J. Greenhill, Nathan Nunn, Rebecca Sear, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi, Alberto Acerbi, David W. Lawson

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Sep 13

The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.

Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Hugo Mercier, Nathan Nunn , and 1 more Simon J. Greenhill, Hugo Mercier, Nathan Nunn, Alex Mesoudi

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Sep 13

Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES

airess.fgses-um6p.ma

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Kenji Itao @kenjiitao.bsky.social · Sep 12

🔔ACE Seminar:
We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Siyang Luo from Sun Yat-sen University!

🗓 Mon, Sep 22 at 7:00 PM JST (18:00 (Perth/Singapore/Beijing), 19:00 (Tokyo/Seoul), 20:00 (Sydney))
✉️ To receive the Zoom link, send a blank email to: ace-seminar+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Rebecca Sear, Paul E. Smaldino , and 2 more Hugo Mercier, Rebecca Sear, Paul E. Smaldino, Alex Mesoudi, Lusine Grigoryan

Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · Sep 11

@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/...

Fees and Funding - Durham University

www.durham.ac.uk

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Joshua Conrad Jackson @joshcjackson.bsky.social · Sep 5

@helenamiton.bsky.social and I have a new paper out:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Past theories focus on how we evolve complex technologies (jet engines), but neglect cultural innovations that help us operate these technologies (pilot checklist)

Paper has tons of examples and new theory!

Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · Sep 2

Friends and colleagues in the Berlin area:

Next week (8-12 Sep) I will be visiting the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB) (Berlin Social Science Centre) @wzb.bsky.social

Let me know if you'd like to meet for a coffee / drink / currywurst

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Ruth Mace, Alex Mesoudi , and 1 more Joanna Bryson, Ruth Mace, Alex Mesoudi, Samuele Ramellini

Jeremy Kendal @jeremykendal.bsky.social · Aug 27

Physical copies of this 71-chapter tome now exist. Do encourage your library to buy a copy…also doubles as excellent door stop! Co-edited with Jamie Tehrani and @rachkendal.bsky.social. @oxunipress.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social

The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution hard copy

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Simon Columbus @simoncolumbus.bsky.social · Aug 26

⚡ Autumn 2025 Cooperation Colloquia ⚡

We are excited to announce the next run of Cooperation Colloquia. With @talbotmandrews.bsky.social, @setayeshradkani.bsky.social, @kris-smith.bsky.social, @alexmesoudi.com, & more.

Every second Friday, 15:00 CE(S)T

Sign up here: list.ku.dk/postorius/li...

Speaker list for the Autumn 2025 Cooperation Colloquia:
2025-09-12 | Doruk İriş (Sogang University)
2025-09-26 | Talbot M. Andrews (Cornell University)
2025-10-10 | Setayesh Radkani (MIT)
2025-10-24 | Christian Ruff (University of Zürich)
2025-11-07 | Bianca Beersma (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
2025-11-21 | Kristopher M. Smith (Washington State University)
2025-12-05 | Alex Mesoudi (University of Exeter)

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Sear , and 1 more Simon J. Greenhill, Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Sear, Alex Mesoudi

Tim Waring @twaring.bsky.social · Aug 21

🧠 Want to integrate cultural evolution into your course using award winning materials created by the field's experts, and get paid $2000 to do it? 💵

🚨 The Cultural Evolution Society is seeking applications for the ACE Teaching Innovation Awards.

🔖 Apply here: vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

vuw.qualtrics.com

Reposted by Simon J. Greenhill, Alex Mesoudi

michael chimento @mchimento.bsky.social · Aug 13

📣 Interested in cultural evolution and artificial life? Call for abstracts for our upcoming workshop at @alife2025.bsky.social. Accepted abstracts will be presented as flash talks, and are not archival. Deadline is the September 12, w/ rolling acceptance. Details: sites.google.com/view/planetx... 🧪

Reposted by Rebecca Sear

Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · Aug 12

"Trusting the experts" is not just a feature of modern science and democracy, it's a feature of our evolved capacity for culture, and a major driver of human cultural evolution more broadly.

For more, see this paper called, coincidentally, "Trusting the experts".

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Reposted by Nathan Nunn, Rebecca Sear, Alex Mesoudi

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Aug 8

We are pleased to announce our newly elected committee members of the Cultural Evolution Society:

Minhua Yan @minhuayan.bsky.social
Helena Miton @helenamiton.bsky.social
Wataru Toyokawa @watarutoyokawa.bsky.social &
Mason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social

Welcome and congratulations!!

Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Alex Mesoudi

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Aug 1

We're thrilled to announce upcoming ACE Teaching Innovation Awards, made possible by Eric & Peggy Peterson.

This aims to empower teachers through access to course materials in the CES Teaching Library. Selected applicants will also be able to consult with winners of the ACE Course Design Awards.

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi, Bill Thompson

Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · Mar 4

We are excited to advertise the Asian Cultural Evolution (ACE) seminar series! It's organized by Kenji Itao, Xinyue Pan & Wataru Toyokawa, and seminars will take place on the third Tuesday of odd-numbered months at 19:00 JST (18:00 Perth/Singapore/Beijing, 19:00 Tokyo/Seoul, 20:00 Sydney).

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Gary Marcus @garymarcus.bsky.social · Mar 20

Meta pirated at least 101 of my books and articles, and tens of millions of others.
open.substack.com/pub/garymarc...

Meta pirated at least 101 of my books and articles, and tens of millions of others

And they knew perfectly well what they were doing

open.substack.com

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Charley Wu | hiring PhDs/Postdocs @thecharleywu.bsky.social · Apr 25

🙌 Hot off the presses @natcomms.nature.com! We created a custom #Minecraft environment to study a long-standing puzzle in cognitive science:
How do humans flexibly adapt their individual and social learning strategies in dynamic, realistic situations? Check it out 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵👇

Reposted by Alex Mesoudi

Lars Chittka @larschittka.bsky.social · Apr 30

I'm super happy that Michelle Maldonado and I have both won awards for "best acting" in Osseily Hanna's film The Last Bee, at the Amsterdam New Cinema Film Festival

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