Elijah Watson
@elijahjwatson.bsky.social
anthropologist/biodemographer interested in early life stress, epigenetics, aging, and causal inference 🧬⏳📈
PhD (biological anthropology) & MPH (epidemiology) candidate at Northwestern | NIA F31 fellow
Tar Heel 🐏
https://ejwatson.github.io
PhD (biological anthropology) & MPH (epidemiology) candidate at Northwestern | NIA F31 fellow
Tar Heel 🐏
https://ejwatson.github.io
Pinned
Elijah Watson
@elijahjwatson.bsky.social
· Sep 22
Toward New Directions in Human Biology: A Roadmap for Anthropological Causal Inference With Observational Data
Human biologists seek to understand how cultural, environmental, and biological forces shape observed patterns of human variation. Yet contemporary insights and approaches to observational causal inf....
doi.org
Excited to share a new article with Delaney Glass & @lucia-petito.bsky.social in the American Journal of Human Biology! 🧬
We introduce a roadmap for causal inference with observational data in human biology & biocultural anthropology.
(1/4)
We introduce a roadmap for causal inference with observational data in human biology & biocultural anthropology.
(1/4)
Reposted by Elijah Watson
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
January 1, 2026 at 10:30 PM
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career
Reposted by Elijah Watson
There’s nothing wrong with common sense until you dig a little and learn that common sense is wrong. Thanks @profgalloway.com for providing a great example of common sense that I’ve gotten a kick out of doubting. Thanks @prosocialworld.bsky.social for hosting.
www.prosocial.world/posts/whats-...
www.prosocial.world/posts/whats-...
What’s True About the Evolution of Men’s Greater Average Height?
Why men are taller than women may have nothing to do with testosterone—or sexual selection.
www.prosocial.world
December 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
There’s nothing wrong with common sense until you dig a little and learn that common sense is wrong. Thanks @profgalloway.com for providing a great example of common sense that I’ve gotten a kick out of doubting. Thanks @prosocialworld.bsky.social for hosting.
www.prosocial.world/posts/whats-...
www.prosocial.world/posts/whats-...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
This smells distinctly like collider bias and/or selection bias and/or regression to the mean... You simply can't select teen prodigies, and world class athletes rom databases, and go run regressions without serious consideration of the selection process!
"Most top achievers (Nobel laureates and world-class musicians, athletes, chess players) demonstrated lower performance than many peers during their early years. Across the highest adult performance, peak performance is negatively correlated with early performance" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This smells distinctly like collider bias and/or selection bias and/or regression to the mean... You simply can't select teen prodigies, and world class athletes rom databases, and go run regressions without serious consideration of the selection process!
Reposted by Elijah Watson
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de
December 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
A recent study purports to have found that multilingualism protects against accelerated ageing. I've taken a closer look at it, and it doesn't look good.
New blog post: "Does multilingualism really protect against accelerated ageing? Some critical comments"
janhove.github.io/posts/2025-1...
New blog post: "Does multilingualism really protect against accelerated ageing? Some critical comments"
janhove.github.io/posts/2025-1...
December 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM
A recent study purports to have found that multilingualism protects against accelerated ageing. I've taken a closer look at it, and it doesn't look good.
New blog post: "Does multilingualism really protect against accelerated ageing? Some critical comments"
janhove.github.io/posts/2025-1...
New blog post: "Does multilingualism really protect against accelerated ageing? Some critical comments"
janhove.github.io/posts/2025-1...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
You remember that Nature Aging paper about how multilingualism protects against accelerated aging? Well…
December 17, 2025 at 7:15 AM
You remember that Nature Aging paper about how multilingualism protects against accelerated aging? Well…
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Noise pollution from electric passenger rail harms babies' health.
"I estimate that the annual cost of noise pollution due to harms to health at birth is $9.8 billion."
Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans disproportionately bear these costs.
This is such a cool paper!
"I estimate that the annual cost of noise pollution due to harms to health at birth is $9.8 billion."
Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans disproportionately bear these costs.
This is such a cool paper!
December 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Noise pollution from electric passenger rail harms babies' health.
"I estimate that the annual cost of noise pollution due to harms to health at birth is $9.8 billion."
Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans disproportionately bear these costs.
This is such a cool paper!
"I estimate that the annual cost of noise pollution due to harms to health at birth is $9.8 billion."
Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans disproportionately bear these costs.
This is such a cool paper!
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Hi everyone! I'm co-organizing this retreat/workshop June 15-19 for those looking to get started in mathematical/computational modeling of biological processes. Location is a beautiful farm in NC. Please share with students and others who want to build modeling skills. Interdisciplinarity welcome!
December 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Hi everyone! I'm co-organizing this retreat/workshop June 15-19 for those looking to get started in mathematical/computational modeling of biological processes. Location is a beautiful farm in NC. Please share with students and others who want to build modeling skills. Interdisciplinarity welcome!
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Depressing late Friday holiday news dump: Northwestern agrees to pay $75 million to the federal government.
The faculty vote against doing this, @heidikitrosser.bsky.social points out, was 595-4.
That's the kind of margin where going the other way reflects a major failure of university governance.
The faculty vote against doing this, @heidikitrosser.bsky.social points out, was 595-4.
That's the kind of margin where going the other way reflects a major failure of university governance.
Here’s the text of the Northwestern settlement with the DoJ, which includes a $75 million financial component / payoff (cc @profmarkovic.bsky.social):
November 29, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Depressing late Friday holiday news dump: Northwestern agrees to pay $75 million to the federal government.
The faculty vote against doing this, @heidikitrosser.bsky.social points out, was 595-4.
That's the kind of margin where going the other way reflects a major failure of university governance.
The faculty vote against doing this, @heidikitrosser.bsky.social points out, was 595-4.
That's the kind of margin where going the other way reflects a major failure of university governance.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
All NSF SBE DDRIG solicitations have been archived and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Grants currently submitted will be processed, but as always, chances of funding remain very low. This means anyone aiming for the upcoming deadline will not be able to submit. 1/3
November 26, 2025 at 2:08 PM
All NSF SBE DDRIG solicitations have been archived and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Grants currently submitted will be processed, but as always, chances of funding remain very low. This means anyone aiming for the upcoming deadline will not be able to submit. 1/3
Reposted by Elijah Watson
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
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 🧵
Reposted by Elijah Watson
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Somehow I spoke to more anthropologists for my silly little podcast than Yuval Harari did for his bestselling book
Really enjoyed chatting with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode! In addition to being a delight to talk to, Michael was _extremely_ committed to getting the facts right & engaged very earnestly with our feedback. A scientist's dream.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Somehow I spoke to more anthropologists for my silly little podcast than Yuval Harari did for his bestselling book
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Now this is how you detect whether an election was stolen. Humans choose rounder numbers.
by @TheEconomist
by @TheEconomist
November 6, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Now this is how you detect whether an election was stolen. Humans choose rounder numbers.
by @TheEconomist
by @TheEconomist
Reposted by Elijah Watson
In between things I've been checking in on the emails that mention "university" and uhh did we all know about this connection?
![Screenshot from the Epstein Document Search which reads: House_Oversight_029401
From: Donald Rubin
Sent: 1/22/2017 7:31:32 PM
To: jeffrey E. [jeeyacation@gmail.com]
Subject: Republican health care experts dismiss Donald Trump's ideas
Importance: High
https://www.statnews.com/20 1 6/03/04/trump -repub cans-health-care/? s camp aign=trendmd
Jeffrey,
This cannot be true, can it? This guy must be as dumb about this stuff as a tampon laced with arsenic!!
HELP!
Great meeting yesterday — really enjoyed it.
And happy birthday again, Don
Donald B. Rubin
John L. Loeb Professor of Statistics
Department of Statistics, Harvard University
1 Oxford Street
Cambridge MA 02138
HOUSE OVERSIGHT 029401](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ozma3timm5c32fa7bimb4zaj/bafkreiezajc6f2rgwxrdx2242izbelpumkgdruc52pzu236rhovlcyfmde@jpeg)
November 13, 2025 at 6:30 PM
In between things I've been checking in on the emails that mention "university" and uhh did we all know about this connection?
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Look I’m willing to say it: maybe James Watson got two things right
![Sent:
To:
Subject:
Attachments:
Robert Trivers
6/25/2018 2:19:44 AM
jeffrey E. [jeevacation@gmail.com]
Re:
EPSTEIN.docx
Importance: High
perhaps i misunderstood "let's concentrate on you"
Jamaica is bad enough but i have mastered that-at least the danger-4th highest murder rate in the world as for the us i have alienated large stretches of it-i will spare you the details i was amused that you are now friends with JD Watson he single-handedly prevented me from getting a Junior Fellowship at Harvard
In 1972 I got my PhD in Biology and it was conventional to nominate the very best post-docs for a Junior Fellowship, Harvard's most prestigious award-it provided three years of research support without any duties. I was the best student out of Evolutionary and Organismic Biology in more than 20 years. The entire department was behind me.
but Watson was on the 3-man committee, in charge of all the science candidates and he deemed my two papers, reciprocal altruism and parental investment and sexual selection as "not being science" and dismissed me in one sentence. Well bless his soul, he now does not even understand his own subject-yes, i speak of genetics-because having remained resolutely ignorant of evolutionary logic and biology he can neither understand the shape and form of the genotype nor how it differs systematically within life
i have been preparing something for you for a long time on human intelligence, Africa, parasites etc because i prefer to get things right but i am ready to send you what i have main focus is-Africans stupid or smart?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:misyogthncmyejlvlflkvjbh/bafkreidoxuuq447qbvuj3edxli6qr7gzjy2y4ctod5a6363tjgtv4lb6ve@jpeg)
November 13, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Look I’m willing to say it: maybe James Watson got two things right
A little cloudy, but was so worth the 20 minute walk to the lake to see the northern lights over Chicago
November 12, 2025 at 4:40 AM
A little cloudy, but was so worth the 20 minute walk to the lake to see the northern lights over Chicago
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Billions of regressions ≠ robustness.
My new PNAS Letter shows how unjustified models can drown out justified ones — and why thoughtful model selection matters👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
My new PNAS Letter shows how unjustified models can drown out justified ones — and why thoughtful model selection matters👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 11, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Billions of regressions ≠ robustness.
My new PNAS Letter shows how unjustified models can drown out justified ones — and why thoughtful model selection matters👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
My new PNAS Letter shows how unjustified models can drown out justified ones — and why thoughtful model selection matters👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
When there is a random way to do something, there is a less random way that is better but requires more thought. In this case, regression models that make no sense don't belong in a multiverse analysis. An inferential regression without a causal justification is like an opinion without reasons.
October 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
When there is a random way to do something, there is a less random way that is better but requires more thought. In this case, regression models that make no sense don't belong in a multiverse analysis. An inferential regression without a causal justification is like an opinion without reasons.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
We're excited to share the final version of our paper, where we demonstrate how confounding remains a thorny problem for claims about causal genetic influences on human behavioral and socioeconomic outcomes. (w/ @jedidiahcarlson.com @oliviarxiv.bsky.social Ruth Shaw @arbelharpak.bsky.social) 🧵👇
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We're excited to share the final version of our paper, where we demonstrate how confounding remains a thorny problem for claims about causal genetic influences on human behavioral and socioeconomic outcomes. (w/ @jedidiahcarlson.com @oliviarxiv.bsky.social Ruth Shaw @arbelharpak.bsky.social) 🧵👇
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Reposted by Elijah Watson
