Ohan Hominis
@ohan.bsky.social
Cognitive Science at CEU. Poet everywhere else.
Working on learning, belief updating, affect, and identity.
Also producing and hosting The Monkey Dance podcast.
Previous life was running a sustainability startup.
Working on learning, belief updating, affect, and identity.
Also producing and hosting The Monkey Dance podcast.
Previous life was running a sustainability startup.
We're biased not only in our interpretation of information, but also in our gathering of information.
We tend to develop a motivation to gather accurate information—but research by @ohan.bsky.social et al finds the efficiency of information gathering is modulated by social goals and rewards, for children, adolescents and adults alike:
buff.ly/U31BBya
buff.ly/U31BBya
November 14, 2025 at 8:30 AM
We're biased not only in our interpretation of information, but also in our gathering of information.
How do we choose which norms to follow, and how do we change them to build a more equitable society?
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about the coherence of beliefs and the evolution, function, and overturning of norms.
cohost: @pelinkasar.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWXq...
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about the coherence of beliefs and the evolution, function, and overturning of norms.
cohost: @pelinkasar.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWXq...
38 | How do we change norms?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:09 AM
How do we choose which norms to follow, and how do we change them to build a more equitable society?
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about the coherence of beliefs and the evolution, function, and overturning of norms.
cohost: @pelinkasar.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWXq...
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about the coherence of beliefs and the evolution, function, and overturning of norms.
cohost: @pelinkasar.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWXq...
"The 'Authoritarian Stack'—a network of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms. Based on an open-source dataset of over 250 actors, thousands of verified connections, and $45 billion in documented financial flows."
www.authoritarian-stack.info
www.authoritarian-stack.info
The Authoritarian Stack
How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next
www.authoritarian-stack.info
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
"The 'Authoritarian Stack'—a network of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms. Based on an open-source dataset of over 250 actors, thousands of verified connections, and $45 billion in documented financial flows."
www.authoritarian-stack.info
www.authoritarian-stack.info
How can we make sense of the variety of beliefs that are prevalent in society?
Peter Steiglechner talks to us modeling belief networks: the importance of including biases related to one's social identity and the groups they belong to, and how to reach consensus.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyD...
Peter Steiglechner talks to us modeling belief networks: the importance of including biases related to one's social identity and the groups they belong to, and how to reach consensus.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyD...
37 | Why do people disagree?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:16 PM
How can we make sense of the variety of beliefs that are prevalent in society?
Peter Steiglechner talks to us modeling belief networks: the importance of including biases related to one's social identity and the groups they belong to, and how to reach consensus.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyD...
Peter Steiglechner talks to us modeling belief networks: the importance of including biases related to one's social identity and the groups they belong to, and how to reach consensus.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyD...
Hannah Metzler joins the podcast to talk about the role of emotions and personal identity when investigating the spread of misinformation, what makes certain beliefs appealing to people, and why negative content seems to be more engaging than positive content.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cE_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cE_...
36 | What makes us engage with content?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Hannah Metzler joins the podcast to talk about the role of emotions and personal identity when investigating the spread of misinformation, what makes certain beliefs appealing to people, and why negative content seems to be more engaging than positive content.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cE_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cE_...
Barbora Valik came on to talk about the factors that lead to the violent mobilization of resistance movements, particularly as a strategy to call attention to their cause, and what needs to change for the violence to end.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJO7...
For podcast links
www.monkeydancepod.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJO7...
For podcast links
www.monkeydancepod.com
35 | Why do some conflicts become violent?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Barbora Valik came on to talk about the factors that lead to the violent mobilization of resistance movements, particularly as a strategy to call attention to their cause, and what needs to change for the violence to end.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJO7...
For podcast links
www.monkeydancepod.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJO7...
For podcast links
www.monkeydancepod.com
Do not let Gavin Newsom redraw California's maps. All of a sudden the party that was campaigning on democracy is eager to suspend it. Newsom and Pritzker are asserting that the preservation of democratic values is naive, and accusing their detractors as attempting to take the moral high ground. 🧵
August 6, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Do not let Gavin Newsom redraw California's maps. All of a sudden the party that was campaigning on democracy is eager to suspend it. Newsom and Pritzker are asserting that the preservation of democratic values is naive, and accusing their detractors as attempting to take the moral high ground. 🧵
New paper! Takeaways:
Social goals modulate the efficiency of information search in children and adults.
The motivation to obtain social rewards can outweigh the drive for accuracy.
The valuation of information is context-dependent and emerges in childhood.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Social goals modulate the efficiency of information search in children and adults.
The motivation to obtain social rewards can outweigh the drive for accuracy.
The valuation of information is context-dependent and emerges in childhood.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Motivated information search: Context-dependent efficiency in children and adults
While the motivation to gather accurate information emerges early in childhood, social motivations can modulate the drive for accuracy. Across two stu…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
New paper! Takeaways:
Social goals modulate the efficiency of information search in children and adults.
The motivation to obtain social rewards can outweigh the drive for accuracy.
The valuation of information is context-dependent and emerges in childhood.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Social goals modulate the efficiency of information search in children and adults.
The motivation to obtain social rewards can outweigh the drive for accuracy.
The valuation of information is context-dependent and emerges in childhood.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
How do infants treat information they come across?
I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGL...
I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGL...
34 | How do infants process information?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
July 23, 2025 at 9:46 PM
How do infants treat information they come across?
I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGL...
I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGL...
Sat down with Nicolas Goupil to chat about his work his work on early childhood memories, visual cognition, and hierarchies in groups. It's a wide ranging conversation and we cover a good bit of ground, from developmental cognitive neuroscience to social cognition.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-t1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-t1...
33 | Early childhood memories and visual cognition
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
July 5, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Sat down with Nicolas Goupil to chat about his work his work on early childhood memories, visual cognition, and hierarchies in groups. It's a wide ranging conversation and we cover a good bit of ground, from developmental cognitive neuroscience to social cognition.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-t1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-t1...
Pelin Kasar and Juliette Vazard both return to the podcast for a chat at the intersection of beliefs, biases, and curiosity.
The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7am...
The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7am...
32 | When curiosity is limited by our biases
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
June 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Pelin Kasar and Juliette Vazard both return to the podcast for a chat at the intersection of beliefs, biases, and curiosity.
The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7am...
The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7am...
Had sociologist Arev Papazian on to chat about resource distribution and access!
We get into the politics of these decisions, the winners and losers, and of course the environmental cost.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOk...
We get into the politics of these decisions, the winners and losers, and of course the environmental cost.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOk...
31 | Who has the rights to resources?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
June 3, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Had sociologist Arev Papazian on to chat about resource distribution and access!
We get into the politics of these decisions, the winners and losers, and of course the environmental cost.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOk...
We get into the politics of these decisions, the winners and losers, and of course the environmental cost.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOk...
Professor Melissa Koenig explains how we learn from others: from the strategies we use to the biases we lean on when making epistemic decisions.
We also chat about the role of science in society and the importance of not separating work and activism.
youtu.be/4ver5ls0Tdc?...
We also chat about the role of science in society and the importance of not separating work and activism.
youtu.be/4ver5ls0Tdc?...
30 | How do we decide who to learn from?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
youtu.be
May 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Professor Melissa Koenig explains how we learn from others: from the strategies we use to the biases we lean on when making epistemic decisions.
We also chat about the role of science in society and the importance of not separating work and activism.
youtu.be/4ver5ls0Tdc?...
We also chat about the role of science in society and the importance of not separating work and activism.
youtu.be/4ver5ls0Tdc?...
Sitting down with Reto Schneider, veteran science journalist who has dealt with everything from the science of opinion formation to the origins of land ownership and seemingly everything in between.
youtu.be/8UYBY5CPb94?...
youtu.be/8UYBY5CPb94?...
29 | Exploring curiosities
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
youtu.be
May 2, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Sitting down with Reto Schneider, veteran science journalist who has dealt with everything from the science of opinion formation to the origins of land ownership and seemingly everything in between.
youtu.be/8UYBY5CPb94?...
youtu.be/8UYBY5CPb94?...
Making sense of a series of graphic representations is not simple, but our brains manage to do it with little effort.
We sit down with cognitive scientist Neil Cohn and chat about rethinking language, comic books, children's books, and a bunch of other fun stuff.
youtu.be/ibfyl1VtNFM?...
We sit down with cognitive scientist Neil Cohn and chat about rethinking language, comic books, children's books, and a bunch of other fun stuff.
youtu.be/ibfyl1VtNFM?...
26 | How does the brain understand comic books?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
youtu.be
March 21, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Making sense of a series of graphic representations is not simple, but our brains manage to do it with little effort.
We sit down with cognitive scientist Neil Cohn and chat about rethinking language, comic books, children's books, and a bunch of other fun stuff.
youtu.be/ibfyl1VtNFM?...
We sit down with cognitive scientist Neil Cohn and chat about rethinking language, comic books, children's books, and a bunch of other fun stuff.
youtu.be/ibfyl1VtNFM?...
There has been a massive student movement in Serbia over the past 5 months to put an end to the authoritarian government.
What the students have accomplished in terms of organization in the past five months is incredible. Aleksandra Knežević joins to explain the situation.
youtu.be/dommlfCsmhQ?...
What the students have accomplished in terms of organization in the past five months is incredible. Aleksandra Knežević joins to explain the situation.
youtu.be/dommlfCsmhQ?...
27 | Student protests in Serbia
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
youtu.be
March 12, 2025 at 9:13 AM
There has been a massive student movement in Serbia over the past 5 months to put an end to the authoritarian government.
What the students have accomplished in terms of organization in the past five months is incredible. Aleksandra Knežević joins to explain the situation.
youtu.be/dommlfCsmhQ?...
What the students have accomplished in terms of organization in the past five months is incredible. Aleksandra Knežević joins to explain the situation.
youtu.be/dommlfCsmhQ?...
Episode 25 is out!
How does toxicity shape conversations?
Gabriela Juncosa joins us to explain how political discourse unfolds in online spaces and whether toxic interactions shut conversations down or keep them going. And Phyllis Pearson joins to co-host!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Qc...
How does toxicity shape conversations?
Gabriela Juncosa joins us to explain how political discourse unfolds in online spaces and whether toxic interactions shut conversations down or keep them going. And Phyllis Pearson joins to co-host!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Qc...
25 | How does toxicity shape conversations?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
www.youtube.com
February 19, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Episode 25 is out!
How does toxicity shape conversations?
Gabriela Juncosa joins us to explain how political discourse unfolds in online spaces and whether toxic interactions shut conversations down or keep them going. And Phyllis Pearson joins to co-host!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Qc...
How does toxicity shape conversations?
Gabriela Juncosa joins us to explain how political discourse unfolds in online spaces and whether toxic interactions shut conversations down or keep them going. And Phyllis Pearson joins to co-host!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Qc...
Reposted by Ohan Hominis
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
Don't miss the chance to apply for the interdisciplinary graduate conference "From Minds to Movements - Foresight in Cognition and Activism" in Vienna!
Don't miss the chance to apply for the interdisciplinary graduate conference "From Minds to Movements - Foresight in Cognition and Activism" in Vienna!
CFP: The interdisciplinary graduate conference "From Minds to Movements: Foresight in Cognition and Activism"
Date: May 8–10, 2025
Venue: University of Vienna
Application deadline: March 10, 2025
#cogsci #philsky
mindstomovements.carrd.co
Date: May 8–10, 2025
Venue: University of Vienna
Application deadline: March 10, 2025
#cogsci #philsky
mindstomovements.carrd.co
From Minds to Movements
Interdisciplinary graduate conference
mindstomovements.carrd.co
February 4, 2025 at 11:04 AM
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
Don't miss the chance to apply for the interdisciplinary graduate conference "From Minds to Movements - Foresight in Cognition and Activism" in Vienna!
Don't miss the chance to apply for the interdisciplinary graduate conference "From Minds to Movements - Foresight in Cognition and Activism" in Vienna!
Episode 24 is out!
Phyllis Pearson joins Juliette Vazard and I to chat about what it means to be open minded, the difference between honest dialogue and gaslighting, and what it means to have epistemic agency and to ascribe that agency to others.
youtu.be/El6zmByYrpw?...
Phyllis Pearson joins Juliette Vazard and I to chat about what it means to be open minded, the difference between honest dialogue and gaslighting, and what it means to have epistemic agency and to ascribe that agency to others.
youtu.be/El6zmByYrpw?...
24 | What does it mean to be open minded?
YouTube video by The Monkey Dance
youtu.be
January 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Episode 24 is out!
Phyllis Pearson joins Juliette Vazard and I to chat about what it means to be open minded, the difference between honest dialogue and gaslighting, and what it means to have epistemic agency and to ascribe that agency to others.
youtu.be/El6zmByYrpw?...
Phyllis Pearson joins Juliette Vazard and I to chat about what it means to be open minded, the difference between honest dialogue and gaslighting, and what it means to have epistemic agency and to ascribe that agency to others.
youtu.be/El6zmByYrpw?...
We've been running The Monkey Dance podcast for a year now and it has been a blast. 23 episodes and counting.
If you're based in Vienna (or passing through) and are interested in coming on then please reach out!
www.youtube.com/@themonkeyda...
Anywhere you get your podcasts
www.monkeydancepod.com
If you're based in Vienna (or passing through) and are interested in coming on then please reach out!
www.youtube.com/@themonkeyda...
Anywhere you get your podcasts
www.monkeydancepod.com
The Monkey Dance
Everything society: from science and philosophy to politics and art. Cognitive scientists, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and more sit down to make sense of the world.
Find us o...
www.youtube.com
December 18, 2024 at 9:02 PM
We've been running The Monkey Dance podcast for a year now and it has been a blast. 23 episodes and counting.
If you're based in Vienna (or passing through) and are interested in coming on then please reach out!
www.youtube.com/@themonkeyda...
Anywhere you get your podcasts
www.monkeydancepod.com
If you're based in Vienna (or passing through) and are interested in coming on then please reach out!
www.youtube.com/@themonkeyda...
Anywhere you get your podcasts
www.monkeydancepod.com
How can we take a multidisciplinary approach to tackling gender inequality?
With my co-authers Angarika Deb and Tamara Kusimova we focus on the economic, cultural, and cognitive processes underlying the perpetuation of inequalities within heterosexual households.
brill.com/view/journal...
With my co-authers Angarika Deb and Tamara Kusimova we focus on the economic, cultural, and cognitive processes underlying the perpetuation of inequalities within heterosexual households.
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
November 20, 2024 at 9:59 PM
How can we take a multidisciplinary approach to tackling gender inequality?
With my co-authers Angarika Deb and Tamara Kusimova we focus on the economic, cultural, and cognitive processes underlying the perpetuation of inequalities within heterosexual households.
brill.com/view/journal...
With my co-authers Angarika Deb and Tamara Kusimova we focus on the economic, cultural, and cognitive processes underlying the perpetuation of inequalities within heterosexual households.
brill.com/view/journal...
I'm really interested in the hierarchy of beliefs we maintain. Especially their impact on how we perceive information, how we gather information, and how the information impacts the beliefs themselves.
I like to work in the overlap between social, developmental, and affective cognition. Let's chat!
I like to work in the overlap between social, developmental, and affective cognition. Let's chat!
November 20, 2024 at 5:04 PM
I'm really interested in the hierarchy of beliefs we maintain. Especially their impact on how we perceive information, how we gather information, and how the information impacts the beliefs themselves.
I like to work in the overlap between social, developmental, and affective cognition. Let's chat!
I like to work in the overlap between social, developmental, and affective cognition. Let's chat!