Rob Sica
@robsica.bsky.social
Knowledge would have little allure if we did not have to overcome so much shame on the way to acquiring it. -Nietzsche
"chimpanzees respond to higher-order evidence"
New episode (1217), with Dr. Hanna Schleihauf (@hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social). We talk about when and how children start considering other people's beliefs, belief revision, and good reasoning. #Psychology #Science
YouTube: youtu.be/kDKasRVpvmw
Podcast: bit.ly/471sKka
YouTube: youtu.be/kDKasRVpvmw
Podcast: bit.ly/471sKka
#1217 Hanna Schleihauf: Other People's Beliefs, Belief Revision, and Good Reasoning
YouTube video by The Dissenter
youtu.be
February 19, 2026 at 7:56 PM
"chimpanzees respond to higher-order evidence"
Reposted by Rob Sica
…not by truth vs falsehood or “disinformation.” So claims like “this shows the effects of repeated exposure to disinformation on X changes beliefs” go beyond what they actually measured in this paper.
February 19, 2026 at 3:26 PM
…not by truth vs falsehood or “disinformation.” So claims like “this shows the effects of repeated exposure to disinformation on X changes beliefs” go beyond what they actually measured in this paper.
🔪"Is academic dishonesty connected to political power in China? [...] What lessons might this hold for politics, meritocracy, and institutional performance elsewhere?"
Do Dishonest People Self-Select Into Public Service? | Not Another Politics Podcast
Is academic dishonesty connected to political power in China? That question is explored in a new paper from Shaoda Wang, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy...
not-another-politics-podcast.simplecast.com
February 19, 2026 at 6:19 PM
🔪"Is academic dishonesty connected to political power in China? [...] What lessons might this hold for politics, meritocracy, and institutional performance elsewhere?"
🎯"[T]here are so many who are ideologically motivated to dismiss evolutionary psychology... There are those who think that we should not bother defensively correcting misconceptions and instead just focus on improving our field. I think we can and should do both."
Evolutionary psychology is unfalsifiable? New scientific paper aims to kill this "zombie idea"
Critics have long dismissed evolutionary psychology as “just-so stories.” A new conceptual review challenges this view, arguing the field generates rigorous, falsifiable predictions—some of which have...
www.psypost.org
February 19, 2026 at 5:33 PM
🎯"[T]here are so many who are ideologically motivated to dismiss evolutionary psychology... There are those who think that we should not bother defensively correcting misconceptions and instead just focus on improving our field. I think we can and should do both."
"the greatest risk posed by automation in higher education is not simply the replacement of particular tasks by machines, but the erosion of the broader ecosystem of practice that has long sustained teaching, research and learning"
The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating – it’s the erosion of learning itself
Automating knowledge production and teaching weakens the ecosystem of students and scholars that sustains universities, raising existential questions about their mission.
theconversation.com
February 19, 2026 at 5:28 PM
"the greatest risk posed by automation in higher education is not simply the replacement of particular tasks by machines, but the erosion of the broader ecosystem of practice that has long sustained teaching, research and learning"
Reposted by Rob Sica
Humans exhibit an astonishing variety of marriage systems. Sometimes monogamous, other times polygamous, occasionally we even marry ghosts. The diversity can seem to defy any general explanation. In my new piece for Works in Progress, I write about the Darwinian logic behind it. 1/
The market for marriage - Works in Progress Magazine
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good agricultural surplus, must be in want of a wife.
worksinprogress.co
February 19, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Humans exhibit an astonishing variety of marriage systems. Sometimes monogamous, other times polygamous, occasionally we even marry ghosts. The diversity can seem to defy any general explanation. In my new piece for Works in Progress, I write about the Darwinian logic behind it. 1/
🔥🔪"This very paper, by shining a light on what we continually strive to cover up, is predicted to be discomfiting to many of its readers."
psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
February 19, 2026 at 4:55 PM
🔥🔪"This very paper, by shining a light on what we continually strive to cover up, is predicted to be discomfiting to many of its readers."
psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
"Violence was endemic across many non-state societies. Celebratory narratives of ‘kick-ass’ women often obscure head-hunting, slave-raiding and intimidation."
Male Violence and the Myth of Female Freedom
In the wake of the sexual revolution, Western feminist scholars sought to show that patriarchy was not inevitable.
www.ggd.world
February 19, 2026 at 4:06 AM
"Violence was endemic across many non-state societies. Celebratory narratives of ‘kick-ass’ women often obscure head-hunting, slave-raiding and intimidation."
🔪"While not many scholars might want to explore both these paths, preferring one or the other for ideological reasons, the most Nietzschean approach to gender in the present may well be to do just that."
Embodiment and Subversion: Objections to Judith Butler’s Nietzsche
This article considers the importance of Nietzsche’s GM I 13 to Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1990), arguing that Butler misreads Nietzsche’s passage and exploring the implications of their misreadi...
www.degruyterbrill.com
February 19, 2026 at 2:35 AM
🔪"While not many scholars might want to explore both these paths, preferring one or the other for ideological reasons, the most Nietzschean approach to gender in the present may well be to do just that."
Reposted by Rob Sica
Pourquoi les militants se fédèrent-ils autour de croyances sans lien entre elles et parfois même contradictoires ?
Et pourquoi défendent-ils ces croyances comme si leur vie en dépendait, allant jusqu'à tuer pour elles ?
L'anthropologue Pascal Boyer répond, et c'est passionnant.👇
Et pourquoi défendent-ils ces croyances comme si leur vie en dépendait, allant jusqu'à tuer pour elles ?
L'anthropologue Pascal Boyer répond, et c'est passionnant.👇
February 14, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Pourquoi les militants se fédèrent-ils autour de croyances sans lien entre elles et parfois même contradictoires ?
Et pourquoi défendent-ils ces croyances comme si leur vie en dépendait, allant jusqu'à tuer pour elles ?
L'anthropologue Pascal Boyer répond, et c'est passionnant.👇
Et pourquoi défendent-ils ces croyances comme si leur vie en dépendait, allant jusqu'à tuer pour elles ?
L'anthropologue Pascal Boyer répond, et c'est passionnant.👇
"cultural theorists cannot propose hypotheses that are incompatible with what we know about the mind, just as the psychological theorist cannot sustain hypotheses that are evolutionarily implausible"
Studying culture from an evolutionary psychological perspective: approaches, achievements, and prospects
This paper examines how culture can be studied from an evolutionary psychological perspective. We review the integrated causal model proposed by Tooby and Cosmides and examine the ways in which it dif...
openresearch.ceu.edu
February 19, 2026 at 1:11 AM
"cultural theorists cannot propose hypotheses that are incompatible with what we know about the mind, just as the psychological theorist cannot sustain hypotheses that are evolutionarily implausible"
🍿"both opposing beliefs of sex & gender were related 2 rigid & restrictive authoritarianism... inclination to absolutize conservative or progressive moral values... absolutely reject & discredit other views, & impose the conventional or anti-conventional ideological concepts on everyone in society"
Sex/Gender Beliefs are Strongly Related to Either Right-Wing Authoritarian Conventionalism or Left-Wing Authoritarian Anti-Conventionalism - Archives of Sexual Behavior
Previous research investigating the correlates of sex/gender beliefs (i.e., “Sex/gender is binary and permanently fixed” vs. “Sex/gender is nonbinary or changeable”) focused on right-wing authoritaria...
link.springer.com
February 19, 2026 at 12:15 AM
🍿"both opposing beliefs of sex & gender were related 2 rigid & restrictive authoritarianism... inclination to absolutize conservative or progressive moral values... absolutely reject & discredit other views, & impose the conventional or anti-conventional ideological concepts on everyone in society"
"We are not opposed to thoughtful and evidence-based reminders about nonhuman status... However, we caution that mandating constant reminders is not a panacea to the issues seen to date, nor is it necessarily harmless."
Reminders that chatbots are not human can be risky
Concerns about mental and physical health harms from chatbots are prompting policies mandating ongoing reminders that chatbots are not human. While we…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:56 PM
"We are not opposed to thoughtful and evidence-based reminders about nonhuman status... However, we caution that mandating constant reminders is not a panacea to the issues seen to date, nor is it necessarily harmless."
Reposted by Rob Sica
Mort de Quentin D. à Lyon : mon nouvel article dans The Conversation sur la radicalisation politique, co-écrit avec Peter Barrett. En accès libre ci-dessous.
L'un des concepts clés est celui de "l'escalier de la radicalisation" : progressif et insensible, mais pouvant aboutir à l'irréparable.
L'un des concepts clés est celui de "l'escalier de la radicalisation" : progressif et insensible, mais pouvant aboutir à l'irréparable.
February 18, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Mort de Quentin D. à Lyon : mon nouvel article dans The Conversation sur la radicalisation politique, co-écrit avec Peter Barrett. En accès libre ci-dessous.
L'un des concepts clés est celui de "l'escalier de la radicalisation" : progressif et insensible, mais pouvant aboutir à l'irréparable.
L'un des concepts clés est celui de "l'escalier de la radicalisation" : progressif et insensible, mais pouvant aboutir à l'irréparable.
"It’s hard to dodge the conclusion that psychology often describes the world the way psychologists would like it to be, rather than the way it is."
Four Cracks in the Nurture Edifice
Why sociocultural explanations for sex differences fall short
www.stevestewartwilliams.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:43 PM
"It’s hard to dodge the conclusion that psychology often describes the world the way psychologists would like it to be, rather than the way it is."
Reposted by Rob Sica
Evolution is often framed as a cosmic struggle of all against all. Yet everything we observe about life is the product of cooperation. Understanding how cooperation is sustained is a key insight for thinking about how to organise society.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperatio...
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperatio...
Cooperation is the scaffolding principle of life
From cells to humans, cooperation is a key principle of evolution
www.optimallyirrational.com
February 18, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Evolution is often framed as a cosmic struggle of all against all. Yet everything we observe about life is the product of cooperation. Understanding how cooperation is sustained is a key insight for thinking about how to organise society.
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperatio...
www.optimallyirrational.com/p/cooperatio...
"A censorious impulse has sometimes been evident on both the left and the right."
Conceptualizing Academic Freedom
Academic freedom is an unusual and complex set of norms and practices. It arises out of the combination of the corporate self-governance of medieval universities and the spirit of disciplinary scienti...
www.annualreviews.org
February 18, 2026 at 4:00 AM
"A censorious impulse has sometimes been evident on both the left and the right."
Reposted by Rob Sica
Henry Shevlin and I chat with @anilseth.bsky.social about his scientific and philosophical case against conscious AI: youtu.be/wVYg8u5xjno?...
AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth)
YouTube video by Conspicuous Cognition
youtu.be
February 17, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Henry Shevlin and I chat with @anilseth.bsky.social about his scientific and philosophical case against conscious AI: youtu.be/wVYg8u5xjno?...
"Concepts have no lives outside the social labour that animates them. And philosophers do not engage with them from a place of methodological safety. We intervene from within... philosophers must take a sober view of their position within this economy"
Conceptual economics Contra conceptual engineering
We are invited to picture conceptual improvement as a kind of engineering. Extract the concept, repair what is defective, and return it to use. But the picture requires a background assumption that...
www.tandfonline.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:09 PM
"Concepts have no lives outside the social labour that animates them. And philosophers do not engage with them from a place of methodological safety. We intervene from within... philosophers must take a sober view of their position within this economy"
Reposted by Rob Sica
I wrote an essay responding to Philip Goff's recent anti-science meme. Hopefully successful in clarifying the relationship between science and philosophy, and perhaps even changing the minds of some philosophers.
walterveit.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
walterveit.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
To Hell with A Priori Metaphysics
On the Relationship Between Science and Philosophy
walterveit.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 11:58 PM
I wrote an essay responding to Philip Goff's recent anti-science meme. Hopefully successful in clarifying the relationship between science and philosophy, and perhaps even changing the minds of some philosophers.
walterveit.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
walterveit.substack.com/p/to-hell-wi...
"perhaps there is a way to persuade people that is neither hopelessly misguided nor morally suspect"
Just Hear Me Out
A guide to persuasion for people who want to change minds without manipulation or coercion.Most of us have given up on persuasion. We say our problems are too pressing, people are too polarized, and s...
press.uchicago.edu
February 17, 2026 at 9:33 PM
"perhaps there is a way to persuade people that is neither hopelessly misguided nor morally suspect"
Reposted by Rob Sica
My rough, brief take on activist scholarship. TLDR: It’s an epistemological mistake, but it can come from a genuine search for the truth, so it must be included. But it can’t be allowed to take over. Ditto for other epistemologies. Academia needs pluralism, not forced activism or neutrality.
Universities Can’t Be Politically Neutral, but They Can Be Pluralistic
By Enzo Rossi, Published on 12/31/25
scholarsjunction.msstate.edu
February 17, 2026 at 6:11 PM
My rough, brief take on activist scholarship. TLDR: It’s an epistemological mistake, but it can come from a genuine search for the truth, so it must be included. But it can’t be allowed to take over. Ditto for other epistemologies. Academia needs pluralism, not forced activism or neutrality.
"[E]ven a purely negative orientation—like domination as an evil to keep to a minimum—is still a normative orientation in a wide, ecumenical sense. It can serve for critical purposes and for providing practical orientation."
“A minimum of domination”—the overt normative orientation of Foucault's work
Answering the charge of ‘crypto-normativity’ that has long overshadowed Michel Foucault's work, I argue that this work is animated by an overt normative orientation to keep domination to a minimum. T....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:17 PM
"[E]ven a purely negative orientation—like domination as an evil to keep to a minimum—is still a normative orientation in a wide, ecumenical sense. It can serve for critical purposes and for providing practical orientation."
Reposted by Rob Sica
This week, we talk to @katrinewhiteson.bsky.social about the microbiome: what it is, how to feed it, and why we need it.
youtu.be/-gthtVjIOYs
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-qam9b...
youtu.be/-gthtVjIOYs
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-qam9b...
The Microbiome with Katrine Whiteson
YouTube video by Evolutionary Psychology (The Podcast)
youtu.be
February 17, 2026 at 4:32 PM
This week, we talk to @katrinewhiteson.bsky.social about the microbiome: what it is, how to feed it, and why we need it.
youtu.be/-gthtVjIOYs
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-qam9b...
youtu.be/-gthtVjIOYs
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-qam9b...