Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
@sobchuk.bsky.social
I use big data to research the cultural evolution of arts @ Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
More: https://www.sobch.uk/
More: https://www.sobch.uk/
Pinned
Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
@sobchuk.bsky.social
· Dec 18
I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
OK, it finally happened! My new article, "Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations", is now out today in @pnas.org. By focusing on numerals' use for communication instead of arithmetic, we have a new tool to assess their efficiency.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations | PNAS
More than 100 historically, archaeologically and ethnographically attested numerical
notations have been used over the past 5,000 y; however, becau...
www.pnas.org
February 13, 2026 at 7:19 PM
OK, it finally happened! My new article, "Gradience as a cognitive principle for evaluating numerical notations", is now out today in @pnas.org. By focusing on numerals' use for communication instead of arithmetic, we have a new tool to assess their efficiency.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
📣 NEW! I’ve just released the BIGGEST and perhaps most creative project I’ve ever worked on!
“Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤
A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
“Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤
A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
February 12, 2026 at 10:02 AM
📣 NEW! I’ve just released the BIGGEST and perhaps most creative project I’ve ever worked on!
“Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤
A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
“Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤
A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
I will start using this comic to remind the skeptics that birds are dinosaurs
![Comic. [2x2 chart. Top left quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of dinosaurs stegosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor, and long-neck dinosaur. Top right quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of mosasaur, quetzalcoatlus, dimetrodon, plesiosaur, and pteranodon. Bottom left quadrant: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of penguin, egret, ostrich, pigeon, falcon. Bottom right: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of squirrel, stapler, plant, person, and bicycle.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihcxd5wcrrf5nxz3g4riglsrccbucmdns6kxrtmtj6gjgwqibp3fi@jpeg)
February 9, 2026 at 10:58 PM
I will start using this comic to remind the skeptics that birds are dinosaurs
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
February 8, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Demographic shifts, inter-group contact and environmental conditions drive language extinction and diversification.
#linguistics
#linguistics
January 28, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Demographic shifts, inter-group contact and environmental conditions drive language extinction and diversification.
#linguistics
#linguistics
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
A colleague at MPI asked how to get better at math. My vote is Thompson and Gardner's classic *Calculus Made Easy* (originally published in 1910!) I've uploaded my own (almost complete) worked problem sets from this classic book. A few thoughts.../
January 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM
A colleague at MPI asked how to get better at math. My vote is Thompson and Gardner's classic *Calculus Made Easy* (originally published in 1910!) I've uploaded my own (almost complete) worked problem sets from this classic book. A few thoughts.../
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
A neat paper I worked on, begun over 2 years ago when our concerns were more myopic, was just published today. It came out an excellent set of workshops at the Santa Fe Institute, led by the indefatigable Joshua Garland. The gist: sometimes inefficiency is good for you www.nature.com/articles/s44...
The case against efficiency: friction in social media - npj Complexity
npj Complexity - The case against efficiency: friction in social media
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:04 PM
A neat paper I worked on, begun over 2 years ago when our concerns were more myopic, was just published today. It came out an excellent set of workshops at the Santa Fe Institute, led by the indefatigable Joshua Garland. The gist: sometimes inefficiency is good for you www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
📆 Mark your calendars: the 7th edition of CHR will take place 5–8 January 2027 in Manchester, UK, organized by the Center for Digital Humanities, Culture and Media at The University of Manchester.
We hope it’s the perfect way to beat the post-Christmas and New Year blues. See you at #CHR2027!
We hope it’s the perfect way to beat the post-Christmas and New Year blues. See you at #CHR2027!
January 8, 2026 at 4:11 PM
📆 Mark your calendars: the 7th edition of CHR will take place 5–8 January 2027 in Manchester, UK, organized by the Center for Digital Humanities, Culture and Media at The University of Manchester.
We hope it’s the perfect way to beat the post-Christmas and New Year blues. See you at #CHR2027!
We hope it’s the perfect way to beat the post-Christmas and New Year blues. See you at #CHR2027!
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZM
Simulation-based inference with deep learning suggests speed climbers combine innovation and copying to improve performance
Abstract. In the Olympic sport of speed climbing, athletes compete to reach the top of a 15 m wall as quickly as possible. Since the standardization of the
bit.ly
January 8, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZM
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
⚡ 16th European Summer University in Digital Humanities will happen in Besançon, from July 6 – July 18, 2026! ⚡
Save the dates; dm me for any questions; if you'd want to teach at ESU, we will open call for workshops very soon as well!
previous year: esudh.github.io/esubesancon/
Save the dates; dm me for any questions; if you'd want to teach at ESU, we will open call for workshops very soon as well!
previous year: esudh.github.io/esubesancon/
January 6, 2026 at 2:15 PM
⚡ 16th European Summer University in Digital Humanities will happen in Besançon, from July 6 – July 18, 2026! ⚡
Save the dates; dm me for any questions; if you'd want to teach at ESU, we will open call for workshops very soon as well!
previous year: esudh.github.io/esubesancon/
Save the dates; dm me for any questions; if you'd want to teach at ESU, we will open call for workshops very soon as well!
previous year: esudh.github.io/esubesancon/
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
New paper in AI & Society w/ @hoytlong.bsky.social + @teddyroland.bsky.social! We simulated 101 "AI authors" to see how LLMs imagine creativity & cultural distinction + compared them to real historical authors. What do AI authors want & how do they pursue success? link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The social AI author: modeling creativity and distinction in simulated cultural fields - AI & SOCIETY
This article examines generative AI models as sociocultural actors, focusing on how they reproduce and constrain notions of authorship and identity within the contemporary U.S. literary field. Through...
link.springer.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:26 PM
New paper in AI & Society w/ @hoytlong.bsky.social + @teddyroland.bsky.social! We simulated 101 "AI authors" to see how LLMs imagine creativity & cultural distinction + compared them to real historical authors. What do AI authors want & how do they pursue success? link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
father: how do you spell 'elegy'
me: e-l-e-g-y, but .. are you sure that's the word you're after?
him: of course I'm sure. You sure that's how it's spelled? Looks wrong
me: it was the major focus of my PhD, I am 💯 sure.
him: OK. Well I have SMS'd the restaurant about my friend's seafood elegy.
me: 🤦
me: e-l-e-g-y, but .. are you sure that's the word you're after?
him: of course I'm sure. You sure that's how it's spelled? Looks wrong
me: it was the major focus of my PhD, I am 💯 sure.
him: OK. Well I have SMS'd the restaurant about my friend's seafood elegy.
me: 🤦
December 28, 2025 at 4:23 AM
father: how do you spell 'elegy'
me: e-l-e-g-y, but .. are you sure that's the word you're after?
him: of course I'm sure. You sure that's how it's spelled? Looks wrong
me: it was the major focus of my PhD, I am 💯 sure.
him: OK. Well I have SMS'd the restaurant about my friend's seafood elegy.
me: 🤦
me: e-l-e-g-y, but .. are you sure that's the word you're after?
him: of course I'm sure. You sure that's how it's spelled? Looks wrong
me: it was the major focus of my PhD, I am 💯 sure.
him: OK. Well I have SMS'd the restaurant about my friend's seafood elegy.
me: 🤦
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Wow! My author copies arrived early for my new book from @bloomsburyling.bsky.social, Speaking in Pictures, about language, cognition, comics, and visual communication. It looks beautiful, and after working on it for 7 years I’m so glad it’s out in the world soon! www.visuallanguagelab.com/sip
December 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Wow! My author copies arrived early for my new book from @bloomsburyling.bsky.social, Speaking in Pictures, about language, cognition, comics, and visual communication. It looks beautiful, and after working on it for 7 years I’m so glad it’s out in the world soon! www.visuallanguagelab.com/sip
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
🎉🍾 very excited to see this out before 2025 ends doi.org/10.1111/2041... with Will Hoppitt in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social. This paper is an overview of our new R package STbayes, a user-friendly toolkit for performing Bayesian NBDA analyses. @cbehav.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
STbayes: An R package for creating, fitting and understanding Bayesian models of social transmission
A critical consequence of joining social groups is the possibility of social transmission of information related to novel behaviours or resources. Network-based diffusion analysis (NBDA) has emerg...
doi.org
December 20, 2025 at 8:55 AM
🎉🍾 very excited to see this out before 2025 ends doi.org/10.1111/2041... with Will Hoppitt in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social. This paper is an overview of our new R package STbayes, a user-friendly toolkit for performing Bayesian NBDA analyses. @cbehav.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3
December 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
A curated global dataset of social contact between diverse language communities
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
A curated global dataset of social contact between diverse language communities
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I was kindly invited to talk about my research at @cudanlab.bsky.social, and here's a video of that talk. And no, it's not about Steve Jobs 😄, but about evolution of the arts – 🎸📚🎨
Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social
@cudanlab.bsky.social
"Evolution of Literature and the Arts."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnZ...
@cudanlab.bsky.social
"Evolution of Literature and the Arts."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnZ...
Oleg Sobchuk: Evolution of Literature and the Arts.
YouTube video by CUDANLab
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I was kindly invited to talk about my research at @cudanlab.bsky.social, and here's a video of that talk. And no, it's not about Steve Jobs 😄, but about evolution of the arts – 🎸📚🎨
I'm a big fan of these workshops organized by Dariia. They offer a chance 1️⃣ to learn useful skills fast (usually, practical & hands-on) & 2️⃣ to help Ukraine (all the payments, at least 20 eur/person, go to well-established charities). I attended many times, planning to attend this one too.
❗️Our next workshop will be on Dec 11 6 pm CET titled A Gentle Introduction to Mathematical Simulation in R by
@damiepak.bsky.social
Register or sponsor a student by donating to support Ukraine!
Details: bit.ly/3wBeY4S
Please share!
#AcademicSky #EconSky #RStats
@damiepak.bsky.social
Register or sponsor a student by donating to support Ukraine!
Details: bit.ly/3wBeY4S
Please share!
#AcademicSky #EconSky #RStats
December 7, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I'm a big fan of these workshops organized by Dariia. They offer a chance 1️⃣ to learn useful skills fast (usually, practical & hands-on) & 2️⃣ to help Ukraine (all the payments, at least 20 eur/person, go to well-established charities). I attended many times, planning to attend this one too.
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
December 4, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
More images in a scientific paper that can be described as low quality, of questionable accuracy, environmentally damaging, job stealing and copyright infringing.
Hey, maybe it's time for scientific journals to just stop accepting AI-generated images?
Hey, maybe it's time for scientific journals to just stop accepting AI-generated images?
e.g. to produce these two – which are still problematic – took at least 80 batches of DALL-E 2 generation (each batch making multiple images), and on top of that, required direct editing of the #AI images themselves.
Paper: Magnani & Clindaniel 2023
🏺🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Paper: Magnani & Clindaniel 2023
🏺🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
December 3, 2025 at 10:46 AM
More images in a scientific paper that can be described as low quality, of questionable accuracy, environmentally damaging, job stealing and copyright infringing.
Hey, maybe it's time for scientific journals to just stop accepting AI-generated images?
Hey, maybe it's time for scientific journals to just stop accepting AI-generated images?
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
Join us today @cudanlab.bsky.social
for a lecture and discussion
feat. Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social,
of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
on "Evolution of Literature and the Arts"
16:00-18:00 Tallinn time (UTC+2)
i.e. 60 minutes from this post.
Details & zoom:
cudan.tlu.ee/events/2025-...
for a lecture and discussion
feat. Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social,
of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
on "Evolution of Literature and the Arts"
16:00-18:00 Tallinn time (UTC+2)
i.e. 60 minutes from this post.
Details & zoom:
cudan.tlu.ee/events/2025-...
December 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Join us today @cudanlab.bsky.social
for a lecture and discussion
feat. Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social,
of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
on "Evolution of Literature and the Arts"
16:00-18:00 Tallinn time (UTC+2)
i.e. 60 minutes from this post.
Details & zoom:
cudan.tlu.ee/events/2025-...
for a lecture and discussion
feat. Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social,
of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social
on "Evolution of Literature and the Arts"
16:00-18:00 Tallinn time (UTC+2)
i.e. 60 minutes from this post.
Details & zoom:
cudan.tlu.ee/events/2025-...
AI was so close to getting it right...
November 25, 2025 at 11:26 PM
AI was so close to getting it right...
Before the monstrous transformation of Twitter to X, it was considered normal to be active on academic Twitter. Now, even though we've migrated to Bluesky ("safe space"), I feel that many ppl (including myself) are less active in posting anything. Have you noticed this trend? Or am I imagining this?
November 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Before the monstrous transformation of Twitter to X, it was considered normal to be active on academic Twitter. Now, even though we've migrated to Bluesky ("safe space"), I feel that many ppl (including myself) are less active in posting anything. Have you noticed this trend? Or am I imagining this?
Reposted by Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦
After a long time in development, {traktok} #rstats is now finally on CRAN!
Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered
jbgruber.github.io/traktok/
Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered
jbgruber.github.io/traktok/
November 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
After a long time in development, {traktok} #rstats is now finally on CRAN!
Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered
jbgruber.github.io/traktok/
Whether you have access to the Research API or just want to scrape some pages, traktok has you covered
jbgruber.github.io/traktok/