Eric Schniter

Human transformation of past terrestrial ecosystems - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Human actions have shaped ecosystems for thousands of years, and have profound effects on biodiversity and environmental processes. This Review explores the ways that humans have modified past ecosyst...

Things just aren't what they used to be. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Long-term and short-term knowledge is a very useful way to frame things for the study of culture transmission. This study on culture from an evolutionary perspective makes a really important contribution to the literature. Congratulations!

Transmission networks of long-term and short-term knowledge in a foraging society Abstract. Cultural transmission across generations is key to cumulative cultural evolution. While several mechanisms—such as vertical, horizontal, and obli

💙New paper!💙

How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?

With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

What is Blueskyism? And why is it so toxic for political persuasion?

What is blueskyism?
Silver explains, essentially:
(1) Smalltentism
(2) Credentialism
(3) Catastophism
www.natesilver.net/p/what-is-bl...

Truth!

South American Indians developed a technique of color modification of the feathers on living birds, called tapirage 🤯 They took young parrots, plucked their feathers, and smeared the bald spots with frog blood to which "certain other substances were added." The new feathers grew in yellow.

I just checked LibGen and it has 25 of my products. I don't really care about defending intellectual property in this context. I am happy to put my scientific contributions out in the world for all to access for free and am optimistic about AI gleaning information from peer-reviewed pubs.

The University of California Will Stop Requiring Diversity Statements in Hiring The statements had risen in popularity as colleges sought to improve campus culture, but they drew criticism from conservatives who argued they were a political test.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

Diversity Statements Coming to an End at the University of California The University of California system's board of regents has now put an end to the use of such diversity statements at those schools. This is a truly remarkable development.

reason.com/volokh/2025/...

News is that The University of California system's board of regents has now put an end to the use of such diversity statements at those schools.

heard via @robsica.bsky.social but on X

They argue that these animals could help heal the Arctic ecosystem in several ways, (1) restoring the grassland ecosystem, (2) slowing permafrost thaw, (3) facilitating carbon sequestration, (4) revitalizing ecosystem and enhancing biodiversity in Arctic.

Fwiw, these issues are addressed in news stories I've heard. Colossal argues that reintroducing genetically engineered cold-tolerant elephant-mammoth hybrids—to Arctic tundra could bring several potential benefits, primarily centered around ecological restoration and climate change mitigation.

🔁 Please RT & share to help spread the word! @athenaaktipis.bsky.social @jeremykoster.bsky.social @humannature.bsky.social @kenbergerum.bsky.social

The Collapse of Ego Depletion Science's Biggest Self-Control Failure

Roy Baumeister called ego depletion "one of the most replicable findings in social psychology." As someone who spent 20 years studying it—and ultimately had to admit it wasn't real—I have to respectfully disagree. Here's my perspective of what went so wrong.

Even as A.I. Technology Races Ahead, the Prehistoric Science of Wildlife Tracking Is Making a Comeback Humans perfected how to identify wild animals over millennia, and now biologists are rediscovering the exceptional worth of the tracks and marks left behind

This is a good read about the role of modern day trackers in wildlife science and conservation:
Even as A.I. Technology Races Ahead, the Prehistoric Science of Wildlife Tracking Is Making a Comeback -
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Chimpanzees synchronize urination, suggesting ties to group cohesion and social dynamics. New research highlights this overlooked behavior’s potential evolutionary significance. #Chimpanzees #BehavioralEcology #Primatology #Anthropology

And a final tip I picked up from Nathaniel Wilcox, which I need to often remind myself of: avoid using phrasing like "you should" and substitute something softer like "it would be helpful..."

4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.

2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”

How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently “Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”

Writing a critical review and again sticking with Dennett's timeless formula www.themarginalian.org/2014/03/28/d...

Four steps:

I've always thought the difficulty knowing what "it" is is due to the broad scope of anthropology: ~the study of all things human.

Giving serious consideration to assigning students the task of editing wikipedia. These resources are great:

Presumably the humans are told the task is to successfully move the object from A to B. What incentive motivates the ants' coordinated action in this task?

“Race is not a biological category that naturally produces health disparities because of genetic differences. Race is a political category that has staggering biological consequences because of the impact of social inequality on people’s health.”

— Dorothy E. Roberts, Fatal Intervention (pp 11)

tagging coauthors: Dan Cummings, Paul Hooper, Jon Stieglitz, Ben Trumble, Hilly Kaplan, @mgurven.bsky.social

Who helps Tsimane youth? | Hunter Gatherer Research We examine various forms of helping behaviour among Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia, focusing on the provision of shelter, childcare, food, sickcare, cultural influence and traditional story knowledge....

Check out "Who helps Tsimane youth?" and other great papers in the special issue of Hunter Gatherer Research focused on stepfamilies, adoption and other forms of the family in forager society. 🧪
www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/...

Siblings-in-law ("cuñado" and "cuñada") also emerge as key helpers. Among latino settler and indigenous cultures, "cuñado" and "cuñada"are often used as fictive kin terms, especially for potential sibling-in-law with marriagable siblings or very close friends and exchange partners.

A stacked bar graph showing proportions of different classes of kin who have contributed different forms of help to Tsimane youth with older generation blood kin help most represented.

New paper out with insights into kinship, alloparenting, and cooperative breeding! 🧪
Older, closely related kin more often provide costly aid to young Tsimane, while unrelated alloparents provide older youth lower-cost - possible investment in future reciprocal relationships.

Stepfamilies, adoption and other forms of the family in hunter-gatherers | Hunter Gatherer Research

The special issue on “Stepfamilies, Adoption, and Other Forms of the Family in Hunter-Gatherers”, led by Barry Hewlett, is finally out in Hunter Gatherer Research!

www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3...