Eli Stark-Elster

Front cover of my book, titled "Comparative musicology: Evolution, universals, and the science of the world's music" (published today by Oxford University Press)

1st of my 4-page essay published in Nature today titled "Music is not a universal language - but it can bring us together when words fail" Picture caption: "Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny (centre) performed in Spanish at the half-time show of the 2026 American Football Super Bowl LX."

My book is now published! 🌏🎶🧪

You can download it for free at academic.oup.com/book/62353 - I’d be grateful if you do!
I also published an accessible summary with audio/video today in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Try reading that first, then give the whole book a read if you like it!

Agreed and appreciated, save the reading recommendation — check out Tanay’s paper as well! Totally shifted my view on both subjects.

To the Stone-Cutters Notes from the Field #2

Following my recent fieldwork in Zimbabwe, a meditation on rock art and the faceless weight of forever. Read below.
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

I enjoyed this argument / thesis.

that was my take too - social media is bad for kids because it *enhances* the negative aspects of regular teenage life. before, if you didn't fit in, didn't have many friends, were bullied, etc, you could escape that after leaaving school. now you can't. also congruent with the evidence

Said it my whole life. Like pulling teeth to get people to believe me, unless they suffered in school too.

This was a p good read. We 100% should reform education in the US along the lines that are recommended here.

AND we should ban social media for kids.

You’re right, my mistake — I removed that section. Thanks very much for the correction!

School is Way Worse For Kids Than Social Media On building a world that doesn’t make children want to die

A vast array of data suggests that school, not social media, is the biggest modern threat to the mental health of children. If you were recently a child, that won’t be a surprise. If not: enjoy the post :)
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

Of interest to @realadamhunt.bsky.social , @stefanschubert.bsky.social , @sebk.bsky.social , among others!

It costs money to share the future On AI, targeted advertising, and the subtle cruelty of paternalism

Stop worrying and learn to love AI – or at the very least, accept all the good it can do for those who weren’t as lucky in the womb lottery as you.
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

Thanks Ben! Interesting thought — that view fits the rasa perspective well (in which art is supposed to induce the most pure form of a single emotion). But I wonder if intensity is necessarily also rich — i.e. a song mainly invokes sadness, but there’s fractal-like detail to that sadness?

Some works of art are objectively better On intelligence, aesthetics, and building a life worth living

Aesthetic absolutist, loud and proud.
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

How experience shapes extraordinary beliefs

Review by Eli Stark-Elster (@eselster.bsky.social) & Manvir Singh (@manvir.bsky.social)
tinyurl.com/y9dbwaa5

Why Is Everything 'Wrapped'? On Spotify, WEIRDness and the endless search for ourselves

Spotify Wrapped is effectively now a national holiday. Why? I argue that the appeal of these year-in-reviews lies in how they feed our cultural obsession with individuality -- Wrapped makes us feel special, and we just can't get enough. Link below!
unpublishablepapers.substack.com/p/why-is-eve...

Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? | Cadernos de Linguística

Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?

A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social

This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language

cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...

1/20

Flat Earth, spirits and conspiracy theories – experience can shape even extraordinary beliefs Conspiracy thinking, supernatural beliefs and pseudoscience can seem impervious to evidence. An anthropologist suggests the opposite: Extraordinary beliefs may be supported by an individual’s experien...

Flat Earth, spirits and conspiracy theories – experience can shape even extraordinary beliefs theconversation.com/flat-earth-s... by @eselster.bsky.social

From study: "...shaped by perceptual plausibility, triggered by anomalous experiences, or re-inforced through immersive technologies..."

God, and other things that are just for fun On dancing our way to divinity

God, and other things that are just for fun. Link below!
unpublishablepapers.substack.com/p/god-and-ot...

God, and other things that are just for fun On dancing our way to divinity

God, and other things that are just for fun. Link below!
unpublishablepapers.substack.com/p/god-and-ot...

How experience shapes extraordinary beliefs The ubiquity of extraordinary beliefs across human societies, such as conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and supernatural beliefs, is a long-standing puzzle in cognitive science. Prevailing accounts emphasize cognitive biases and social dynamics but often neglect a key factor: experience. We synthesize recent evidence and identify three pathways by which experience can shape these convictions: by filtering which beliefs feel perceptually plausible, by sparking new beliefs through anomalous and emotionally charged events, and by being engineered through immersive cultural technologies that simulate sensory evidence. These pathways function alongside cognitive biases and social processes, helping explain why certain extraordinary beliefs recur, why they often accompany vivid rituals, and why they can feel convincing despite evidence that challenges their veracity.

Online Now: How experience shapes extraordinary beliefs

Flat Earth, spirits and conspiracy theories – experience can shape even extraordinary beliefs Conspiracy thinking, supernatural beliefs and pseudoscience can seem impervious to evidence. An anthropologist suggests the opposite: Extraordinary beliefs may be supported by an individual’s…

People don’t adopt flat-Earth theories and conspiracy myths out of nowhere.

A new review of the research shows experiences like sleep paralysis, sensory illusions and ritual practices can make extraordinary beliefs feel very true. buff.ly/khbNn7V

Cognitive bias or social dynamics are widely seen as contributing to extraordinary beliefs.

Review by @eselster.bsky.social & @manvir.bsky.social suggests a 3rd factor—experience, and sets out 3 pathways by which it can shape such beliefs:

buff.ly/lidc8Hc

TL;DR:🧵https://buff.ly/jLH2yPw

Thanks Cat! I agree, but strongly biased :)

Why do people endorse seemingly extraordinary beliefs such as in pseudoscience & supernatural entities?

Leading approaches stress cognitive biases (like agency detection) & social dynamics (like signaling). Eli Stark-Elster & I argue that experience matters too & put fwd a framework explaining how.

Where Do the Children Play? On the need for a world without us

Anthropologist @eselster.bsky.social argues parents have tried so hard to insulate their kids from offline harms, that they're forced to seek unstructured independence in online spaces.

But Big Tech often puts profits over child safety, leaving kids without safe places to play online or off.

Flat Earth, spirits and conspiracy theories – experience can shape even extraordinary beliefs Conspiracy thinking, supernatural beliefs and pseudoscience can seem impervious to evidence. An anthropologist suggests the opposite: Extraordinary beliefs may be supported by an individual’s experien...

In a new article for @us.theconversation.com, I explain our new perspective on how experience shapes extraordinary beliefs -- a good piece to read if you want the quick and dirty deets!
theconversation.com/flat-earth-s...

How experience shapes extraordinary beliefs The ubiquity of extraordinary beliefs across human societies, such as conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and supernatural beliefs, is a long-standing…

In a new Review for @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social -- and my first first-authored paper! -- @manvir.bsky.social and I argue that experience shapes the emergence and evolution of seemingly extraordinary beliefs.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Experience Machine News from the Future #1

News from the future, inspired by work from Michael Levin, Josh Bongard, David Chalmers and many others! Link below.
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...

Kids are highly supervised in physical spaces, but not online. Here's what that does NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to researcher Eli Stark-Elster about the imbalance of how adults supervise children in physical spaces versus digitally.

I was interviewed this week by @ayesharascoe.bsky.social on @npr.org about the evolution of play and what it tells us about how kids are using digital spaces. Here's the link!

www.npr.org/2025/11/23/n...

Where Do the Children Play? On the need for a world without us

"Where Do the Children Play?" – unpublishablepapers.substack.com/p/where-do-t... (by @eselster.bsky.social)