Nico

Ketika!!! Thank you!!

Many explanations of the link between uncertainty and rituals appeal to a need for a sense of agency. Ours is less grand: more variable environments are likely to produce illusory correlations. If there is a framework that can stabilize those early correlations, a ritual can be born!

But we don't think there is divine intercession. More variable environments are more likely to produce extraordinary, positive outcomes. The SHG can capitalize on these illusory correlations and a ritual can start.

The emergence of a new pilgrimage as an assurance game | Royal Society Open Science Pilgrimage has received long-standing scholarly attention, but most theoretical work focuses on how these rituals can be maintained, rather than the bigger puzzle of how they emerge. Using empirical i...

First paper of the PD out!

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

We argue that we can think about the start of a new collective ritual as a Stag Hunt Game. But a frequency-independent payoff is needed to get it going. In our case, perceived miracles is such a mechanism!

This is an astounding contribution to our understanding of attitudinal formation, change, and stability. Turgut wrote it as a 3rd year grad student. You should hire him before someone else does.

How to Make a Functionalist Argument Article: How to Make a Functionalist Argument | Sociological Science | Posted August 14, 2025

I am a huge fan of "what is this kind of argument and how can you do it right?" papers. I collect them and I've tried to write a couple, and think they can be tremendously useful especially for teaching. A new, useful addition to this set just arrived from @sociologicalsci.bsky.social:

Couldn't agree more! I think the fact that you share similar professional timelines, and that you are discovering who you are as researchers, makes this kind of collaboration particularly fruitful. The practical implication is that whatever research you produce is much much better as a result!

When I got into grad school, the impulse was to collaborate with the names that drew me there. From day one, @stephenvaisey.com insisted on horizontal collaboration instead. I have no idea if that was good professional advice, but it was pretty solid life advice.

Worth saying that most of my papers have been collaborations with folks from my grad program. Of course, I am extraordinarily lucky to have been surrounded by them. But this ability to foster collaboration is, above all else, the mark of a successful grad program.

"We argue that the resulting inability to talk plainly about functions is a major hindrance for theory building in the discipline."

This month in our journal, @sociologicalsci.bsky.social

Shoot, that should’ve been our title. Thanks for sharing Joseph!!

Thanks for sharing Kevin !!

Turgut! Thanks!!

Thanks for sharing Steve!

Our paper on functionalist explanations with @acastroaraujo.bsky.social is out!

I am immensely proud & grateful to have been part of this project! It has really changed how I think about the explanations I make and the evidence necessary to back them up!

sociologicalscience.com/articles-v12...

Em, this a fucking banger. Pulitzer Prize shit

no one does recession music like ke$ha

From an absolutely clear-eyed vision of how society ought to be

Network indicators of cultural resilience to anthropogenic removals in animal societies | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Social learning, information transmission and culture play vital roles in the lives of social animals, influencing their survival, reproduction and ability to adapt to changing environments. However, ...

Our paper on the resilience of animal networks is out! Animals have culture: dolphins use sponges to hunt, elephants swat flies with branches.

What happens to their capacity to keep and pass on knowledge when members are lost to poaching?

That's the question we try to answer!

shorturl.at/GvG0d

This looks amazing!

I use a wide range of methods -- from ABMs to longitudinal analysis -- to examine how attitudes change or stay the same, and how those individual processes scale up to patterns of social change.

You can find all my work here: nicolasrestrep.github.io/restrepo_web...

Hey friends, I’m job hunting!

Looking for roles in data science or research—if you hear of anything, I’d love it if you send it my way.

If you’re looking for someone who knows Python, R, Stan, has collected and worked with all kinds of data, and is always excited to learn more—let’s talk! 😊

No parce que miedo! Pero seguro te están es debiendo y ahi los deadlines son mas flexibles y son para que vos reclames! Abrazo

Donate to Help Save Chocolate's life, organized by Andrea Hernandez Hi, my name is Andrea, and this is my best friend, Chocolate. Chocolate isn’t just a pet—h… Andrea Hernandez needs your support for Help Save Chocolate's life

I know there's a lot going on right now, but my housemate's beloved Dog Choco is fighting for his life and they really need all support they can get.

If you can spare a few dollars, it would mean the world:

www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-...

One final time: I am on the post-doc market! I have primary interests in pol. ID motivational explanations for misinfo and hostility towards DEI.

I have a lot of work in closing stages, and a lot of future ideas for great work that would be a strong addition to a lab.

Please share far and wide!

And doing thankless, boring, absolutely essential stuff

a schematic depiction of a trend line and several causal forces that give it its shape

Change over time is often depicted as a trendline. But what does shape a trendline? Which forces? Our new paper presents a method allowing to “decompose” trendlines into constituent forces. Also, we tackle an old puzzle: Does culture change “one funeral at a time”? 🧵(1/8) doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

My first PhD project is out there. Thank you to my advisor @psmaldino.bsky.social and to mentor, co-author and friend @babeheim.bsky.social for encouraging and helping build this exciting and insightful collaboration. Onwards!