Jeff Stibel

They are ants solving a geometric problem and it is mind-blowingly colorful.

Evolution may have capped human brain size to balance energy costs and survival via psypost.org/evolution-may-…

Mane Kara-Yakoubian provides a more clear and articulate overview of my recent research in her PsyPost article: Evolution may have capped human brain size to balance energy costs and survival via @psypost psypost.org/evolution-may-…

Evolution may have capped human brain size to balance energy costs and survival via @psypost psypost.org/evolution-may-…

7/ Read the paper: 📄 "Did increasing brain size place early humans at risk of extinction?" Rethinking human extinction: Evolution, brain size, and the adaptive role of cognition sciencedirect.com/science/articl… Tagging #HumanEvolution #ExtinctionRisk #Cognition #Anthropocene

6/ We argue that extinction risk should be framed through this evolutionary lens: 🧠 Not just biology 🧰 Not just technology But the feedback loop between brains, symbols, and the environments they alter.

5/ What’s the risk? By reducing our reliance on biological evolution, we may have become more dependent on symbolic systems to manage increasingly complex environments. The question isn’t “Are we smart enough?” The question is: "Are our tools resilient enough?"

4/ This isn’t a claim that cognition is a liability; rather, it may have saved humanity from collapse. It marks a shift: from evolving bigger brains to building cognitive scaffolding—external tools that extend memory, reasoning, and coordination.

3/ Our new paper explores the idea that the rise of symbolic cognition—language, planning, shared knowledge—may have reduced the evolutionary pressure for bigger brains. Tools didn't just shape the world—they reshaped the path of selection.

2/ 🧠 Human brain size tripled over 2 million years but, despite what you may have thought, brain size plateaued around 100,000 years ago. Why did human brain size stop growing? And what does it mean for our long-term survival as a species?

1/ 🧠 Why did human brain size stop increasing 100,000 years ago? And what does that mean for our future as a species? Our new paper explores how changes in cognitionmay reshape how we think about extinction risk. A thread. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

@drmichaellevin Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) is my favorite.

Any ideas for a good peer-reviewed journal that takes full-length (8K+ words) Perspective pieces relevant to AI, biology, cognition, and society?

Saddened that we have lost @danieldennett, as he made a profound and lasting impact on many people, myself included. Long live his ideas!

The APA is saddened to note the passing of Professor Daniel Dennett (1942–2024). Dennett served as @APAEastern president in 2000–2001. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at @TuftsUniversity, where he had been on the faculty since 1971. apaonline.org/news/670464/In…

"The secret of happiness is: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it." Daniel Dennett (March 28, 1942 - April 19, 2024)

A study in @SciReports shows that startup company founder personality traits are a significant feature of a firm’s ultimate success. Key personality traits identified include a preference for variety and openness to adventure. go.nature.com/3siYRLh

Dr. Carl Sagan explains global warming in simple words in this 1985 video:

Eating meat may not have 'made us human,' contrary to popular theory livescience.com/health/food-di…

6. While intelligence doesn’t appear to be driving the decline in brain size, general cognitive ability may be impaired by the reductions we have seen over the last 15,000 years. Study 4: karger.com/bbe/article/96… 7/7

5. Another reason the brain is shrinking is likely because body size is also shrinking. Both body size and shape appear to adapt to changing climates. Study 3: rdcu.be/dnFtd 6/7

My last “Covid article” was finally published in the journal Evolutionary Biology (@natureportfolio). link.springer.com/article/10.100… I learned a few things doing all this work on paleoanthropology and brain science during my “quarantine recess”: 1/7