Joe Henrich

In the Sunday Times, London, Matthew Syed (@matthewsyed ) interviewed me about my new book: thetimes.co.uk/article/joseph… @whitneypeeling

It’s very likely that her ability of IQ has increased over the 20th century among Americans because the total phenotypic variation decreased.

Any claim of heritability has to specify the population. The heritability of traits varies across populations, depending on how the environment influences phenotypic variation. This paper offers a great summary @mmuthukrishna cambridge.org/core/journals/…

My former UVA colleague Tim Wilson is creating short videos of scientists describing the research that stopped when the Trump admin slashed funding for science: @TimothyWilson18" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@TimothyWilson… For example, research finding more effective ways to train navy pilots and air traffic controllers: youtube.com/shorts/qAdczgp…

@blaiseaguera @JohnGabrieli @MIT @mitpress @antikythera_xyz @JoHenrich @mmuthukrishna

Fun discussion with Robin Hanson on cultural evolution (@robinhanson): youtube.com/watch?v=s4qMJw…

New paper comparing Neanderthal haplotype inference methods. Paper is worth reading, but I'll make a side point: None find all the Neanderthal ancestry. Each is biased (ie some Haplotypes where it excels) and you should be aware of this with claims based on these methods 1/2

Great piece by a top team!

"Highly educated individuals around the world have patterns of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that are more WEIRD, as evident by their greater cultural similarity to individuals living in Western European and Anglosphere countries." nature.com/articles/s4146…

Humans aren't the only species in which others assist in childbirth. Cooperation by non-kin during birth underpins sperm whale social complexity | Science science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

@nickgillespie @mmasnick Nick, this is a 3 year old post. There is now so much evidence of causality, including RCTs and natural experiments, plus testimony from victims and perpetrators of harm: worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/social…

If you come across someone asserting there is "no scientific evidence" that social media is causing harm, please send them this link. We lay out seven lines of evidence, including RCTs, natural experiments, and testimony from victims & perpetrators of harm worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/social…

Nice BBC Radio 4 special on the impact of reading and universal literacy on psychology and societies. I offered my thoughts to @j_amesmarriott . Well done! bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

Book reviews by philosophers, notoriously, can be scathing, but a sober review of a book on gender identity by the MIT philosopher (and Academic Freedom Council co-founder) Alex Byrne was deemed too dangerous to print. "The philosophy profession has shown itself to be an institution of fragile integrity when put to the test. One can only hope spines will eventually stiffen, and academic law and order is restored." philosophersmag.com/on-being-rejec…

Great clip on a point about WEIRD selves…there is no true self to discover 🤯 youtu.be/huMrq8oQCO0?si… via @YouTube

Great piece.

Our review of the import of the Man the Hunter conference and volume, which contrary to recent media coverage actually expressed diverse views on hunter-gatherers and inspired decades of research, is now published: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S10…

The Middle Stone Age (aka MSA or Middle Paleolithic) was a time when African, European, and Near Eastern hominins were using similar Levallois stone tools (depicted here), but interestingly this shared Sapiens-Neanderthal technology started AFTER their traditional split date

New solo paper from David Reich might provide some clarity to the Muddle in the Middle. Maybe Humans and Neanderthals are both hybrids of an old expansion of the "MSA population" and local European / African humans:

I’m always surprised at how little scientists attend to whether results arise from captive populations or wild populations. Captive chimpanzees don’t do very much hunting, warfare or tool use. They don’t have civil wars. captive populations are often on birth control.

Behavioral economics relies heavily on studies of Western, educated people. A recent analysis provides evidence that ignoring racial diversity within the United States has led to flawed generalizations about how different groups make decisions. dlvr.it/TRGjkr