“Railing against social media for manipulating our zombie minds is like cursing the wind for blowing down a house we’ve allowed to go to rack and ruin,” manvir singh writes, about what we get wrong in the fight against misinformation. nyer.cm/bWBvEY5

Here's a classic study by John Bullock and colleagues: Paying Republicans and Democrats for right answers cut differences in partisan beliefs by up to 80%: johnbullock.org/papers/partisa…

Despite their professions, some people understand that the 'beliefs' they hold are false.

Symbolic beliefs tend to be socially strategic endorsements, used for signaling group identity & justifying intuitions we already have. Experiments even suggest that people who express them understand their falsity. Put money on the table, and they'll often bet against them.

The alien language spoken in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” novels carries traces of Arabic. Why has that influence been scrubbed from Denis Villeneuve’s films? nyer.cm/PJdCtMX

Herbert’s “Dune” was filled with Arabic, most of which has been cut from the films in the name of a believable sci-fi world. In my new The New Yorker essay, I explore the art of making fictional languages & what gets lost in the pursuit of speculative realism. newyorker.com/culture/cultur…

I'm hiring a post-doc for a 2-year position to study ritual, religion, & explanations of misfortune in Indonesia. Applications will be reviewed starting March 1. Please spread the word & reach out if you have questions!

Job ad: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF06264

Scholars now argue that early nomadic empires were the architects of modernity. But do we have the right measure of their success? nyer.cm/3o89Lot