The Monkey Dance

Cooperation is deeply embedded in the genetics of our species. Looking at the evolution of cooperation can teach us a lot about how to build better societies. Given the state of the world, this episode with Nikhil Chaudhary from February 2024 is more relevant than ever. - What can evolutionary anthropology teach us about ourselves? We sit down with Nikhil Chaudhary and chat about everything from the formation of the self to societal pressures. We cover cooperation and collaboration, hunter-gatherer societies, how to think about thinking, managing uncertainty, cultural narratives, and everything in between.   Show notes on the website!

With AI increasingly being used in wars, the glaring question regulators face as a society is one of allocating responsibility when an autonomous tool of war commits a war crime.   Little progress has been made on this front over the past few years despite the increased military applications of AI. That's why I wanted to repost the Episode 6, from our archive, with Pelin Kasar:   Who is responsible for the actions of machines? We chat with Pelin Kasar about the current state of philosophical debates around how to approach the ethical considerations of machines that seem to think.   More show notes on the Monkey Dance Website

When living under an autocratic regime, should we continue voting or abstain in protest?   Zoltan Miklosi joins the podcast to talk about the political obligations of democrats who live under autocratic regimes. We discuss the consequences both of voting in elections despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the autocrat and of refusing to participate in elections in protest of the regime.   We discuss specific cases of autocracies which hold elections around the world, about why they would hold elections in the first place, and what each side has to gain and to lose. We also chat about democracy as an ideal more broadly, and whether one has any obligations to the society or governance structure they live under.   Guest: Zoltan Miklosi   More from Zoltan: 1. Political Obligation in Electoral Authoritarianism: The Case of Hungary   2. Social Equality and Democratic Authority

What determines whether a particular event is classified as part of an existing conflict or a random act of violence? Niraj Kushwaha joins the podcast to talk about modeling instances of armed conflict using fine grained datasets to better understand the emergence of conflicts and how they might be related. We discuss how conflicts can be categorized into three main types, and the primary variables that allow for their categorization. This takes us to the broader applications of this work, from modeling epidemics to climate change, and how statistical physics can be used to form hypotheses about the likelihood of future events of particular types.   Guest: Niraj Kushwaha   Niraj's latest paper on Data-driven conflict classification The database Niraj mentioned: Armed Conflict & Event Data Project

Can any interaction between two people ever really be fair?   In this episode from February 2024, we sit down with Angarika Deb to chat about how to understand fairness, and what it means in relation to equality, equity, and justice. We end up covering a wide range of topics that fairness implicates, from gendered divisions of labor and resource distribution, to political movements and social justice.   Guest: Angarika Deb   Visit the Monkey Dance Website for show notes

Every human has the same fundamental rights. That might sound trivial, but the universal access to human rights is being actively debated in courts around the world as well as in public and political discourse.   Lena Riemer joins the podcast to talk about the legal basis for granting every human being the same fundamental rights, how this applies to cases of migration, and her experiences both as a lawyer and as a legal scholar.   We chat about how human rights are being eroded and circumvented by policies, how some governments are actively working to obfuscate violations of human rights law, and the dehumanization of individuals who are forced to migrate from their homes due to some combination of conflict and climate change.   As a heads up, this conversation gets emotionally trying at times given the subject matter.     You can also watch the episode on our youtube channel   If you want to read more of Lena's work and on the topic in general:   1. Lena's blog post on recent jurisprudence on climate change and human mobility and advancements in front of the Inter-American Court of human Rights: Leading the Way: The IACtHR's Advisory Opinion on Human Rights and Climate Change   2. Lena's blog post on the US expulsion policy: Beyond Borders, Beyond Rights? The U.S. “Staging Expulsion” Policy and the Future of Externalization - Opinio Juris   3. Lena's blog post on Germany's attempts to undermine Asylum protections: Undermining Asylum Protection Through Administrative Shortcuts: Germany’s Proposal to Designate Safe Countries of Origin by Executive Decree.    4. An article from the ACLU on the state of the US border: The Border Patrol Was Monstrous Under Obama. Imagine How Bad It Is Under Trump. | ACLU   5. The referenced American Convention on Human Rights

What happens when gangs step in to provide services for communities that governments aren't able or willing to provide? David Cerero Guerra joins the podcast to talk about his ethnographic work chronicling the equilibrium local gangs have reached with the government of Colombia in the city of Medellin.  While the primary activity of the gangs is selling illicit drugs which harm the community, they also have managed to ensure the reduction of physical violence and facilitate government services like water and electricity to under served communities.  We chat about the historical and political contexts which allowed for the emergence of such a unique unspoken agreement, and how the government communicates with the gangs without any official channels.  Guest: David Cerero Guerra You can also watch the episode on youtube  

We refer to morality a lot when judging behavior, but what exactly are we referring to?   Emese Havadtői joins us to talk about the structure and emergence of moral frameworks. We chat about whether morality can be understood in terms of behavior, without a universalist understanding of morality, and how evolution plays a role in our drive to behave morally. The debate also brushes up against what it means to be "good" and whether it is understood by looking at individual behavior or if it exists as a truth in the universe.   Guest: Emese Havadtői Cohost: Maria Federova   You can also watch the conversation on youtube

What is the brain's relationship to information?   Francesco Poli joins to talk about the brain, the mind, and the individual differences that amount to human curiosity. We talk about adaptivity, how our experiences shape our relationship to information, and what this means for our behavior. We also cover the value of information, dealing with uncertainty as a concept, and the importance of a good learning environment.   Guest: Francesco Poli   You can also watch the conversation on youtube  

How do we choose which norms to follow? And how do we change them for a more equitable society?   Camilo Martinez joins to talk about how we learn, communicate, and enforce social norms. We also chat about the historical trajectory of norms, how norms have evolved as society has, and when we can overthrow prejudiced norms which seek to marginalize groups.   Guest: Camilo Martinez Cohost: Pelin Kasar To catch more of Pelin, check out Episode 6, Episode 28, Episode 32.   You can also watch the podcast on youtube.  

How can we make sense of the variety of beliefs that are prevalent in society?   Peter Steiglechner joins the podcast to talk about the role of identity and group belonging in understanding why people believe what they believe. We chat about modeling belief networks and understanding the role of bias in our engagement with information. We also cover how disagreements emerge and when consensus is possible, and more generally about existing in a group and dealing with a diversity of opinion.   Guest: Peter Steiglechner Co-host: Ákos Szegőfi

Why do we engage with information online?   Hannah Metzler joins the podcast to talk about the role of emotions and personal identity when investigating the spread of misinformation. We chat about a lot of the myths surrounding misinformation, the circumstances that make certain beliefs appealing to people, and why engaging with negative content is so much more tempting than positive content.   Guest: Hannah Metzler   Monkey Dance Podcast Website

Why do some resistance groups resort to armed struggle? And when do those groups decide it's time to put down arms? Barbora Valik joins to talk about the factors that can lead to the violent mobilization of resistance movements, particularly as a strategy to call attention to their cause, and what needs to change for the violence to end. We speak specifically about self-determination movements of indigenous peoples in Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. We chat about how states have many means of suppressing dissent, how they often avoid negotiating with groups they systematically marginalize, and why this can lead to groups struggling to seek leverage by any means necessary, ultimately turning to violence as a tool to gain concessions. We also discuss why self-determination struggles need to ensure they control their own narrative, and why keeping the groups demands at the forefront of that narrative seems to be a successful strategy.   Guest: Barbora Valik   You can also watch the episode on youtube   Notes from Barbora: Socialization = the process through which a movement positions itself within a community of other movements with the goal of emulating, learning, and normatively legitimising certain strategies. Group leverage = the capacity of the movement to influence and exert pressure on state actors, deriving from demographic characteristics, broad alliances, organisational capacity, and inclusion. Regime type = the nature of the political regime, capturing whether the context within which the movement operates is democratic, authoritarian, or democratising. For a graph of Barbora's model, visit The Monkey Dance Website  

From the Archive: Episode 2 Inequality seems to be a fundamental aspect of the society we've created. Is an unequal power dynamic endemic to any interaction between a set of individuals? In this episode from 2 years ago, Guilherme and I talk about how to define the concept of power, the function of unequal power dynamics, and how it manages to generate stable systems that perpetuate inequities that last for generations.   On a small break from the podcast and have been thinking a bit more about power again, particularly in epistemic contexts, so thought it would be a good time to repost this. Planning to have new episodes out again starting in October.   Full show notes at: https://www.monkeydancepod.com/episodes/episode-2

How do infants treat information they come across?   I sit down with Velisar Manea to chat about how the infant mind develops, the types of biases evolution might have built in, and how they manage to be so adaptive.   We also chat a good bit of theory, particularly about whether we need to attribute mental states to others or whether statistical prediction is enough. We chat about the evolutionary usefulness of biological constraints, the caloric demands of cognition versus the energy demands of AI, and whether something like an LLM can ever actually reach cognition or just mimic it.   Really excited to bring you this chat, but again still having some microphone issues. Still some trial an error!

Nicolas Goupil joins me to chat about his work spanning everything from forming early childhood memories, to visual cognition, to hierarchies in groups. It's a fun, wide ranging conversation and we cover a good bit of ground, from developmental cognitive neuroscience to social cognition.   In Copenhagen for a few months, so the next several episode will be on the road. Sorry if the audio quality is not as good as usual!

How do our biases interfere with our willingness to learn? Pelin Kasar and Juliette Vazard both return to the podcast for a chat at the intersection of beliefs, biases, and curiosity. We talk about curiosity -- how to define it, its emotional role, and its relationship with learning -- and about biases -- what a bias is, its implications in society, and its relationship to curiosity. The conversation covers a lot of ground as we work through definitions and reach mutual understandings of each of the terms,   Guest: Pelin Kasar Guest: Juliette Vazard   To hear more from Pelin check out Episode 6 and Episode 28 To hear more from Juliette check out Episode 20 and Episode 24

Resource management is a difficult problem. Deciding who gets access to certain resources, and how much of it they have access to, can often be existential struggle. This is complicated with issues of historical access of particular groups, over exploited ecosystems nearing collapse, and geopolitical shifts that lead to changes in demand. We sit down with Arev Papazian to chat about the difficulties of delegation and determining permissions. We cover some of the ground regarding the challenges of maintaining a healthy ecosystem, one that includes humans, when there are so many stakeholders involved (not all of them altruistic). Guest: Arev Papazian

What makes someone a good source to learn from? Melissa Koenig explains how we learn from others: from the strategies we use to the biases we lean on when making epistemic decisions. We chat about the emergence of racial and gender biases and how we often seek information from sources that we identify with, covering the dynamics of of social identities and justice. And we end with chatting about the role of science in society and the importance of not separating work and activism. Melissa Koenig is a professor at the Institute of Child Development https://icd.umn.edu/melissa-koenig This is the first time trying out recording on the road, sorry for the clumsiness of the audio and video but learned a few good things for next time!

Joining the podcast is Reto Schneider, veteran science journalist who has dealt with everything from the science of opinion formation to the origins of land ownership and seemingly everything in between. We talk about a variety of things that have become mild obsessions for him over the years including things like his decades long monthly column on obscure science experiments, data scientists trying to predict the future, and the arbitrariness of prison sentences.    For more, check out: Reto's website Reto's Wikipedia page