“What is it about fiction, about poetry, about narrative that makes it so powerful? …that makes philosophers think of mass murder?” - Nick Buttrick on Plato #SESP2023

Does what we read shape our worldviews? People who read more literary fiction growing up exhibit more complex worldviews (eg attributional complexity, lower essentialism) as adults - Nick Buttrick #SESP2023

With #SESP wrapping up, it’s a good time to say I’m hoping to recruit a grad student (or 2!) this year! If you’re interested in guns, culture, or novels/reading, please reach out - I’d love to hear from you and chat about Madison. (Pls share!)

Come work with my amazing colleague! Society for Personality and Social Psychology Students of Society for Affective Science

Gotta read it carefully, but I love the idea proposed here... Decent

Our March issue is online! Why birds are smart, vagal signals and goal-directed behavior (Vanessa Teckentrup | @glassybrain.bsky.social Nils Kroemer), what LLMs can tell us about human cultures (Nick Buttrick), and more: cell.com/trends/cogniti…

UW-Madison Psychology UW–Madison is hiring 2 social psychologists, one TT (deadline 9/15/24) and one tenured, open rank (deadline 10/08/24)! Info here: psych.wisc.edu/psychology-dep… RT far and wide! SESP Society for Personality and Social Psychology Students of Society for Affective Science Society for Affective Science SPSSI

Are political conservatives better off? It depends how you define it: while conservatives tend to report happier and more meaningful lives, this isn't true of folks living a rich interesting life. New paper w/Shigehiro Oishi @samjheintz Nick Buttrick, now in press at JRP 🧵

Come join us, and I'll take you sailing!! (Plus do some very cool science with very cool colleagues in a very cool department)