New, hot-off-the-presses! Delighted to share this new paper about why the ubiquitous "Evolution vs. Learning" dichotomy is the wrong way to think about things. Out now in American Psychologist (APA Journals). The paper avoids the boring, underspecified claim that "both matter"

Evolution and learning are often and widely posited as contrasting, conflicting explanations for behaviour—a false dichotomy, argues @laithalshawaf, offering a fine-grained look at how both angles can be conceptualized as partners rather than competitors: buff.ly/wCxZlTA

Heading to the Human Behavior and Evolution Society's (HBES) annual conference tomorrow! #HBES2025 Always a treat. Can't wait to learn a bunch of new things about human psych & behavior. 🎉🎉

Such a blast hanging out with all the brilliant, kind, amazing peeps at #HBES2025! Thank you all for making it so memorable. 🤗🎉🥳

Here's a crazy stat: 67% of people who read books on a screen can't focus for more than 10 minutes before they're messaging or shopping. If you're constantly getting distracted while reading, consider buying a print book.

One of my all-time favorite videos: this orangutan finding a magic trick hilarious. 🦧😂 youtube.com/watch?v=OLrYzY…

Flattered to have received two professional honors this year! Grateful to the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) for the HBES Fellow Award. I’m delighted to be a part of this thriving, intellectually vibrant community full of great people. 🎉 And I’m happy to

Are you a student or professor in psychology -- or any of the social sciences? If so, you've definitely seen this mistake before. It's all over the textbooks and journal articles. You might have seen it formulated in any of these ways: - Is that behavior evolved or learned?

Sir Francis Bacon, nailing confirmation bias way back in 1620: "And such is the way of all superstition, whether in astrology, dreams, omens, divine judgments, or the like; wherein men, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they

Beyond The Evolution vs Learning Fallacy. I've long argued that this false dichotomy gets in the way of understanding language, cognition, and human nature. In a new article in American Psychologist, Laith Al-Shawaf ليث الشواف carefully examines & refutes the fallacy, with examples.

Thrilled to see this wonderful review of The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions! So, so gratified to hear that some people are finding it to be a useful tool for understanding themselves & their emotions. Coupon code ASPROMP8 for 30% off at Oxford University Press

The zero-sum trap: the more people believe that wealth, status, and well-being are zero-sum, the more they back policies that make the world zero-sum. marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolu…