If childhood was critical to cultural adaptation, we would expect to see regular innovation in Homo tool industries. However, the Acheulean, Mousterian, and early H. sapiens industries are remarkably stable. Evidence of prolific innovation is largely absent before the European Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition, which is associated with increased longevity in H. sapiens, suggesting that innovation was sparked by grandparenthood.

Peer cultures can contribute adaptive innovations, but their capacity for contribution depends on the environmental risk landscape. High-risk environments promote conservative cultural transmission, suppressing contributions from peer-driven exploration, while low-risk conditions allow peer cultures to thrive, generating, and spreading novel solutions. Socioeconomic stratification also influences these dynamics, creating cultural divides in how peer cultures operate.

Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) most clearly relates to internalizing disorders. But a weak behavioural inhibition system (BIS as defined by RST) could underlie externalising, in general, and psychopathy in particular (Fowles, 1980). Conventional “rationally derived” RST scales (rRST) are not anchored in neurally defined RST systems (nRST). So, here, we use both rRST and nRST measures to assess psychopathy traits. We operationalised psychopathy via a four-factor model (affective | interpersonal | disinhibition | boldness). We operationalised rRST via the Heym, Ferguson & Lawrence (2008) updated version of Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS scales (BAS | BIS | FFFS). We operationalised nRST (goal inhibition system, GIS; goal repulsion system, GRS) via previously validated (Shadli et al., 2021) rhythmic power in the stop signal task (SST) and (goal approach system, GAS) via previously validated ERPs in the doors task. Initial bivariate correlations of psychopathy factors with rRST scales were as expected. We found no significant associations between psychopathy factors and nRST measures. A series of post hoc exploratory repeated measures ANOVAs guarded against non-linearity between psychopathy and nRST constructs. These found that: (1) Disinhibition traits might be explained (unexpectedly) by increased sensitivity in the GIS (i.e., conflict) and GRS (i.e., repulsion) and decreased sensitivity in the GAS (i.e., attraction). (2) Affective traits might be explained, as expected, by decreased sensitivity in the GIS and GRS. But an unexpected positive association was also found in the alpha frequency range for the GRS. So, nRST systems (particularly GIS) do not explain psychopathy. rRST scales were more aligned with expectations but were explained via their “rational” basis not RST per se. Unlike internalizing, nRST does not appear strongly related to externalising disorders in general and psychopathy in particular. rRST appears distinct from nRST.

Our commentary expands upon Lew-Levy and Amir’s insights into the role of peer culture in cultural evolution. Drawing on field data from the Koygu, Nyangatom, and Aka communities, we identify two modes of group transmission (concerted and cumulative) that contribute to the stability of peer cultures over time. We describe how culturally constructed niches shape peer learning, helping explain the intercultural diversity of peer cultures.

Disagreement holds a central place within standpoint theory, yet its intersection with the debate on peer disagreement has been largely overlooked. Standpoint theory emphasizes the situatedness of knowledge based on social positions – defined by factors such as gender, race, class, and other axes of identity. This fragmentation of knowledge creates a distinct challenge for traditional notions of epistemic peers as it would make epistemic peerhood, especially across identity groups, almost impossible. To accommodate this, I suggest broadening the notion of epistemic peers using a community model of knowledge. Furthermore, I explore the dynamics of peer disagreements when one interlocutor emerges from a marginalized position. In such situations, I contend that the marginalized perspective should be assigned more weight, posing a challenge to both steadfast and equal weight views. This argument culminates in the introduction of ‘Peer-Predominant Conciliationism’, a view suggesting that, under certain circumstances, it is rational to privilege a peer’s perspective over one’s own in peer disagreement.

We study random integer-valued Lipschitz functions on regular trees. It was shown by Peled, Samotij, and Yehudayoff [22] that such functions are localized; however, finer questions about the structure of Gibbs measures remain unanswered. Our main result is that the weak limit of a uniformly chosen 1-Lipschitz function with 0 boundary condition on a $d$-ary tree of height $n$ exists as $n \to \infty$ if $2 \le d \le 7$, but not if $d \ge 8$, thereby partially answering a question posed by Peled, Samotij and Yehudayoff. For large $d$, the value at the root alternates between being almost entirely concentrated on 0 for even $n$ and being roughly uniform on $\{-1,0,1\}$ for odd $n$, leading to different limits as $n$ approaches infinity along evens or odds. For $d \ge 8$, the essence of this phenomenon is preserved, which obstructs the convergence. For $d \le 7$, this phenomenon ceases to exist, and the law of the value at the root loses its connection with the parity of $n$. Along the way, we also obtain an alternative proof of localization. The key idea is a fixed point convergence result for a related operator on $\ell ^\infty$ and a procedure to show that the iterations get into a ‘basin of attraction’ of the fixed point. We also prove some accompanying analogous ‘even-odd phenomenon’ type results about $M$-Lipschitz functions on general non-amenable graphs with high enough expansion (this includes for example the large $d$ case for regular trees). We also prove a convergence result for 1-Lipschitz functions with $\{0,1\}$ boundary condition. This last result relies on an absolute value FKG for uniform 1-Lipschitz functions when shifted by $1/2$.

Amid global assaults on higher education, this reflection analyzes a video performance created by Boğaziçi University (Istanbul, Turkey) students during widespread protests against President Erdoğan’s appointment of a loyalist as rector in 2021. Although it disputes the appointment and the subsequent crackdown on campus protest, the performance more directly responds to the punitive and vilifying reaction of the university administration and the government to a campus exhibition that included a controversial artwork juxtaposing Islamic, mythological, and LGBTQ+ imagery. In the video, a small group of pious Muslim and nonpious students share their divergent views on the artwork while presenting a unified voice against the defamatory campaign targeting their peers. Drawing on democratic theoretical accounts of Aristotelian political friendship, I interpret the performance as an experiment in mutual trust and confidence countering Erdoğan’s tyrannical rule, which thrives on distrust and apathy among citizens, as a form of concerted action that finds its strength in difference and disagreement, and as a model for preserving the university as a site where public issues can be debated openly. Envisioning a democratic life grounded in political friendship, the performance, I argue, reasserts universities’ role as laboratories of democracy, preparing students for collective deliberation, negotiation, and reflective judgment.

This article examines how digital misogynistic discourse produces real-world consequences through platform affordances in post-digital conditions. The study focuses on LIHKG, a popular online forum in Hong Kong, where users collectively target female influencers with persistent verbal abuse. Through critical discourse-centred online-offline nexus ethnography (CD-OONE), which builds on established traditions of entextualization and discursive circulation, the study shows how users creatively appropriate platform features for sustaining misogynistic language. Unlike algorithmically mediated social media, LIHKG operates largely through human agency, such as strategic upvoting/downvoting, nested quoting, custom emoji, forum slang, and serial threads. The analysis reveals how these affordances-in-practice amplify and normalize misogynistic discourse strategies on the forum. A case study traces a 5-year aggression cycle targeting one female influencer, drawing on forum threads, the influencer’s own social media posts, and mainstream news coverage to show how forum discourse produces offline reputational damage that recursively triggers additional online attacks. Theoretically, the study extends critical discourse analysis by showing how sociotechnical conditions shape scalar amplification of harmful discourse online and offline. Methodologically, it provides a practical framework for documenting, tracing, and analyzing discourse circulation and the real-world consequences of digital aggression.

The authors make an intriguing case that peer cultures could play a key role in cultural adaptation by generating qualitatively different cultural variation compared to adult cultures. However, the mechanisms responsible for this distinction remain unclear. We here discuss how accounting for the role of intrinsic motivation in shaping the content of peer cultures may help explain their evolutionary dynamics.

This article argues that the muted and often negative responses to the American historian Richard Hildreth’s six-volume History of the United States published between 1849 and 1852 resulted from his embrace of a secular, utilitarian philosophy of history emphasizing individual freedom as the main source of human happiness and social progress. Tracing the origins of these ideas to Hildreth’s early exposure to liberal religion, democratic party politics, and antislavery thought, the article shows that Hildreth’s historiographical approach rejected providentialism in favor of secular causation, rooted in human agency and historical contingency. Hildreth’s liberal utilitarianism is offered as at least a partial solution to what has been called the “problem” of defining his place in American intellectual history.

This study examines whether homeownership has a trade-off relationship with public-pension development in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Relying on a comparative historical approach, we find that while the three governments pursued homeownership societies, their interventions in housing provision and distribution varied in timing and intensity, contributing to different levels of homeownership. Historically, middle-class families in these countries have preferred asset accumulation through home purchases over reliance on public pensions. In particular, the early introduction of mandatory savings as a form of lump-sum retirement payments, combined with widespread homeownership aspirations, led to heavy reliance on private homeownership and, in turn, contributed to establishing underdeveloped, small-scale public-pension systems. Homeownership is unlikely to serve as a cornerstone of old-age economic security systems in East Asia, where asset-based welfare developed as a substitute for collective welfare provision and social rights.

Lew-Levy and Amir propose that children’s peer culture plays a bidirectional role in cultural evolution. Here, I propose (1) that norm enforcement strategies deserve a more central role and (2) that these strategies emerge earlier in development than suggested. Recognizing these early behaviors offers a deeper understanding of how peer cultures develop and how even young children actively shape their cultural landscape.

This article examines the discursive genealogy of meʿmāri-ye sonnati (traditional architecture), arguing that the term is not a neutral descriptive category but a modern historiographical construct. It traces the concept from nineteenth-century Orientalist surveys, which relied on stylistic classifications rather than notions of tradition, to early twentieth-century narratives of continuity advanced by scholars such as Arthur Upham Pope and André Godard. The study shows how “tradition” was later translated into sonnat in midcentury nationalist debates and consolidated as meʿmāri-ye sonnati in the 1970s. This process flattened diverse architectural histories into a single category that served traditionalist and postrevolutionary ideological agendas. By reconstructing this genealogy, the article challenges retrospective essentialism and restores the historical plurality of Iran’s architectural past.

This paper investigates the effects on consumer welfare of changing food-at-home (FAH) and food-away-from-home (FAFH) prices in a period that witnessed two major economic shocks: the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent abnormal inflation. Even though FAFH prices increased more than FAH during this period, we find that FAH price increases have led to more significant and volatile welfare losses compared to changes in FAFH prices. The article makes two contributions to the literature. First, using a complete demand system that is comprised of nine expenditure categories, including FAH, FAFH, and seven other broad non-food aggregates, we estimate the household welfare losses in consumer surplus from changing prices of FAH and FAFH incorporating the own- and cross-price effects. Our findings reveal that own-price effects dominate welfare losses with negligible cross effects, resulting in 11.2% and 7% losses in consumer welfare from FAH and FAFH price increases, respectively, as a percentage of total food spending after the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the dominance of the own price effects suggests that the easier-to-estimate conditional demand systems (foods only) may be sufficient for conducting welfare analysis of changes in food prices.