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Peeter Tinits

@peetertinits.bsky.social
386 followers 462 following 25 posts

Getting a PhD in humanities+data. Evolutionary perspectives on language, culture, sign systems. + mastodon.green/@ptinits + twitter handle @yrgsupp peetertinits.github.io

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Reposted by Peeter Tinits
Mikko Tolonen @tolonen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Don't forget to apply for our DH lecturer position in Helsinki. DL midnight today, so still plenty time to get your applications in!
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Join the DigiTS team in Tartu! PhD position in machine learning, LLMs & NLP annotation. A great team pushing the #digitalhumanities #computationalhumanities agenda in a thoughtful way. A wonderful place to live and work! Estonia is pleasant, organized, easy to join! digits.ut.ee/join-the-team/
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 14/09/2026
Researchers investigated language change by studying Slovotvir, a Ukrainian website where users propose and rank alternatives for foreign-origin words. The site shows that people prefer shorter words, but not necessarily more common words. In PNAS Nexus: ow.ly/KWGE50ZNzaj
The study used an agent-based model. Diagram of a two-step agent action model. Ukrainian alternatives for the word дедлайн (deadline, a borrowing from English, possibly through Russian) are given as an illustration. In step A, an agent chooses a word based on the number of likes received by that word’s most-liked translation. In step B, after choosing a word, the agent chooses which translation to like based on each translation’s length and number of likes.
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Antonina Martynenko @tonyamart.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Our paper with Damien Tricoire & Julian Csapó discussing if Diderot was the author of anticolonial passages in 'Histoire des deux Indes' is out in DES! doi.org/10.61147/des... (1/6)
doi.org
Ghostwriting and collective authorship in the Enlightenment: Diderot, d’Holbach’s coterie and the problem of authorship in Raynal’s Histoire des deux Indes
In recent decades, researchers have developed enormous interest in the role of Denis Diderot in Guillaume-Thomas Raynal's major historiographical work, the <i>Histoire des deux Indes</i> (HDI). Schola...
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Alexey Koshevoy @alexeykoshevoy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Are you interested in lexical competition, agent-based modelling, strong inference and Ukrainian? Then this paper, just published in @pnasnexus.org, is for you. With @oliviermorin.bsky.social and @sobchuk.bsky.social, we asked a simple question: why do some words become more common than others?
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Mason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
New tutorial preprint about simulation-based inference! Shows how to fit a cultural evo model to baby name data using approx Bayesian computation, random forests, and deep learning. Wrote for @eslr.bsky.social but wanted to share with others in @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social! :) osf.io/preprints/so...
osf.io
OSF
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Mikko Tolonen @tolonen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
We are hiring! Permanent position for a University Lecturer in Digital Humanities at the University of Helsinki. The application period is open and closes on 3 October 2026: jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki... Please read the job description carefully and feel free to spread the word widely.
jobs.helsinki.fi
University Lecturer in Digital Humanities
University Lecturer in Digital Humanities
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Artjoms Šeļa @artjomshl.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
our new paper with @plechac.bsky.social puts thousands of poems across languages in one shared space of poetic form! we use sequence alignment on rhyme schemes to investigate 'fixed forms' and all things between: not only 'sonnets', but 'sonnet-like' things. doi.org/10.1371/jour...
a clustered umap of the formal space of poetry defined by sequence alignment distances between rhyme schemes in 6 languages. below: the same space, but colored only by poems that bear 'fixed forms' labels in Czech and Russian corpora.
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Look and share widely! A new center starting up with great ideas and cool vibes! Highly recommended for digital humanities, cultural evolution and related folks interested in literature, history, and the arts. #culturalevolution #digitalhumanities #jobs
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Mason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Check out our (@sobchuk.bsky.social) special issue on the cultural evolution of the arts in Evolutionary Human Sciences, with papers from @mikekestemont.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social @svalver.bsky.social and more! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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Pat Savage @patrickesavage.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
New special issue on "Cultural evolution of the arts" led by @sobchuk.bsky.social and @masonyoungblood.bsky.social confirms my intuition that this field has taken off in the past two decades, with a particularly strong representation from music! doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
Figure 1. A) A co-citation network of papers studying the evolution of the arts. B) The yearly number of publications on the cultural evolution of the arts.
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Riccardo Fusaroli @fusaroli.eurosky.social · 20/04/2026
What function did ~100k-year-old engravings from Blombos Cave & Diepkloof serve? Decoration, identity marking, proto-writing? osf.io/preprints/ps... uses transmission chains + cognitive experiments to find out & help answering one of the hardest questions in cognitive archaeology. long thread! 1/
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Artjoms Šeļa @artjomshl.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
someone recently called poetree "an essential DH infrastructure", and it was the best award we could ever asked for. but! it's a standardized collection of poetry corpora in 11 languages and counting, with regular processing and annotation, API, R and Python access points, fully open, has a map..
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Katarzyna Anna Kapitan @kakapitan.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
#jobklaxon Lecturer in #digitalhumanities Application Deadline: 29.03.2026 Very sensible language policy, B1 after 2 years and B2 after five years. Maybe of interest to the members of @digitalmedievalist.bsky.social
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Andres Karjus @andreskarjus.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Come work with us! Tallinn Uni is hiring a second lecturer in DH&AI. Estonian proficiency not required, foreign applicants welcome, required phd can be in progress (expected to be completed), competitive salary+benefits, nice working environment close to the sea candidate.recrur.com/public/jobad...
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Charley Wu @thecharleywu.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
🚀 Postdoc Alert! Are you passionate about social learning & cultural evolution? @dominikdeffner.bsky.social & I have a 3-year position with freedom to develop your research and work on cutting-edge multiplayer and immersive experiments. Apply by March 30! hmc-lab.com/SocialLearni... Pls share 🙏
hmc-lab.com
Postdoc position -- Social Learning and Cultural Evolution
Postdoc position -- Social Learning and Cultural Evolution posted on March 2, 2026 We are currently seeking a highly motivated individual...
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Olivier Morin @oliviermorin.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
CALL: a PhD grant (3 years) to do a PhD with me at @cognitionens.bsky.social on the evolution of graphic codes. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/410213
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
PhD student grant (3 years) on the evolution of written communication
My team recruits a PhD student to work under the supervision of Olivier Morin on the evolution of written communication, within a project jointly led by Olivier Morin, Hugo Mercier, and Marc Allassonn...
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Fredrik Jansson @fredrikjansson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
In a new paper, we find that judging facts by messenger rather than content leads to polarising belief packages (e.g. latte liberals, leftist support for wind power, rightist for nuclear). Worryingly, recommender algorithms use this strategy. No need to read the paper; you can just trust me on this.
nature.com
The emergence of polarised groups through source filtering - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - The emergence of polarised groups through source filtering
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Birds of the World | The Cornell Lab @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
MAJOR NEWS! We just launched an awesome new tool! The illustrated Birds of the World Phylogeny Explorer lets users trace any bird’s lineage, compare species relationships, and explore major evolutionary milestones with a click of a button. SHARE and EXPLORE! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/phy...
IMAGE SHOWS GRAPHIC OF CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY PHYLOGENY EXPLORER TOOL.
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C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out. As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class. Here's what happened:
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Bret Beheim @babeheim.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
A colleague at MPI asked how to get better at math. My vote is Thompson and Gardner's classic *Calculus Made Easy* (originally published in 1910!) I've uploaded my own (almost complete) worked problem sets from this classic book. A few thoughts.../
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Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 15/01/2026
I started reading up on the whole "loneliness pandemic" narrative because this seems like a literature where the age-period-cohort problem may be relevant (or maybe it isn't?). Here's data from Australia (HILDA), average agreement with the statement "I often feel very lonely" (SD of ca. 1.8).>
Average agreement with the statement "I often feel very lonely" plotted over time
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Mason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Proc B with @sampassmore.bsky.social! We used simulations to explore the innovation strategies of speed climbers 🧗‍♀️ Innovation is higher among slower athletes and lower when the population size is larger, and the overall balance of innovation and copying appears to be suboptimal 🔗 bit.ly/499QjZM
bit.ly
Simulation-based inference with deep learning suggests speed climbers combine innovation and copying to improve performance
Abstract. In the Olympic sport of speed climbing, athletes compete to reach the top of a 15 m wall as quickly as possible. Since the standardization of the
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Joe Fabisevich @mergesort.me · 03/01/2026
The rise of AI tools that let you do anything to your data makes me want all of my data to be in more open formats. I want access to my Photos library as files, not an opaque archive. I want my journal entries in markdown, not locked down in Day One. The open standards people were always right.
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Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Historians rock.
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Good luck to Oleg!! I can say from experience that Oleg is a great person to know and work with: thorough, thoughtful, and with a clear big plan. He's been trailblazing the new field for almost a decade now. Look out for the job offers in the spring and the papers that follow! It's gonna be great! 🎉
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michael chimento @mchimento.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
New paper out today w @dalmaijer.bsky.social @barbaraklump.bsky.social and @lucymaplin.bsky.social as part of the Phil Trans special issue doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... Over 2 years, we studied a population of cockatoos thought to be the source of the innovation of bin-opening.
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Cool paper on how experiences from pilot studies can become useful knowledge. Build analysis and transparent reporting into the process! 'Thick description' and iterated game design can show the way. Esp for complex objects like in #languageevolution, #experimentalsemiotics. Examples from Minecraft!
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Maximilian Schich @schichmax.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Join us today @cudanlab.bsky.social for a lecture and discussion feat. Oleg Sobchuk @sobchuk.bsky.social, of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social on "Evolution of Literature and the Arts" 16:00-18:00 Tallinn time (UTC+2) i.e. 60 minutes from this post. Details & zoom: cudan.tlu.ee/events/2025-...
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Mikko Tolonen @tolonen.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
Great news! This is out: Opening the black box of EEBO academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Opening the black box of EEBO
Abstract. Digital archives that cover extended historical periods can create a misleading impression of comprehensiveness while in truth providing access t
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The story of board game GO strategies from feudal era to AI, analyzed and visualized by @babeheim.bsky.social! The disruption from AI players is visible but small compared to innovations from generations of humans. Many more bites here:👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs.... #digitalhumanities #history #games
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MPI-EVA Leipzig @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Congratulations to Oleg Sobchuk and Arthur Kocher on being awarded @erc.europa.eu Starting Grants!! 🥳 @sobchuk.bsky.social will be exploring the macroevolution of European literature, while Kocher will be studying ancient pathogen dynamics. See: tinyurl.com/mr2m2zms & tinyurl.com/9cwdnc54
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David Bisset @davidbisset.com · 24/07/2025
Why I 🧡 the web. drawafish.com Just draw the fish. Trust me. 🐟
A group of handdrawn fish.
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Dr Sarah Myers @drsarahmyers.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Excited to see 1st of the Evoluionary Human Sciences special issue on scientific racism come out! @kevinlala.bsky.social @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marcus Feldman discuss impediments to countering racist pseudoscience & present 5 solutions www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Humanities methods breaking new grounds! Poetic meters can be studied like gene sequences to trace their evolution in time and space. The method, evaluation, and case studies! Lots to learn from and reuse. #DH Also, congratulations to @comphumresearch.bsky.social on the first published volume!
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Artjoms Šeļa @artjomshl.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
✍️ Our paper is finally out! All poetic forms come from somewhere, but figuring out their relationships is hard. We use sequence alignment on scansion (010.10) to measure metrical similarity between poems. This allows us to detect related forms across languages and times 1/ tinyurl.com/metronome25
cambridge.org
Metronome: tracing variation in poetic meters via local sequence alignment | Computational Humanities Research | Cambridge Core
Metronome: tracing variation in poetic meters via local sequence alignment - Volume 1
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Peeter Tinits @peetertinits.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
4 postdocs and 3 PhD positions in #DH, #CompSocSci, #AI, #TextMining & #Sustainability available Uni Tartu, Estonia! Deadlines May 15 for PhD students, June 2/16 for postdocs. 1) #RiDeR ERC project on Deep Sustainability Transitions, 2) #DigiTS ERA Chair project on Digital Text Scholarship. Links 👇
A view on the river going through Tartu.The car freedom boulevard in Tartu on a summer evening.
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Matt Johansen @mattjay.com · 18/04/2025
The most daming claim in this statement IMO: Within 15 minutes of DOGE accounts being created… Attackers in Russia tried logging in using those new creds. Correct usernames and passwords. 2 options here. The DOGE device was hacked. And I don't think I need to explain the 2nd.
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Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 16/04/2025
Urgh. This is worth signing. But it's also so worrying how dependent we are on The Internet Archive for cultural preservation - just one lawsuit away from oblivion.
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Bret Beheim @babeheim.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
🚨 New preprint! 🚨 I looked at 400+ years of cumulative cultural evolution in the Game of Go from feudalism to superhuman AI. Did AlphaGo etc. completely disrupt human play? No! More like human-machine convergence, rather than revolution. Check out these decision trees! osf.io/preprints/ps...
decision trees in human play in the game of go before and after the arrival of superhuman AI, showing gradual change rather than revolutionary disruption
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
"DOGE is eliminating the government's tape backups because they're too stupid to know why they're important" is the generous interpretation, when what they might actually be doing is stealing all the money and trying to destroy the records of them doing so.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
🔑 under-discussed point — why they were on signal:
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DARIAH-FI @dariahfi.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Join us on the 10th anniversary of the Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon #DHH25 this year. Around 40 students will experience an interdisciplinary project from start to finish within the span of 10 days. Apply until April 12th, or save the date May 14-23 heldig.fi/dhh25
An exciting chance to collaborate, innovate and push your own boundaries experiencing an interdisciplinary research project from start to finish within the span of 10 days. 
This year, the hackathon is organised around the following themes:
Parliaments beyond borders: Exploring the Role of Foreign Nations in National Policy Debates
Digital Presence in Physical Absence: Survivors' Testimonies and Holocaust Oral History
Rare Earth & Web Discourses: Parallel Mining Approaches
Economic bubbles, consumerism, and the colonies: Early modern newspapers as indicators of economic change in 18th century society

13.3.–12.4.2025 Application period*
14.–23.5.2025 #DHH25 hackathon in Helsinki

* Participants must commit to the full week of intensive work. 

Information and apply: heldig.fi/dhh25
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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
JOB ALERT in #language and #linguistics! Postdoc Position at the Center for Language Evolution Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. Job offer here: www.umk.pl/en/jobs/?tas... We are now looking at a broader candidate pool so do consider applying! Please repost & share widely!
A picture of Torun oldtown at night in winter
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Roopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
“…this is a moment to speak publicly about why universities matter. They promote public health, economic growth and national security. They are the largest employers in some regions. They are an unmatched, if imperfect, engine of upward mobility that can alter the trajectory of entire families.”
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Kathleen Fitzpatrick @kfitz.info · 15/03/2025
This, by the by, is an effing disaster if it holds up. The number of public libraries that will go under if IMLS is shuttered is mind-boggling. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
whitehouse.gov
Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.
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Brandon Walsh @walshbr.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Regular reminder that they almost certainly have had a big list of the targets for ages, and the slow rollout is meant to intentionally wear down the ability of the public to push back. Keep paying attention, calling, writing, advocating.
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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 15/03/2025
IMLS is the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It's about $200 million per year for libraries and $50 million for museums. Not a lot for the federal budget, but a huge piece of the culture and knowledge system - which is why MAGA is eliminating it.
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