Resolving Our Differences
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” — S.G. Tallentyre, The Friends of Voltaire
We all know that in the age of misinformation, it’s hard to come by truthful claims about the world. This has even received philosophical analysis…
The Connection Between Irrationality & Certainty
It is very likely that we are wrong about everything.
Humans are famously bad at being rational, objective, and careful thinkers.
People readily still believe that God is punishing thousands for not believing in his son by sending them to hell, that the constellations can predict our temperament & personalities…
The Ethics of Vaccines, Personal Responsibility, and Harm
A nationwide mandate for vaccines does not infringe on the liberties of the individual because of the more prescient obligation to not cause harm to citizens.
The cost of allowing for freedom outweighs the benefit of preventing harm.
The problem with liberty, as many thinkers have addressed, is that providing…
Why Intuitions Are More Persuasive Than Arguments
“They’re so cold, these scholars!
May lightning strike their food
so that their mouths learn how
to eat fire!”— Friedrich Nietzsche
Academic philosophy is particularly bad at changing society for the better because, in order to have access to it, one has to first get through a lot of…
Why Academics Rarely Agree on Anything
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubt, while the stupid people are full of confidence.” — Charles Bukowski
In my youth, particularly my teens, I was a fundamentalist Christian. I strongly believed in the doctrines of Reformed theologians, which included total depravity, unconditional…
Elitism & Its Peril
When academics disagree with popular culture, they are falling into the trap of assuming that because they are intelligent in one field, they must also be expert analysts in all fields.
Academics in Disagreement With Pop Culture
Recently, I recommended a show to a friend. I couldn’t stop watching this show and I thought my friend…
A book is like a mirror: if an ass looks in, you can’t expect an apostle to look out. ‒ G. C. Lichtenberg
What is the true value of our attention?
The other day I was walking down a bridge in my hometown in Ruzomberok, Slovakia, and I looked up…
Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously. ‒ G. K. Chesterton
Once, an education was deemed particularly valuable. Students who made their way to academia promised a bright future to their families. …
Our Beliefs May Be True, but Why?
“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
― Albert Einstein
One way to halt our tendency for confirmation bias is to attempt to restate why exactly someone believes what they do. …
Why Our Delusions Permeate Society
Changing our minds delivers a calming, politically highly-consequential revelation: those on the other side of a debate might actually be nice. So disputes can’t be cast as stand-offs between bad people and good people (as we so often want to imagine). We can still disagree; we don’t need to hate…
