In Praise of Ignorance
To have a chance at solving our problems we must not condemn each other for openly stating our ignorance.
Simon Cullen
· 5 min read
Philosophy
A collection of 109 posts
What Is a Sexist?
Recognizing the existence of differences between men and women should not be considered a regression for the women’s rights movement.
Jonathan Anomaly, Brian Boutwell
· 7 min read
Stop Calling People "Low Information Voters"
And when policy is not up for debate and when conversation is taken off the table.
Claire Lehmann
· 6 min read
Are Internet Memes a New Form of Literature?
When historians study ancient societies they use pottery, cave art, paintings and engravings as their sources. Memes can play the same role as one of the sources of history.
Aneeq Ejaz
· 5 min read
What Is a Racist? Why Moral Progress Hinges on Getting the Answer Right
We are not arguing that racism has vanished, or that racists don’t exist. We’re making precisely the opposite argument.
Jonathan Anomaly, Brian Boutwell
· 5 min read
Elite Opinion vs the Wisdom of Crowds: The Intelligentsia’s Tendency to Get Things Wrong
The anti-democratic attitude of the liberal elite is absurd from a theoretical viewpoint because a democratic judgment represents the will of the majority...
Adam Perkins
· 9 min read
Doing Good Better — William MacAskill
MacAskill seeks to convince that not only are we in the developed world in a position to do a tremendous amount of good, but that our approach to doing good is itself tremendously important.
Keiran Harris
· 6 min read
The Virtues of Inwardness: Reclaiming the Life of the Mind in a Politicized World
Perhaps our belief that the intellectual is synonymous with the political is less an eternal fact of human existence than a symptom of our own hyper-politicized times.
James Walker
· 11 min read
Liberalism’s Great Challenge: How Can We Critique Ideas While Protecting People?
The words are usually associated with Eastern or New Age spirituality, and they sound as bizarre on the tongue of a science-minded atheist as an Arab Bible-believer.
Valerie Tarico
· 9 min read
What Experts Do and Don't Know
Humans around the world have knowledge about many things. Some of it is the kind one might write essays about, or learn about in graduate courses at university.
Brendon Brewer
· 7 min read
When Bad Ideas Refuse to Die: The Denial of Human Individuality
The situationist idea that personality is an illusion is an arresting one, but it is false.
Luke Smillie and Nick Haslam
· 4 min read
"Like" This Essay — The Case Against Social Media
Social media isn’t the cause of these crises in our culture; rather, there is a sense that it has betrayed its higher purpose.
Timothy Cootes
· 6 min read
Forget de Botton's Advice — Why Lower Expectations Won't Help Your Marriage
Marriage is casting a vote for a candidate who will help us create the kind of life we can enjoy and value.
Noam Shpancer
· 7 min read
'Socialism': Why the Word Matters
Sanders has also popularized the notion of socialism within the American zeitgeist. ‘Socialism’ used to be a bad word, but it isn’t anymore.
Hrishikesh Joshi
· 5 min read
The Josiah Effect: How Moderate Religion Fuels Fundamentalism
As it turns out, the phenomenon of a young man becoming radicalized after reading his religion’s holy book for the first time has been around for thousands of years.
Henry Rambow
· 10 min read