Conspicuous Cognition

Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?

It’s easier to blame the algorithm than the bewildered herd.

Oct 7 • 

Dan Williams

239

96

September 2025

Evolutionary Psychology, Politics, and the Humanities

Several podcast appearances

Sep 28 • 

Dan Williams

53

14

AI Sessions #1: AI - A Normal Technology or a Superintelligent Alien Species?

Watch now (77 mins) | Is Artificial Intelligence Just Another Technology or Potentially Something Fundamentally Different and Extremely Dangerous?

Sep 18 • 

Dan Williams

18

3

1:16:37

Against Bluesky (and Blueskyism)

Politics, echo chambers, and the difference between persuasion, propaganda, and performance on social media

Sep 14 • 

Dan Williams

134

51

Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence: 10-Week Syllabus & Readings

Can computers think and feel? Will "super-intelligent" machines cause human extinction? How will advances in AI transform democracy, society, the…

Sep 7 • 

Dan Williams

99

25

August 2025

Against Political Chmess

Why too much political philosophy studies a game that nobody plays

Aug 28 • 

Paul S

87

70

Domination and Reputation Management

How ideologies of liberation become tools of oppression

Aug 24 • 

Dan Williams

112

35

Will AI Change Everything?

How similar is ChatGPT-5 to the human mind? How should we measure AI progress? How close are we to transformative AI? Are "super-intelligent" AI systems…

Aug 19 • 

Dan Williams

 and 

HenryShevlin

47

8

1:14:14

The Stench of Propaganda Clings to Everything

Deception, Self-Deception, and Epistemological Vertigo

Aug 8 • 

Dan Williams

103

63

July 2025

The Case Against Social Media is Weaker Than You Think

The evidence that social media broke America is surprisingly weak. So why are so many people convinced it did?

Jul 26 • 

Dan Williams

143

94

Thinking Beyond the Misinformation Wars

An in-depth conversation with Yascha Mounk about the problems with 'misinformation' discourse, why people distrust institutions, and much more.

Jul 19 • 

Dan Williams

36

11

The Standpoint of the Oppressed Doesn't Lead to Truth

If you care about the oppressed, you should care about data, science, and rational thought, not misguided "radical" epistemologies.

Jul 7 • 

Dan Williams

140

26