Conspicuous Cognition

On Becoming Less Left-Wing (Part 3)

The reality of progress, the fragility of civilisation, the left’s role in making the world both better and worse, the case for capitalism, and how to…

Apr 2 • Dan Williams

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March 2026

Wishful Thinking Is A Myth

How social games, not comforting falsehoods, distort what we believe.

Mar 16 • Dan Williams

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Time To Start Panicking About AI?

Watch now | In this episode, Henry and I finally do something we probably should have done in the first episode: introduce ourselves.

Mar 10 • Dan Williams

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1:08:25

How AI Will Reshape Public Opinion

Social media democratised public opinion, shifting influence away from elites and experts to ordinary people. LLMs will partly reverse this trend. They…

Mar 3 • Dan Williams

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February 2026

AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth)

Watch now | What is it like to be a ChatGPT?

Feb 17 • Dan Williams

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1:34:12

What Kind Of Apes Are We?

This is a guest post by David Pinsof, who writes the excellent ‘Everything is Bullshit’ Substack.

Feb 16 • David Pinsof

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Why Have Academics Failed To Study Social Justice Ideology?

This is a guest post by Thomas Prosser (who writes at The Path Not Taken) and Edmund King (who writes at Paroxysms) about their very interesting new…

Feb 11 • Thomas Prosser and Edmund King

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We Are Confused, Maladapted Apes Who Need Enlightenment

With Homo sapiens, Darwinian evolution produced a new kind of animal: a species that builds worlds it struggles to understand.

Feb 2 • Dan Williams

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January 2026

AI Sessions #8: Misinformation, Social Media, and Deepfakes (with Sacha Altay)

Watch now | Henry and I chat with Dr Sacha Altay about:

Jan 23 • Dan Williams

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1:23:24

The harder it is to find the truth, the easier it is to lie to ourselves

A simple observation with complex implications

Jan 12 • Dan Williams

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AI Sessions #7: How Close is "AGI"?

Listen now | And does the concept even make sense?

Jan 9 • Dan Williams

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1:26:50

2025: Review and Recommendations

My top ten essays, how I use AI to read, and my favourite books, articles, and more.

Jan 5 • Dan Williams

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