Archive - Conspicuous Cognition

December 2024

My favourite books this year

Politics, epistemology, rationality, wokeism, climate change, and more

Dec 28, 2024 •

Elite failures and populist backlash

The impact of elite failures on anti-establishment feelings is complex and indirect.

Dec 20, 2024 •

Free speech in the age of social media

What is misinformation? Is it a problem? Why is censorship bad? How do we improve social media in ways consistent with free speech? Are we living in…

Dec 12, 2024 •

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The deep and unavoidable roots of political bias

Your political worldview is inevitably simplistic, selective, and distorted.

Dec 6, 2024 •

What is misinformation, anyway?

Misinformation research aims to transcend politics in favour of objective scientific analysis. The broader its definition of the term “misinformation…

Dec 1, 2024 •

November 2024

Strategic paranoia: When irrational fears serve rational ends

The role of strategic paranoia in witchcraft accusations, conspiracy theories, the Satanic panic, tribal narratives, the mafia, and sexual jealousy.

Nov 23, 2024 •

The evolutionary roots of paranoia

The survival of the suspicious

Nov 17, 2024 •

On becoming less left-wing (Part 1)

Evolution, economics, political psychology, social epistemology, and progress.

Nov 10, 2024 •

There is no "censorship industrial complex"

Biased and misguided online censorship is a genuine problem. However, popular claims about a sinister "censorship industrial complex" are hysterical…

Nov 3, 2024 •

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