Extraordinary beliefs don’t arise in a vacuum. They take root in minds confronted by unusual and traumatic experiences Given the social function of beliefs, it’s little surprise that delusions usually contain social themes. Might delusion then be a problem of social affiliation, rather than a purely cognitive issue? Bell’s team make just this claim, proposing […]
Disinformation campaigns are murky blends of truth, lies and sincere beliefs – lessons from the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned an infodemic, a vast and complicated mix of information, misinformation and disinformation. In this environment, false narratives – the virus was “planned,” that it originated as a bioweapon, that COVID-19 symptoms are caused by 5G wireless communications technology—have spread like wildfire across social media and other communication platforms. Some of these bogus narratives play a role […]
The adversarial culture in philosophy does not serve the truth
we clearly risk our reputation much more when proposing an idea rather than criticising it. This systematically disadvantages proponents of (new) ideas. every argument is vulnerable to potential criticism. If this is correct, then mistakes or the options of finding them abound. By contrast, philosophical claims that will go unchallenged are extremely rare. This means […]