Practicing cool-headed conversation instead of heated debate. SSE director for @PeterBoghossian. Treasurer of @501c3forSE. Personal account: @reidn.
Joined November 2016
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Join me as I chat with skepticism legend @michaelshermer and epistemology educator Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) about the nature of truth and knowledge, the role of criticism in science, and how societies foster error correction for moral and scientific advancement. We also discuss the debunking of myths, AI doomerism, the existence of God, the hard problem of consciousness, and free will. I hope you enjoy!
Chapters:
0:00 Skeptical Attitude vs Critical Attitude
9:00 Science (Hard & Soft) vs Philosophy
16:40 Error Correction & Progress
20:14 The Limits of Liberty & Moral Obligation
24:34 Conflicting Rights vs Soluble Problems
26:39 Naturalistic Morality, Tradition & Value of People
31:30 The Hard Problem of Consciousness vs Explanatory Universality
36:07 The God vs Simulation Hypothesis
44:05 Mythological Truths & Value of Religion
45:26 Prediction vs Prophecy & AI Doomerism
55:30 Bayesianism & Betting
57:27 Consciousness & Computation
1:06:22 Levels of Causality
1:10:30 The Difference Between Humans, AGIs, and Aliens
1:13:57 How Rational Are Humans?
1:19:01 Truth & Faith vs Reason
1:22:45 Free Will & Immortality
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
Professors who disagree argue over genocide accusations at @uLethbridge.
Then the police showed up.
Spectrum Street Epistemology is not welcome on campus. @FrancesWiddows1
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
Muslim Festival leaders in Alberta, Canada didn't approve us as vendors. So we set up Spectrum Street Epistemology at a park nearby.
Watch what happens when we ask, “Is it more dangerous to criticize Islam than Pentecostalism?” @FrancesWiddows1
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
This fall, Spectrum Street Epistemology is coming to a university campus near you! But with a twist: Rationality Under Pressure.
How sure are you? What would change your mind? Can you think under pressure?
Interested in hosting us, email info@nationalprogressalliance.org
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
What if people wanted to walk around with the sign, "KILL ALL BLACK PEOPLE"? Should the law allow that? I took Spectrum Street Epistemology to Auckland's streets and asked just that.
In collaboration with @NZFreeSpeech.
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
Would you cut off your own hand before cutting off a baby's? I put this version of Socrates' question to high school students in New Zealand. In collaboration with @NZFreeSpeech.
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
Why Is Progress Desirable?
~Conjecture Institute Ambassador @ToKTeacher & Fellow @dela3499 w/ @ReidN & @PF_Jung
I'll be at the @braverangels conference next week in Philadelphia, promoting Street Epistemology.
Anyone else going?
Live here now with the SEI board taking questions about Street Epistemology.
youtube.com/watch?v=UPBHCD9o…
Join me in a thought-provoking discussion with writer and filmmaker @JosephJakeKlein and epistemologist Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) on Israel, Zionism, and Enlightenment values. Brett defends Israel as a beacon of rational memes and Western freedoms, while Jake critiques it as a genocidal ethnostate fueled by Jewish identity politics. We explore arguments on history, property rights, and ethics.
The conversation took place on June 14th, 2025.
Chapters:
00:00 Israel-Zionism Intro, Jewish State Definition, Arab-Jewish Treatment
05:38 Enlightenment Outpost, Property Rights, Land Claims
10:04 Return Practicality, Demographic Policies, US Influence & Walls
16:52 Enlightenment Disagreement, Actions vs. Values, Property Claims
24:11 Conversion & Ownership, Demographic Agenda, Blockade & Hamas
33:07 Gaza War: Genocide & Motives, Aid & Punishment
39:35 Indiscriminate Warfare, Israel-Palestine Focus
47:26 Enlightenment Principles, High-Res Judgment
55:07 Jewish Background & Atheism, Progress & Liberty Conclusion
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
One of my favorite parts of one of my favorite @DavidDeutschOxf interviews (and that’s saying a lot)
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
Souls, Minds, Consciousness and Computation - with @michaelshermer and @ReidN (clip courtesy of @CordialCurious)
While visiting Williams College in Massachusetts last year, I moderated a session of Spectrum Street Epistemology between @PeterBoghossian and a student about whether or not universities should be politically and epistemologically neutral.
Chapters:
0:00 Universities should be politically neutral
1:44 If a university is heavily invested in politically-motivated companies, then it is politically compromised
2:46 It's worse if a company invests than if it donates
6:33 I would be a fan of @PalantirTech donating
$10M to Williams College
8:18 If Palantir donated $10M, there would be no expectation of a quid-pro-quo
10:21 There's a difference between a university being epistemologically neutral and politically neutral
12:59 If a university is epistemologically neutral, then it should allow indigenous science
14:56 Valuing testability and evidence is epistemologically neutral
16:52 Universities were just as epistemologically neutral in 1800 than they are today
17:37 Peter's conception of epistemological neutrality is oppressive to Christian conceptions of it
19:32 It's possible for a university to epistemologically neutral and oppressive
24:18 It's a form Western imperial privilege to claim Western European epistemological norms are neutral
28:10 Wrap up
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
“Do we want people’s deaths to be not their choice?
Do you want to give the bullets of the gun and the decision to pull the trigger to…biology?”
~Conjecture Institute Fellow @dela3499 with @ReidN, @ToKTeacher, @PF_Jung on the @CordialCurious channel
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
How Might the West Fare Without Christianity? How might it fare as Islamic?
In this Spectrum Street Epistemology session, @Miss_Snuffy and I explore these topics and more:
Cordial Curiosity retweeted
We dived into this "people are LLMs" (and vice versa) thing with @BretWeinstein on @CordialCurious at some length. Here's how that went:
