The Multiplication of Gender Categories Is the Reinvention of Names
If gender categories keep multiplying until each person has their own, the result is not a taxonomy. It is a list of names.
Opinion Tech & SocietyArticles
Articles
Snake Oil History: The Medicine That Actually Worked Until Americans Ruined It
The original snake oil was a Chinese water snake remedy that actually worked. Then an American huckster replaced it with beef fat and turpentine.
History Revisionist Debates
Reddit Content Moderation: From Rewarding Predators to a £14.47 Million Fine
Reddit was founded as a free speech platform with almost no rules. Two decades and a £14.47 million fine later, the story of how it got from there to here runs directly through child exploitation.
Explainers
Consciousness Is Not a Human Invention, but the Definition Is
Nobody agrees on what consciousness is. After 2,500 years of trying, the definition still assumes only humans have it, and the evidence keeps proving that assumption wrong.
Ethics & Accountability Opinion
The Soul: Humanity’s Most Influential Idea That Nobody Can Define
The soul has been defined by every civilization and defended by every religion. After three thousand years, nobody agrees on what it is, what it does, or whether it exists. That might be the answer.
Explainers Psychology & Behavior
The Consensus That Never Was: Why Esoteric Believers Agree Until You Ask Them What They Believe
Three esoteric believers will all say they believe in magic. Separate them and ask for details, and you get three incompatible belief systems held together by undefined terms and the false consensus effect.
Ethics & Accountability Opinion
Pareidolia: Why Your Brain Sees Faces in Everything From Toast to Mars
Your brain is wired to see faces everywhere, and it is doing it on purpose. The neuroscience of pareidolia, from fusiform face areas to the Face on Mars.
Explainers Psychology & Behavior
The Brigitte Macron Conspiracy Is Absurd. The Real Story Is Worse.
The conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron is secretly a man is absurd. But it has buried the real question: what do we call it when a 39-year-old teacher begins a relationship with her 15-year-old student?
Media & Press Criticism Opinion
AI Overlord Elected: Your Subscription Is a Vote for the Future
Your AI overlord will not seize power. It will be elected by your subscriptions, your API calls, and your enterprise contracts. The question is whether voters are paying attention.
Artificial Intelligence Opinion
Divine Command Morality Is Subjective: The Problem Theists Keep Sidestepping
If morality comes from God, and God is a subject, then God-based morality is subjective by definition. The Euthyphro dilemma is only the beginning.
Ethics & Accountability Opinion
The Diamond Engagement Ring Scam That Worked on Almost Everyone
The diamond engagement ring is not a timeless tradition. It is the most successful marketing campaign of the twentieth century, built by a monopoly, enforced by social pressure, and still running.
Media & Press Criticism Opinion
Art the Clown: How a Staten Island Makeup Artist Built Horror’s Most Unlikely Franchise
A self-taught makeup artist from Staten Island built a horror franchise from a short film to a $89 million global phenomenon. The story of Art the Clown is also the story of what mainstream horror left on the table.
Culture Film & TV