Much of the current misinformation crisis seems to derive from misplaced trust. In this conversation, C. Thi Nguyen discusses his idea of “hostile epistemology”, which examines how environmental factors exploit our cognitive vulnerabilities. As finite beings with limited cognitive resources, we constantly reason in a rush due to overwhelming information, leaving gaps that can be exploited. Given this, how can individuals with limited understanding determine which group to tru

Is science getting at the truth? Those who spread doubt about science tend to argue that scientists were “sure” in the past, and then they ended up being wrong. This conversation looks to historical investigation and philosophical-sociological analysis to defend science against this potentially dangerous scepticism. Indeed, as Peter Vickers argues, we can confidently identify many scientific claims that are future-proof: they will last forever, so long as science continues.

"The criteria we use to discuss science and pseudoscience are incredibly context dependent."

"If ideologies are cultures, they need to be learned. You can convert in and out of them, just as with religions."

"While it may seem the thing we’re most fluent in, we’re actually strangers to mind, insofar as it is an unfinished and ongoing category."

"Methods of thinking and observing are tightly implicated with wellbeing – not just for the human entity but also the non-human world."