Rob Sica
@robsica.bsky.social
Knowledge would have little allure if we did not have to overcome so much shame on the way to acquiring it. -Nietzsche
Reposted by Rob Sica
New post:
How migration and technology enabled a special form of togetherness: A multimedia origins story for the lindy hop
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/modernity-...
How migration and technology enabled a special form of togetherness: A multimedia origins story for the lindy hop
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/modernity-...
Modernity In Rhythm
How migration and technology enabled a special form of togetherness: A multimedia origins story for the lindy hop.
thomscottphillips.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
New post:
How migration and technology enabled a special form of togetherness: A multimedia origins story for the lindy hop
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/modernity-...
How migration and technology enabled a special form of togetherness: A multimedia origins story for the lindy hop
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/modernity-...
"From the perspective of the male unconscious, the choice between damaging the perception of one's own masculinity versus the opportunity for sex is a dilemma that literally has no reason to involve the brain."
Pourquoi les hommes sont moins écolos que les femmes
L’environnementalisme a un problème d’image : il est devenu trop féminin. Résultat, les hommes se sentent « castrés » à trier leurs déchets.
www.lepoint.fr
November 11, 2025 at 3:27 AM
"From the perspective of the male unconscious, the choice between damaging the perception of one's own masculinity versus the opportunity for sex is a dilemma that literally has no reason to involve the brain."
"Assume for a second that John Mackie managed to convince you that nothing is wrong... You must conclude that Adolf Hitler did nothing wrong. For all that, I trust you would not also conclude that he was actually not a racist."
Is Racism Wrong by Definition? - Philosophia
The present paper challenges a dogma in the philosophy of race, according to which racism is not only wrong but wrong by definition. After distinguishing this view from three claims in the vicinity, I...
link.springer.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:30 AM
"Assume for a second that John Mackie managed to convince you that nothing is wrong... You must conclude that Adolf Hitler did nothing wrong. For all that, I trust you would not also conclude that he was actually not a racist."
"We can only maintain a Darwinian perspective on culture by viewing humans as passive imitators and transmitters of pre-packaged cultural units, ignoring exactly those abilities that define our humanness."
More on Why Cultural Evolution Isn't Darwinian
To maintain a Darwinian perspective on culture we must view humans as passive imitators and transmitters, ignoring the creative spark that makes us human.
www.psychologytoday.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 AM
"We can only maintain a Darwinian perspective on culture by viewing humans as passive imitators and transmitters of pre-packaged cultural units, ignoring exactly those abilities that define our humanness."
Reposted by Rob Sica
Read my post for the APA blog, Rules of Engagement: blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/10/r... Arguing that epistemologists can join impactful interdisciplinary projects that contribute to improving social interactions #philsky #philpsy #philosophyforeveryone #epistemicinjustice #philosophymatters
Rules of Engagement | Blog of the APA
We would be wrong in writing off epistemology as an ivory tower pursuit with no implications for our daily practices. Epistemology can help understand and address issues such as the polarization of po...
blog.apaonline.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Read my post for the APA blog, Rules of Engagement: blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/10/r... Arguing that epistemologists can join impactful interdisciplinary projects that contribute to improving social interactions #philsky #philpsy #philosophyforeveryone #epistemicinjustice #philosophymatters
Reposted by Rob Sica
I did a thing. My guess is that it won't make me any new friends...
theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
Blame the shutdown on citizens who prefer politicians to vanquish their opponents rather than to work for the common good
Politicians get blamed for government shutdowns. But does the fault lie also with citizens, who are more invested in punishing partisan rivals than in demanding competent government?
theconversation.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I did a thing. My guess is that it won't make me any new friends...
theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
"My recreation, my predilection, my *cure* for all Platonism has always been Thucydides... most closely related to me by [his] unconditional will to fabricate nothing and to see reason in reality—not in 'reason,' and still less in 'morality'"
#Nietzsche
#Nietzsche
“From a Realist Point of View”: coming in March
That’s Thucydides on the cover! Readers will know some of the distinguished scholars kindly endorsing the book, but may not know the first two: Michel Troper is the preeminent French legal re…
leiterreports.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"My recreation, my predilection, my *cure* for all Platonism has always been Thucydides... most closely related to me by [his] unconditional will to fabricate nothing and to see reason in reality—not in 'reason,' and still less in 'morality'"
#Nietzsche
#Nietzsche
"If censorship is like a toxic epistemic gas, as it were, it poisons us all... we may be in an underappreciated epistemic predicament"
Hrishikesh Joshi, Expertise and Social Epistemic Warrant - PhilPapers
John Stuart Mill claims in On Liberty that the robust ability for individuals to question and dispute claims is a necessary condition for us to be justified in believing those claims. ...
philpapers.org
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 PM
"If censorship is like a toxic epistemic gas, as it were, it poisons us all... we may be in an underappreciated epistemic predicament"
"Indeed, even expert philosophers juggling with abstract conceptual arguments are humans—all too human—and their apparently purely intellectual quest for the truth is often guided by strong underlying preferences about their final conclusions."
Morality without skyhooks
Shedding light on what morality is and how it works
www.optimallyirrational.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:34 PM
"Indeed, even expert philosophers juggling with abstract conceptual arguments are humans—all too human—and their apparently purely intellectual quest for the truth is often guided by strong underlying preferences about their final conclusions."
Reposted by Rob Sica
"not only misinformation but also its coverage contribute to epistemic uncertainty by eroding confidence in credible sources of knowledge, and warrant further inquiry into the potential harms of news media’s attention to misinformation."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
(Media Attention to) Misinformation Can Undermine Trust in Scientists - Political Behavior
Could news coverage of misinformation be harmful? Across two studies on U.S. citizens, we examine whether news coverage of misinformation generates misperceptions and decreases levels of trust in info...
link.springer.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 PM
"not only misinformation but also its coverage contribute to epistemic uncertainty by eroding confidence in credible sources of knowledge, and warrant further inquiry into the potential harms of news media’s attention to misinformation."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"people of faith treat their faith beliefs as different in kind than their matter-of-fact beliefs, and usually, as weaker, less believable,' than their matter-of-facts beliefs, even when they insist that they are stronger"
Why it matters that religious credence is (mostly) weaker than matter-of-facts beliefs
Published in Religion, Brain & Behavior (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
"people of faith treat their faith beliefs as different in kind than their matter-of-fact beliefs, and usually, as weaker, less believable,' than their matter-of-facts beliefs, even when they insist that they are stronger"
Reposted by Rob Sica
New episode (1174), with Dr. David Bather Woods (@davidbatherwoods.bsky.social). We talk about his great new book, Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist. #Philosophy
YouTube: youtu.be/wBfNN4jSumo
Podcast: bit.ly/49dazu2
YouTube: youtu.be/wBfNN4jSumo
Podcast: bit.ly/49dazu2
#1174 David Bather Woods - Arthur Schopenhauer: Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist
YouTube video by The Dissenter
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
New episode (1174), with Dr. David Bather Woods (@davidbatherwoods.bsky.social). We talk about his great new book, Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist. #Philosophy
YouTube: youtu.be/wBfNN4jSumo
Podcast: bit.ly/49dazu2
YouTube: youtu.be/wBfNN4jSumo
Podcast: bit.ly/49dazu2
"If such institutions uphold a culture that tolerates or even encourages misleading communication when it aligns with progressive values, that trust will evaporate."
How to Confront Highbrow Misinformation
Institutions can fall prey to groupthink. That doesn’t mean they’re inherently flawed.
www.persuasion.community
November 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
"If such institutions uphold a culture that tolerates or even encourages misleading communication when it aligns with progressive values, that trust will evaporate."
"women employ qualitatively differentiated deception-detection strategies to ensure the veracity of men’s signals"
Women’s Anti-Deception Tactics in Mating: A Preliminary Investigation - Evolutionary Psychological Science
Because of the considerable recurrence of deception throughout evolutionary history that could have been much costlier to women’s reproductive fitness, evolutionary pressures may have favored women wi...
link.springer.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
"women employ qualitatively differentiated deception-detection strategies to ensure the veracity of men’s signals"
"Disagreement, on this view, need not undermine belief. It reflects the permissible diversity of evaluative standards through which philosophers interpret their evidence and pursue understanding."
Michael Hannon, Believing in Philosophy - PhilPapers
Disagreement in philosophy is widespread and persistent. This has led some to conclude that philosophers are not justified in believing their own theories, given that equally informed and intelligent ...
philpapers.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:01 PM
"Disagreement, on this view, need not undermine belief. It reflects the permissible diversity of evaluative standards through which philosophers interpret their evidence and pursue understanding."
"[T]here is selectivity in infants' edibility inferences that facilitate social learning about foods, even in the first year of life. An evolutionary history of plant foraging in wild environments appears to have shaped the way infants learn about food."
Expectations about plant edibility in 6-month-old infants
Watching what others put in their mouths is a powerful way to learn what to eat. Yet human diets and eating behaviors are complicated, and not everyth…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"[T]here is selectivity in infants' edibility inferences that facilitate social learning about foods, even in the first year of life. An evolutionary history of plant foraging in wild environments appears to have shaped the way infants learn about food."
"Only in the last hundred years did we become the first species to construct the means of its own annihilation. Depopulation is starting to happen in a world in which the number of nuclear weapons is once again increasing."
David Runciman · Are we doomed? The End of the Species
Are we doomed to die out? We find ourselves at the only point in the history of the species when the rate of population...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
"Only in the last hundred years did we become the first species to construct the means of its own annihilation. Depopulation is starting to happen in a world in which the number of nuclear weapons is once again increasing."
"individuals are usually conservative in the size of their lies to prevent punishment from interactions partners, and to maintain a reputation as honest interaction partners"
(PDF) Why are lies small?
PDF | Deception is common, yet lies are typically small and not easily spotted. The dominant explanations for why this is the case are psychological in... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...
www.researchgate.net
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
"individuals are usually conservative in the size of their lies to prevent punishment from interactions partners, and to maintain a reputation as honest interaction partners"
Reposted by Rob Sica
"How we learn material best is really a function of the material itself, rather than of the learner."
The Learning Styles Myth
Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #128
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:32 AM
"How we learn material best is really a function of the material itself, rather than of the learner."
"What’s presented as public opinion is really academic ideology surveying itself and calling it consensus."
November 10, 2025 at 6:26 AM
"What’s presented as public opinion is really academic ideology surveying itself and calling it consensus."
"Joel Paris examines the biggest unanswered questions in the field-from the evolutionary roots of mental illness to the limitations of our diagnostic systems, the stalled progress in drug development, & the difficulties of suicide prediction and prevention"
Unanswered Questions in Psychiatry
Cambridge Core - Psychiatry - Unanswered Questions in Psychiatry
www.cambridge.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:17 AM
"Joel Paris examines the biggest unanswered questions in the field-from the evolutionary roots of mental illness to the limitations of our diagnostic systems, the stalled progress in drug development, & the difficulties of suicide prediction and prevention"
"love may not act as a commitment device in the classic sense by disincentivizing the pursuit of alternatives but by disincentivizing alternatives from pursuing oneself"
The function of love: A signaling-to-alternatives account of the commitment device hypothesis
Love is commonly hypothesized to function as an evolved commitment device, disincentivizing the pursuit of romantic alternatives and signaling this mo…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:32 AM
"love may not act as a commitment device in the classic sense by disincentivizing the pursuit of alternatives but by disincentivizing alternatives from pursuing oneself"
"We believe that a potential reason why this trait is centrally positioned in personality psychology despite its inconsistencies is that psychology researchers themselves (and academics in general) tend to be highly open and intellectual and place special emphasis on these qualities."
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
"We believe that a potential reason why this trait is centrally positioned in personality psychology despite its inconsistencies is that psychology researchers themselves (and academics in general) tend to be highly open and intellectual and place special emphasis on these qualities."
Reposted by Rob Sica
The hardest, recurring psychological task of my life has been learning to accept the absurdity of existence, to see ambition and achievement for the false gods they are, and to understand, truly understand, how one can flourish in what looks, from the outside, like mediocrity.
November 9, 2025 at 3:08 AM
The hardest, recurring psychological task of my life has been learning to accept the absurdity of existence, to see ambition and achievement for the false gods they are, and to understand, truly understand, how one can flourish in what looks, from the outside, like mediocrity.