Sigal Samuel
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
I write about the future of consciousness for Vox
Submit a question to my philosophical advice column! https://www.vox.com/your-mileage-may-vary-advice-column
Author of the children's book OSNAT AND HER DOVE and the novel THE MYSTICS OF MILE END
Submit a question to my philosophical advice column! https://www.vox.com/your-mileage-may-vary-advice-column
Author of the children's book OSNAT AND HER DOVE and the novel THE MYSTICS OF MILE END
Pinned
Sigal Samuel
@sigalsamuel.bsky.social
· Feb 10
Your Mileage May Vary
The latest from Sigal Samuel’s advice column, Your Mileage May Vary.
vox.com
I write a philosophical advice column for Vox and I want to hear what questions are plaguing you today! Do you have a personal/ethical dilemma?
Here are some examples: vox.com/your-mileage...
Here's where you can submit your question anonymously: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Here are some examples: vox.com/your-mileage...
Here's where you can submit your question anonymously: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Lots of my smart friends are into IFS. They swear by this style of therapy. I'm skeptical of it, and I wrote about why for @vox.com
Gift link:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Gift link:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
One of the hottest therapy styles is scientifically shaky — so why does it seem to work?
Why everyone is obsessed with Internal Family Systems, even though its claims are dubious.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/479186/ifs-therapy-risks-evidence?view_token=ey[…]6zPDd6kKh7gUC1psny79uzE6aIXsl7wGlp-7z83Ta0&utm_medium=gift-link
February 17, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Lots of my smart friends are into IFS. They swear by this style of therapy. I'm skeptical of it, and I wrote about why for @vox.com
Gift link:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Gift link:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Chatbots don’t have mothers, but if they did, Claude’s would be Amanda Askell. She’s an in-house philosopher at the AI company Anthropic, and she wrote most of the document that tells Claude what sort of personality to have — the “constitution” or, as it became known internally, the “soul doc.”
Claude has an 80-page “soul document.” Is that enough to make it good?
Anthropic philosopher Amanda Askell reveals what went into the chatbot’s moral education.
www.vox.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Chatbots don’t have mothers, but if they did, Claude’s would be Amanda Askell. She’s an in-house philosopher at the AI company Anthropic, and she wrote most of the document that tells Claude what sort of personality to have — the “constitution” or, as it became known internally, the “soul doc.”
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
A thoughtful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social: "For you, the tricky question is: How do you get someone to realize that they’re in a dual state, when its darker half has not yet touched their life personally?" www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Your friends are still acting like everything is normal in America. What do you do?
All Americans live in a “dual state.” Here’s what that means — and how to help others see it.
www.vox.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:36 PM
A thoughtful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social: "For you, the tricky question is: How do you get someone to realize that they’re in a dual state, when its darker half has not yet touched their life personally?" www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
‘ “the prerogative state,” only becomes visible to you when you do something that the powers that be don’t like. Then suddenly you’re in a realm where the rule of law does not exist”’
Really helpful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
Really helpful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
You are living in a "dual state." Acting morally begins with understanding that.
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Your friends are still acting like everything is normal in America. What do you do?
All Americans live in a “dual state.” Here’s what that means — and how to help others see it.
www.vox.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:19 PM
‘ “the prerogative state,” only becomes visible to you when you do something that the powers that be don’t like. Then suddenly you’re in a realm where the rule of law does not exist”’
Really helpful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
Really helpful piece from @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
You are living in a "dual state." Acting morally begins with understanding that.
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Your friends are still acting like everything is normal in America. What do you do?
All Americans live in a “dual state.” Here’s what that means — and how to help others see it.
www.vox.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:06 PM
You are living in a "dual state." Acting morally begins with understanding that.
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
You want a baby. You just don't want to be pregnant. Is it ethical to choose surrogacy?
Gift link to the newest installment of my unconventional @vox.com advice column, Your Mileage May Vary:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Gift link to the newest installment of my unconventional @vox.com advice column, Your Mileage May Vary:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
You want a baby. Is it ethical to choose surrogacy?
The line between medically necessary and elective surrogacy isn’t as tidy as people assume.
www.vox.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:13 PM
You want a baby. You just don't want to be pregnant. Is it ethical to choose surrogacy?
Gift link to the newest installment of my unconventional @vox.com advice column, Your Mileage May Vary:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Gift link to the newest installment of my unconventional @vox.com advice column, Your Mileage May Vary:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
So it's 2026 and my basic sense is that Silicon Valley is racing to build a god — without understanding what makes a good one.
A bearable god leaves space for human agency!
Gift link for my piece about harnessing the wisdom in religion to make better tech: www.vox.com/future-perfe...
A bearable god leaves space for human agency!
Gift link for my piece about harnessing the wisdom in religion to make better tech: www.vox.com/future-perfe...
The 2,000-year-old debate that reveals AI’s biggest problem
Silicon Valley is racing to build a god — without understanding what makes a good one.
www.vox.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:17 PM
So it's 2026 and my basic sense is that Silicon Valley is racing to build a god — without understanding what makes a good one.
A bearable god leaves space for human agency!
Gift link for my piece about harnessing the wisdom in religion to make better tech: www.vox.com/future-perfe...
A bearable god leaves space for human agency!
Gift link for my piece about harnessing the wisdom in religion to make better tech: www.vox.com/future-perfe...
You were told you’d change the world. Now you feel like you’re wasting your potential.
But do you actually need an extraordinary career, or is a “smallish” life enough?
My thoughts in @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
But do you actually need an extraordinary career, or is a “smallish” life enough?
My thoughts in @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
How do you know if you’re wasting your life?
You were told you’d change the world. But there’s a better way to think about your potential.
www.vox.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:41 AM
You were told you’d change the world. Now you feel like you’re wasting your potential.
But do you actually need an extraordinary career, or is a “smallish” life enough?
My thoughts in @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
But do you actually need an extraordinary career, or is a “smallish” life enough?
My thoughts in @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Silicon Valley wants to build God — but forgot to read the manual
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
The 2,000-year-old debate that reveals AI’s biggest problem
Silicon Valley is racing to build a god — without understanding what makes a good one.
www.vox.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Silicon Valley wants to build God — but forgot to read the manual
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
My latest for @vox.com:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
For @vox.com, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social gathered advice for those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out. @smw.bsky.social speaks to working collectively to fight against AI being used on us, not by us.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
November 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
For @vox.com, @sigalsamuel.bsky.social gathered advice for those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out. @smw.bsky.social speaks to working collectively to fight against AI being used on us, not by us.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Geopolitical competition leaves AI bridge powers in a difficult situation where they’ll soon likely face insurmountable barriers to independent frontier AI development. To stay relevant and thrive economically, they need to work together and strategically choose their AI development approaches.
November 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Geopolitical competition leaves AI bridge powers in a difficult situation where they’ll soon likely face insurmountable barriers to independent frontier AI development. To stay relevant and thrive economically, they need to work together and strategically choose their AI development approaches.
You can save a kid from starving. Right now. Seriously. It's cheaper than you might think! Do you have $94? Then you can do it today, nothing's stopping you
This is what I found out when reporting this story and it kind of blew my mind
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
This is what I found out when reporting this story and it kind of blew my mind
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
You can keep a child from starving for less than $100
Fighting hunger can feel impossible. But thanks to new innovations, it’s actually never been cheaper.
www.vox.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
You can save a kid from starving. Right now. Seriously. It's cheaper than you might think! Do you have $94? Then you can do it today, nothing's stopping you
This is what I found out when reporting this story and it kind of blew my mind
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
This is what I found out when reporting this story and it kind of blew my mind
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Sigal's asking (and answering) such good questions here about how to build a movement around making sure that AI works for us and not the other way around...feels like we only scratched the surface of a deep and important convo.
For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Is AI being shoved down your throat at work? Here’s how to fight back.
Resistance to exploitative AI starts with building a movement.
www.vox.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Sigal's asking (and answering) such good questions here about how to build a movement around making sure that AI works for us and not the other way around...feels like we only scratched the surface of a deep and important convo.
For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Is AI being shoved down your throat at work? Here’s how to fight back.
Resistance to exploitative AI starts with building a movement.
www.vox.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM
For those who hate how generative AI is being rolled out (blindly, uncritically), here's my advice:
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Does psychology truly improve wellbeing? Or merely help us adjust to an ‘insane’ system? In this 1960s video, the social psychologist, psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm explores the nature of mental health
Can an entire society be mentally ill? A perspective from 1960 | Psyche Videos
Does psychology truly improve wellbeing? Or merely help us adjust to an ‘insane’ system? Erich Fromm on mental health in 1960
buff.ly
November 12, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Does psychology truly improve wellbeing? Or merely help us adjust to an ‘insane’ system? In this 1960s video, the social psychologist, psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm explores the nature of mental health
Always read @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
"Cognition all the way down". Great to see this fine new paper from @robertchisciure.bsky.social & @drmichaellevin.bsky.social out now in Synthese - introducing a new metric to quantify biological intelligence as search efficiency in multidimensional problem spaces link.springer.com/article/10.1...
November 10, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Always read @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
The last talk on the second day of the #NaturalPhilosophy Symposium was Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social on Can AI Be Conscious? Commentary by E.J. Green.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzvs...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzvs...
November 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The last talk on the second day of the #NaturalPhilosophy Symposium was Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social on Can AI Be Conscious? Commentary by E.J. Green.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzvs...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzvs...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
This is an absolute gem. It feels connected to Gibran's "On Crime"--and is a "dilemma" with which I strongly resonate. But I love how this framing makes it more a navigation of an integrated whole than a dilemma.
If setting boundaries never feels totally right to you, maybe you're not the problem. Maybe it's "boundaries."
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework.
“Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.
www.vox.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:39 AM
This is an absolute gem. It feels connected to Gibran's "On Crime"--and is a "dilemma" with which I strongly resonate. But I love how this framing makes it more a navigation of an integrated whole than a dilemma.
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans:
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
How Big Tech uses NDAs to hide AI data center details from Americans
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 AM
How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans:
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
> We’re taught that "a boundary…defines you as separate from others" Yet if you believe that we’re all profoundly interconnected and interdependent then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies
Always read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Always read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework.
“Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.
www.vox.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:11 PM
> We’re taught that "a boundary…defines you as separate from others" Yet if you believe that we’re all profoundly interconnected and interdependent then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies
Always read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Always read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Shot:
Is withdrawing from the world into a life of contemplation or being in the world trying to heal it the best route to growing spiritually? Turns out, as @sigalsamuel.bsky.social notes, they're not mutually exclusive. The two paths can reinforce each other. More here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
November 4, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Shot:
If setting boundaries never feels totally right to you, maybe you're not the problem. Maybe it's "boundaries."
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework.
“Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.
www.vox.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:33 PM
If setting boundaries never feels totally right to you, maybe you're not the problem. Maybe it's "boundaries."
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
For @vox.com, I wrote about how our societal language of "boundaries" is broken, and I offer an alternative from Buddhist psychology:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
"If you believe, as I do, that we’re all actually profoundly interconnected and interdependent, that we’re constantly influencing and shaping reality for one another, then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies."
Read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's advice column:
Read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's advice column:
You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework.
“Setting boundaries” is broken — but there’s a different way to think about caring for yourself and others.
www.vox.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
"If you believe, as I do, that we’re all actually profoundly interconnected and interdependent, that we’re constantly influencing and shaping reality for one another, then that idea of boundaries may feel like it muddies more than it clarifies."
Read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's advice column:
Read @sigalsamuel.bsky.social's advice column:
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Does being spiritual mean withdrawing from the world to a life of contemplation, or being in the world actively trying to heal it? I talk with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social and Father Greg Boyle about this age old question and how to find balance.
Seeking the Spiritual Life
Podcast Episode · How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality · 10/19/2025 · 28m
podcasts.apple.com
October 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Does being spiritual mean withdrawing from the world to a life of contemplation, or being in the world actively trying to heal it? I talk with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social and Father Greg Boyle about this age old question and how to find balance.
Reposted by Sigal Samuel
Proud to serve on the @macfound.org Board + of this initiative
“What we are seeking to do is to invest public interest dollars to ensure that the development of the technology serves humans and places humanity at the center of this development,” @palfrey.org
www.fastcompany.com/91420384/exc...
“What we are seeking to do is to invest public interest dollars to ensure that the development of the technology serves humans and places humanity at the center of this development,” @palfrey.org
www.fastcompany.com/91420384/exc...
Exclusive: Big Philanthropy teams up to take on Big AI
A new coalition of 10 major givers, including the Omidyar Network and Ford Foundation, are investing $500 million in an effort to ensure Americans have a say in how artificial intelligence impacts the...
www.fastcompany.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Proud to serve on the @macfound.org Board + of this initiative
“What we are seeking to do is to invest public interest dollars to ensure that the development of the technology serves humans and places humanity at the center of this development,” @palfrey.org
www.fastcompany.com/91420384/exc...
“What we are seeking to do is to invest public interest dollars to ensure that the development of the technology serves humans and places humanity at the center of this development,” @palfrey.org
www.fastcompany.com/91420384/exc...