Marc A. Moffett
@gnosishead.bsky.social
Philosopher at UTEP. Metaphysics & Epistemology
Very pleased that my Cambridge Element, The Indispensability of Intuitions, is now available. Free to download for the next two weeks. Check it out!
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind
The Indispensability of Intuitions
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - The Indispensability of Intuitions
doi.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Very pleased that my Cambridge Element, The Indispensability of Intuitions, is now available. Free to download for the next two weeks. Check it out!
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
“If we aren't free to pursue research and teaching based on wherever the knowledge leads us, we are not truly working in the service of the public.”
— Rana Jaleel, associate professor at UC Davis & Chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure
— Rana Jaleel, associate professor at UC Davis & Chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure
How Academic Freedom in Universities Generates the Greatest Value for Society
Academic freedom is at the foundation of one of the most powerful and fundamental ideas about universities. Learn about how academic freedom has contributed to broad benefits in society and UC Davis f...
lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 PM
“If we aren't free to pursue research and teaching based on wherever the knowledge leads us, we are not truly working in the service of the public.”
— Rana Jaleel, associate professor at UC Davis & Chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure
— Rana Jaleel, associate professor at UC Davis & Chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure
I don’t condone murder. But I am far more sad about the kids in Evergreen than that Charlie guy people seem worried about
September 11, 2025 at 3:19 AM
I don’t condone murder. But I am far more sad about the kids in Evergreen than that Charlie guy people seem worried about
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
A major danger of LLMs is that humans are SO predisposed to attribute knowledge to any entity that uses natural language fluently. We cannot imagine that a machine that outputs natural-seeming speech/text doesn't have cognition. Brilliantly articulated by @emilymbender.bsky.social et al. (2021).
![Text generated by an LM is not grounded in communicative intent, any model of the world, or any model of the reader’s state of mind. It can’t have been, because the training data never included sharing thoughts with a listener, nor does the machine have the ability to do that. This can seem counter-intuitive given the increasingly fluent qualities of automatically generated text, but we have to account for the fact that our perception of natural language text, regardless of how it was generated, is mediated by our own linguistic competence and our predisposition to interpret communicative acts as conveying coherent meaning and intent, whether or not they do [89, 140].”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uj2g526vwfe3qnpuskjexeyp/bafkreiappchidtcrrumnegykz4uq6chvznuu6fg4pbutw5y7yjaab2iczu@jpeg)
June 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A major danger of LLMs is that humans are SO predisposed to attribute knowledge to any entity that uses natural language fluently. We cannot imagine that a machine that outputs natural-seeming speech/text doesn't have cognition. Brilliantly articulated by @emilymbender.bsky.social et al. (2021).
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
Academic freedom in the United States has found itself periodically under siege, but the current attacks from the federal government raise a new level of alarm. nyer.cm/u405qvQ
May 25, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Academic freedom in the United States has found itself periodically under siege, but the current attacks from the federal government raise a new level of alarm. nyer.cm/u405qvQ
The tenure situation in Texas is clearly deteriorating — aided and abetted by administrators willing to put self-advancement over principle. Sound familiar?
Texas legislators just passed a bill that
gives politically-appointed regents control over faculty curriculum, hiring, & governance. It does what they accuse academics of doing: privileging ideas, biases, & agendas on political grounds, & silencing those that do not follow their ideology.
gives politically-appointed regents control over faculty curriculum, hiring, & governance. It does what they accuse academics of doing: privileging ideas, biases, & agendas on political grounds, & silencing those that do not follow their ideology.
Political appointees would have more control over Texas universities’ courses and hiring under bill OK’d by House
Senate Bill 37 would give more power to university regents, who are appointed by the governor, to vet and veto new curricula and administrators.
www.texastribune.org
May 25, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The tenure situation in Texas is clearly deteriorating — aided and abetted by administrators willing to put self-advancement over principle. Sound familiar?
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
GPT-4 behaves just like people on a complex set of 'island' stimuli:
Backgroundedness jdgmts on base sentences predict independent acceptability jdgmts on Qs & RCs but not jdgmts on the base sentences themselves
Causal manipulation works too
@supantho.bsky.social
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ktvd...
Backgroundedness jdgmts on base sentences predict independent acceptability jdgmts on Qs & RCs but not jdgmts on the base sentences themselves
Causal manipulation works too
@supantho.bsky.social
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ktvd...
April 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
GPT-4 behaves just like people on a complex set of 'island' stimuli:
Backgroundedness jdgmts on base sentences predict independent acceptability jdgmts on Qs & RCs but not jdgmts on the base sentences themselves
Causal manipulation works too
@supantho.bsky.social
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ktvd...
Backgroundedness jdgmts on base sentences predict independent acceptability jdgmts on Qs & RCs but not jdgmts on the base sentences themselves
Causal manipulation works too
@supantho.bsky.social
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ktvd...
Pleased to finally have this article (Basic Epistemic Reasons: An Action-Theoretic Proposal) out in Ratio.
#philsky
#philsky
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Pleased to finally have this article (Basic Epistemic Reasons: An Action-Theoretic Proposal) out in Ratio.
#philsky
#philsky
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
Thanks to Steve Jobs and Gorilla Glass, factories in America are now ramping up to make affordable windows, made from panes thinner than a credit card, that can:
* save Americans $25 billion / year
* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon
(gift link)
www.wsj.com/business/cor...
* save Americans $25 billion / year
* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon
(gift link)
www.wsj.com/business/cor...
A Piece of Glass Thinner Than a Credit Card Could Solve America’s $25 Billion Energy Problem
New windows can insulate better than most walls, and some can even survive being hit with a two-by-four shot from a cannon.
www.wsj.com
March 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Thanks to Steve Jobs and Gorilla Glass, factories in America are now ramping up to make affordable windows, made from panes thinner than a credit card, that can:
* save Americans $25 billion / year
* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon
(gift link)
www.wsj.com/business/cor...
* save Americans $25 billion / year
* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon
(gift link)
www.wsj.com/business/cor...
"Olmo" officially made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. Nice reviews all around! If you get a chance -- check it out. (Bonus: It involves my big screen debut as the doctor, and my wife as choreographer.)
‘Olmo’ Review: Fernando Eimbcke’s Coming-of-Age Story Strikes a Winning Balance Between Melancholy and Gentle Farce
Set in 1979 New Mexico, the comic drama revolves around a teen boy’s attempt to juggle fun with serious family responsibilities.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
February 18, 2025 at 10:08 PM
"Olmo" officially made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. Nice reviews all around! If you get a chance -- check it out. (Bonus: It involves my big screen debut as the doctor, and my wife as choreographer.)
It’s arguable that Dylan’s greatest song lyrically is “It’s Alright Ma”
February 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
It’s arguable that Dylan’s greatest song lyrically is “It’s Alright Ma”
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
Protect yourself signal.org
Signal Messenger: Speak Freely
Say "hello" to a different messaging experience. An unexpected focus on privacy, combined with all of the features you expect.
signal.org
February 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Protect yourself signal.org
I know, I know. Lots going on. But I can’t help but think: Canada is one big ass state. I mean shouldn’t it at least be be our 51st -60th state?
February 3, 2025 at 4:47 AM
I know, I know. Lots going on. But I can’t help but think: Canada is one big ass state. I mean shouldn’t it at least be be our 51st -60th state?
I have the sense that the earnest, and sometimes laudable desire of philosophers to be up in the latest scientific results has a tendency to get in the way of legitimate philosophical generalization.
February 1, 2025 at 4:40 AM
I have the sense that the earnest, and sometimes laudable desire of philosophers to be up in the latest scientific results has a tendency to get in the way of legitimate philosophical generalization.
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
The new DeepSeek AI chatbot can share its "thought process" with you as it considers your questions. But is it thinking? Let's ask it. At the link, an interesting presentation of the current "philosophical capabilities" of the technology, by @truesciphi.org...
DeepThinking To Some Purpose (guest post) - Daily Nous
“Real thinking isn’t about the grammatical structure of a sentence but about the mental state of being curious, puzzled, and actively seeking understanding.” That’s DeepSeek, the large language model ...
dailynous.com
January 30, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The new DeepSeek AI chatbot can share its "thought process" with you as it considers your questions. But is it thinking? Let's ask it. At the link, an interesting presentation of the current "philosophical capabilities" of the technology, by @truesciphi.org...
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
Bell's theorem, one of the most astonishing results in the history of physics, challenges Einstein's views and has been resisted by many physicists for defying common sense. | https://buff.ly/40kQ1t9
Join philosopher Tim Maudlin, as he argues for the importance of Bell's theorem.
🧪⚛️ #philsci
Join philosopher Tim Maudlin, as he argues for the importance of Bell's theorem.
🧪⚛️ #philsci
Astonishment, fear, and quantum physics
The most astonishing result in the history of physics, Bell's theorem, proves 'spooky action at a distance' that Einstein and most physicists reject for fear of embracing ideas that defy common…
buff.ly
January 28, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Bell's theorem, one of the most astonishing results in the history of physics, challenges Einstein's views and has been resisted by many physicists for defying common sense. | https://buff.ly/40kQ1t9
Join philosopher Tim Maudlin, as he argues for the importance of Bell's theorem.
🧪⚛️ #philsci
Join philosopher Tim Maudlin, as he argues for the importance of Bell's theorem.
🧪⚛️ #philsci
This comparison to Dorian Gray may be the most apt analysis of the current situation I’ve heard to date
With Trump, the portrait they kept hidden in the attic has stepped into the spotlight.
January 24, 2025 at 8:17 AM
This comparison to Dorian Gray may be the most apt analysis of the current situation I’ve heard to date
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
Philosopher George Bealer has died.
George Bealer (1944-2025) - Daily Nous
George Bealer, emeritus professor of philosophy at Yale University, has died. Professor Bealer’s areas of research spanned metaphysics, philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and lo...
dailynous.com
January 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Philosopher George Bealer has died.
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
José M. Muñoz, Javier Bernacer, Alva Noë & Evan Thompson, "Why AI will never be able to acquire human-level intelligence," www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Why AI will never be able to acquire human-level intelligence
Letter to the Editor
www.nature.com
January 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
José M. Muñoz, Javier Bernacer, Alva Noë & Evan Thompson, "Why AI will never be able to acquire human-level intelligence," www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Marc A. Moffett
"Each of us, when we philosophise, become the means by which the Universe, after billions of years, wakes to itself, momentarily contemplating itself in doubt and amazement."
A Love Letter to Philosophy - Daily Nous
“Philosophical enquiry makes the entire planet better than it would otherwise be. It helps constitute the awesomeness of Earth. Philosophy needs no further excuse.” So writes Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riv...
dailynous.com
January 21, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"Each of us, when we philosophise, become the means by which the Universe, after billions of years, wakes to itself, momentarily contemplating itself in doubt and amazement."
The viability of Quine's ideas is significantly underestimated in the current philosophical climate.
January 16, 2025 at 2:23 PM
The viability of Quine's ideas is significantly underestimated in the current philosophical climate.
Philosophy — openly vibes-based. Other disciplines — hiding their vibes in the basement, hoping nobody notices.
January 14, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Philosophy — openly vibes-based. Other disciplines — hiding their vibes in the basement, hoping nobody notices.