John Grey
@jrtgrey.bsky.social
Historian of philosophy at Michigan State University. https://greyjohn.msu.domains
This is an insane set of edits
October 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM
This is an insane set of edits
Reposted by John Grey
John Heil on why talk of "emergence" by scientists and philosophers is unhelpful – iai.tv/articles/eme... #philsky #philsci #physics #biology #philmind
Emergence explains nothing and is bad science | John Heil
iai.tv
October 14, 2025 at 9:30 AM
It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
September 16, 2025 at 4:42 AM
It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
Reposted by John Grey
A case study in how Cowen's uncritical use of GPT/o3 is causing him to spread misinformation on Marginal Revolution, from @pappubahry.com
pappubahry.substack.com/p/misinforma...
pappubahry.substack.com/p/misinforma...
Misinformation on Marginal Revolution
A case study in o3 hallucination
pappubahry.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:07 AM
A case study in how Cowen's uncritical use of GPT/o3 is causing him to spread misinformation on Marginal Revolution, from @pappubahry.com
pappubahry.substack.com/p/misinforma...
pappubahry.substack.com/p/misinforma...
Reposted by John Grey
I love looking at this graph, showing it to my students, and sharing it on social media, even though it unerringly brings out the trolls.
This is the efficacy curve of Pfizer's mRNA COVID vaccine.
This, people, is what ended the emergency phase of the COVID pandemic. Despite what RFK Jr says.
This is the efficacy curve of Pfizer's mRNA COVID vaccine.
This, people, is what ended the emergency phase of the COVID pandemic. Despite what RFK Jr says.
September 2, 2025 at 3:32 AM
I love looking at this graph, showing it to my students, and sharing it on social media, even though it unerringly brings out the trolls.
This is the efficacy curve of Pfizer's mRNA COVID vaccine.
This, people, is what ended the emergency phase of the COVID pandemic. Despite what RFK Jr says.
This is the efficacy curve of Pfizer's mRNA COVID vaccine.
This, people, is what ended the emergency phase of the COVID pandemic. Despite what RFK Jr says.
We are always just one generation away from losing everything we know, if we don't work to retain that knowledge.
There will be many casualties from UChicago ending ('pausing') PhD admissions in Humantities, but one which I am keenly aware of: this is close to a death sentence for teaching cuneiform in the United States (esp. Sumerian, Hittite, Elamite, Eblaite, Luwian) and it will affect the whole world.
“Chicago has long helped to keep alive tiny fields & esoteric areas of humanistic study... Without the univ’s support, & the continued training of grad students who can keep these bodies of kn going, entire spheres of human learning might eventually blink out.” www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
August 29, 2025 at 4:24 AM
We are always just one generation away from losing everything we know, if we don't work to retain that knowledge.
Reposted by John Grey
You have more in common with every unhoused person, every undocumented immigrant, every trans or otherwise LGBTQ person, every disabled person, every person in any marginalized minoritized ethnicity, than you do with even one single billionaire.
March 3, 2025 at 2:51 PM
You have more in common with every unhoused person, every undocumented immigrant, every trans or otherwise LGBTQ person, every disabled person, every person in any marginalized minoritized ethnicity, than you do with even one single billionaire.
Reposted by John Grey
🚨 New journal alert! 🚨
We hear it's a great one 😉
And there's an open CFP for the next volume: journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/nn...
We hear it's a great one 😉
And there's an open CFP for the next volume: journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/nn...
August 12, 2025 at 1:46 AM
🚨 New journal alert! 🚨
We hear it's a great one 😉
And there's an open CFP for the next volume: journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/nn...
We hear it's a great one 😉
And there's an open CFP for the next volume: journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/nn...
Reposted by John Grey
If you’re looking to update your U.S. passport to accurately reflect your gender, the window may soon be closing. For many, an accurate passport is more than just a confirmation of identity, it’s necessary to travel safely.
How Trans People Can Update Their Passports — And Why to Do It Now
With a federal ban on passport gender marker changes currently blocked, THE CITY spoke with legal experts in NYC about how trans, nonbinary and intersex people can file these updates.
buff.ly
July 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
If you’re looking to update your U.S. passport to accurately reflect your gender, the window may soon be closing. For many, an accurate passport is more than just a confirmation of identity, it’s necessary to travel safely.
Reposted by John Grey
PARIS (AP) — French President Macron announces that France will recognize Palestine as a state.
July 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
PARIS (AP) — French President Macron announces that France will recognize Palestine as a state.
Reposted by John Grey
syllabus time, teaming up for the herculean efforts of reinventing writing assignments. here, some prompts for required weekly low stakes 250-500 word reflections/ process pieces that have proven relatively conducive to real writing in lit class. please share any similar suggestions in thread.
July 21, 2025 at 12:14 PM
syllabus time, teaming up for the herculean efforts of reinventing writing assignments. here, some prompts for required weekly low stakes 250-500 word reflections/ process pieces that have proven relatively conducive to real writing in lit class. please share any similar suggestions in thread.
Reposted by John Grey
Not the point of this fascinating article, but it remains darkly ironic to me that the Humanities have fallen backwards into being the safe financial bet of degrees
July 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Not the point of this fascinating article, but it remains darkly ironic to me that the Humanities have fallen backwards into being the safe financial bet of degrees
Reposted by John Grey
“Academic Philosophy Data and Analysis (philosophydata.org), a long running project that collects and analyzes data on graduate experience and employment outcomes for philosophy PhDs, is seeking to expand its leadership…from 1 to 3 directors”
Please share!
#philsky
apda.ghost.io/call-for-dir...
Please share!
#philsky
apda.ghost.io/call-for-dir...
Call for Directors
Academic Philosophy Data and Analysis, a long running project that collects and analyzes data on graduate experience and employment outcomes for philosophy PhDs, is seeking to expand its leadership. W...
apda.ghost.io
July 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
“Academic Philosophy Data and Analysis (philosophydata.org), a long running project that collects and analyzes data on graduate experience and employment outcomes for philosophy PhDs, is seeking to expand its leadership…from 1 to 3 directors”
Please share!
#philsky
apda.ghost.io/call-for-dir...
Please share!
#philsky
apda.ghost.io/call-for-dir...
Reposted by John Grey
When this ends there will be calls not to prosecute people who broke the law while following orders and there will be calls not to impose social or professional, much less legal, sanctions on officeholders who stood by, for unity’s sake. It will be important to ignore them; heeding them got us here.
July 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM
When this ends there will be calls not to prosecute people who broke the law while following orders and there will be calls not to impose social or professional, much less legal, sanctions on officeholders who stood by, for unity’s sake. It will be important to ignore them; heeding them got us here.
This seems like an important data point, since all of the recent philosophical approaches to the hard problem I've read have been based on the predictive processing account of the contents of experience.
PC:Sensory areas compare input to prediction signal: if input matches prediction,signals cancel >study used MaDeLaNe on 1000s visual cortex neurons of mice & monkeys on tailored oddball task: Are predictions subtractive? Prediction error fed forward? Found everywhere? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Sensory responses of visual cortical neurons are not prediction errors
Predictive coding is theorized to be a ubiquitous cortical process to explain sensory responses. It asserts that the brain continuously predicts sensory information and imposes those predictions on lo...
www.biorxiv.org
July 11, 2025 at 10:02 PM
This seems like an important data point, since all of the recent philosophical approaches to the hard problem I've read have been based on the predictive processing account of the contents of experience.
Reposted by John Grey
Apply for a Radcliffe Fellowship!
Applications in humanities, social sciences, & creative arts are due Sept 11, 2025
Applications in science, engineering, & math due Sept 30, 2025
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fe...
(I hear they'd especially welcome projects related to climate change)
#HPS ⚒️
Applications in humanities, social sciences, & creative arts are due Sept 11, 2025
Applications in science, engineering, & math due Sept 30, 2025
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fe...
(I hear they'd especially welcome projects related to climate change)
#HPS ⚒️
Harvard Radcliffe Institute Online Fellowship Application Portal - How to Apply
content.radcliffe.harvard.edu
July 10, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Apply for a Radcliffe Fellowship!
Applications in humanities, social sciences, & creative arts are due Sept 11, 2025
Applications in science, engineering, & math due Sept 30, 2025
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fe...
(I hear they'd especially welcome projects related to climate change)
#HPS ⚒️
Applications in humanities, social sciences, & creative arts are due Sept 11, 2025
Applications in science, engineering, & math due Sept 30, 2025
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/radcliffe-fe...
(I hear they'd especially welcome projects related to climate change)
#HPS ⚒️
Reposted by John Grey
Spotify has begun to funnel its revenue towards “AI powered” weapons tech. If you do not want to be bankrolling that, consider quitting the platform. There are plenty of good alternatives out there (like CDs).
July 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Spotify has begun to funnel its revenue towards “AI powered” weapons tech. If you do not want to be bankrolling that, consider quitting the platform. There are plenty of good alternatives out there (like CDs).
Reposted by John Grey
Descartes gave us all the tools we need to survive in an era of misinformation. Simply begin with the understanding that you are real but everything else is fairly likely to be the cruel games of a demon sent to torment you specifically.
June 30, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Descartes gave us all the tools we need to survive in an era of misinformation. Simply begin with the understanding that you are real but everything else is fairly likely to be the cruel games of a demon sent to torment you specifically.
Reposted by John Grey
A few months ago, Nature published how-to guide for using ChatGPT to write your peer reviews in 30 minutes.
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
AI, peer review and the human activity of science
When researchers cede their scientific judgement to machines, we lose something important.
www.nature.com
June 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
A few months ago, Nature published how-to guide for using ChatGPT to write your peer reviews in 30 minutes.
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
Reposted by John Grey
@helendecruz.net (1978-2025), RIP open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
Helen de Cruz (1978-2025), RIP
Please consider donating to this fundraising effort (here) to support Helen de Cruz’s family.
open.substack.com
June 21, 2025 at 10:41 AM
@helendecruz.net (1978-2025), RIP open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
Reposted by John Grey
Dear all,
Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.
pt. 1/2
Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.
pt. 1/2
June 20, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Dear all,
Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.
pt. 1/2
Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.
pt. 1/2
Reposted by John Grey
Philosopher Helen De Cruz has died.
Helen De Cruz (1978-2025) - Daily Nous
Helen De Cruz, professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University, has died. Professor De Cruz specialized in philosophy of religion and cognitive science. They were the author of Wonderstruck: How Won...
dailynous.com
June 20, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Philosopher Helen De Cruz has died.
Reposted by John Grey
The fact that so many people think celebrating the end of slavery in the US is “DEI” is actually clarifying of what they mean when they use DEI. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/06/...
Juneteenth: How cities are scaling back celebrations after Trump-era DEI rollbacks | CNN
Despite Juneteenth’s status as a federal holiday, celebrations across the country are being scaled back or canceled, as organizers cite safety problems and mounting resistance to diversity, equity and...
amp.cnn.com
June 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The fact that so many people think celebrating the end of slavery in the US is “DEI” is actually clarifying of what they mean when they use DEI. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/06/...
Reposted by John Grey
Democratic voters, 18-39
Biggest gap between young Dems' prioritization of an issue and their belief that the party is also prioritizing it:
Limiting money in politics: +18
Paid family leave: +18
Affordable child care: +17
Higher taxes on the rich: +17
Universal health care: +15
Biggest gap between young Dems' prioritization of an issue and their belief that the party is also prioritizing it:
Limiting money in politics: +18
Paid family leave: +18
Affordable child care: +17
Higher taxes on the rich: +17
Universal health care: +15
June 20, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Democratic voters, 18-39
Biggest gap between young Dems' prioritization of an issue and their belief that the party is also prioritizing it:
Limiting money in politics: +18
Paid family leave: +18
Affordable child care: +17
Higher taxes on the rich: +17
Universal health care: +15
Biggest gap between young Dems' prioritization of an issue and their belief that the party is also prioritizing it:
Limiting money in politics: +18
Paid family leave: +18
Affordable child care: +17
Higher taxes on the rich: +17
Universal health care: +15
Reposted by John Grey
From organiser Georgi Gardiner on FB: "Next week people will gather online to celebrate the philosophical artworks of Helen De Cruz. (@helendecruz.net)
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025
11am - 12.20pm Central US Time
(i.e. 5pm BST) on Zoom
All welcome! No background knowledge required."
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025
11am - 12.20pm Central US Time
(i.e. 5pm BST) on Zoom
All welcome! No background knowledge required."
Georgi Gardiner - Helen
Helen De Cruz is a trailblazer for creative, avant-garde approaches to thinking in community with others. This event celebrates her work.
On Zoom: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/6185944474
Tues June 24t...
georgigardiner.com
June 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
From organiser Georgi Gardiner on FB: "Next week people will gather online to celebrate the philosophical artworks of Helen De Cruz. (@helendecruz.net)
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025
11am - 12.20pm Central US Time
(i.e. 5pm BST) on Zoom
All welcome! No background knowledge required."
Tuesday, June 24th, 2025
11am - 12.20pm Central US Time
(i.e. 5pm BST) on Zoom
All welcome! No background knowledge required."