Keith Raymond Harris
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kraymondh.bsky.social
Keith Raymond Harris
@kraymondh.bsky.social
850 followers 740 following 130 posts
Philosopher (social and applied epistemology, social media, misinformation, conspiracy theories)
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kraymondh.bsky.social
Keith Raymond Harris @kraymondh.bsky.social · Jan 10
New paper out today in the APQ special issue on AI Ethics:

scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/apq/arti...

#philsky
#philtech
Abstract with the following text: Emotive artificial intelligences are physically or virtually embodied entities whose behavior is driven by artificial intelligence, and which use expressions usually associated with emotion to enhance communication. These entities are sometimes thought to be deceptive, insofar as their emotive expressions are not connected to genuine underlying emotions. In this paper, I argue that such entities are indeed deceptive, at least given a sufficiently broad construal of deception. But, while philosophers and other commentators have drawn attention to the deceptive threat of emotive artificial intelligences, I argue that such entities also pose an overlooked skeptical threat. In short, the widespread existence of emotive signals disconnected from underlying emotions threatens to encourage skepticism of such signals more generally, including emotive signals used by human persons. Thus, while designing artificially intelligent entities to use emotive signals is thought to facilitate human-AI interaction, this practice runs the risk of compromising human-human interaction.
kraymondh.bsky.social
How, in the age of generative artificial intelligence, are spam emails so poorly written?
November 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Reads one paper on embodied cognition:
timdickinson.bsky.social Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 4d

"skin as part of brain?"

This is that great intellect people talk about?
November 14, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
floresophize.bsky.social
Wrote about what the real threat Grokipedia poses is + some suggestions for addressing it! Drawing on @brendannyhan.bsky.social's work on misinformation.

(Lots more to say about erosion of epistemic standards, models of knowledge-production, etc.!)
techpolicypress.bsky.social Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 3d
What should worry us about Grokipedia is not that masses of people will come to believe right-wing conspiracy theories, but that far-right supporters will find new rationalizations for their views, writes Carolina Flores.
Grokipedia Won't Destroy Knowledge, but it Might Divide Us More | TechPolicy.Press
Grokipedia might well not dethrone Wikipedia, and media outlets should be wary of inflating its importance, Carolina Flores writes.
www.techpolicy.press
November 14, 2025 at 12:32 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
That reading these emails feels surreal makes sense—they shatter the myth of genius and merit that the ruling class tries carefully and spends exorbitantly to cultivate, and they affirm the worst suspicions of the conspiracy-minded. As more revelations are made public, it may feel like the conspiracy theorists have won. But they’ve been wrong as well. Cabal is too flattering a word for this crowd of cosplaying, hunt-and-peck email addicts. Conspiracy theories are a flawed tool meant to help make sense of a nonsensical world. The truth is darker: You don’t need an elaborate master plan to dodge accountability when everyone’s all too willing to simply look the other way.
November 14, 2025 at 8:03 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
This just makes me believe in cognitive dissonance even stronger:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”
In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
katestarbird.bsky.social
Ugh. The right wing bullshit machine is pumping out and amplifying fake videos (Sora, AI) of Black people talking about SNAP benefits, videos oozing with racist stereotypes, to justify / distract from the real human suffering that the SNAP suspension is going to cause. www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMqbgpgj/
Fox News Can’t Tell What’s Real Anymore part 2 #foxnews #viral
TikTok video by The Bulwark dh
www.tiktok.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:45 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Every day Academia.edu finds new ways to be annoying:
"Our AI generated a professional podcast of your paper"
October 31, 2025 at 2:59 PM
kraymondh.bsky.social
I have a short reply to M. Giulia Napolitano's nice paper on conspiracy theories and propaganda out today:

#philsky
serrc.bsky.social SERRC @serrc.bsky.social · 23d
Evidence Resistance and the Political Utility of Conspiracy Theories, Keith Raymond Harris

Conspiracy theories have a prominent role in politics, but what is that role and why are conspiracy theories deployed to play it? M. Giulia Napolitano’s (2025) “Conspiracy Theories, Resistance to Evidence,…
Evidence Resistance and the Political Utility of Conspiracy Theories, Keith Raymond Harris
Conspiracy theories have a prominent role in politics, but what is that role and why are conspiracy theories deployed to play it? M. Giulia Napolitano’s (2025) “Conspiracy Theories, Resistance to Evidence, and Propaganda: How Conspiracy Theories Advance Political Causes” discusses the source and extent of the political utility of conspiracy theories. Although I agree with much of the substance of Napolitano’s argument, there are a few points where I’d like to push back or expand on Napolitano’s analysis.
social-epistemology.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:47 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Liar's dividend, IRL
The 30-year-old’s attorney, Edward Paltzik, questioned the authenticity of the messages to Politico and suggested they could be AI-generated. He said they were “self-deprecating” and “satirical humor”, adding that his client is “the furthest thing from a Nazi”.
October 22, 2025 at 7:41 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Mill anticipating contemporary material on different ways of holding a belief:
#philsky
Christians believe that the blessed are the poor and humble, and those who are ill-used by the world; that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; that they should judge not, lest they be judged; that they should swear not at all; that they should love their neighbour as themselves; that if one take their cloak, they should give him their coat also; that they should take no thought for the morrow; that if they would be perfect they should sell all that they have and give it to the poor. They are not insincere when they say that they believe these things. They do believe them, as people believe what they have always heard lauded and never discussed. But in the sense of that living belief which regulates conduct, they believe these doctrines just up to the point to which it is usual to act upon them. The doctrines in their integrity are serviceable to pelt adversaries with; and it is understood that they are to be put forward (when possible) as the reasons for whatever people do that they think laudable. But any one who reminded them that the maxims require an infinity of things which they never even think of doing, would gain nothing but to be classed among those very unpopular characters who affect to be better than other people. The doctrines have no hold on ordinary believers – are not a power in their minds. They have an habitual respect for the sound of them, but no feeling which spreads from the words to the things signified, and forces the mind to take them in, and make them conform to the formula. Whenever conduct is concerned, they look round for Mr. A and B to direct them how far to go in obeying Christ.
October 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
One of the effects of penalizing completely innocuous political activity is that it elevates completely innocuous political activity as a form of resistance.
roadsteamer.bsky.social Robby Roadsteamer @roadsteamer.bsky.social · Oct 15
🚨 *Breaking News* Robby Roadsteamer has been detained by ICE Portland after singing Rod Stewart with the Portland Frog! We need your help!

Please support Robby's campaign and lawyer fees at robbyroadsteamer.com link on bio 💙🦒🦒🦒
October 16, 2025 at 10:28 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Nothing makes you feel like a snitch quite like recommending an alternative reviewer.
#academicsky
October 10, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
iwriteok.bsky.social
war, war never changes.
courtneyvaughn.bsky.social Courtney Vaughn @courtneyvaughn.bsky.social · Oct 8
Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.
October 8, 2025 at 5:50 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
I am prepared to bet any amount of money that this is complete bullshit: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
1 in 3 Americans have had a ‘romantic relationship’ with an AI bot, new survey says
More than half of those surveyed (54 percent) said that they had some sort of relationship with an artificial intelligence platform
www.independent.co.uk
October 4, 2025 at 8:40 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
The president promoting an absurd medical conspiracy theory by posting a deepfake video of himself is about the most depressing convergence of my research interests imaginable.
alkapdc.bsky.social Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · Sep 28
Trump tonight appears to have pushed the false "medbed" conspiracy theory, which has spread in the far-right internet over the years. www.yahoo.com/news/qanon-c...
September 28, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
jasonread.bsky.social
The combination of extremely online stochastic nihilist meme brain violence and a government looking for its daily Reichstag fire to justify political suppression just seems really bad.
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-ice-sh...
The ICE Shooter’s Motive
Joshua Jahn's friends speak
www.kenklippenstein.com
September 25, 2025 at 11:14 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Every time I pack
September 19, 2025 at 7:20 PM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/science/phys...
Essay | The Rise of ‘Conspiracy Physics’
Streamers are building huge audiences by attacking academic physics as just another corrupt establishment. Scientists are starting to worry about the consequences.
www.wsj.com
September 16, 2025 at 10:55 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
"A conspiratorial crowd is getting the kind of evidence it craves, on an internet that supercharges conspiratorial speculating. At the same time, this is happening in a media ecosystem that makes it easier than ever for people to ignore, dismiss, or spin evidence to justify their prior viewpoints."
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · Sep 10
I wrote about what I think is a genuinely revealing document of elite depravity and impunity. It is shocking and sickening. But it's also a crucial moment. We're about to see what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they asked for but it turns out not to be what they want.
You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself
This time, the conspiracy theorists were right.
www.theatlantic.com
September 10, 2025 at 6:02 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Now with page numbers!

#philsky
Where conspiracy theories come from, what they do, and what to do about them
Philosophers who study conspiracy theories have increasingly addressed the questions of where conspiracy theories come from, what such theories do, and what to do about them. This essay serves as a...
www.tandfonline.com
September 1, 2025 at 3:48 PM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch...
In the end, the top 400 Americans paid an estimated 23.8 percent of their income to Uncle Sam from 2018 to 2020—down from roughly 30 percent before the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in 2017. They paid 1.3 percent of their total wealth to the IRS in those years, down from 2.7 percent from 2010 to 2013. Their tax rates were lower than the average paid by all American households. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Trump’s signature first-term domestic-policy package, helped these billionaires keep more of their money. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed this summer, extends the TCJA’s tax cuts, creates new business loopholes, and lowers taxes on estates. To help offset the revenue losses, the Trump administration is stripping health coverage from millions of low-income Americans and shrinking the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The rich, including Trump, will keep getting richer. The poor will pay for it.
August 25, 2025 at 10:22 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
COVID Revisionism Has Gone Too Far
If the center and left succumb to the view that “nothing worked,” no one will remain to defend sensible public-health measures the next time a pandemic comes around.
www.theatlantic.com
August 22, 2025 at 11:13 AM
kraymondh.bsky.social
Always reassuring to find tasks that AI is terrible at:
An AI-generated "map of the American midwest" with states and other features mislabeled
August 14, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Keith Raymond Harris
floresophize.bsky.social
We all know beliefs can stubbornly resist evidence. Flat Earthers, climate deniers, our own political convictions—facts often seem totally incapable of changing minds.

But here’s the puzzle: Philosophy usually defines belief as *responsive to evidence*. So is the orthodox view just… wrong? 1/
July 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM