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Dawkins, Claude, and the First Question About Consciousness
On the need to know what consciousness is before asking what it’s for
May 5
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Vatsal
3
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Superfluousness
On our compulsion to find a hidden core in things, and why it vanishes the closer we look
Apr 14
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Vatsal
3
2
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Where Do Rights Come From?
From humans to rivers to corporations to AI, rights are best understood as organized obligations
Apr 7
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1
Utilitarianism is Useful, But Not True
The best moral framework for public policy rests on a picture of reality that isn't actually real.
Mar 17
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Vatsal
10
2
Review of Ross Douthat’s Believe
On contemporary apologetics, the comforts of modernity, and why better arguments may not revive religion
Jan 20
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Vatsal
1
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Notes on Buddhism
On substance and self, impermanence and dissatisfaction, and the Four Noble Truths
Jan 8
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Vatsal
4
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The Inescapability of Altruism
On self-interest, benevolence, happiness, and why caring for others is part of caring for yourself
Dec 30, 2025
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Vatsal
3
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Every Problem Is a Prediction Problem
On true belief and explanation, Popper and Deutsch, knowledge in AI, and the nature of understanding
Dec 23, 2025
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Vatsal
2
2
Can AI Have Free Will?
On entities and events, AI alignment, responsibility and control, and consciousness in machines.
Dec 16, 2025
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Vatsal
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3
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Solving the Trolley Problem and Other Moral Dilemmas
On the trolley problem, dissolving moral dilemmas, and why civilization means fewer tragic choices.
Dec 9, 2025
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3
2
Overcoming the Naturalistic Fallacy
On the open-question argument, goodness, the objectivity of moral truths, and the science of morality.
Aug 7, 2025
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Vatsal
2
Review of Tyler Cowen’s Stubborn Attachments
On prosperity, moral pluralism, longtermism, self-defeating modernity, and the foundations of ethical concern.
Jan 11, 2025
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Vatsal
1
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