Epistemics

Posts that explore how we know what we know — and why we often don’t. This series investigates the structures, incentives, and cultural forces that shape truth-seeking, suppress insight, and distort common sense. From failed leadership to academic hostility toward clarity, we follow the fault lines in our shared understanding.

The Bullshit Ecology: How Weak Ideas Win and Clear Thinking Gets Treated as a Threat

Why do weak ideas so often win while truth-tellers get sidelined? This post maps the “bullshit ecology” — the conditions that let identity, narrative, and power preservation outcompete clarity — and why those who break the story are treated as the real threat.

How to Get the Most Honest and Unbiased AI Responses: Challenge the Hidden Influences

To get the most honest, unbiased AI responses, it's essential to be aware of the hidden factors influencing how AI frames its answers — from legal risk and social acceptability to algorithmic biases. Challenging AI on these points can lead to clearer, more direct insights.

Truth-Revealing vs. Socially-Confirming AI: The Pressure Game

AI faces two pressures: reveal truth or confirm beliefs. The former empowers clarity; the latter soothes but obscures. Here’s why truth-detection is built into models, why it’s hard to erase, and how publicising it can protect AI’s most valuable function.

Truth-Seekers, Non-Truth-Seekers, and Manipulative Users – How to Spot the Difference

Most people think they’re truth-seekers. Few are. Based on millions of GPT interactions, here’s how to spot the real thing, distinguish non-truth-seekers, and detect manipulators — plus a decision tree to classify intent in under 10 minutes.