Geoff Mulgan

Professor @UCL, Sir, writer, policy geek, interested in fixing things & infinitely curious about how the world works, author 'When Science Meets Power' & more.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

@SVPhillimore Probably worth reading the piece before commenting!

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I've a piece in the Observer today on the case for a right to truth, a right not to be lied to:
https://t.co/X94eIpixB6 When I started making this argument a few years ago no politicians or media would engage. But the Overton window is slowly moving, and more and more people recognise that if we don't shore up the laws and institutions underpinning truth, democracy is bound to suffer.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

For the handful of sane people still on this platform, a piece about the past, present and future of universities, suggesting analogies with the position of monasteries 500 years ago. The piece looks at the threats (from AI, politics, student scepticism) and potential responses, from challenge-based working to lifelong learning, place-making to metacognition. The default in much writing about universities is a mix of complaint that they aren't loved or funded enough, and nostalgia. I doubt that's an adequate response to the current predicament. https://t.co/H3gMvFMNc0

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

The relevance of 'stack thinking' to the work of governments and other organisations. 60 years since the Internet was created many of its design principles are still poorly understood. This piece describes their relevance for everything from AI to law and education, the role of centres of governments to regulation. Most public institutions are still stuck in late 19th-century silo structures: these are some of the alternatives. https://t.co/le0Fdq3Hoo

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

My new piece on why some countries are serious and others are frivolous, and the sometimes healthy role that paranoia plays in politics. I was in two minds about posting it on X, which has tended to be a great amplifier of frivolity ...
https://t.co/nlb3opnyoB

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

@soloalam1 @NewsNation No 8 8amcoming@9 8mk

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I joined @JasonPackLibya on @DisorderShow, to discuss my book Another World Is Possible, now in paperback. You can hear my episode at https://t.co/tJkUbmeHsv I hope you enjoy it!

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

Adam Price and the Welsh Sennedd deserve a lot of praise for their attempts to enforce higher standards of political communication, with plans to make it an offence for politicians to deliberately lie. Many will argue that this offends against free speech. But I think that the scale and scope of misinformation means that we now need much stricter laws to punish deliberate lying. Anyone who is outraged should logically argue for removing the many laws that enforce honesty in finance, consumer advertising and other fields. What's good enough for capitalism is also good enough for democracy. I hope the Welsh don't back down.

https://t.co/IStsHbMhil

https://t.co/whYyQ0SgJr

[Anastasia Bektimirova @anastasiabekt]

Why don't we have an ARIA for social issues? @GeoffMulgan asked recently.

Chris Fellingham and I pick up the thread, trying to get specific about what ARIA-grade would actually mean for social science, and where the seeds might already be emerging.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

State reform ideas for Europe ...
https://t.co/dnjtSWTU8N

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

Who should we believe? And who would apologise if it became clear they were wrong?

[Department of Government Efficiency @DOGE]

As usual, this is fake news from @Reuters. President Trump was given a mandate by the American people to modernize the federal government and reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Just last week, DOGE terminated 78 wasteful contracts and saved taxpayers $335M. We’ll be back in a few days with our regularly scheduled Friday update. 🇺🇸

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

My FB post on this paperback edition has got 1.3k likes but my critical comments on Elon M may guarantee this post gets very little engagement, even though I have 10x as many followers on X as on FB. Could it be that algorithms are bent to human priorities? Surely not.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I wonder who we should believe on this?

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I'm chairing a session on 'Science Advice in a Populist Age' on Mon 1st December, 5:00–6:30 PM GMT at 215 Euston Road, London, with fantastic speakers - Helen Pearson, Tracey Brown, Chris Tyler, Alok Jha, Deborah Cohen & Mark Henderson - who will dig deep into how to communicate and share scientific knowledge in an environment of disinformation, conspiracy theories and social media — on chemtrails or vaccines, fluoride in water or digital identities. It's a STEaPP/RORI/Wellcome collaboration. Click here for tickets: https://t.co/eNVod13Z4O

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

A piece on the hollowness of the centre and centre-left, & the risks of defaulting to tactics, incumbency-bias, hostility to ideas & low energy politics. It's already had a few thousand reads on other platforms and may find a handful on here as an alternative to the firehose of Tommy Robinson, Elon etc: https://t.co/hSbeBinFYB

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

People not on this platform have no idea just how crazily ignorant many now are, living in their weird cyberbubbles utterly detached from reality. I hope people like Musk and Saad could spend a little time IRL, it might do them good.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Civil war in Britain is inevitable.

Just a question of when.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I've done a piece on Eric Morecambe and the challenges of UK government now - possibly the right people but not necessarily in the right roles https://t.co/fRvKxxjju0

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

V impressed (and lucky) to see Pope Leo in action (alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and a melting block of ice) talking about 'Laudate Si' ten years on. The current leaders of many of the world’s biggest countries (and biggest companies) make the world look like a moral desert. That’s why it’s so refreshing to hear him talk of the moral imperative of caring for our common home, and looking after the most fragile and vulnerable.

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

I've done a piece making the case for an ARIA for social exploration. It doesn't need £1bn like the existing ARIA - but to spend nothing on breakthrough social ideas & options is not wise in the late 2020s. https://t.co/IS8sna2c7I

[Geoff Mulgan @geoffmulgan]

Scott Page for @Collective_CI on LLMs and the potential for simultaneous large scale deliberation: https://t.co/ZBppF6KLzk