Cordial Curiosity

Practicing cool-headed conversation instead of heated debate. SSE director for @PeterBoghossian. Treasurer of @501c3forSE. Personal account: @reidn.

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

Join me as I chat with skepticism legend @michaelshermer and epistemology educator Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) about the nature of truth and knowledge, the role of criticism in science, and how societies foster error correction for moral and scientific advancement. We also discuss the debunking of myths, AI doomerism, the existence of God, the hard problem of consciousness, and free will. I hope you enjoy!

Chapters:
0:00 Skeptical Attitude vs Critical Attitude
9:00 Science (Hard & Soft) vs Philosophy
16:40 Error Correction & Progress
20:14 The Limits of Liberty & Moral Obligation
24:34 Conflicting Rights vs Soluble Problems
26:39 Naturalistic Morality, Tradition & Value of People
31:30 The Hard Problem of Consciousness vs Explanatory Universality
36:07 The God vs Simulation Hypothesis
44:05 Mythological Truths & Value of Religion
45:26 Prediction vs Prophecy & AI Doomerism
55:30 Bayesianism & Betting
57:27 Consciousness & Computation
1:06:22 Levels of Causality
1:10:30 The Difference Between Humans, AGIs, and Aliens
1:13:57 How Rational Are Humans?
1:19:01 Truth & Faith vs Reason
1:22:45 Free Will & Immortality

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

Live here now with the SEI board taking questions about Street Epistemology.

https://t.co/IqQiKurGn6

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

My Substack:
https://t.co/2ez7jeh6oO

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

Join me in a thought-provoking discussion with writer and filmmaker @JosephJakeKlein and epistemologist Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) on Israel, Zionism, and Enlightenment values. Brett defends Israel as a beacon of rational memes and Western freedoms, while Jake critiques it as a genocidal ethnostate fueled by Jewish identity politics. We explore arguments on history, property rights, and ethics.

The conversation took place on June 14th, 2025.

Chapters:
00:00 Israel-Zionism Intro, Jewish State Definition, Arab-Jewish Treatment
05:38 Enlightenment Outpost, Property Rights, Land Claims
10:04 Return Practicality, Demographic Policies, US Influence & Walls
16:52 Enlightenment Disagreement, Actions vs. Values, Property Claims
24:11 Conversion & Ownership, Demographic Agenda, Blockade & Hamas
33:07 Gaza War: Genocide & Motives, Aid & Punishment
39:35 Indiscriminate Warfare, Israel-Palestine Focus
47:26 Enlightenment Principles, High-Res Judgment
55:07 Jewish Background & Atheism, Progress & Liberty Conclusion

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

YouTube version:
https://t.co/Ar0WdEft2W

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@DeanWat01756299 @peterboghossian @farzyness @Tesla @elonmusk https://t.co/yDwyH6evsY

[Anders K. Hvelplund @Falliblemusings]

One of my favorite parts of one of my favorite @DavidDeutschOxf interviews (and that’s saying a lot)

[Brett Hall @ToKTeacher]

Souls, Minds, Consciousness and Computation - with @michaelshermer and @ReidN (clip courtesy of @CordialCurious)

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@peterboghossian YouTube Version:
https://t.co/ddLpxcRuvS

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

While visiting Williams College in Massachusetts last year, I moderated a session of Spectrum Street Epistemology between @PeterBoghossian and a student about whether or not universities should be politically and epistemologically neutral.

Chapters:
0:00 Universities should be politically neutral
1:44 If a university is heavily invested in politically-motivated companies, then it is politically compromised
2:46 It's worse if a company invests than if it donates
6:33 I would be a fan of @PalantirTech donating
$10M to Williams College
8:18 If Palantir donated $10M, there would be no expectation of a quid-pro-quo
10:21 There's a difference between a university being epistemologically neutral and politically neutral
12:59 If a university is epistemologically neutral, then it should allow indigenous science
14:56 Valuing testability and evidence is epistemologically neutral
16:52 Universities were just as epistemologically neutral in 1800 than they are today
17:37 Peter's conception of epistemological neutrality is oppressive to Christian conceptions of it
19:32 It's possible for a university to epistemologically neutral and oppressive
24:18 It's a form Western imperial privilege to claim Western European epistemological norms are neutral
28:10 Wrap up

[Conjecture Institute @ConjectureInst]

“Do we want people’s deaths to be not their choice?

Do you want to give the bullets of the gun and the decision to pull the trigger to…biology?”

~Conjecture Institute Fellow @dela3499 with @ReidN, @ToKTeacher, @PF_Jung on the @CordialCurious channel

[Peter Boghossian @peterboghossian]

How Might the West Fare Without Christianity? How might it fare as Islamic?

In this Spectrum Street Epistemology session, @Miss_Snuffy and I explore these topics and more:

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@faraz9994 @ToKTeacher @michaelshermer @ReidN We did quite a bit.

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@michaelshermer @ToKTeacher YouTube:
https://t.co/hbNawJWKs4

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

Join me as I chat with skepticism legend @michaelshermer and epistemology educator Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) about the nature of truth and knowledge, the role of criticism in science, and how societies foster error correction for moral and scientific advancement. We also discuss the debunking of myths, AI doomerism, the existence of God, the hard problem of consciousness, and free will. I hope you enjoy!

Chapters:
0:00 Skeptical Attitude vs Critical Attitude
9:00 Science (Hard & Soft) vs Philosophy
16:40 Error Correction & Progress
20:14 The Limits of Liberty & Moral Obligation
24:34 Conflicting Rights vs Soluble Problems
26:39 Naturalistic Morality, Tradition & Value of People
31:30 The Hard Problem of Consciousness vs Explanatory Universality
36:07 The God vs Simulation Hypothesis
44:05 Mythological Truths & Value of Religion
45:26 Prediction vs Prophecy & AI Doomerism
55:30 Bayesianism & Betting
57:27 Consciousness & Computation
1:06:22 Levels of Causality
1:10:30 The Difference Between Humans, AGIs, and Aliens
1:13:57 How Rational Are Humans?
1:19:01 Truth & Faith vs Reason
1:22:45 Free Will & Immortality

[Brett Hall @ToKTeacher]

We dived into this "people are LLMs" (and vice versa) thing with @BretWeinstein on @CordialCurious at some length. Here's how that went:

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

Love this!

[Sonny Alves Dias @Sonny_AD]

Following my discovery of #StreetEpistemology and participation in the training offered by "Opinions sur Rue", I decided to contribute and build a software to ease Spectrum online.
I describe the solution I am offering with the platform OSR Spectrum here
https://t.co/FPqWYwDQt3

[Kitteh @ThatDarnKitteh]

Diagram Everything: Communist Anti-Woke vs Capitalist Ultra-Woke - A Peter Boghossian Session https://t.co/woFzbg565C

[Brett Hall @ToKTeacher]

In 2018, as part of a 5 part series on "The Multiverse" I analysed Sam Harris discussion with @BretWeinstein about that very thing. It's here: https://t.co/DDGW2oyZXd

Recently thanks to @ReidN I got to discuss "The Multiverse" with Bret himself. Was he persuaded? See here:

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@BenFerrum @BretWeinstein @ToKTeacher https://t.co/9Vsl6oxGAG

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

From Myths to the Multiverse: How Knowledge Evolves

I'm very excited to bring you @BretWeinstein and Brett Hall (@ToKTeacher) as we dive deep into the relationship between evolution and epistemology. We discuss how evolution relates to problem-solving, the power of metaphorical truths, what can help us turn the tide of against the tyranny of the genes, if we can have rapid and stable change during in our hyper-novel world, and lastly, whether or not the the multiverse a good explanation. I hope enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Chapters:
0:00 The Relationship Between Evolution & Knowledge
6:35 Metaphorical Truth & Problem-Solving
20:00 Is Woke a Modern Religion?
24:48 Reality, Truth, & Objective Progress
27:37 Evolutionary Epistemology as a Bulwark Against Tyranny
29:11 The Value of Everyone Disagreeing with You
34:11 The Omega Principle, Personhood, & AGI
44:27 Are LLMs Children of a New Species?
56:34 Hyper-Novelty and Societal Adaptability
01:15:54 Is the Multiverse a Good Explanation?
01:39:28 Wrap Up

[Cordial Curiosity @CordialCurious]

@BretWeinstein @ToKTeacher Thank you, Bret!