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Narcissist or Dancer? Two ways of using generative AI

Recently I have been chatting quite a lot with Claude, the Large Language Model (LLM) and found the experience highly educative. So when I happened upon an interview with Shannon Vallor, the author of The AI Mirror, I read it with some interest, and also a little puzzlement, which I shared with Claude: “Shannon Vallor […]

Narcissist or Dancer? Two ways of using generative AI

AI as a tool for teaching critical thinking: a case study

As I prepare materials for a new university course on Propaganda and Censorship in Democracies, I am working on exercises intended to stretch – and hopefully fascinate – students. In this I am being assisted by Claude AI which acts as an unflaggingly obliging soundboard for ideas, whether in the form of inchoate hunches or […]

AI as a tool for teaching critical thinking: a case study

Are liberals less likely than conservatives to fall for propaganda?

For reasons that evolutionary psychologists have expounded, human beings exhibit certain biases in their beliefs about the world. In the context of a developed society, biases in perceptions of social realities can potentially be influenced by political beliefs. When this occurs it is referred to as politically motivated reasoning (PMR). As Carter and McKenna explain: […]

Are liberals less likely than conservatives to fall for propaganda?

The Real Problem of Disinformation

According to the UK Government, which has set up a dedicated Counter-Disinformation Unit, there is a ‘danger that hostile actors use online disinformation to undermine our democratic values and principles’. The US Department of Homeland Security has elevated disinformation to the level of a threat to critical infrastructure. Throughout the West, and led by the […]

The Real Problem of Disinformation

Who says there is a climate emergency?

To be clear: the question is not who says we should be concerned about climate change – which is something there is wide agreement on – but who has been promoting this specific idea, which has been repeated in headlines around the world since early 2019, of declaring a climate emergency. It is worth asking […]

Who says there is a climate emergency?

The Spies’ Charm Offensive: Insulting Our Intelligence?

In recent times, the heads of British spy agencies have taken to the media and social media to engage in Public Relations activities,[1] advertising particularly their role in protecting the public against ‘disinformation’. But what should the public make of this? Is this the proper role of intelligence agencies? Can they even really fulfil it?

The Spies’ Charm Offensive: Insulting Our Intelligence?

Questioning The Official Story About Official Stories: A Role for Citizen Investigations

Official stories, according to the official story about them, are (nearly) always true. The ‘nearly’ gets mentioned just because, on rare occasions, an official story is acknowledged to have been wrong, as, for instance, with Iraq’s falsely alleged weapons of mass destruction in 2003. But that’s considered an exception to the rule, and to extrapolate […]


On The Leveraging of Effective Altruism

As the practical philosophy of ‘Effective Altruism’ comes under unprecedented public scrutiny, I thought it could be helpful to post a short passage of critical comment on it that comes from my book, Global Justice and Finance (Oxford University Press 2019) pp.75-6: The practical philosophy applied in the field of charitable giving by those who […]

On The Leveraging of Effective Altruism

Chemical Weapons in Douma, Syria: a dangerous game with the truth – by Hans-C von Sponeck

[Originally published in German by Die Informationsstelle Militarisierung (IMI) e.V. This translation is based on the Google Translate version.] On February 5, 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented CIA images from Iraq to the United Nations Security Council to testify that the Iraqi government continued to possess weapons of mass destruction. Statements by […]

Chemical Weapons in Douma, Syria: a dangerous game with the truth – by Hans-C von Sponeck

Giorgio Bianchi at UNSC: “What game are we playing? Do we want World War III?”

The Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi was invited to participate in a meeting organized at the United Nations Security Council on 6 May 2022. The theme of the meeting was human rights violations in the Ukrainian Donbass area. Here is a transcript of the speech [with links added]. Good evening, it is truly an honour for […]

Giorgio Bianchi at UNSC: “What game are we playing? Do we want World War III?”