Will Wilkinson
@wlknsn.xyz
Tech policy and government affairs guy. Ex-Block, Niskanen, NYT, Economist, Cato. Los Angeles / Iowa City
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
A really important point. You can't "solve"misinformation without understanding the ways beliefs function as identity markers more than attempts to represent reality accurately gone awry.
Misinformation *is* central to democratic problems today, but the solution is *not* to correct such epistemic failures directly. Instead, we must address them at their roots, in social identity.
Or so I argue in a new post for @apaphilosophy.bsky.social.
blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/12/t...
Or so I argue in a new post for @apaphilosophy.bsky.social.
blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/12/t...
The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not. | Blog of the APA
Doubts about the wisdom of the masses are as old as philosophy itself. Yet interest in democracy’s “epistemic” merits has surged in the last decade—and it is no mystery why. Democracy is collapsing ar...
blog.apaonline.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:00 AM
A really important point. You can't "solve"misinformation without understanding the ways beliefs function as identity markers more than attempts to represent reality accurately gone awry.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Centrist Democratic strategists have probably done more to prime voters to think of the Party as a vehicle for wokeism than anyone other than Trump or Fox News. And on very thin data that's not causal or predictive out of sample. The extent of the self-own is remarkable substack.com/@gelliottmor...
G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris)
Yeah, centrist Democratic strategists have probably done more to prime voters to think of the Party as a vehicle for wokeism than anyone other than Trump or Fox News anchors. The extent of the self-ow...
substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Centrist Democratic strategists have probably done more to prime voters to think of the Party as a vehicle for wokeism than anyone other than Trump or Fox News. And on very thin data that's not causal or predictive out of sample. The extent of the self-own is remarkable substack.com/@gelliottmor...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
every company in 2025
November 12, 2025 at 5:59 PM
every company in 2025
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Great piece by Zadie Smith. When the right talks about classics or "Western" culture, these works are only important to the extent that it demonstrates their superiority, they have no interest in art in and of itself beyond that www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
November 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Great piece by Zadie Smith. When the right talks about classics or "Western" culture, these works are only important to the extent that it demonstrates their superiority, they have no interest in art in and of itself beyond that www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
What do liberals stand for? This
“Stigmatizing fascist beliefs is not at odds with the ideal of the open society because a commitment to that ideal is not a suicide pact.” www.liberalcurrents.com/liberalisms-...
Liberalism's Positive Vision Must Be the Open Society
Liberalism is not just the mitigation of dangers. It is also an active striving towards a world that is truly free.
www.liberalcurrents.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:05 AM
What do liberals stand for? This
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Rhetorical pleas against infighting are always begging the question about who's actually on the same side as you.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Rhetorical pleas against infighting are always begging the question about who's actually on the same side as you.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
While a 50 year mortgage might lower monthly payments, it drastically increases total interest and slows equity growth. Stimulating demand without fixing supply would likely raise prices. The core issue in the housing market isn't financing; it's the lack of supply.
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
While a 50 year mortgage might lower monthly payments, it drastically increases total interest and slows equity growth. Stimulating demand without fixing supply would likely raise prices. The core issue in the housing market isn't financing; it's the lack of supply.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
No matter how hard people try to convince us having empathy is wrong,
it is right.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that diversity is a weakness,
it is a strength.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that love is limited,
it is unlimited.
it is right.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that diversity is a weakness,
it is a strength.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that love is limited,
it is unlimited.
November 4, 2025 at 2:55 AM
No matter how hard people try to convince us having empathy is wrong,
it is right.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that diversity is a weakness,
it is a strength.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that love is limited,
it is unlimited.
it is right.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that diversity is a weakness,
it is a strength.
No matter how hard people try to convince us that love is limited,
it is unlimited.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
parents 8 years from now: yoshinobu yamamoto you go to your room this instant!
November 2, 2025 at 4:29 AM
parents 8 years from now: yoshinobu yamamoto you go to your room this instant!
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
I feel like I say this every year but I really need people to hear it. Halloween is the best American holiday. Just kids outside welcomed into their world, marching around together, showing off their costumes to the elderly, parents meeting parents, neighbors catching up with neighbors.
November 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I feel like I say this every year but I really need people to hear it. Halloween is the best American holiday. Just kids outside welcomed into their world, marching around together, showing off their costumes to the elderly, parents meeting parents, neighbors catching up with neighbors.
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Husband sent me the Baffler essay on postliteracy and it’s so good. Goddamn, starting with Ong (who remembers him and Luria? Yes!), Eco, a whirlwind class analysis of literacy in history. Haven’t even reached the main part of the essay yet. A must read. thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
We Used to Read Things in This Country | Noah McCormack
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.
thebaffler.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Husband sent me the Baffler essay on postliteracy and it’s so good. Goddamn, starting with Ong (who remembers him and Luria? Yes!), Eco, a whirlwind class analysis of literacy in history. Haven’t even reached the main part of the essay yet. A must read. thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
"Does moderation matter? In our current two-party system? Not really. Presidential vote explains 98% of House outcomes. Candidate quality has collapsed to statistical noise."
open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...
open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...
October 29, 2025 at 7:18 PM
"Does moderation matter? In our current two-party system? Not really. Presidential vote explains 98% of House outcomes. Candidate quality has collapsed to statistical noise."
open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...
open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
It's also wild considering even college sophomores have figured this out.
yale-herald.com/2025/08/31/h...
yale-herald.com/2025/08/31/h...
Hidden Coalitions: Why the Democrats Self-Sabotage
“Representation is Theft!” is a bi-weekly column critiquing electoral democracy and advocating for lottery-based sortition as a viable alternative. Recently, Democrats enforced their party line wit…
yale-herald.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:12 AM
It's also wild considering even college sophomores have figured this out.
yale-herald.com/2025/08/31/h...
yale-herald.com/2025/08/31/h...
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Not a hard question, except for the culture that pretends it's not the answer
1) right-wing media lies incessantly, so anyone truth-based doesn't trust it, and anyone who trusts it doesn't trust anything else
2) other media treats those lies as legitimate, for "fairness," getting trust from no one
1) right-wing media lies incessantly, so anyone truth-based doesn't trust it, and anyone who trusts it doesn't trust anything else
2) other media treats those lies as legitimate, for "fairness," getting trust from no one
October 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Not a hard question, except for the culture that pretends it's not the answer
1) right-wing media lies incessantly, so anyone truth-based doesn't trust it, and anyone who trusts it doesn't trust anything else
2) other media treats those lies as legitimate, for "fairness," getting trust from no one
1) right-wing media lies incessantly, so anyone truth-based doesn't trust it, and anyone who trusts it doesn't trust anything else
2) other media treats those lies as legitimate, for "fairness," getting trust from no one
This talking point has never made sense to me. Social benefits are more likely to increase wages by making it easier for workers to say no to low wage offers. Structural risk of mass starvation — THAT’S the subsidy to low-wage employers!
I don't think "SNAP is a subsidy to low wage employers" frame is useful or correct. It implies that, if SNAP did not exist, these companies would be forced to pay workers more when the actual situation is that low wage workers would get the same wages from these employers as now but be poorer
October 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
This talking point has never made sense to me. Social benefits are more likely to increase wages by making it easier for workers to say no to low wage offers. Structural risk of mass starvation — THAT’S the subsidy to low-wage employers!
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
October 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
makes me weep to think of the gifts robbed from us because unaffordable housing has made it difficult for people to pursue their passions and hobbies
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 PM
makes me weep to think of the gifts robbed from us because unaffordable housing has made it difficult for people to pursue their passions and hobbies
If they razed the thing and built 500 units of public housing, I’d be all for it.
I can’t believe there are not one but two articles, in major papers, with this dumb framing. It is not NIMBY to express dismay when a big part of the White House is suddenly rubbled
October 25, 2025 at 10:45 PM
If they razed the thing and built 500 units of public housing, I’d be all for it.
Hawkeyes looking real!
October 25, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Hawkeyes looking real!
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
Updating my LEGO White House
October 23, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Updating my LEGO White House
Reposted by Will Wilkinson
the difference between a wonderful audiobook performance by a gifted voice actor and this "digital voice" horseshit masquerading as legit audiobooks makes me steaming mad. good narration is important and deserves to be paid for!!!!!!
October 18, 2025 at 12:37 AM
the difference between a wonderful audiobook performance by a gifted voice actor and this "digital voice" horseshit masquerading as legit audiobooks makes me steaming mad. good narration is important and deserves to be paid for!!!!!!
