Bill Vanderburgh
@billvanderburgh.bsky.social
Philosopher by profession (science, evidence, cosmology, religion, Hume).
Sailing, photography, poker, & craft beer the rest of the time. #philsky #philsci #hps #separationofchurchandstate
https://substack.com/@billvanderburgh
williamvanderburgh.com
Sailing, photography, poker, & craft beer the rest of the time. #philsky #philsci #hps #separationofchurchandstate
https://substack.com/@billvanderburgh
williamvanderburgh.com
Does this version of the Trolley Problem exist or did I just invent it?
If you pull the lever now, the trolley's brakes engage. Unfortunately, its stopping distance means it will run over & kill 1 of 5 people tied to the tracks. If you don't pull or wait to pull, all 5 die.
#philsky #philosophychat
If you pull the lever now, the trolley's brakes engage. Unfortunately, its stopping distance means it will run over & kill 1 of 5 people tied to the tracks. If you don't pull or wait to pull, all 5 die.
#philsky #philosophychat
November 23, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Does this version of the Trolley Problem exist or did I just invent it?
If you pull the lever now, the trolley's brakes engage. Unfortunately, its stopping distance means it will run over & kill 1 of 5 people tied to the tracks. If you don't pull or wait to pull, all 5 die.
#philsky #philosophychat
If you pull the lever now, the trolley's brakes engage. Unfortunately, its stopping distance means it will run over & kill 1 of 5 people tied to the tracks. If you don't pull or wait to pull, all 5 die.
#philsky #philosophychat
My 13yo stepdaughter has recently expressed excitement about learning more advanced math. Any suggestions for fun books for this age group on interesting math they don't usually encounter in school?
#math #mathteaching #philosophy #logic #science #philsky
#math #mathteaching #philosophy #logic #science #philsky
November 23, 2025 at 9:49 PM
My 13yo stepdaughter has recently expressed excitement about learning more advanced math. Any suggestions for fun books for this age group on interesting math they don't usually encounter in school?
#math #mathteaching #philosophy #logic #science #philsky
#math #mathteaching #philosophy #logic #science #philsky
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
On my Substack, Philosophy for Good, I do #philosophy for the public, in the public interest. Sometimes it's entertainment, like when I write about phil & sci fi. Sometimes it's using philosophy to defend democracy. Subscribe & share to help me grow the account. Thanks!
#philsky #philosophychat
#philsky #philosophychat
“The problem with introductory philosophy is that introductory philosophy doesn’t exist.”
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
On my Substack, Philosophy for Good, I do #philosophy for the public, in the public interest. Sometimes it's entertainment, like when I write about phil & sci fi. Sometimes it's using philosophy to defend democracy. Subscribe & share to help me grow the account. Thanks!
#philsky #philosophychat
#philsky #philosophychat
“The problem with introductory philosophy is that introductory philosophy doesn’t exist.”
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
November 20, 2025 at 9:54 PM
“The problem with introductory philosophy is that introductory philosophy doesn’t exist.”
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Happy World Philosophy Day!
#philsky #philosophy #worldphilosophyday #phiulosophychat #philosophysky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Apple TV's new sci fi show "Pluribus" is fun and intriguing. It also present a weird and ambiguous (maybe inconsistent?) account of free will and consent.
#philosophy #philsky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
#philosophy #philsky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Eh, Pluribus, uhn, erm
A Philosopher Watches Sci Fi: This time, the philosophy of consent and free will
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Apple TV's new sci fi show "Pluribus" is fun and intriguing. It also present a weird and ambiguous (maybe inconsistent?) account of free will and consent.
#philosophy #philsky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
#philosophy #philsky
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
This is designed to tank public health & primary care by excluding public health professions, advanced nursing practice, physical & occupational therapy from loans that can cover the cost of education. This is going to make an existing workforce crisis worse.
aspph.org/department-o...
aspph.org/department-o...
Department of Education Proposal Excludes Public Health Degrees from “Professional Degree” Definition
Discover the new results and implications of Dept of Ed consensus regarding professional degree programs and public health education.
aspph.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:23 AM
This is designed to tank public health & primary care by excluding public health professions, advanced nursing practice, physical & occupational therapy from loans that can cover the cost of education. This is going to make an existing workforce crisis worse.
aspph.org/department-o...
aspph.org/department-o...
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
If you aren't sure why longform literacy is too important to lose to AI, remember DJT does not read. This live action remake of Idiocracy we're living is turning into a long-running series in part because we lack leaders & citizens who read. #philosophy #AI #books
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
The Tragedy of Becoming Post-Human
Mobile devices, Gen-AI, and End of Reading
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
If you aren't sure why longform literacy is too important to lose to AI, remember DJT does not read. This live action remake of Idiocracy we're living is turning into a long-running series in part because we lack leaders & citizens who read. #philosophy #AI #books
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
OVER A MILLION USERS
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
Check out this podcast about philosophy and comedy from @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/epis...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/epis...
Episode 202: Comedy - Hotel Bar Podcast
What's so funny about comedy, anyway?
hotelbarpodcast.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Check out this podcast about philosophy and comedy from @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/epis...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/epis...
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
bro are you fucking kidding me
![quote from the Economist article which says "[study authors] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ofjbklfvptnupad4lxumblw/bafkreia3yctiqd7ejumpd6novxjpiycphtfkc3bdgd573jw37faqdl7o7m@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bro are you fucking kidding me
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
Greetings from the Dirksen federal courthouse, where U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis has just taken the bench to rule on federal agents actions' during a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs.
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Judge Set to Rule Thursday in Case Centering on Federal Immigration Agents’ Use of Force: ‘I Could See Inside the Barrel’
Protesters, clergy members and others who say they’ve been directly impacted by a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs will testify before a federal judge weighing wh...
news.wttw.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Greetings from the Dirksen federal courthouse, where U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis has just taken the bench to rule on federal agents actions' during a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs.
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Government and religion don't mix, even if some government officials are trying to tell us otherwise.
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Public/Religion
Never the twain should meet.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Government and religion don't mix, even if some government officials are trying to tell us otherwise.
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
Hi #philosophysky #philosophyofscience! Seen this? A physics paper claims there's something like an incompleteness theorem to the effect that (1) there is no algorithmic way to get a theory of quantum gravity, & (2) since simulations are necessarily algorithmic, that (3) our universe is not a sim.
November 6, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Hi #philosophysky #philosophyofscience! Seen this? A physics paper claims there's something like an incompleteness theorem to the effect that (1) there is no algorithmic way to get a theory of quantum gravity, & (2) since simulations are necessarily algorithmic, that (3) our universe is not a sim.
If you aren't sure why longform literacy is too important to lose to AI, remember DJT does not read. This live action remake of Idiocracy we're living is turning into a long-running series in part because we lack leaders & citizens who read. #philosophy #AI #books
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
The Tragedy of Becoming Post-Human
Mobile devices, Gen-AI, and End of Reading
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
If you aren't sure why longform literacy is too important to lose to AI, remember DJT does not read. This live action remake of Idiocracy we're living is turning into a long-running series in part because we lack leaders & citizens who read. #philosophy #AI #books
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
open.substack.com/pub/billvand...
AI hypesters make it seem students must learn AI in college or they will fall hopelessly behind. That seems obviously untrue.... One YouTube video that calls itself a “master class” on AI prompt writing is <19 min long. We don’t need to undermine higher ed for a skill that can be explained in 19 min
November 4, 2025 at 5:07 AM
AI hypesters make it seem students must learn AI in college or they will fall hopelessly behind. That seems obviously untrue.... One YouTube video that calls itself a “master class” on AI prompt writing is <19 min long. We don’t need to undermine higher ed for a skill that can be explained in 19 min
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
I lay this at the feet of DOGE and all of their enablers.
A US-funded nutrition program was helping to keep this woman’s baby alive. Days after the program was cut, he died. https://cnn.it/4ndDYbl
A US-funded nutrition program was helping to keep this woman’s baby alive. Days after the program was cut, he died | CNN
Weeds cover the grave of Yagana Usman’s baby – a painful reminder of the months that have passed since she lost her infant twin to malnutrition. Her surviving twin’s fate now hinges in part on decisio...
cnn.it
September 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I lay this at the feet of DOGE and all of their enablers.
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
New!
"Atheism: Believing God Does Not Exist" by Nathan Nobis
#atheism #atheist #theism #theist #religion #philosophy
1000wordphilosophy.com/2025/09/21/a...
"Atheism: Believing God Does Not Exist" by Nathan Nobis
#atheism #atheist #theism #theist #religion #philosophy
1000wordphilosophy.com/2025/09/21/a...
Atheism: Believing God Does Not Exist - 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology
This essay introduces some of the core philosophical issues about atheism: what it is, how and why people accept atheism, and the relationships between atheism and meaning in life and ethics.
1000wordphilosophy.com
September 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
New!
"Atheism: Believing God Does Not Exist" by Nathan Nobis
#atheism #atheist #theism #theist #religion #philosophy
1000wordphilosophy.com/2025/09/21/a...
"Atheism: Believing God Does Not Exist" by Nathan Nobis
#atheism #atheist #theism #theist #religion #philosophy
1000wordphilosophy.com/2025/09/21/a...
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
I know about a pretty big scoop on Brett Kavanaugh that should be dropping Monday at a big outlet. If you think SCOTUS is corrupt now,
September 21, 2025 at 3:54 AM
I know about a pretty big scoop on Brett Kavanaugh that should be dropping Monday at a big outlet. If you think SCOTUS is corrupt now,
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
Wow, first time I've seen him underwater in this poll with white people. He has negative disapproval across every possible cohort.
September 16, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Wow, first time I've seen him underwater in this poll with white people. He has negative disapproval across every possible cohort.
September 16, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Bill Vanderburgh
Land of the surveilled; home of the snitches
Trump's new executive order opens a 'vigilante portal,' essentially permitting civilians to aid in suppressing protests nationwide. It undermines our rights to free speech and assembly and recalls the darkest chapters in authoritarian history. https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-vigilante-portal
New Trump Order Among 'Scariest Things I've Seen in US Politics,' Civil Rights Attorney Says | Common Dreams
Civil rights attorney Alec Karakatsanis said that Trump's latest executive order creates "an online portal to permit random fascist vigilantes to join soldiers" to help crack down on protests across t...
www.commondreams.org
August 27, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Land of the surveilled; home of the snitches