The Applied Epistemology Project @ UNC

What Is Wrong with Epistemic Trespassing? Epistemic Trespassing and the Division of Cognitive Labour

I wrote about epistemic trespassing and why it is bad for my Substack. Tl;dr: it is tempting to talk about it as a moral failing but I think it is often more helpful to view trespassing behaviour as a rational response to bad incentives.

rbnmckenna86.substack.com/p/what-is-wr...

New blog post! AEP postdoc Will Conner discusses recent news that Meta has been accused of cheating on AI benchmark tests, leading to a broader discussion of the value of such tests drawing on Thi Nguyen's work on gamification and value capture. Check it out!
aep.unc.edu/2025/07/09/g...

Megapod: The Crisis in American Science Plain English with Derek Thompson · Episode

Good Plain English pod featuring @holdenthorp.bsky.social. I appreciated Holden’s candor regarding scientists’ attempts to influence politics and when such attempts might edge into epistemic trespassing, which is an idea addressed in our recent paper (1/2) open.spotify.com/episode/4Pee...

YouTube video by PPE at UNC [AEP Explainers] The Epistemology of Free Speech (with Robert Simpson)

Very excited to share our third "explainer video". (Refresher: these are ~5 min animations introducing applied epistemology concepts for a wide audience.) This one's on epist of free speech, featuring a script by Rob Simpson! Please share & consider using in teaching!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgb...

Devin Lane, Should You Defer to Individual Experts? - PhilPapers Should you defer to individual experts? That is, when a single expert – rather than a group of experts or even expert consensus – testifies that p, should you believe that ...

But what about when an individual expert tells you something and you don't know whether it's the consensus or subject to expert disagreement? Should you defer then? In his new paper forthcoming in PPR, AEP Fellow Devin Lane argues that you generally shouldn't. Check it out:
philpapers.org/rec/LANSYD

Devin Lane, Should You Defer to Individual Experts? - PhilPapers Should you defer to individual experts? That is, when a single expert – rather than a group of experts or even expert consensus – testifies that p, should you believe that ...

Many (applied) epistemologists think that when you know that there's expert consensus about something, you should defer to the expert consensus. And many of them also think that when you know the experts disagree, you should suspend judgment. (1/2)

Reminder: tomorrow is the deadline to apply for this! It's a chance to get expert instruction in public writing on applied epistemology, feedback from peers, and to enjoy an in-person workshop here at UNC

🥁🎉It's time again! My colleague Thomas Grundmann is organising the Cologne Summer School in Philosophy. This year's star is @aworsnip.bsky.social (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). 🎊📢
You can find more information on the following website: cssip.uni-koeln.de
Spread the word and repost!

Interested in writing applied epistemology for a public-facing audience? Apply to be part of our new working group! It'll meet four times over the summer, followed by a capstone in-person event here at UNC in September facilitated by Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Details here:
philevents.org/event/show/1...

YouTube video by PPE at UNC [AEP Explainers] Political Polarization (with Kevin Dorst)

Very excited to share our second "explainer video". (Refresher: these are ~5 min animations introducing applied epistemology concepts for a wide audience.) This one's on polarization, featuring a script by Kevin Dorst! Please share, consider using in teaching, etc!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nd...

Fascinating new post on our blog by Emily McWilliams, discussing the denial and undertreatment of women's pain in medical procedures through the lens of applied epistemological work on testimonial injustice, manufactured ignorance, and motivated reasoning:
aep.unc.edu/2025/03/17/t...

New Paper in Philosophical Psychology:

Trust in experts is low. Why? How bad is it? And what should we do? To answer these questions, we reviewed philosophy (when *ought* we defer to the experts) and psychology (when *do* people defer to the experts).

Link in comments!

Philosophy and Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Future Philosophy and Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Future Social media play a significant role in the life of many people. For example, through these platforms we can not only connect a...

i'm taking part in this philosophy panel on the future of social media next month, with @geneickers.bsky.social, @joe-saunders.bsky.social, and organiser @annabortolan.bsky.social.

it's online and open to the public, so sign up if you want to hear some hot takes!

Samuel Alito and the Ethics of Suspicion Exploring the changing nature of public debate

I wrote a blog post about Samuel Alito as a case study in the ethics of suspicion and psychologizing
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/openfordebat...

Check out this interdisciplinary review paper on deference to experts by a team of AEP Fellows (current and past)!

Consider applying to be part of this summer school (aimed at researchers of all career stages) on applied epistemology featuring AEP Director @aworsnip.bsky.social!

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts When common sense is promoted as a virtue, it’s not just to celebrate how regular people understand the world. It promotes a worldview that rejects empirical facts and paves the way for propaganda.

New from me @theconversation.com
We're witnessing a celebration of "common sense" among the new admin & their allies.

But remember: celebrating common sense and denigrating expertise/evidence IS ideological.

And is NOT a reliable path to truth.

theconversation.com/how-populist...

I’ve been studying this problem since 2015. Obviously the nature of this changed with the birth of X. It’s gone from over-indexed on the political nerds & activists to over-indexed on Nazis & fascists. It’s no good.

Social Identity and Epistemic Privilege Is there an epistemic advantage to being oppressed?

I started a Political Epistemology substack, and I decided to begin with an uncontroversial topic.

I currently have 3 followers, but I welcome more!

missed tag: @mvazquez.bsky.social

Will Conner introducing the event.

Yan Chen and Will Conner smiling at the event.

...navigating misinformation, and promoting responsible belief formation in their classrooms. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thoughtful conversations, to @theihs.org and the Parr Center for Ethics for their support, and to Yan Chen, Will Conner, and Michael Vazquez for organizing! (2/2)

Jeff Greene standing in front of a slide that reads: "So...what can teachers do to help students form responsible beliefs in the modern world?"

Paula McAvoy presenting a group activity.

On Saturday, K-12 educators from across the Triangle joined us on UNC's campus for "The Art of Inquiry: Promoting Responsible Belief in the Classroom." With guidance from @jeffgreene.bsky.social (UNC) and Paula McAvoy (NCState), participants learned strategies for fostering critical thinking...(1/2)

New blog post! AEP Postdoctoral Fellow Will Conner evaluates Meta's change in fact-checking policy in light of recent applied epistemology scholarship by @danwphilosophy.bsky.social and others, and concludes that the sky is probably not falling. Check it out:
aep.unc.edu/2025/01/20/i...

Politics, truth, and ideology: A syllabus Democracy, technocracy, Marx, ideology, critical theory, identity politics, standpoint theory, free speech, cancel culture, truth, populism, and post-truth

Here's the background and syllabus (including 'core readings') for a seven-week philosophy module I'm teaching on 'Politics, truth, and ideology'. Feedback welcome: www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/politics-t...

Slide with the title "Three Ways to Educate for Responsible Believing" listing Debunking/prebunking/inoculation, Teaching lateral reading, and Developing intellectual virtues.

So fun talking to teachers about "Educating for Responsible Belief" at the “The Art of Inquiry: Promoting Responsible Belief in the Classroom” event hosted by the Applied Epistemology Project at UNC-CH (@unc-aep.bsky.social). Slides available if you're curious: https://buff.ly/4jeXJhr

More of these will be appearing gradually over the coming months. Please share them widely and consider using them in teaching--they're all appropriate for intro students!

YouTube video by PPE at UNC [AEP Explainers] Conspiracy Theories (with Giulia Napolitano)

Excited to introduce a new series of explainer videos--5 min videos explaining concepts and debates in applied epist w/scripts written by experts and animations by the super-talented Ripley Stroud. The 1st features a script by Giulia Napolitano on conspiracy theories:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtWA...

David Brooks gave my essay 'Why do people believe true things?' a 'Sidney Award' in his column at the NYT: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/o...

“The Constitution of Knowledge” (2021) by @jonrauch.bsky.social is by far the best book I have read on the epistemic crisis we are currently experiencing, with objectivity and reason being challenged in the context of political polarisation.
I highly recommend it.

Devin Lane, Expert Disagreement and the Duty to Vote - PhilPapers In this paper, I argue that widespread expert disagreement about sufficiently many issues central to a democratic decision-making procedure can nullify the duty to vote. I begin by drawing a distincti...

Check out AEP Fellow Devin Lane's terrific paper on expert disagreement and the duty to vote, now forthcoming in Philosophers' Imprint:
philpapers.org/rec/LANEDA