Heterodox Skepticism

Heterodox Skepticism, led by Felipe Contreras, focuses on challenging conventional norms and debunking falsehoods through the lens of logic, skepticism, and rational thinking. It explores themes like the nature of belief and decision-making, the principles of logic, the dynamics of freedom of speech, the pitfalls of rationalism, the interpretation of mathematics, the critique of pseudo-skepticism, game theory, logical fallacies, and the critique of mainstream narratives in technology and society.

Logic and Skepticism Freedom of Speech Rational Thinking Mathematical Assumptions Game Theory Logical Fallacies Technology and Society Media Critique Decision Making

The hottest Substack posts of Heterodox Skepticism

And their main takeaways

Decisions and skepticism

58 implied HN points • 10 Feb 23
  1. You can make decisions without necessarily holding a belief.
  2. Suspending judgment can prevent being wrong in certain situations.
  3. Remaining objective without holding a belief can be advantageous.

Rationalists are too easily duped

19 implied HN points • 19 Nov 22
  1. Rationalists can lack skepticism, especially when intentionally being deceived.
  2. Mainstream media can fall for hoaxes, leading to potential manipulation of public opinion.
  3. Smart individuals can be easily manipulated, especially when they underestimate the power of deception.

2+2 = not what you think

19 implied HN points • 11 Nov 22
  1. 2+2=4 is not necessarily true in all cases
  2. Mathematics involves uncertainty and assumptions
  3. We should always consider the possibility of making unwarranted assumptions

The fatal freedom of speech fallacy

19 implied HN points • 29 Oct 20
  1. Freedom of speech is essential for a society to debate ideas and keep them alive.
  2. There is a fallacy in confusing the right to freedom of speech with the argument for freedom of speech.
  3. Society must actively defend and engage with the idea of freedom of speech to prevent its degradation.

First principles of logic

19 implied HN points • 27 Oct 20
  1. True and false are the most fundamental concepts in logic: true is what is the case, false is what is not.
  2. Modal logic introduces the idea of necessity and possibility. Embracing uncertainty is key to understanding truth.
  3. Rejecting a claim is not the same as claiming the opposite. It's okay to say "I don't know" and not be forced into a position.
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Dismantling pseudo-skepticism

1 HN point • 04 Nov 22
  1. It's okay to doubt skeptics in a healthy way.
  2. Being a true skeptic means doubting, not negating.
  3. Embrace uncertainty and be open to saying 'I don't know'.

The boy who had to bring a wolf

0 implied HN points • 02 Mar 22
  1. In game theory, rational agents respond based on incentives and actions of others.
  2. The fable 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' illustrates the importance of maintaining trust and reputation.
  3. Understanding incentives and actions helps grasp the reasoning behind strategic decisions, like Putin's actions in Ukraine.

The amount fallacy

0 implied HN points • 13 Oct 20
  1. Just because some amount of something is bad doesn't mean any amount of it is bad
  2. The amount fallacy can be seen in various aspects of life, like income inequality, immigration, and epidemic mitigation measures
  3. People often overlook the amount fallacy, assuming that intelligent individuals would not make such logical errors

Debunking falsehoods

0 implied HN points • 07 Oct 20
  1. The post debunks falsehoods.
  2. The author's name is Felipe Contreras.
  3. The post is about anti-woke open source software engineering.

The fallacy fallacy fallacy

0 implied HN points • 19 Feb 23
📖 Philosophy Logic Reasoning Truth
  1. A fallacy is an error in reasoning, like ad hominem attacks.
  2. The fallacy fallacy is when concluding an argument is false just because it contains a fallacy.
  3. The fallacy fallacy fallacy is mistakenly calling out a fallacy fallacy when it's not actually present.