Mark Alfano
Bel Air
philosopher (epistemology, moral psychology, digital humanities, Nietzsche). We're all smart here, distinguish yourself by being unkind to fascists.
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Articles by Mark Alfano
Commentary: Slopaganda wars - why the US and Iran are flooding the zone with AI
Commentary Slopaganda, defined as AI-generated slop that serves propagandistic purposes, can reach huge audiences, which is why even a small misleading effect in the general population may have significant consequences, say two academics. A visual representation of how artificial intelligence impacts the spread of false information and propaganda.
AI Slopaganda is Probably Here to Stay
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Slopaganda wars: how (and why) the US and Iran are flooding the zone with viral AI‑generated noise
In early March, a week after the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the White House posted a video of real American attacks mixed with clips from popular movies, television series, video games and anime. Iran and its sympathisers responded to the strikes by social media with outdated war footage allegedly from the current conflict alongside AI-generated content depicting attacks on Tel Aviv and US bases in the Persian Gulf.
How to cultivate collective intellectual humility
Being smart is knowing what you don’t know. From work meetings to book clubs, use these tips to boost your group’s thinking by Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso, psychology professor, and Mark Alfano, philosophy professor Photo by Ljubaphoto/Getty Images Photo by Ljubaphoto/Getty Images Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso is professor of psychology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, US.
Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries
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Abstract Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists.
By Viktoria Cologna, Niels G. Mede, Sebastian Berger, Marina Joubert, Edward Maibach, Sabina Mihelj, Mike S. Schäfer, Balazs Aczel, Mark Alfano, Marlene S. Altenmüller, Denisa Apriliawati, Ani Bajrami, Keagile Bati, Cornelia Betsch, Apurav Bhatiya, Rahul Bhui, Olga Białobrzeska, Michał Bilewicz, Ondrej Buchel, Sami Çoksan, Steven De Peuter, Ramit Debnath, Sylvain Delouvée, Celia Diaz-Catalán, Kimberly C. Doell, Karen Douglas, Dmitrii Dubrov, Christian T. Elbaek, Benjamin Enke, Stefan Feuerriegel, Malte Friese, Simon Fuglsang, Omid Ghasemi, Mario Gollwitzer, Claudia González-Brambila, Hazel Gordon, Dmitry Grigoryev, Przemysław G Hensel, Mairéad Hurley, Maho Ishibashi, Dominika Jurgiel, John Kerr Verified, Tereza Klabíková Rábová, Olivier Klein, Aki Koivula, Lina Koppel, John E. Kotcher, Claus Lamm, Anthony Lantian, Aleksandra Lazić, Oscar Lecuona, Jean-Baptiste Légal, Zoe Leviston, Neil Levy, Amanda M. Lindkvist, Alberto Ortega, Nigel Mantou Lou, Chloe Lucas, Kristin Lunz-Trujillo, Mathew D. Marques, Hugo Mercier, Taciano L. Milfont, Joanne Miller, Panagiotis Mitkidis, Matt Motta, Jonas P. Nitschke, Daniel Nwogwugwu, Thomas Ostermann, Tobias Otterbring, Philip Pärnamets, Paolo Parra Saiani, Michal Parzuchowski, Yuri G. Pavlov, Charlotte R Pennington, Jan Pfänder, Ekaterina Pronizius, Katarzyna Pypno-Blajda, Pekka Räsänen, Adrian Rauchfleisch, Felix G. Rebitschek, Jan Philipp Röer, Robert Ross, Philipp Schmid, Emily Shuckburgh, Nevin Solak, Samantha Stanley, Gert Storms, Noel Strahm, Stylianos Syropoulos, Barnabas Szaszi, Ewa Szumowska, Boryana Todorova, Daniel Toribio-Flórez, Manos Tsakiris, Michael Tyrala, Christiana Varda, Steven Verheyen, Madalina Vlasceanu, Florian Wintterlin, Ziqian Xia, Ewa Zegler-Poleska, Amber Zenklusen
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Nature
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Moral universals: A machine-reading analysis of 256 societies
Abstract What is the cross-cultural prevalence of the seven moral values posited by the theory of “morality-as-cooperation”? Previous research, using laborious hand-coding of ethnographic accounts of ethics from 60 societies, found examples of most of the seven morals in most societies, and observed these morals with equal frequency across cultural regions.
A time for moral actions: Moral identity, morality-as-cooperation and moral circles predict support of collective action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in an international sample - Paulo S. Boggio, John B. Nezlek, Mark Alfano, Flavio Azevedo, Valerio Capr
Abstract Understanding what factors are linked to public health behavior in a global pandemic is critical to mobilizing an effective public health response. Although public policy and health messages are often framed through the lens of individual benefit, many of the behavioral strategies needed to combat a pandemic require individual sacrifices to benefit the collective welfare. Therefore, we examined the relationship between individuals’ morality and their support for public health measures.
Hermeneutic Calvinball versus modest digital humanities in philosophical interpretation - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Abstract In “Calvin and Hobbes,” the character Calvin invents the game of Calvinball. No two games of Calvinball are alike because the only stable rule of Calvinball is that the players make up the rules as they go along, and no rule (other than the one stable rule) can be used twice. Whether a player is winning at a particular game of Calvinball is thus definitionally indeterminate. In philosophy, we risk playing something like Calvinball.
Polarization and trust in the evolution of vaccine discourse on Twitter during COVID-19
PLOS ONE, Dec 2022 This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0277292&type=printable Ignacio Ojea Quintana, Ritsaart Reimann, Marc Cheong, Mark Alfano, Colin Klein. , PLOS ONE, 2022, Volume 17, Issue 12, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277292
A sense of humour – even a dark one – is a moral virtue | Psyche Ideas
Humour can be cruel, especially when it’s dark or mocking. In fact, a leading theory of humour, the benign violation theory, suggests that humour always involves a norm transgression. And many morally reprehensible people have a great sense of humour – Bill Cosby comes to mind – or think of the character Eleanor Shellstrop from the TV show The Good Place, who is shockingly selfish but hilarious to boot.
Masculinity and Violent Extremism
Advertisement Authors: Joshua M.
A vast, thrilling world of nature unfolds outside of human time
In the seconds that it takes to leave home in the morning, my garden in Ohio is exploding with invisible movements: a fusillade of spores bursts into the air from microscopic fungi that have sprouted on rabbit pellets since sunrise; leafhoppers jump from the car roof using gear wheels that engage faster than the pistons in the car; and tiny relatives of jellyfish called pond hydras fire barbs into their prey using pressurised harpoons. Does any of this matter to us?
Epistemic vice predicts acceptance of Covid-19 misinformation
1. Introduction Are hand dryers effective in killing the novel coronavirus? Do houseflies transmit the disease? Should you spray your body with or drink bleach to make sure you don't get infected? Certainly not.
Stewardship of global collective behavior
Abstract Collective behavior provides a framework for understanding how the actions and properties of groups emerge from the way individuals generate and share information. In humans, information flows were initially shaped by natural selection yet are increasingly structured by emerging communication technologies. Our larger, more complex social networks now transfer high-fidelity information over vast distances at low cost.
Moral Molecules: Morality as a combinatorial system
Date created: | Last Updated: : DOI | ARK Creating DOI. Please wait... Create DOI Category: Project Description: What is morality? How many moral values are there? And what are they? According to the theory of morality-as-cooperation, morality is a collection of biological and cultural solutions to the problems of cooperation recurrent in human social life. This theory predicts that there will be as many different types of morality as there are different types of cooperation.
Stewardship of global collective behavior | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Stewardship of global collective behavior Joseph B. Bak-Coleman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7590-3824 joebak@uw.edu, Mark Alfano https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5879-8033, Wolfram Barfuss https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9077-5242, +13 , Carl T. Bergstrom https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2070-385X, Miguel A. Centeno, Iain D. Couzin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8556-4558, Jonathan F. Donges, Mirta Galesic https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1712-9455, Andrew S. Gersick, Jennifer Jacquet, Albert B.
Moral Universals: A machine-reading analysis of 256 societies
Date created: | Last Updated: : DOI | ARK Creating DOI. Please wait... Create DOI Category: Project Description: Alfano, M., Cheong, M., & Curry, O. S. (2024). Moral universals: A machine-reading analysis of 256 societies. Heliyon, 10(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25940 What is the cross-cultural prevalence of the seven moral values posited by the theory of “Morality-as-Cooperation”?
Why We Look For A Partner Who Laughs and Makes Us Laugh
There are many reasons why those who laugh and can make others laugh are attractive mates. Shutterstock Whether we’re looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humour. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humour is the most valued quality in a potential mate. A philosophy of humour as a virtue sheds light on why it’s so important. A virtue is a valuable trait – something that elicits admiration, pride or love.
Health Experts Agree on 7 Nutrients to Make You Feel Happy and Healthy
Dietary nutrients are critical for brain structure and function, so they have a potentially profound impact on mental health. An increasingly robust body of research points to the detrimental effect of unhealthy diets and nutrient deficiencies, and to the protective value of healthy diets — along with select nutritional supplements as required — for maintaining and promoting mental health.
This One Personality Trait Is Vital for Finding a Compatible Mate
Whether we’re looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humor. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humor is the most valued quality in a potential mate. A philosophy of humor as a virtue sheds light on why it’s so important. A virtue is a valuable trait — something that elicits admiration, pride, or love. Traditional examples include prudence, honesty, chastity, and wisdom. Is a sense of humor comparable to these time-honored virtues?
They shall not die in vain: how the Islamic State honours its fallen soldiers - and how Australians do the same
The belief that we must not let our soldiers “die in vain” dates back to ancient Athens. During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles delivered a funeral oration in which he urged his compatriots to see themselves in the heroism of recently deceased fighters. Honouring these heroes, he argued, required continuing the struggle with Sparta.
Why we look for a partner who laughs (and makes us laugh)
Whether we’re looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humour. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humour is the most valued quality in a potential mate. A philosophy of humour as a virtue sheds light on why it’s so important. A virtue is a valuable trait – something that elicits admiration, pride or love. Traditional examples include prudence, honesty, chastity and wisdom. Is a sense of humour comparable to these time-honoured virtues?
Why we look for a partner who laughs (and makes us laugh)
Whether we’re looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humor. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humor is the most valued quality in a potential mate. A philosophy of humor as a virtue sheds light on why it’s so important. A virtue is a valuable trait – something that elicits admiration, pride or love. Traditional examples include prudence, honesty, chastity and wisdom. Is a sense of humor comparable to these time-honoured virtues?
Must love jokes: why we look for a partner who laughs (and makes us laugh)
Whether we’re looking for love or lust, we look for someone with a good sense of humour. Studies of courtship on Tinder and Facebook show that a sense of humour is the most valued quality in a potential mate. A philosophy of humour as a virtue sheds light on why it’s so important. A virtue is a valuable trait – something that elicits admiration, pride or love. Traditional examples include prudence, honesty, chastity and wisdom. Is a sense of humour comparable to these time-honoured virtues?
Why we look for a partner who laughs (and makes us laugh)
A philosophy of humour as a virtue sheds light on why it's so important. A virtue is a valuable trait – something that elicits admiration, pride or love. Traditional examples include prudence, honesty, chastity and wisdom. Is a sense of humour comparable to these time-honoured virtues? Of course, whether you're looking for casual dates or seeking a life partner will influence what you want in a mate.
Brian L. Keeley, Of conspiracy theories - PhilPapers
Authors Abstract As the end of the Millennium approaches, conspiracy theories are increasing in number and popularity. In this short essay, I offer an analysis of conspiracy theories inspired by Hume's discussion of miracles. My first conclusion is that whereas Hume can argue that miracles are, by definition, explanations we are not warranted in believing, there is nothing analytic that will allow us to distinguish good from bad conspiracy theories.
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