Archive - Nosologist

The parent does not hate you

My children are a second species

Mar 5 • John Halstead

November 2025

Fatal flaws of nonconsequentialism: rights that trump the common good

Almost all nonconsequentialists hold that people have rights against that may not be infringed simply because the consequences are better.

Nov 30, 2025 • John Halstead

How (not) to express probabilities

Figuring out probabilities is crucial for figuring out the expected value of our actions.

Nov 30, 2025 • John Halstead

The political philosophy of Radical Markets

Glen Weyl and Eric Posner’s book Radical Markets is full of innovative and novel ideas about how we should organise social institutions.

Nov 30, 2025 • John Halstead

A review of Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas

A review of Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas

Nov 30, 2025 • John Halstead

December 2024

How bad will climate change be? Or: How much should we trust climate economics?

This is a presentation I gave at the University of Oxford about climate economics.

Dec 7, 2024 • John Halstead

July 2024

How to cure your insomnia

I suffered from insomnia from the age of about 23 to 29.

Jul 21, 2024 • John Halstead

April 2024

Hunter-gatherer violence

A link to my Works in Progress article with Phil Thomson on hunter-gatherer violence

Apr 5, 2024 • John Halstead

February 2024

Sources of information: good and bad

To have useful and rational beliefs about the world you need (1) good sources of information and (2) a rational brain.

Feb 29, 2024 • John Halstead

Stratospheric aerosol injection research and existential risk

Abstract: In the wake of the continued failure to mitigate greenhouse gases, researchers have explored the possibility of injecting aerosols into the…

Feb 29, 2024 • John Halstead

January 2024

Deference for Bayesians

Most people in the knowledge producing industry in academia, foundations, media or think tanks are not Bayesians.

Jan 30, 2024 • John Halstead

The numbers always count

In “How Should We Aggregate Competing Claims?” Alex Voorhoeve aims to provide a theory which reconciles intuitive judgments for and against aggregating…

Jan 30, 2024 • John Halstead