Richard Carrier, PhD

@richardcarrier

Godless polyamorous author & speaker. Philosophistorian. Longform blogger. Destroyer of bad epistemologies. Drinker of whiskey & sensible wine. You can find all things me at richardcarrier.info (books, classes, blog).

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Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jun 26

If you follow me here but not on Facebook, you may want to know I just posted some serious thoughts about #AI / #AGI and our future on Facebook, far too long to include here as text, but I am including it as a link and a screencap. tinyurl.com/nv6n293x

Bluesky does not allow alt text this long. To access the text version of this image, you will have to follow the Facebook link and access it on Facebook, which unfortunately only Facebook subscribers can do.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Apr 5

I want to name a new fallacy: The Guru Fallacy. I've seen it a lot. The attached image mocks some real examples I personally had argued at me in the last few years (most weren't literally so argued, but in elaborate fashion argued something very similar). #newfallacy #philosophy #gurufallacy

The Guru Fallacy

• Some dumb guru occasionally said some true things.
• Therefore everything they said is true.

You can try it out in Jordan Peterson:

Snakes having sex form spirals.
DNA forms spirals.
Therefore, aliens.

You should clean your room.
Therefore trans people are an existential threat to civilization.

Or literally anyone:

Jim Jones said some true things.
Therefore everyone at Jonestown was killed by Jewish space lasers.

Jesus-myther Francesco Carotta made some valid points.
Therefore Christianity was a Roman psy-op.

Donald Trump occasionally tells the truth.
Therefore Iran has no air defense system.

Benjamin Netanyahu is right that new pipelines could render the Strait of Hormuz irrelevant.
Therefore there is no Isreali genocide in Gaza.

Joe Kent correctly said Israel coerced America into a costly illegal war with Iran.
Therefore Charlie Kirk was assassinated by Mossad.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 28

Snack. Water. Wallet. Hat. Flag. Ready for the #NoKings march in #Tucker #Georgia this afternoon. #PhoneNotDepicted

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 18

I am officially deleting my Twitter / X. I explain why on Facebook (www.facebook.com/share/p/17KC...). But I'm announcing it here for the record. I also gave my thoughts there about an archaeological find claiming ancient machineguns---I say, ancient shotguns (www.facebook.com/share/p/1BjF...).

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 5

Um.

Split image. On the left, famous shot of the No Future for Stillson Newsweek magazine cover from The Dead Zone, depicting candidate Stillson (an archetype of Donald Trump) holding up a baby as a shield against a psychic sniper trying to stop him starting a nuclear war. On the right, real photo of Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana crushing a decorated U.S. Marine's arm to silence his protest of another needless war for Israel that 60% of American voters don't want either.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 2

No, that’s a symptom of Pinhead Box Syndrome:

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 2

This is why your life sucks. Not immigrants. Not woke. Not transpeople. This. #economics #wagestagnation #affordability #politics #greed #elites #unions #costofliving #corporations #capitalism

Two charts, one on top of the other. First shows the disconnect between productivity and wages since 1948, which began in the 1970s and worsened ever since (showing wages should be more than 200% higher than they are, but aren't because capitalists stopped sharing gains with workers). Second shows the rise in share of income going to the top 10% and the decline of unionization, which fall flat in the 1940s, and separate in the 1970s (with income share rising for the top 10% as unions decline), exactly matching the first graph.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 29

You might want to zoom this #philosophy talk Sunday (see QR code). I won't be there & don't agree with Huemer on almost any thing (he's one of the worst #philosophers alive), but figuring out why he is wrong (about things like "radical #anarchism is a good idea") is profitable.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 14

Chasing good meme, top says Don't know what? Bottom scene says Don't Know What!!?

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 13

I'm seeing a lot of people exposing themselves as delusional right-wingers who had been posing as liberals, and the trigger this time is the Renee Good shooting. I cannot let that slide. Attached is the "are you actually a right wing nut job or a rational person" test...

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Dec 24

Follow this link for the real truth: www.richardcarrier.info/archives/21092 Read the attached quote for the context: #Christianity #Christmas #SadTruths #JesusIsDead #DroptheGodCrapforMoralsInstead

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Oct 28

My wife and I have a tradition of putting up our (artificial) #Christmas tree on October 1 and decorating it for #Halloween and calling it our Halloween tree. We convert it to a proper "Christmas" tree the day after #Thanksgiving . . .

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Oct 18

Nearly done at the Tucker, GA #NoKings rally. Def twice or more the numbers from last time. I completed the loop & another couple thousand are passing me from base. Clocked the flow. Over one a second for an hour now & still going. Total has to exceed 4,000. Not showing faces for obvious reasons.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Oct 18

At the Tucker, GA #NoKings rally. Looks like even more people are showing up this time. I estimate well over a thousand and this is just a suburb of Atlanta and half an hour before the march starts and scores still pouring in from every direction.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Sep 7

For the livestream tonight… Horse Soldier bourbon. Distilled by Green Berets from the Afghanistan war.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Aug 21

So, look. Now, after three years, and the 498th iteration of a headline like "Russia struck Ukraine with 574 drones and 40 missiles and one person was killed" I am wondering when the media will start to realize this is a permanent failure mode. Russia can barely kill one poor old man crossing the street, even with a massive armada of death. How the hell do they even still exist as a country? Maybe Poland should just go ahead and conquer Russia. Seems an ideal time. But "we don't want that shithole" is probably their position on that.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jul 24

www.youtube.com/live/UWWNTmT...

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jul 1

Here is a word problem I recommend for the next SAT. Based on the vertical axis of this chart, can #tariffs replace #incometax as a source of U.S. #FederalRevenue? Explain your answer in less than twenty words. #mathematics #logic #economics #dumbery hubbardobrieneconomics.com/2025/03/25/a...

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jun 14

Being counted and heard at the #NoKings rally in #Tucker, #Georgia.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jun 6

If you’re here and want to link up, DM me — Skate Tech, Third Class. richardcarrier.blogspot.com/2011/09/athe...

Selfie of me taken just now in front of the Veterans Unite for America stage on the National Mall. Wearing my service work cap, navy blue, embroidered in gold, USCGC Sherman, WHEC 720 (my ship). Where usually my rank insignia as a petty officer third class would sit in between is a golden rollerblade. Because the joke was that ST3, sonar tech third class, meant Skate Tech because we got out of all the shitty jobs, being electrical and weapons techs of rank.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· May 30

I won't be able to make it, but the lineup is really good (these are all cool people) and the hosts have a good rep. This may be a rare enjoyable #atheist #conference! Check in out...

BAHA Proudly Presents another STELLAR LINEUP for our BAHACON 2025 CONFERENCE: Seth Andrews, Forrest Valkai, Dr. Abby Hafer, Erika (Gutsick Gibbon), Dr. Andrew White, Dr. Christopher DiCarlo, John Loftus, Jasmin Faulk, Dr. Phil Zuckerman, Dr. Anthony Pinn are all on the roster. August 8 to 10, 2025. At the Four Points Sheraton in Point Edward, Ontario, Canada. For details at bahacon.com.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 30

Proposition: #Democrats are always saving the country from #Republicans always trying to destroy it. Evidence: www.fool.com/investing/20...

Since Wilson was in the White House, 10 Republicans have followed in his footsteps, of which Donald Trump is the latest (2017 to 2021 and 2025 to present). All 10 of these Republican presidents have overseen an economic recession that began under their watch. In comparison, four of the nine Democrats who've held the presidency over the last 112 years didn't oversee a recession that began during their term.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Mar 9

While the world burns, at least I live inside an #impressionist painting. #Homestead application official. This is really our home now. Just have to take care of it!

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 31

So. Yeah. It was #DEI. That damned #Quasimoto. Why did #Obama hire him to run the tower? We all know only umblemished white men can polish bells and keep ropes tight. Otherwise #God gets angry and throws #helicopters at #airplanes. Or #something.

From Isaac Morrison: January 20: FAA director fired; Kanuary 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen; January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committe disbanded; January 28: Buyout and retirement demand sent to existing employees; January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 23

I teach online correspondence courses for just $49 a month! Self-directed, weekly readings and challenge questions. But the biggest perk: you get my attention on a forum for thirty days asking me any & all questions you ever had about the subject! www.richardcarrier.info/archives/16919

My current ten course roster, offered every month: Ancient Atheism: Our Western Freethought Heritage; Ancient Science & Technology; VIDEO COURSE: New Testament Studies for Everyone; Counter-Apologetics: Debunking Christianity & Islam; Critical Thinking for the 21st Century
Historical Methods for Everyone; Questioning or Defending the Historicity of Jesus; Science & Philosophy of Free Will; Moral Reasoning from Theory to Practice; and Developing & Defending Naturalism as a Worldview.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Jan 10

The snow followed me to Atlanta. Looks like four inches already in our backyard. More to come. Working in my pajamas today.

Richard Carrier, PhD@richardcarrier· Dec 30

Take any of my ten online correspondence courses. Only $49. It's self-directed learning, but, besides expert-selected readings and challenges, you get to ask me all the questions you want on the subject for a month! Details in link: www.richardcarrier.info/archives/16919 Course list below: