Kurt Gray
@kurtjgray.bsky.social
Prof at UNC, studying morality, religion, AI.
Director: Deepest Beliefs Lab; Center for the Science of Moral Understanding.
Author: The Mind Club; Substack; forthcoming book
Director: Deepest Beliefs Lab; Center for the Science of Moral Understanding.
Author: The Mind Club; Substack; forthcoming book
Are we more predators or prey? We’ve guessed wrong for a century.
Today we can shoot wolves from helicopters but—I argue in the @nytimes today—humans evolved more as hunted than hunters.
Link ⬇️
Today we can shoot wolves from helicopters but—I argue in the @nytimes today—humans evolved more as hunted than hunters.
Link ⬇️
March 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Are we more predators or prey? We’ve guessed wrong for a century.
Today we can shoot wolves from helicopters but—I argue in the @nytimes today—humans evolved more as hunted than hunters.
Link ⬇️
Today we can shoot wolves from helicopters but—I argue in the @nytimes today—humans evolved more as hunted than hunters.
Link ⬇️
Why some celebrate the murder of Brian Thompson.
I talked with @AnnieDuke about the psychology of victimhood and harm for her latest @washingtonpost column. Link below
I talked with @AnnieDuke about the psychology of victimhood and harm for her latest @washingtonpost column. Link below
March 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Why some celebrate the murder of Brian Thompson.
I talked with @AnnieDuke about the psychology of victimhood and harm for her latest @washingtonpost column. Link below
I talked with @AnnieDuke about the psychology of victimhood and harm for her latest @washingtonpost column. Link below
Cognition: Moral pluralism is obviously true, but our mind uses a harm-based template to make more judgments, explaining why perceived harm almost perfectly predicts condemnation across different acts.
March 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Cognition: Moral pluralism is obviously true, but our mind uses a harm-based template to make more judgments, explaining why perceived harm almost perfectly predicts condemnation across different acts.
Politics: Political disagreement is connected to assumptions of vulnerability, a new (under review) idea from our lab. Libs vs. con see different people as especially vulnerable to victimization.
March 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Politics: Political disagreement is connected to assumptions of vulnerability, a new (under review) idea from our lab. Libs vs. con see different people as especially vulnerable to victimization.
Online ahead of print in Annual Review. How to make sense of moral differences across cultures and politics.
March 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Online ahead of print in Annual Review. How to make sense of moral differences across cultures and politics.
You can get the summary at
https://www.moralunderstandingnewsletter.com/p/outraged-why-we-fight-about-morality
https://www.moralunderstandingnewsletter.com/p/outraged-why-we-fight-about-morality
March 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
You can get the summary at
https://www.moralunderstandingnewsletter.com/p/outraged-why-we-fight-about-morality
https://www.moralunderstandingnewsletter.com/p/outraged-why-we-fight-about-morality
Liberals and conservatives seem to have different morals, but I argue that we all share a harm-based moral mind. Our evolutionary past makes us worry about harm, but people today disagree about which harms are most important/real, creating moral outrage and political disagreement
March 18, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Liberals and conservatives seem to have different morals, but I argue that we all share a harm-based moral mind. Our evolutionary past makes us worry about harm, but people today disagree about which harms are most important/real, creating moral outrage and political disagreement
🚨Book!🚨
"Outraged: Why We Fight about Morality and Politics" has an Amazon listing:
"A groundbreaking new perspective on the moral mind that rewrites our understanding of where moral judgments come from, and how we can overcome the feelings of outrage that so often divide us"
"Outraged: Why We Fight about Morality and Politics" has an Amazon listing:
"A groundbreaking new perspective on the moral mind that rewrites our understanding of where moral judgments come from, and how we can overcome the feelings of outrage that so often divide us"
March 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
🚨Book!🚨
"Outraged: Why We Fight about Morality and Politics" has an Amazon listing:
"A groundbreaking new perspective on the moral mind that rewrites our understanding of where moral judgments come from, and how we can overcome the feelings of outrage that so often divide us"
"Outraged: Why We Fight about Morality and Politics" has an Amazon listing:
"A groundbreaking new perspective on the moral mind that rewrites our understanding of where moral judgments come from, and how we can overcome the feelings of outrage that so often divide us"
🚨Job🚨
Come join the Deepest Beliefs Lab!
We're hiring a full-time RA/outreach person. Perfect for a media-savvy graduating senior thinking about grad school. We have a great record of placing folks!
https://bit.ly/3TU7ky2
Come join the Deepest Beliefs Lab!
We're hiring a full-time RA/outreach person. Perfect for a media-savvy graduating senior thinking about grad school. We have a great record of placing folks!
https://bit.ly/3TU7ky2
March 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
🚨Job🚨
Come join the Deepest Beliefs Lab!
We're hiring a full-time RA/outreach person. Perfect for a media-savvy graduating senior thinking about grad school. We have a great record of placing folks!
https://bit.ly/3TU7ky2
Come join the Deepest Beliefs Lab!
We're hiring a full-time RA/outreach person. Perfect for a media-savvy graduating senior thinking about grad school. We have a great record of placing folks!
https://bit.ly/3TU7ky2
We also show that AoVs are stable across time, can be measured implicitly, can be manipulated, and drive real world moral behavior (charity donations).
March 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
We also show that AoVs are stable across time, can be measured implicitly, can be manipulated, and drive real world moral behavior (charity donations).
Here are AoVs across politics for 4 clusters.
1. Agreement: All people rate Environ & Othered > Powerful > Divine
2. Disagreement: Libs see big group diffs in the vulnerable versus invulnerable. Cons see all groups as relative equal.
1. Agreement: All people rate Environ & Othered > Powerful > Divine
2. Disagreement: Libs see big group diffs in the vulnerable versus invulnerable. Cons see all groups as relative equal.
March 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Here are AoVs across politics for 4 clusters.
1. Agreement: All people rate Environ & Othered > Powerful > Divine
2. Disagreement: Libs see big group diffs in the vulnerable versus invulnerable. Cons see all groups as relative equal.
1. Agreement: All people rate Environ & Othered > Powerful > Divine
2. Disagreement: Libs see big group diffs in the vulnerable versus invulnerable. Cons see all groups as relative equal.
We find that many political debates revolve around AoVs of 4 clusters of targets:
The Environment (rainforests)
The "Othered" (trans ppl)
The Powerful (corporate leaders)
The Divine (Jesus)
These are not 4 special modules, just useful ad hoc clusters. Scenarios:
The Environment (rainforests)
The "Othered" (trans ppl)
The Powerful (corporate leaders)
The Divine (Jesus)
These are not 4 special modules, just useful ad hoc clusters. Scenarios:
March 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
We find that many political debates revolve around AoVs of 4 clusters of targets:
The Environment (rainforests)
The "Othered" (trans ppl)
The Powerful (corporate leaders)
The Divine (Jesus)
These are not 4 special modules, just useful ad hoc clusters. Scenarios:
The Environment (rainforests)
The "Othered" (trans ppl)
The Powerful (corporate leaders)
The Divine (Jesus)
These are not 4 special modules, just useful ad hoc clusters. Scenarios:
The power of AoVs to explain morality across politics is key, bc is shows how a harm-based mind provides for moral pluralism without foundations. It's why perceived harm (victimization) predicts wrongness across all acts.
March 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM
The power of AoVs to explain morality across politics is key, bc is shows how a harm-based mind provides for moral pluralism without foundations. It's why perceived harm (victimization) predicts wrongness across all acts.
The importance of AoVs is obvious with abortion bc it is a trade-off about harms (fetus vs. woman). Pro-life see fetuses as vulnerable babies. Pro-choice see them as mindless cells, deserving less concern than pregnant women. Your moral stance = which you see as more vulnerable.
March 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The importance of AoVs is obvious with abortion bc it is a trade-off about harms (fetus vs. woman). Pro-life see fetuses as vulnerable babies. Pro-choice see them as mindless cells, deserving less concern than pregnant women. Your moral stance = which you see as more vulnerable.
The main finding is simple. People's moral judgments are predicted by their AoVs, as measured by these 3 short qs
We know that people care about protecting the obviously vulnerable (kids, puppies) from harm. Moral disagreement happens when ppl see diff things as vulnerable.
We know that people care about protecting the obviously vulnerable (kids, puppies) from harm. Moral disagreement happens when ppl see diff things as vulnerable.
March 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The main finding is simple. People's moral judgments are predicted by their AoVs, as measured by these 3 short qs
We know that people care about protecting the obviously vulnerable (kids, puppies) from harm. Moral disagreement happens when ppl see diff things as vulnerable.
We know that people care about protecting the obviously vulnerable (kids, puppies) from harm. Moral disagreement happens when ppl see diff things as vulnerable.
Real world debates are not about "foundations" of liberty or fairness.
They are about *victims*--who is most vulnerable to mistreatment. Cops? Black people? Fetuses?
8 studies show moral debates are explained by diff "assumptions of vulnerability" (AoVs) btw libs and cons.
They are about *victims*--who is most vulnerable to mistreatment. Cops? Black people? Fetuses?
8 studies show moral debates are explained by diff "assumptions of vulnerability" (AoVs) btw libs and cons.
March 18, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Real world debates are not about "foundations" of liberty or fairness.
They are about *victims*--who is most vulnerable to mistreatment. Cops? Black people? Fetuses?
8 studies show moral debates are explained by diff "assumptions of vulnerability" (AoVs) btw libs and cons.
They are about *victims*--who is most vulnerable to mistreatment. Cops? Black people? Fetuses?
8 studies show moral debates are explained by diff "assumptions of vulnerability" (AoVs) btw libs and cons.
Many social ills are blamed on being alone, but ancient traditions celebrated solitude
Maybe the real problem is pathologizing solitude, turning being alone into being "a weird evil loner"
We uncover surprising complexity in aloneness. Sometimes bowling alone is OK. Link in pic
Maybe the real problem is pathologizing solitude, turning being alone into being "a weird evil loner"
We uncover surprising complexity in aloneness. Sometimes bowling alone is OK. Link in pic
March 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Many social ills are blamed on being alone, but ancient traditions celebrated solitude
Maybe the real problem is pathologizing solitude, turning being alone into being "a weird evil loner"
We uncover surprising complexity in aloneness. Sometimes bowling alone is OK. Link in pic
Maybe the real problem is pathologizing solitude, turning being alone into being "a weird evil loner"
We uncover surprising complexity in aloneness. Sometimes bowling alone is OK. Link in pic
And obviously c) they are probably happy that I’m not going, so I don’t ruin their fun like when your uncool parent is at a party.
March 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
And obviously c) they are probably happy that I’m not going, so I don’t ruin their fun like when your uncool parent is at a party.
It’s fun being a social psychologist and raising kids.
The schools sent this home and – note that the seal snap bracelet is marked “rare“ and now the kids want it so bad.
I love that you don’t even need to experience scarcity, but just see it explicitly labeled!
The schools sent this home and – note that the seal snap bracelet is marked “rare“ and now the kids want it so bad.
I love that you don’t even need to experience scarcity, but just see it explicitly labeled!
March 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
It’s fun being a social psychologist and raising kids.
The schools sent this home and – note that the seal snap bracelet is marked “rare“ and now the kids want it so bad.
I love that you don’t even need to experience scarcity, but just see it explicitly labeled!
The schools sent this home and – note that the seal snap bracelet is marked “rare“ and now the kids want it so bad.
I love that you don’t even need to experience scarcity, but just see it explicitly labeled!
My lab is hosting a booth at a Halloween themed 21+ night at the North Carolina Museum of natural Sciences.
They practiced the rubber hand, illusion on me, I think, because they just wanted to stab me in the “hand“
They practiced the rubber hand, illusion on me, I think, because they just wanted to stab me in the “hand“
October 27, 2023 at 3:59 PM
My lab is hosting a booth at a Halloween themed 21+ night at the North Carolina Museum of natural Sciences.
They practiced the rubber hand, illusion on me, I think, because they just wanted to stab me in the “hand“
They practiced the rubber hand, illusion on me, I think, because they just wanted to stab me in the “hand“
New Job posting at @UNC: Director and Dean of the new School of Civil Life and Leadership
https://college.unc.edu/2023/10/scll-director-and-dean/
After this, there will be 10-20 lines for new tenure-track faculty across the humanities, psychology, poli sci, and more.
https://college.unc.edu/2023/10/scll-director-and-dean/
After this, there will be 10-20 lines for new tenure-track faculty across the humanities, psychology, poli sci, and more.
March 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
New Job posting at @UNC: Director and Dean of the new School of Civil Life and Leadership
https://college.unc.edu/2023/10/scll-director-and-dean/
After this, there will be 10-20 lines for new tenure-track faculty across the humanities, psychology, poli sci, and more.
https://college.unc.edu/2023/10/scll-director-and-dean/
After this, there will be 10-20 lines for new tenure-track faculty across the humanities, psychology, poli sci, and more.
The Myopia of Heroism, our latest post
The overpowering drive to help some victims can blind us to others' suffering. What our moral minds, superheroes, lessons from Syria, and rational compassion suggest about the war between Hamas and...
The overpowering drive to help some victims can blind us to others' suffering. What our moral minds, superheroes, lessons from Syria, and rational compassion suggest about the war between Hamas and...
March 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The Myopia of Heroism, our latest post
The overpowering drive to help some victims can blind us to others' suffering. What our moral minds, superheroes, lessons from Syria, and rational compassion suggest about the war between Hamas and...
The overpowering drive to help some victims can blind us to others' suffering. What our moral minds, superheroes, lessons from Syria, and rational compassion suggest about the war between Hamas and...
The “Research to Impact” Convening is complete!
What an amazing group of folks working toward pluralism. Thanks to everyone who came to Chicago to learn, discuss, and connect.
Hope to see y’all soon, and special thanks to the @newpluralists for making it happen.
What an amazing group of folks working toward pluralism. Thanks to everyone who came to Chicago to learn, discuss, and connect.
Hope to see y’all soon, and special thanks to the @newpluralists for making it happen.
March 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The “Research to Impact” Convening is complete!
What an amazing group of folks working toward pluralism. Thanks to everyone who came to Chicago to learn, discuss, and connect.
Hope to see y’all soon, and special thanks to the @newpluralists for making it happen.
What an amazing group of folks working toward pluralism. Thanks to everyone who came to Chicago to learn, discuss, and connect.
Hope to see y’all soon, and special thanks to the @newpluralists for making it happen.
How can we foster pluralism in 🇺🇸?
We @newpluralists recognize it’s key to connect science to practice.
I’m thrilled to be co-hosting the “Research to Impact” convening, with @MoreInCommon_US, @GreaterGoodSC, and Over Zero starting today in Chicago.
See y’all soon! 🎉
We @newpluralists recognize it’s key to connect science to practice.
I’m thrilled to be co-hosting the “Research to Impact” convening, with @MoreInCommon_US, @GreaterGoodSC, and Over Zero starting today in Chicago.
See y’all soon! 🎉
March 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
How can we foster pluralism in 🇺🇸?
We @newpluralists recognize it’s key to connect science to practice.
I’m thrilled to be co-hosting the “Research to Impact” convening, with @MoreInCommon_US, @GreaterGoodSC, and Over Zero starting today in Chicago.
See y’all soon! 🎉
We @newpluralists recognize it’s key to connect science to practice.
I’m thrilled to be co-hosting the “Research to Impact” convening, with @MoreInCommon_US, @GreaterGoodSC, and Over Zero starting today in Chicago.
See y’all soon! 🎉
A reminder: you can usually ignore campus parking tickets.
Found these from ~2008 when cleaning out our car. Harvard police haven’t come for us yet.
Found these from ~2008 when cleaning out our car. Harvard police haven’t come for us yet.
March 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM
A reminder: you can usually ignore campus parking tickets.
Found these from ~2008 when cleaning out our car. Harvard police haven’t come for us yet.
Found these from ~2008 when cleaning out our car. Harvard police haven’t come for us yet.