Ivan Neo
@neophilosopher.bsky.social
Author, rationalist, atheist, PhD physicist.
I talk a lot about design, but only because understanding design is one of the reasons we *know* we originated through unguided evolution.
I talk a lot about design, but only because understanding design is one of the reasons we *know* we originated through unguided evolution.
If you are going to quote or read the Bible uncritically, why even bother going to college at a liberal arts school?
Does the Bible even mention transgender issues?
Losing 3% of a course grade seems like way too small a penalty, IMO. But, no, OU removes the instructor instead.
Does the Bible even mention transgender issues?
Losing 3% of a course grade seems like way too small a penalty, IMO. But, no, OU removes the instructor instead.
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination.
apnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:42 AM
If you are going to quote or read the Bible uncritically, why even bother going to college at a liberal arts school?
Does the Bible even mention transgender issues?
Losing 3% of a course grade seems like way too small a penalty, IMO. But, no, OU removes the instructor instead.
Does the Bible even mention transgender issues?
Losing 3% of a course grade seems like way too small a penalty, IMO. But, no, OU removes the instructor instead.
I found this article... disappointing.
Let's talk about emergence. We invoke the term emergence when the high-level properties of matter don't obviously follow from the low-level particle physics...
Let's talk about emergence. We invoke the term emergence when the high-level properties of matter don't obviously follow from the low-level particle physics...
Many physicists have come to believe that a mystery is unfolding in every microbe, animal, and human—one that could redefine the field for the next generation, Adam Frank writes. theatln.tc/vGtTDgVd
December 19, 2025 at 1:33 AM
I found this article... disappointing.
Let's talk about emergence. We invoke the term emergence when the high-level properties of matter don't obviously follow from the low-level particle physics...
Let's talk about emergence. We invoke the term emergence when the high-level properties of matter don't obviously follow from the low-level particle physics...
Reposted by Ivan Neo
The humanist meaning of life with A C Grayling 🔍
October 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The humanist meaning of life with A C Grayling 🔍
When it comes to genetics, I am a layperson, but this looks fascinating. The authors are overlaying genetic information on the evolutionary tree.
Pleased to announce that our #preprint on the evolutionary history of gene functions is now online at #bioRxiv! We overlayed functional annotations on the evolutionary history of ~4.5M genes from 508 species across the tree of life and found some very cool stuff!
tinyurl.com/FuncEvol
🧵 1/10
tinyurl.com/FuncEvol
🧵 1/10
September 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
When it comes to genetics, I am a layperson, but this looks fascinating. The authors are overlaying genetic information on the evolutionary tree.
After several amusing attempts to get chatGPT to create an infographic for my Counterargument from Design, I made this one manually in PowerPoint. What do you think?
#atheism #evolution
#atheism #evolution
September 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
After several amusing attempts to get chatGPT to create an infographic for my Counterargument from Design, I made this one manually in PowerPoint. What do you think?
#atheism #evolution
#atheism #evolution
Tomorrow, I'll be talking about aspirational identity, virtue ethics, and what I think these ideas can do to bring meaning to our lives and grow the humanist community. I'm very excited for this event because I expect to learn so much from the attendees.
#humanism #atheism
#humanism #atheism
Passionate Humanism
Finding Meaning in a World Without the Supernatural
www.eventbrite.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:19 PM
My radical claim (OK, *one* of my radical claims) is that you will have difficulty understanding philosophy until you think of neural networks as abstraction machines. If, instead, you think of brains merely as complex hunks of matter, materialism will seem baffling... #philmind #philsci #consci
ANY theory of consciousness will have bizarre implications that contravene our commonsense picture of the world, argues @eschwitz.bsky.social for @iai.tv: bit.ly/3U3pVbF #philsky #psychsky #philmind #philosophyofmind
Consciousness, cosmology, and the collapse of common sense | Eric Schwitzgebel
bit.ly
August 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Ivan Neo
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us.
- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
July 29, 2025 at 1:56 PM
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us.
- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
In Probability and Purpose, I argue that we can effectively rule out design by an all-powerful creator because, all things being equal, we should expect something very different from evolution. But the same anti-supernatural argument applies to idealism and dualism... #physicalism #PhilSky
July 12, 2025 at 2:41 PM
In Probability and Purpose, I argue that we can effectively rule out design by an all-powerful creator because, all things being equal, we should expect something very different from evolution. But the same anti-supernatural argument applies to idealism and dualism... #physicalism #PhilSky
Reposted by Ivan Neo
If you're not a Christian Nationalist (whether you're Christian, some other religion, or Atheist) this should make your skin crawl.
Trump’s religious liberty commission might be the end of religious freedom for all kansasreflector.com/2025/07/09/t...
Trump’s religious liberty commission might be the end of religious freedom for all kansasreflector.com/2025/07/09/t...
Trump’s religious liberty commission might be the end of religious freedom for all • Kansas Reflector
If religious freedom is something you value, you need to add the newly formed Religious Liberty Commission to your list of things to follow,
kansasreflector.com
July 10, 2025 at 3:02 AM
If you're not a Christian Nationalist (whether you're Christian, some other religion, or Atheist) this should make your skin crawl.
Trump’s religious liberty commission might be the end of religious freedom for all kansasreflector.com/2025/07/09/t...
Trump’s religious liberty commission might be the end of religious freedom for all kansasreflector.com/2025/07/09/t...
On September 3rd at 7pm, I'll be hosting a presentation and networking event on the topic of secular identity and humanist virtue ethics. The event is free, and I hope to bring together some of the Chicago area atheist/freethinker groups.
Passionate Humanism
Finding Meaning in a World Without the Supernatural
www.eventbrite.com
July 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
On September 3rd at 7pm, I'll be hosting a presentation and networking event on the topic of secular identity and humanist virtue ethics. The event is free, and I hope to bring together some of the Chicago area atheist/freethinker groups.
I think Many Worlds is by far our best interpretation of quantum mechanics. But even from Sean Carroll, I was not expecting a 95% degree of confidence.
Will we ever know the theory of everything? Answers from our rapid fire round with @seanmcarroll.bsky.social.
#physics #cosmology #theoreticalphysics #philosophy
#physics #cosmology #theoreticalphysics #philosophy
July 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I think Many Worlds is by far our best interpretation of quantum mechanics. But even from Sean Carroll, I was not expecting a 95% degree of confidence.
Reposted by Ivan Neo
BREAKING: The I.R.S. is now allowing churches and pastors to endorse political candidates. There will be little to stop billionaires from funneling money through churches to buy our elections.
Americans deserve a government that works for all of us - not just the religious right.
Americans deserve a government that works for all of us - not just the religious right.
July 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM
BREAKING: The I.R.S. is now allowing churches and pastors to endorse political candidates. There will be little to stop billionaires from funneling money through churches to buy our elections.
Americans deserve a government that works for all of us - not just the religious right.
Americans deserve a government that works for all of us - not just the religious right.
I agree with Erdur's excellent point about realism. No one is good because they want to be good in an abstract sense. They want to be good out of subjective conviction. If objective good was our subjective evil, we would prefer to be subjectively good and objectively evil.
“We have to do the moral work every time. There are no moral shortcuts,” argues Melis Erdur. | iai.tv/articles/bot...
Tap to read more about why we must learn to stand firm in our own human convictions.
#socsky
Tap to read more about why we must learn to stand firm in our own human convictions.
#socsky
Both moral realism and relativism are wrong | Melis Erdur
Delve into Melis Erdur's analysis of moral objectivity, challenging both realism and relativism, and promoting the importance of individual moral convictions.
iai.tv
July 6, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I agree with Erdur's excellent point about realism. No one is good because they want to be good in an abstract sense. They want to be good out of subjective conviction. If objective good was our subjective evil, we would prefer to be subjectively good and objectively evil.
Reposted by Ivan Neo
New on #HumanistHeritage: the School of Night was a rumoured group of Elizabethan thinkers accused of atheism and dealing in forbidden ideas.
Real or not, the legend itself reveals deep anxieties about freethought and religion in early modern England.
heritage.humanists.uk/the-school-o...
Real or not, the legend itself reveals deep anxieties about freethought and religion in early modern England.
heritage.humanists.uk/the-school-o...
Humanist Heritage: The School of Night
O paradox! Black is the badge of hell,The hue of dungeons, and the school of night… William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours […]
heritage.humanists.uk
July 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
New on #HumanistHeritage: the School of Night was a rumoured group of Elizabethan thinkers accused of atheism and dealing in forbidden ideas.
Real or not, the legend itself reveals deep anxieties about freethought and religion in early modern England.
heritage.humanists.uk/the-school-o...
Real or not, the legend itself reveals deep anxieties about freethought and religion in early modern England.
heritage.humanists.uk/the-school-o...
My new book, Passionate Humanism, is now available on Amazon. The book is a short collection of thoughts on finding a deeper sense of meaning in a natural world. It is part philosophy, part personal experience, and perhaps a recipe for finding your own home in the universe.
#humanism #atheism
#humanism #atheism
Passionate Humanism
Passionate Humanism [Phillips, Ivan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Passionate Humanism
www.amazon.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The Vera Rubin Observatory has changed the way I think about the sky. If our eyes were more sensitive, we would find the night sky packed with galaxies and nebulae.
This new perspective belongs to all the people of Earth.
This new perspective belongs to all the people of Earth.
We're star-struck by the first images taken by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Stay tuned for tomorrow's podcast to learn more!
📷 : NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
📷 : NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
July 1, 2025 at 3:47 PM
The Vera Rubin Observatory has changed the way I think about the sky. If our eyes were more sensitive, we would find the night sky packed with galaxies and nebulae.
This new perspective belongs to all the people of Earth.
This new perspective belongs to all the people of Earth.
I'm having a great time at the American Humanists Association Conference in Chicago this weekend.
June 28, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I'm having a great time at the American Humanists Association Conference in Chicago this weekend.
I know what you're thinking, "Take it easy, Ivan! Save some ISBN numbers for the rest of us!"
Prototypes of a new, short book with my thoughts on secular identity, virtue ethics, and art in humanism.
Prototypes of a new, short book with my thoughts on secular identity, virtue ethics, and art in humanism.
June 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I know what you're thinking, "Take it easy, Ivan! Save some ISBN numbers for the rest of us!"
Prototypes of a new, short book with my thoughts on secular identity, virtue ethics, and art in humanism.
Prototypes of a new, short book with my thoughts on secular identity, virtue ethics, and art in humanism.
For the last few years, I've been contemplating a deeper sort of humanism. I was inspired by reading Jonathan Haidt's book, The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt notes that the modern emphasis of moral thinking has been on solving moral dilemmas, rather than on how to live a good life...
June 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
For the last few years, I've been contemplating a deeper sort of humanism. I was inspired by reading Jonathan Haidt's book, The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt notes that the modern emphasis of moral thinking has been on solving moral dilemmas, rather than on how to live a good life...
I had a fun discussion about "third-way evolution" with Bruce, Peter, and Sadia on the Theory of Anything Podcast
open.spotify.com/episode/0V99...
open.spotify.com/episode/0V99...
Episode 109: Genes, Emergence, and Platonism (round table with Sadia and Ivan)
The Theory of Anything · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 18, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I had a fun discussion about "third-way evolution" with Bruce, Peter, and Sadia on the Theory of Anything Podcast
open.spotify.com/episode/0V99...
open.spotify.com/episode/0V99...
Reposted by Ivan Neo
No better testimonial than this one on how federal job cuts put lives at risk.
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
June 3, 2025 at 3:16 AM
No better testimonial than this one on how federal job cuts put lives at risk.
I think most atheists believe that we should be atheists because there is a lack of evidence for God, i.e., a negative argument. I think the case for atheism is much stronger. In the case of an omnipotent God, scientific evidence becomes a *positive* argument for atheism. I'll explain...
May 13, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I think most atheists believe that we should be atheists because there is a lack of evidence for God, i.e., a negative argument. I think the case for atheism is much stronger. In the case of an omnipotent God, scientific evidence becomes a *positive* argument for atheism. I'll explain...