Robert Johnson
@robert-a-johnson.bsky.social
Interdisciplinary philosopher, mainly covering ethics, politics, economics and science.
"There are bold strokes that reflect a recognition that capitalism’s current course of high inequality, weak public infrastructure and stagnant real incomes is not sustainable. In those areas, Reeves’s budget is a breath of fresh air, breaking with years of trickle-down orthodoxy. And yet..."
Budget 2025
Repeating old mistakes, or a pivot toward the future?
reasonapplied.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
"There are bold strokes that reflect a recognition that capitalism’s current course of high inequality, weak public infrastructure and stagnant real incomes is not sustainable. In those areas, Reeves’s budget is a breath of fresh air, breaking with years of trickle-down orthodoxy. And yet..."
$1.6 trillion is spent globally on medicine each year, yet only 43% of this actually buys or develops medicine due to the marketing and other business costs. In this article, I explore how transformative a 'Public Pharma' system might really be.
reasonapplied.substack.com/p/reimaginin...
reasonapplied.substack.com/p/reimaginin...
November 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
$1.6 trillion is spent globally on medicine each year, yet only 43% of this actually buys or develops medicine due to the marketing and other business costs. In this article, I explore how transformative a 'Public Pharma' system might really be.
reasonapplied.substack.com/p/reimaginin...
reasonapplied.substack.com/p/reimaginin...
"...advanced economies may have reached the point where significant growth is structurally impossible without wholesale redistribution of capital. That redistribution need not be ideological or punitive; it could be engineered through systemic redesign."
The Growth Illusion
Why Economic Growth is No Longer Realistic or Aspirational
reasonapplied.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"...advanced economies may have reached the point where significant growth is structurally impossible without wholesale redistribution of capital. That redistribution need not be ideological or punitive; it could be engineered through systemic redesign."
"Why don’t asylum seekers simply wait in their own country and apply there? The UK government's official position is explicit: You cannot apply for asylum from overseas. You must reach UK territory first. There is thus no legal route to asylum without doing something illegal, to get into the UK."
Why Everything You Know About Illegal Immigration is Wrong
The Real Story Behind Britain’s "Illegal Immigration" Crisis
reasonapplied.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
"Why don’t asylum seekers simply wait in their own country and apply there? The UK government's official position is explicit: You cannot apply for asylum from overseas. You must reach UK territory first. There is thus no legal route to asylum without doing something illegal, to get into the UK."
"If the act is really one of belonging and pride, fly it with a message of ‘respect for all races’ written across the middle. That demonstrates pride without the intention to threaten. If this disgusts you, then perhaps it wasn’t pride that was the initial motive for displaying the flag after all."
Where Pride Ends and Intimidation Begins
The St George's Cross Problem
reasonapplied.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"If the act is really one of belonging and pride, fly it with a message of ‘respect for all races’ written across the middle. That demonstrates pride without the intention to threaten. If this disgusts you, then perhaps it wasn’t pride that was the initial motive for displaying the flag after all."
General Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally impossible, and misunderstands what the 'General' in 'Human General Intelligence' both consists of and is held back by.
Understanding these facts of neuroscience, evolutionary biology and philosophy of mind help to show why AI will never become GAI.
Understanding these facts of neuroscience, evolutionary biology and philosophy of mind help to show why AI will never become GAI.
General Artificial Intelligence: The Myth that Still Dominates Society
We are trying to create limitless human minds, whilst misunderstanding how human minds work
reasonapplied.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
General Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally impossible, and misunderstands what the 'General' in 'Human General Intelligence' both consists of and is held back by.
Understanding these facts of neuroscience, evolutionary biology and philosophy of mind help to show why AI will never become GAI.
Understanding these facts of neuroscience, evolutionary biology and philosophy of mind help to show why AI will never become GAI.
"Yes, the far-right is ineffective, and wasteful and hateful, and will fail the societies it is part of. But if you argue on it’s terms - if you fight it in online algorithms that will spread its myths 500 times faster than it will spread your truths - then you will lose."
The Rise of the Far Right: Can Institutions Be Rebuilt to Withstand Extremism?
Finding the Pied Piper.
reasonapplied.substack.com
August 22, 2025 at 7:52 PM
"Yes, the far-right is ineffective, and wasteful and hateful, and will fail the societies it is part of. But if you argue on it’s terms - if you fight it in online algorithms that will spread its myths 500 times faster than it will spread your truths - then you will lose."
"...the architecture of religious belief, untethered from critical inquiry, mirrors the structure of political extremism: obedience over doubt, group loyalty over evidence, faith over complexity. The match was not accidental but strategic."
The Rise of the Far Right: Religious Roots and Rebirth
How political extremism hijacked the language of morality and belonging.
reasonapplied.substack.com
August 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"...the architecture of religious belief, untethered from critical inquiry, mirrors the structure of political extremism: obedience over doubt, group loyalty over evidence, faith over complexity. The match was not accidental but strategic."
"If the US’ broadcast media looks like an unbalanced apparatus to other developed nations, social media resembles a seesaw shattered by a ten-ton weight.
The more effective a piece of far-right propaganda is at triggering emotion, the more likely it is to dominate your feed."
The more effective a piece of far-right propaganda is at triggering emotion, the more likely it is to dominate your feed."
The Rise of the Far Right: Algorithmic Authoritarianism
How Tech Platforms Became Radicalization Machines
reasonapplied.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 7:39 PM
"If the US’ broadcast media looks like an unbalanced apparatus to other developed nations, social media resembles a seesaw shattered by a ten-ton weight.
The more effective a piece of far-right propaganda is at triggering emotion, the more likely it is to dominate your feed."
The more effective a piece of far-right propaganda is at triggering emotion, the more likely it is to dominate your feed."
One 2021 study estimated that as much as 45% of all content on trending topics such as politics came from non-human accounts, often amplified through networks of fake followers and "engagement pods. Bots didn’t just amplify. They framed reality.
The Rise of the Far Right: How Bots Spread the Disease
Weaponised social media, inauthentic voices, and the illusion of mass support.
reasonapplied.substack.com
July 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM
One 2021 study estimated that as much as 45% of all content on trending topics such as politics came from non-human accounts, often amplified through networks of fake followers and "engagement pods. Bots didn’t just amplify. They framed reality.
"The date was 4 August 1987. On paper, it was a small regulatory adjustment by a 4 person committee. In reality, it marked a turning point: the moment America, perhaps unknowingly, pried open the manhole covers leading to the gravest threat to democracy since the 1940s."
Where The Rise of the Far Right Began
4th Aug 1987: The Day We Removed the Manhole Cover
reasonapplied.substack.com
July 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
"The date was 4 August 1987. On paper, it was a small regulatory adjustment by a 4 person committee. In reality, it marked a turning point: the moment America, perhaps unknowingly, pried open the manhole covers leading to the gravest threat to democracy since the 1940s."
"For much of modern history, the United States has proudly billed itself as “the land of the free” and a model democracy. In recent years, however, prominent watchdogs and research organizations have raised alarms about the health of American democracy."
Has the Land of the Free Become a Failed Democracy?
Is America's descent from democracy now definitive?
reasonapplied.substack.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
"For much of modern history, the United States has proudly billed itself as “the land of the free” and a model democracy. In recent years, however, prominent watchdogs and research organizations have raised alarms about the health of American democracy."
"As early as 1992, Netanyahu claimed Iran would have a nuclear bomb within 2-3 years. For decades, one critical factor restrained him from acting on his threats: the United States. After 30 years of crying wolf, Netanyahu finally found a president he could manipulate."
buff.ly/6jvcROL
buff.ly/6jvcROL
July 7, 2025 at 8:18 AM
"As early as 1992, Netanyahu claimed Iran would have a nuclear bomb within 2-3 years. For decades, one critical factor restrained him from acting on his threats: the United States. After 30 years of crying wolf, Netanyahu finally found a president he could manipulate."
buff.ly/6jvcROL
buff.ly/6jvcROL
"When we step back and look at the global picture, it's clear that modern capitalism carries an enormous price tag (well over 10% of global GDP) in the form of its failures. These are resources that could be better directed toward human flourishing, innovation, and resilience."
“10% of GDP”: the Hidden Benefits of Engineering Capitalism
In recent weeks, my series on re-engineering capitalism has been delving into the problems necessarily faced within our current economic system (including when it will necessarily fail), as well as wh...
reasonapplied.substack.com
July 6, 2025 at 8:09 AM
"When we step back and look at the global picture, it's clear that modern capitalism carries an enormous price tag (well over 10% of global GDP) in the form of its failures. These are resources that could be better directed toward human flourishing, innovation, and resilience."
"The data says that the non-elite already fall $43 trillion short of simply eating and sleeping under a roof. An economic system that cannot clear the bar of keeping its participants alive, let alone allow them space to innovate."
Capitalism’s Final Equation
When will increasingly hoarded wealth leave too few resources to sustain everyone else?
buff.ly
July 4, 2025 at 8:14 AM
"The data says that the non-elite already fall $43 trillion short of simply eating and sleeping under a roof. An economic system that cannot clear the bar of keeping its participants alive, let alone allow them space to innovate."
"The mistakes Roosevelt made happened during the last great war, at a time of international panic and insecurity. Roosevelt’s mistakes are seen as lamentable but understandable in context. Trump’s ‘national emergency’ will be judged a cynical political power grab."
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buff.ly/0xxPBdX
July 2, 2025 at 8:51 AM
"The mistakes Roosevelt made happened during the last great war, at a time of international panic and insecurity. Roosevelt’s mistakes are seen as lamentable but understandable in context. Trump’s ‘national emergency’ will be judged a cynical political power grab."
buff.ly/0xxPBdX
buff.ly/0xxPBdX
July 1, 2025 at 8:07 AM
"We must ask whether our rush to support transition is, in some cases, a failure to challenge outdated norms — norms that tell people they must change who they are to be accepted as they are."
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buff.ly/cDkaY4c
June 30, 2025 at 8:18 AM
"We must ask whether our rush to support transition is, in some cases, a failure to challenge outdated norms — norms that tell people they must change who they are to be accepted as they are."
buff.ly/cDkaY4c
buff.ly/cDkaY4c
"In democracies like the US and UK, political power is heavily influenced by campaign finance and media ownership, often dominated by those with the most to lose from reform. We risk forever living in an impractical system if we allow those forces to dictate our future policies."
buff.ly/OhNM5b3
buff.ly/OhNM5b3
June 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
"In democracies like the US and UK, political power is heavily influenced by campaign finance and media ownership, often dominated by those with the most to lose from reform. We risk forever living in an impractical system if we allow those forces to dictate our future policies."
buff.ly/OhNM5b3
buff.ly/OhNM5b3
"U.S. intelligence continues to assess that Tehran was not building a bomb. But for the first time in decades, the Israeli Prime Minister calculated that Washington’s veto power could be outmaneuvered. After 30 years of crying wolf, Netanyahu finally found a president he could manipulate."
June 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM
"U.S. intelligence continues to assess that Tehran was not building a bomb. But for the first time in decades, the Israeli Prime Minister calculated that Washington’s veto power could be outmaneuvered. After 30 years of crying wolf, Netanyahu finally found a president he could manipulate."
"The problem isn’t a lack of conservatives in universities. It’s a lack of modern conservatism that can withstand serious scrutiny, which has been created by conservatives abandoning the benefits of science and academia for decades."
Trump’s False Right-Left Dichotomy in Education
Why elite universities don’t reflect the political right and why they shouldn’t.
reasonapplied.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"The problem isn’t a lack of conservatives in universities. It’s a lack of modern conservatism that can withstand serious scrutiny, which has been created by conservatives abandoning the benefits of science and academia for decades."
"Today, the National Audit Office estimates that the UK faces a £290 billion infrastructure bill over the next 25 years to fix what should have been maintained all along...all but £13 billion of that could have been avoided if just the dividends paid to investors had instead been reinvested."
UK Water: An Example of the Disaster of Privatisation
A right-wing experiment to test the viability of privatising UK water has cost consumers £337 billion.
reasonapplied.substack.com
June 14, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"Today, the National Audit Office estimates that the UK faces a £290 billion infrastructure bill over the next 25 years to fix what should have been maintained all along...all but £13 billion of that could have been avoided if just the dividends paid to investors had instead been reinvested."
"Engineered Capitalism, then, is not a single reform but a sequenced redesign of the economic system."
How Do We Move To An Engineered Capitalism?
Capitalism is failing the falsifiability test. Engineered Capitalism is now a necessity. How do we move toward it?
reasonapplied.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 5:20 PM
"Engineered Capitalism, then, is not a single reform but a sequenced redesign of the economic system."
"An economic system that cannot clear the bar of keeping its participants alive, let alone allow them space to innovate, has forfeited its social license. In this follow-up, I explore potential alternatives to our current economic system."
Rethinking Economics. A Blueprint for Engineered Capitalism
In a world where capitalism is failing the falsifiability test, we need to examine the alternatives and move to Engineered Capitalism.
reasonapplied.substack.com
May 29, 2025 at 1:44 PM
"An economic system that cannot clear the bar of keeping its participants alive, let alone allow them space to innovate, has forfeited its social license. In this follow-up, I explore potential alternatives to our current economic system."