Evolution and Gatekeepers

Our Picture Of Evolution

Prosanta Chakrabarty | MIT Press Reader | 1st December 2025

Brief examination of evolutionary diagrams. The most popular one, featuring a linear progression from monkey to man, was drawn from Rudolph Zallinger's 1965 mural “March of Progress”. But it is incorrect. Humans did not evolve from these other forms but with them from shared ancestors. A more accurate alternative, depicting evolution as a phylogenetic tree, is becoming popular in textbooks (1,500 words)

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Let’s Not Bring Back The Gatekeepers

Dan Williams | Conspicuous Cognition | 30th November 2025

Social media benefits populism because it provides a platform for ideas stigmatised by establishment elites. In response, establishment institutions are reluctant to engage with fringe views and conspiracy theorists, for fear that this would legitimise them and imply an equal footing. This is doomed to fail. “If policies against misinformation only work if people aren’t misinformed, they don’t work” (6,200 words)