Proof of Thought
Where human signals are found above the noise
Diamonds
Sometimes a writer publishes a piece that particularly resonates with their readers, drawing more likes than anything else they've published recently. These are those essays by writers in the Proof of Thought network.
culture · 29politics · 15writing · 13technology · 11philosophy · 8ai · 6environment · 6literature · 5science · 5economics · 4education · 4media · 4productivity · 4cognition · 3humour · 3conspiracies · 2neuroscience · 2psychology · 2transhumanism · 2art · 1attention · 1creativity · 1fiction · 1mindfulness · 1music · 1poetry · 1wellness · 1
- Students In Serbia Just Toppled A Brutal Dictator Without Firing A Shot. Here’s How Steven Donziger · 31 Oct · diamond in 1 dayThe lessons are universal. Think Ghandi in India, Mandela in South Africa, and Havel in the Czech Republic. The impact for Serbia could be that significant.
- The Fight for the House, the Future of MAGA, and What Comes NextKatie Couric · 30 OctA recording from Katie Couric's live video
- Trump Derangement Syndrome Has Been Vindicated Bentham · 23 Oct · diamond in 1 dayThose who were hysterical in 2016 were substantially correct in their predictions about Trump
- It’s Time to Take Starlink Away from Elon MuskPaul Krugman · 22 Oct · diamond in 1 dayAmericans did not give him the right to make national security policy
- The end of the Trump rallyAaron Rupar · 22 Oct · diamond in 2 daysThe defining political event of this era is going out with a whimper.
- Conservatives Rape, Liberals Don'tWalter Rhein · 21 Oct · diamond in 1 dayConservatives claim their aggression is for our protection but the only ones we need protection from is them
- Indie Media Darling Prof. Jiang Is Actually A Lunatic!Lee Camp · 21 Oct · diamond in 13 daysNew column by Lee Camp
- Control Yourself! William Irvine · 20 Oct · diamond in 9 daysThinking about: Your life
- Trump is in Office to Solve Putin’s ProblemsRuth Ben-Ghiat · 19 Oct · diamond in 3 daysA note on the “headlines” about Trump assisting Putin
- SHAMEFUL: Every US Senator Other Than Bernie Is Still Refusing to Call It A “Genocide” Steven Donziger · 19 Oct · diamond in 1 dayAlmost all academic scholars and credible human rights groups have determined that Israel is committing genocide. Why are so many US politicians so scared of the word?
- 6 Time-Tested Remedies to Decalcify the Pineal GlandEccentrik · 17 Oct · diamond in 1 dayBecause three eyes are ALWAYS better than two...
- How Do You Tell a Woman That Her Husband is a Child Rapist?Walter Rhein · 14 Oct · diamond in 1 dayHer whole life had been structured to prevent her from seeing the truth
- Aristotle’s Poetics: Final ProjectJacob Allee · 14 OctAn Overview and Assignment
- Gender identity and its discontentsDaniel Oppenheimer · 11 Oct
- Anthropic’s Ban on ‘Cruelty’ Towards Claude: Who Gets To Decide How We Treat LLMs?Ellen Burns, PhD · 9 Oct · diamond in 4 days
- I’m Disappointed in Leftists on AIBentham · 8 Oct · diamond in 13 daysThe common leftist view on AI is both wrong and bad
- More Than 21 Plague Vaccines Are Already in Development: mRNA, saRNA, DNA, Viral Vector, Bacterial Vector, Subunit, and Live-AttenuatedEccentrik · 7 OctWhy were governments and military biodefense programs already investing so heavily in plague vaccines before the current plague hysteria erupted?
- Let's Help Matt Gromlich Defeat Mike JohnsonWalter Rhein · 7 OctA recording from Walter Rhein's live video
- Israel Could Collapse Soon—Leaked CIA Report Says!Lee Camp · 7 Oct · diamond in 4 daysNew column by Lee Camp
- Don’t Fall for a Simple StoryDylan Kane · 6 Oct · diamond in 2 daysSold a Story season two is coming
- The Trump Administration is a Cesspit of CorruptionPaul Krugman · 5 Oct · diamond in 7 daysAnd fighting it should be at the heart of the Democratic agenda
- Unreasonable PeopleWilliam Irvine · 30 Sept · diamond in 11 daysThinking about: Other people
- Why I Commute Without A PhoneWill · 29 SeptIt gives me a feeling I used to get on holiday
- Liability, Liability, LiabilityLuiza Jarovsky, PhD · 28 SeptThose who say that AI is ungovernable or that no existing tool or mechanism could reduce the rising number of AI safety incidents are lying | Edition #327
- Has Trump Gone Full Authoritarian? With Ruth Ben GhiatRuth Ben-Ghiat · 26 SeptCorruption and lawlessness go into overdrive; Trump’s adulation of a Communist dictator
- “I think the answer is we have to shut the labs down” - Jensen HuangGary Marcus · 24 SeptOpenAI hacks a foreign government — and the US faces its most critical AI test yet.
- Should you do a PhD?Tommy Blanchard · 24 SeptA realistic look at doctorate degrees
- It’s “Underwear on the Outside” TimePaul Krugman · 23 SeptTrump’s continuing downward spiral into sundowning
- Republicans Have Earned a RoutSam Matey-Coste · 2 NovYou don’t have to love Democrats, progressives, or the left to know what to do.
- I analyzed four thousand Substack posts about machine mindsMike Thicke · 31 OctMinds are winning, but nobody is changing their mind
- Ukraine is winning, Canada is winning, Europe is winning...Robin Horsfall · 30 Oct · diamond in 2 days
- This billionaire destroyed a publishing companyNaomi Kanakia · 29 Oct · diamond in 2 days
- Look At These Cows On The Victoria’s Secret RunwayJessica DeFino · 28 Oct · diamond in 1 dayAlso: salmon, the deceased, anglerfish...
- Violent and Brutal Rapist Trump Robert Harrington · 28 Oct · diamond in 1 dayHer name is Beatrice Keul, and she must be believed
- Why I STILL Don’t Recommend US Emigrants Move to Portugal or SpainElizabeth Silleck La Rue · 27 Oct · diamond in 1 dayConscientious Emigrants should watch the global sociopolitical landscape, not the blogs that parrot each other
- The Dark Triad: Trump, Musk, PutinCarole Cadwalladr · 26 Oct · diamond in 6 daysOr why now’s the time to buy a wind-up radio
- ‘You Can See Everything’ knows what you wantPenny Lane · 26 Oct · diamond in 1 dayBeauty, money, power, danger, and the pleasure of being deceived. No spoilers! Plus, 6 more fun documentaries that mess with your head.
- Sketch 1,000: Notice, Collect, Process, ShareJono Hey · 26 Oct · diamond in 3 daysBuilding a body of work
- Islamo-Leftism Is Not a Conspiracy TheoryMaarten Boudry · 25 Oct · diamond in 1 dayIt’s an unrequited love affair
- This book doesn’t want to be what it was supposed to beGuy Burt · 24 Oct · diamond in 1 dayWork In Progress – a writing diary #1
- Stop making excuses for scumbag behaviorDaniel Muñoz · 22 Oct · diamond in 3 daysWe have to start thinking about the long run
- Why Global Trepanation?Scott Alexander · 22 Oct · diamond in 1 day
- Is Paris burning?Sarah Wilson · 20 Oct · diamond in 1 day“France is having a painful conversation with itself about whether its promises still hold”.
- Trump’s State Department Admits to Investigating All Passport Applicants For “Evidence of a Prior Sex Change”Elizabeth Silleck La Rue · 20 OctThe Trump administration now claims that signs of being transgender may include: renewing your passport early for any reason—even marriage—forgetting to fill out part of the form, and changing names.
- It’s Not a RevivalJames Taylor Foreman · 17 Oct · diamond in 2 daysVibe shifts aren’t measurable until they’re not important.
- “I Dream Big, But Don’t Do Anything Bout It” Lana Sova · 15 OctThe real reason why you self sabotage your goals and what to do about it.
- Do Men Need Daughters To Discover Women Are Human?Katie Jagielnicka · 14 Oct · diamond in 11 daysOn the growing body of research on the first-daughter effect
- Writing is Rarely a Linear ProcessRobert Roy Britt · 13 Oct · diamond in 5 daysIt’s OK to bounce around, walk way, circle back, and even totally drop an idea
- The Nobel Prize: The Science That Lets Us Control Brain Cells With LightPuck Reeders · 13 Oct · diamond in 6 daysHuge congrats to Doctors Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel
- Reading Is Becoming a Minority Practice (Again)Charlie Gilkey · 13 Oct · diamond in 2 daysTying ideas from the Atlantic's "The End of Reading Is Here" to other observations about how we're reading, watching, and talking to each other.
- You can thank Ukraine for the sudden lack of botsMugsy Margarit · 12 Oct · diamond in 1 day
- Longtober: My Inaugural Month of Long Form Biased Reading and Writing on SubstackAlias El’Pseudonym III · 8 Oct · diamond in 3 days
- A human environmentalismBill McKibben · 7 Oct · diamond in 4 daysSlightly weird edition with some thoughts on the AI moment
- The death of the influencerStephanie · 5 OctGuys. I think it’s finally happening.
- Small Talk Is KingJames Taylor Foreman · 3 OctI don’t want to talk about my feelings.
- I am genuinely terrified about this shift in the publishing industryAndrea Bartz · 2 OctPangram is ruining authors' lives, and our window to do something about it is closing.
- Our AI MidwifeScott Alexander · 2 OctA guest post by Drew Housman
- Model Behavior: George SaundersGeorge Saunders · 2 Oct“Of course, if AI can cure cancer, bravo. I’m all for it. But even with cancer cured, death will still arrive somehow.”
- Publishing, Social Class, and the Inefficiency That Ruins LivesMichael Church · 1 Oct · diamond in 9 days
- The Invention of Islamic InventionCremieux Recueil · 1 OctHow a rogue Wikipedia editor credited Muslims with... everything
- What AI Writing Does to a Human BrainLana Sova · 30 Sept
- Learning to Live and Work with New LimitsCharlie Gilkey · 30 SeptA health diagnosis forced me to rebuild my identity around what I can actually do.
- Abolish frat cultureBess Kalb · 30 SeptOn “The Good Guy With the Text” fallacy
- What’s the point of writing anymore?Tim Goodfellow · 30 SeptMy thoughts on writing in the age of AI.
- I Have Been Writing About AI For 6 Years: Something Changed This SummerAlberto Romero · 29 SeptNotes on becoming, like everyone else, obsolete
- What the heck is happening with AI right now?Jacqueline Nesi, PhD · 28 SeptA guide for normal people
- Eleven Nazis. Eleanor Goldfield · 27 SeptOn the crime of doing nothing in the face of evil.
- Happy Stanislav Petrov DaySam Matey-Coste · 26 SeptThis soldier’s quiet heroism is more relevant than ever.
- How I read a scientific paper in 20 minutesJonathan Tonkin · 25 SeptA five-pass system for deciding what deserves deeper attention