13 Facts About Julia Galef

Julia Galef is an American writer, speaker and co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality.

Julia Galef received a BA in statistics from Columbia University.

Julia Galef co-founded and became president of the nonprofit Center for Applied Rationality in 2012.

Julia Galef was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in 2015.

In 2009, Galef began co-hosting the Rationally Speaking Podcast with the philosopher of science Massimo Pigliucci.

Julia Galef frequently speaks on rationality and moderates debates at skeptic conferences.

Julia Galef gives public lectures to organizations including the Center for Inquiry and the Secular Student Alliance.

Julia Galef began writing the blog Measure of Doubt in 2011 with her brother, as well as writing for Religion Dispatches and Scientific American.

In particular her idea of keeping a "surprise journal" received attention, which is one of the techniques Julia Galef uses to record incidents where her expectations were wrong, in order to recognize personal faulty assumptions that expose and counterweight the "bias blind spot".

Julia Galef often explains common confusions and popular misconceptions of rationality.

Julia Galef describes epistemic rationality as a way of reasoning according to logic and the principles of probability theory to form beliefs and conclusions.

Julia Galef discussed the concept of Straw Vulcan, originally coined by the website TV Tropes, to describe the incorrect perception about rationality as a way of thinking that denies emotions such as love and lacks appreciations for beauty.

Julia Galef argues that, given the gross irrationality Spock has seen in humans, his failure to adjust his expectations about humans' ability to make rational decisions is itself a case of irrationality.