Ghostless Machine
Overcoming polarization with philosophy

Hi, I’m Ariel Pontes and this is my blog, where I write about atheism, philosophy, science, and sociopolitical issues. I have a master’s in analytic philosophy and I am a co-founder at Humanists Brazil and Effective Altruism Romania, where I do community building. Read more →
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Latest posts
Why I’m not a theist
As far into my childhood as I can remember, I believed in a god. It was a personal god, who answered to prayers, cared for mankind, etc. As I grew…
The burkini ban and the dangers of political polarization
As everybody knows, last month France started enforcing an extremely controversial ban against the so called “burkini”. The ban was eventually overturned, but the debate is still very much alive.…
Six facts free speech fundamentalists love to ignore
Freedom. An apparently simple concept that you’d think people understand pretty well, after all it’s a fundamental human right. But no. It’s probably the concept people abuse and misuse the…
7 Fallacies That Undermine Antifeminism
As a feminist I am often confronted, especially online, by self-declared antifeminists who passionately denounce the ideology resorting to all manner of creative accusations. But is there any basis for so vehemently attacking feminism? With…
Why Django Girls?
In February and March this year Django Girls will be organizing free Django workshops for women in cities all over the world. As a Python/Django developer and feminist myself, I naturally…
Gender quotas
The subject of gender quotas was trending in Brazil a few months ago and I wrote about it in Portuguese. Now that the same topic has sprung in Romania, it’s time to write an English…
Why I write in English
This is a question I have been asked a couple of times since I moved to Romania and started writing in English. The answer I give is that now that…
Differences between Brazil and Romania
Everyone who has a blog and lives abroad for a while has a post like this, so I thought it was about time to write my own. It should be…
The tragic consequences of biological determinism
There probably are biological differences between groups of people, but the moral cost of making the wrong assumptions should keep us skeptic. Read More »The tragic consequences of biological determinism