Derek Thompson: What is the uni-context?

Agnes Callard: Let’s start with the word context. A context is a set of circumstances that tell you how you should act. For most of human history, contexts were local and multiple. If you wanted to know how you should act, you would look around. Am I in a field? Am I inside my home? Am I in the church? Am I in a bar? You would immediately get guidance by looking both at your physical environment and at the people around you and how they were acting.

The uni-context is a scenario in which the ways you should act become the same across all different contexts. There’s just one set of norms you should follow all times, irrespective of context.

https://www.derekthompson.org/p/a-philosophers-one-word-theory-to

Alan Jacobs doesn't like "uni-context".

The problem with the theory of the “uni-context” is that it’s an explanation of the behavior of Extremely Online People masquerading as an account of “everyone” or “the world.” Extremely Online People are like strong secularists: they think they’re more common than they are, and they believe that the whole world is trending in their direction.

https://social.ayjay.org/2026/07/15/the-problem-with-the-theory.html