Conspiracy Theories — David Deutsch

A web-native version of David Deutsch's 2003 essay series on conspiracy theories, originally published in Setting the World to Rights.

Design Philosophy

This page embodies "explanatory beauty" — the principle that aesthetic quality emerges from clarity and function, not decoration. The design prioritizes:

• Typographic precision — EB Garamond for body text, Inter for UI elements
• Structural clarity — Sticky navigation shows argument flow at a glance
• Reading experience — Optimal line length, generous spacing, dark mode support
• Zero cognitive overhead — UI disappears, ideas dominate

Features

• 📖 Full essay text — Complete transcription formatted for digital reading
• 🌓 Dark mode toggle — Respects reader preference, persists via localStorage
• 📍 Reading progress — Visual indicator and active section highlighting
• 📱 Responsive design — Perfect reading on any device (no pinch-zoom needed)
• ⚡ Fast & lightweight — <25KB total, loads instantly
• 🖨️ Print-friendly — Clean PDF export

Deployment

Option 1: GitHub Pages (Recommended)

1. Create a new GitHub repository (public or private)
2. Push this code:

   git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git
   git branch -M main
   git push -u origin main

3. Enable GitHub Pages:
   • Go to repository Settings → Pages
   • Source: Deploy from branch main, folder / (root)
   • Save
4. Site will be live at: https://YOUR_USERNAME.github.io/REPO_NAME/

Option 2: Vercel/Netlify

Simply drag the project folder into Vercel or Netlify dashboard for instant deployment.

File Structure

deutsch-conspiracy-theories/
├── index.html          # Complete page (HTML + CSS + JS)
└── README.md           # This file

Single-file architecture for maximum portability and zero build steps.

Typography

• Body text: EB Garamond (19px, 1.75 line-height)
• Headings: Inter (responsive sizing)
• Max content width: 680px (optimal 65-75 characters per line)

Fonts loaded from Google Fonts CDN with preconnect optimization.

Browser Support

• Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
• Mobile Safari, Chrome Mobile
• Graceful degradation for older browsers

License

Essay content © 2003 David Deutsch. Web implementation designed for presentation purposes.

Contact

Built by Mathew Leslie for David Deutsch.