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How can we teach objectivity in a post-truth era?
I believe that cows chew cud, pigs can’t fly, and night is darker than day, and also that there is water between Dover and Calais. When I believe these things, I believe them to be true. And I certainly hope that you believe them, too.
Any of us could continue the list indefinitely for ourselves. Some might put things on the list that others doubt, but there will inevitably be a great deal of overlap. Even Donald Trump has not tweeted that the USA lies north of Canada.
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One of the most sinister is the “availability cascade,” defined as a self-reinforcing process of collective belief formation, a chain reaction in which particular stories or bits of evidence balloon into common certainties, often helped on its way by activists or “availability entrepreneurs.”
In other words, the madness of crowds, whereby a few simple memorable stories, “my child had an MMR jab and now has autism”, have greater influence than a whole library of well-conducted blind tests showing that the one has nothing to do with the other.
Once caught up in a cascade or chain reaction, people refuse to listen to evidence. They ground themselves in bubbles or silos, only listening to voices like their own. And there is no certain way of curing people who wear such blinkers.
Any of us could continue the list indefinitely for ourselves. Some might put things on the list that others doubt, but there will inevitably be a great deal of overlap. Even Donald Trump has not tweeted that the USA lies north of Canada.
-------
One of the most sinister is the “availability cascade,” defined as a self-reinforcing process of collective belief formation, a chain reaction in which particular stories or bits of evidence balloon into common certainties, often helped on its way by activists or “availability entrepreneurs.”
In other words, the madness of crowds, whereby a few simple memorable stories, “my child had an MMR jab and now has autism”, have greater influence than a whole library of well-conducted blind tests showing that the one has nothing to do with the other.
Once caught up in a cascade or chain reaction, people refuse to listen to evidence. They ground themselves in bubbles or silos, only listening to voices like their own. And there is no certain way of curing people who wear such blinkers.
[link:https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2019/02/how-can-we-teach-objectivity-post-truth-era|
Interesting article - solutions though seem to rely a bit too much on having leaders with gravitas and as the gravitas has dispersed into the ether that might be somewhat too nebulous. Worth a read though. Long read...