Conspiracy theories thrive in a climate of fear and uncertainty. Unfortunately, humans tend to look to them to make sense of complex, unexpected events or to reinforce strongly held worldviews. How can this be explained? Here is a classic on the subject:
Legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein offers thoughtful, worthy essays on conspiracies, animal rights, government and climate.
Cass R. Sunstein Simon & Schuster
Americans have always been skeptical of intellectuals and experts. Today, says Tom Nichols, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College, that attitude has mutated into outright hostility. In general, Americans have never been so willing to reject the knowledge of those who actually know something. This embrace of self-righteous ignorance bodes ill for the nation’s future. American society must re-establish constructive rules of engagement between laypeople and experts to keep democracy from devolving into mob rule or “elitist technocracy.”
The reluctance to give up false truths may have been an evolutionary advantage for early humans.
Julie Beck The Atlantic
How can you protect yourself from hyped misinformation? This is more than an abstract problem, as the internet drives the radicalization and conspiracies that can fuel real-life chaos and violence. Thankfully, there are ways to counter the post-truth:
Fake news has become pervasive worldwide. How can society better recognize and reject this false information?
David M. J. Lazer, Matthew A. Baum, Yochai Benkler, Adam J. Berinsky, Kelly M. Greenhill, Filippo Menczer, Miriam J. Metzger, Brendan Nyhan, Gordon Pennycook, David Rothschild, Michael Schudson, Steven A. Sloman, Cass R. Sunstein, Emily A, Thorson, Duncan J. Watts and Jonathan L. Zittrain Science
"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt. For cost reasons, Dr. Rob Ott suggests we forgo the local anesthetic. Of course, your insurance wouldn't have paid for it anyway."
Bloody Hell!
Robots have much to offer in the medical world, and can even carry out operations, but don’t worry: There’s still a surgeon behind their actions.
Kelley Steven-Waiss & Edie Goldberg / (c) Christophe Testi @ CreativeShot Photography
“Sideways Is the New Up!”
Most organizations still assess employees’ skills by looking at their current roles and job titles. In a rapidly changing environment, however, this approach is no longer suitable. Edie Goldberg and Kelley Steven-Waiss propose a tried-and-tested alternative.
The Hybrid Workplace
After the pandemic, there won’t just be the office and the home office – but everything in between. Here are five points to consider if productivity, employee health and a good company culture are important to you.
Why Big Plans Fail
And how you can do better than Kodak, Kohl and Communism.
