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
Or: Why do Black Americans have far less wealth, higher unemployment and lower rates of homeownership than white Americans do?
“What Are the Seven Principles That Lead to More Effective Learning (And Teaching)?”
And why are there actually seven and not five?
Branko Milanović, photo by Alberto Cristofari /CONTRASTO/laif
“Lack of Competition Generates Hubris…”
…and unfortunately, this also applies to the economic system the world largely adopted and is now relying on: capitalism. The world’s leading inequality scholar, Branko Milanović talks about global income disparities, resurgent ideologies and the most promising strategies for dealing with both.
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