Science’s self-correcting attitude is a model for resisting post-truth.
Evidence
There is no such thing as liberal science or conservative science. When we are asking an empirical question, what should count most is the evidence. As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said long ago (on another topic): “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.” The strength of science is that it embraces an attitude of constantly checking one’s beliefs against the empirical evidence, and changing those beliefs as one learns what the facts are. Can we vow to bring a little bit of this attitude to our consideration of other factual matters? If not, I’m afraid there is an even greater danger out there than post-truth. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 332
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Scientists actively seek to overthrow their own provisional beliefs; Fighting post-truth requires doubting one’s own favored beliefs first — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 330; Psychological inoculation can build societal resistance to misinformation — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 20 (+8 more)
Broader Connections
- Fighting post-truth requires doubting one’s own favored beliefs first
#corroborates(0.90) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 330 - Scientists actively seek to overthrow their own provisional beliefs
#corroborates(0.85) - Scientists pursue truth by actively seeking invalidation of their beliefs
#corroborates(0.85) - Correcting false beliefs can strengthen them rather than reduce them
#complicates(0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 350 - Science deniers exploit science’s unfalsifiability-of-proof to demand equal standing for pseudoscience.
#complicates(0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 58 - Psychological inoculation can build societal resistance to misinformation
#expands(0.75) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 20 - A new science must defeat its strongest intellectual opponents to prove itself
#expands(0.75) - People resist updating beliefs even at the cost of accuracy
#complicates(0.75) - Aggressive rebuttals can push curious people toward pseudo-scientific views
#complicates(0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 295 - Pre-exposing people to weakened persuasive attacks cultivates mental resistance against later misinformation.
#expands(0.75) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 633 - Post-truth is a choice of response to reality, not a fixed condition
#expands(0.72)