Six things… that challenge truth
I’m not convinced we live in a post-truth world. But truth is certainly in some kind of trouble, challenged on many fronts. Surprisingly, the sources of several of those challenges are good things…
ReadTag: Reason & rationality
Is this really a post-truth world?
To rebuild belief in the power and value of truth, we can’t dodge its complexity. Truths can be and often are difficult to understand, discover, explain, verify. They are also disturbingly easy to hide, distort, abuse or twist. Often we cannot claim with any certainty to know the truth. We need to take stock of the various kinds of real and supposed truths out there and understand how to test their authenticity.
ReadWe can work it out
In a brilliant piece of philosophical jujutsu, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber turn reason’s weaknesses into strengths, arguing that its supposed flaws are actually design features which work remarkably well. All those biases and heuristics are not “quick-and-dirty” but “fast-and-frugal”.
ReadPainful truths
Love is so last century. What the world needs now, the only thing that there’s just too little of, is empathy. Empathy is widely touted as the key to effective management, good government, better medical care, improved wellbeing, higher-achieving schools, excellent parenting, even world peace. It’s clearly time for a backlash…
ReadOn Derek Parfit
TODAY – BBC RADIO 4. Talking about Derek Parfit, who died on New Year’s Day. Listen again for a limited[…]
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