Postmodernism’s degeneracy was never inevitable
Reading Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition today, it’s easier to see how much he got right, and why so much that was done in postmodernism’s name was an aberration.
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The power of second thoughts
How habits of thinking can challenge unthinking habits.
ReadNever Had It So Good
By the time you read this, something truly dreadful might have blighted the world. Pinker does not prophesy that this won’t happen; he simply reminds us why it should not and need not, as long as we don’t give up the notion of the emancipatory power of reason to help illuminate the way forward. If that is naive, even more naive is the belief that despair, fatalism or superstition supplies a credible alternative.
ReadThe triage of truth
If we are sincerely interested in the truth we can use expert opinion more objectively without either giving up our rational autonomy or giving in to our preconceptions. I’ve developed a simple three-step heuristic I’ve dubbed ‘The Triage of Truth’ which can give us a way of deciding whom to listen to about how the world is…
ReadThe inescapability of the ethical
Social epidemiology never generates straightforward policy prescriptions. Even if we know something makes us live longer, we still have to ask if it is right to promote it. It might be that many features of more traditional societies, including religiosity and tight social relations, are good for health. But it does not follow that we can or should try to turn back the clock. That is a philosophical and political question, not one for epidemiology.
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