If Reality is Socially Constructed, Does Evidence Matter? If So, How Do We Judge Its Quality?

Evidence is information that serves to support or counter a proposition about reality. If objective reality exists, then we can get closer to its truth through the gathering and evaluation of evidence. Evaluating evidence is a kind of interrogation. For example, one could “interrogate” opinion pieces, news analyses, and science stories with questions like…

If we made such questioning a habit, the better we’d get at glimpsing bits of the world as it is, rather than how we want or expect it to be.

Trust in Science?

In another study, participants who reported trust in science were more likely to believe and disseminate false claims that contain scientific references than false claims that do not. The study authors conclude that ‘trust in science, although desirable in many ways, makes people vulnerable to pseudoscience” (O'Brien, Palmer, et al., 2021).

The Scientific Process

“Occasionally, scientific ideas (such as biological evolution) are written off with the putdown “it’s just a theory.” This slur is misleading and conflates two separate meanings of the word theory: In common usage, the word theory means just a hunch, but in science, a theory is a powerful explanation for a broad set of observations.” - from How Science Works

The Latest on the Federal Debt

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its latest report projecting what the federal budget and the economy would look like over the next 10 years if laws governing taxes and spending generally remained unchanged. Per the CBO, relative to the size of the economy, the federal debt swells from 2024 to 2034 as increases in interest costs and mandatory spending outpace decreases in discretionary spending and growth in revenues… Here’s the chart:

Are Political Beliefs a Byproduct of Political Alliances, Part IV: Biases that Keep the Whole Thing Going

I’m going to assume that just about all political allies have been portrayed as perpetrators of wrongdoing and/or victims of injustice, no matter their ideological leanings. This would include LGBTQ+ groups, labor unions, environmentalists, Blacks, Whites, poor people, young people, Hispanics, student activists, old people, business people, farmers, rural folk, pro-life groups, pro-choice groups, evangelicals, mainstream Protestants, Catholics, moderates, Asian Americans, men, women, and plenty of others.

The Evolution of Groupthink

I belong to a Zoom current events discussion group. Our summer host recently sent an email to group members letting us know that certain points of view would no longer be tolerated during discussions. Here’s an excerpt…

Exploratory Sketch III: An Israeli-Palestinian Agreement to End Hostilities for Good

…There is currently a housing shortage in Israel. Israel will build at least 15,000 dwelling units a year to house returning Palestinians, funded by private developers. Palestinians would not be obligated to live in these units but must submit documentation of suitable housing elsewhere in Israel before being allowed to emigrate.

Laying the Groundwork for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan, Part V: Human Rights in the Middle East

The Global RIghts Project (GRIP) is led by an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from the University of Rhode Island Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the Department of Political Science.   GRIP draws upon the “world’s largest quantitative human rights database” to create an annual report on global human rights practices…So did any countries in the Middle East pass the GRIP human rights test?

Laying the Groundwork for an Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan, Part II: The Status of Democracy in the Middle East

Democratic countries are happier and healthier than autocratic countries, even after controlling for economic factors like wealth and poverty (Tov & Diener, 2009; Barnish, Tørnes, et al, 2018). I want a peace plan that maximizes the wellbeing of people on both sides of the conflict and for that to happen, a peace plan should seek to strengthen the democratic institutions and cultures of both Israel and Palestine. Of course, democracy by itself can’t guarantee good governance, public safety or economic prosperity – but it lays the foundation for their possibility and improvement.

Laying the Groundwork for an Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan, Part I: Political Rights and Civil Liberties in the Middle East

Freedom House (FH) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1941, with Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt serving as its first honorary chairpersons. Best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, political freedom, and human rights, the organization's annual Freedom in the World report assesses the political rights and civil liberties of countries and territories around the world.

The Psychology of Social Justice: Relative Deprivation

In prepping for this series on social justice, I came across a great meta-analysis on the research and theory of "relative deprivation", which the authors define as "the judgment that one is worse off compared to some standard accompanied by feelings of anger and resentment" (Smith, Pettigrew et al, 2011, p 203)

The Psychology of Social Justice: What Do People Deserve?

It's no accident that political arguments about social justice tend to focus on the role of hard work versus luck. For instance, in a recent Pew Research Survey, 73 % of Solid Liberals agreed that “hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people”, compared to 4% of Core Conservatives. That's a huge difference. No wonder the partisan divide has turned into a chasm. The disagreements are on so many levels: bickering turtles all the way down.

The Psychology of Social Justice: Perceived Control, Hope, and Inequality

So how does this all connect with the psychology of social justice? Mainly to show that there is no "natural" response to status differences and inequality. Whether we respond with resentment, depression, fear, stress, envy, anger, indignation, admiration, aesthetic pleasure, or even happiness at another's good fortune...all depends.

Annotated Charts, Part III: Confidence in US Institutions

Hmmm. There is a general drift downward since around the Great Recession, although confidence in small business didn’t fall until the pandemic crash. Confidence in big business took a hit after the 2001 dot-com recession, after which it remained fairly flat until 2018 when it fell further. Confidence in the presidency plunged during the second Bush II term, recovered and then fell again during the Obama years, actually going up during Trump, and falling once again with Biden. Congress hit a high point circa 2003-2004 (I’m guessing before disillusion with US wars set in) and basically hasn’t recovered since. As for confidence in higher education, the trend is obvious and rather alarming.