Re Another from science Nyc

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Rodney Van Meter <rdv () sfc wide ad jp>
> Date: April 26, 2017 at 8:04:55 AM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: Rodney Van Meter <rdv () sfc wide ad jp>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re Another from science Nyc
>
> How Science Sorts Fact from Alternative Fact
> https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-24/how-science-sorts-fact-from-alternative-fact
> by Faye Flam
> (disclosure: Faye and I were undergrads together, a very long time ago)
>
> You have the facts; now share them, reads an advertisement urging me to buy a gift subscription to Scientific 
> American. Perhaps we’re seeing a backlash against Kellyanne Conway’s infamous “alternative facts,” or a response to 
> fears that the U.S. has entered a post-truth era. One way or another, facts have become a hotter commodity than 
> coconut water and kale.
>
> But how do any of us know for sure that the facts we believe are the real ones? Should you go with what your smartest 
> friends post on social media? What you were taught in school? What the newspapers report? Wikipedia? The pages of 
> Scientific American?
>
> The bad news, scientists warn us, is that our brains are problematic places to seek reliable facts. In a new book 
> titled “The Enigma of Reason,” for example, the authors -- two cognitive scientists -- assert that humans use reason 
> more often to bolster their existing ideas (and egos) than to find the truth. In another recent book, “The Knowledge 
> Illusion,” cognitive scientists Philip Fernbach and Steven Sloman show how most people think they know much more than 
> they actually do.
>
>
> <snip>
>
> Faye is worth reading, in my opinion. She had some very level-headed stuff on gender and sex during the NC HB2 
> dustup. It’s an area she has actually written a book on, in fact.
>
>               —Rod



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