The "War on Science" & Asymmetric Irrationality
Details
We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, not too far from our summer meeting spot in Washington Square Park. The cafe is near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 1 block west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
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THE WAR ON SCIENCE AND ASYMMETRIC IRRATIONALITY
We often hear people debating whether one political party is more "anti-science" or more irrational in some way or whether "both sides do it". This meetup will address a collection of arguments & debates around whether the Republicans or Democrats are equally partisan when it comes to accepting or rejecting scientific consensus, endorsing conspiracy theories, staying informed on politics & "voting correctly", and exhibiting negative personality traits. We'll look at some of the research in political psychology that's emerged over the last decade and see if it can help us shed some light on this subject.
The videos you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of the scholarly debates surrounding climate change. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - this should take about 44 minutes total to get through. If you can't watch all of the videos, don't worry - just watch as much as you can. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.
In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the 4 topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section. I've listed questions under each section which we'll do our best to address.
NOTE: If you're interested, this discussion will be followed by a 2-1/2 hour discussion for the "Philadelphia Political Agnostics" meetup on Trump, political rhetoric, and the phenomenon known as "post-truth politics". To check out the outline & RSVP, go here:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/241409466/
THE PARTISAN "WAR ON SCIENCE" DEBATE: WHO SCORES HIGHER IN GENERAL SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE - DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS? HOW DOES TRUST IN SCIENTISTS FACTOR INTO THIS, AND DOES TRUST VARY BY THE FIELD OR ISSUE? ARE REPUBLICANS MORE LIKELY TO "DENY SCIENCE" ACROSS THE BOARD?
1a) Alex Wagner w/ Chris Mooney, "The Republican Brain" (video - 7:07 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=binBSO5HZ6I
1b) ReasonTV, "Are Republicans or Democrats More Anti-Science?" (video - 8:10 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nszu3-S_5Qs
- John Bohannon, "Statistical Fluke? Researcher's [i.e. Dan Kahan's] Observations on Tea Party and Science Spark Political Frenzy" (article)
- Lauren Griffin, "How Do Democrats and Republicans Really Divide on Science?" (article)
- Meera Jagannathan, "Liberals and conservatives deny science equally: study" (article)
https://nypost.com/2017/09/20/liberals-and-conservatives-deny-science-equally-study/
PARTISANSHIP & CONSPIRACY THEORIES: ARE REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS MORE LIKELY TO ENDORSE IRRATIONAL CONSPIRACY THEORIES? TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THIS DEPEND ON WHO CURRENTLY CONTROLS THE GOVERNMENT? TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THIS DEPEND ON WHO THE CONSPIRACY THEORY BLAMES - I.E. GOVERNMENT OR CORPORATIONS?
2a) John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore & Cara Santa Maria, "Which Party Buys Into More Conspiracy Theories?" (video - 5:58 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDdcAU5Y8U
2b) Jake Tapper, "Conspiracy theories transcend political parties" (video - 2:27 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fufX4v4m0
- Jeet Heer, "No, Liberals Are Not Falling for Conspiracy Theories Just Like Conservatives Do" (article)
- Chris Mooney, "The More Republicans Know About Politics, the More They Believe [Anti-Government] Conspiracy Theories. Dems, on the other hand, are more gullible the less they know." (article)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/conspiracy-theory-partisan-bias/#
- Alfred Moore, Joseph Parent & Joseph Uscinski, "Conspiracy theories aren’t just for conservatives" (article)
POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE AND "VOTING CORRECTLY": DOES ONE PARTY TEND TO RELY MORE ON LESS EDUCATED VOTERS OR "LOW INFORMATION VOTERS"? ARE A SEGMENT OF WHITE REPUBLICANS OR BLACK DEMOCRATS "VOTING AGAINST THEIR OWN INTERESTS"? HOW DO ECONOMIC SELF-INTEREST AND POLITICAL SCIENCE'S CONCEPT OF "VOTING CORRECTLY" DIFFER?
3a) John Iadarola, "Who Serves Black Voters' Economic Interests Better, Democratic or Republican Presidents?" (video - 5:06 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-F1p6LJY4o
3b) Van Jones, "Exposing Liberal Hypocrisy and Conservative Close-Mindedness" (video - 15:55 min, start at 4:26 & listen 7:30)
https://youtu.be/zFfWv0EnHQw?t=266
- The Week Staff, "Are Republicans Better Informed Than Democrats?" (article)
http://theweek.com/articles/476186/are-republicans-better-informed-than-democrats
- Sean Richey, J. Benjamin Taylor, Jeffrey M. Glas & Junyan Zhu, "Debunking the myth that poor whites vote against their interests for Republicans" (short research paper)
- Keith Stanovich, "Were Trump Voters Irrational?" (article)
http://quillette.com/2017/09/28/trump-voters-irrational/
"POLITICAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY" & REDUCTIONISM: WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN STRUCTURES BETWEEN LIBERALS & CONSERVATIVES, AND HOW BIG OF A ROLE DOES IT PLAY IN THEIR IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES? ARE CONSERVATIVES MORE LIKELY TO BE AUTHORITARIANS & PSYCHOTIC? ARE LIBERALS MORE LIKELY TO EXHIBIT NEUROTICISM & "PC AUTHORITARIANISM"?
4a) Tara Long, "How Are Conservative and Liberal Brains Different?" (video - 2:41 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nMzD1OmDE
4b) Amanda Taub, "Authoritarianism: The Science That Explains Trump" (video - 6:44 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YU9djt_CQMCNN
4c) Keith Ablow, "Journal Corrects Study: Liberals Show More Psychotic Traits" (video - 4:18 min, listen til 2:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VMnLFenFOw
- Maria Konnikova, "Politics and Personality: Most of What You Read Is Malarkey" (article)
- Jeffrey Friedman, "Are Trump Supporters Authoritarians?" (article)
https://niskanencenter.org/blog/trump-supporters-authoritarians/
- Jesse Singal, "Why It Took Social Science Years To Correct A Simple Error About Psychoticism" (article)
- Ravi Iyer, "Are liberals more neurotics than conservatives?" (article)
http://www.polipsych.com/2011/02/11/liberals-conservatives-neuroticism-happiness/
- Scott Barry Kaufmann, "The Personality of Political Correctness. The idea of political correctness is central to the culture wars of American politics" (article)
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-personality-of-political-correctness/
The "War on Science" & Asymmetric Irrationality