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Being educated does not shield you from misinformation, unfortunately. I fact I wouldn't be surprised that the well educated is part of the problem when they ge
by ThomPete 8y ago
Being educated does not shield you from misinformation, unfortunately. I fact I wouldn't be surprised that the well educated is part of the problem when they get into politics because they abstract things and start to think too much in statistics and lose a feeling for what it means to be most people in this world. The end up creating their own misinformation filter.
The current political climate has no shortage of well-educated people on both sides who have been doing more damage than good the last 40 years.
- 0x445442 8y agoYes this and Joeri’s post are on point. Unless you’re in the realm of mathematics or the physical sciences the more the education the stronger the disputes over “facts”. It’s hubris to think any group can be the objective gatekeeper of truth unless they’re just reporting demonstrable facts like ball scores or weather.
- zzzcpan 8y agoOf course more random education doesn't educate people specifically about influence and propaganda. Why would it?
- ThomPete 8y agoI don't think there is a specific education you can take that will shield you from influence or propaganda. In my experience, it's about something else. Something more fundamental.
- zzzcpan 8y agoCurrently it's part of political science / politology mixed with psychology. It could change your worldview so much that it would completely destroy any trust in governments, media, political systems. Which is actually a necessary first step in order to understand how these things work. I guess this is the fundamental thing you are talking about. Once you get there, you can start learning more in depth about these things. It's something for life. You will never be able to trust any government again.
- ThomPete 8y ago"You will never be able to trust any government again." which is itself prone to lead to you accepting misinformation. That's the point though. You can't escape these things.
- someguydave 8y agoNot only is it hubris in the sense that nobody has all the answers, it is also hubris in the sense that it is a naked power grab. Whoever decides what is true also rules.
- DanielBMarkham 8y agoThere's a management anti-pattern called "management by aggregate statistic" It goes something like this: take a large human population doing something, like working at Division X. Take a multivariate problem. Abstract out an aggregate statistic along one variable. Report that one data point, generalize, then assume some correlation-causation magic. Manage to make that number better. This causes a lot of the pain and suffering we see in large companies. People are working and managing to a number that's supposed to mean one thing, but it doesn't. (Whatever metric you manage, they'll game). And it happens over and over again. Worst thing about it? The smarter you are, generally, the more difficult it is to see yourself engaging in this anti-pattern. Sure, it's easy to spot others. But for some reason, it's nothing you'd ever fall for. It's the way our brains are supposed to work. Guess the "right enough" answer from lots of noisy, inconsistent input. Intelligence and education are not magic fairy dust that prevent us from being human. They may make it easier to describe what's happening in general terms, but they don't upgrade us to Human 2.0 or anything.
- ThomPete 8y agoYeah, it always reminds me of the observation that humans on average have one testicle :)