Read on Twitter
<thread>
THE SICKNESS OF ACADEMIA & MEDIA
0/ There are already fairly obvious reasons why it’s a sign of sickness that academia is around 97% politically left. ...and the same for journalists.
THE SICKNESS OF ACADEMIA & MEDIA
0/ There are already fairly obvious reasons why it’s a sign of sickness that academia is around 97% politically left. ...and the same for journalists.
1/ But, in addition to the resultant political bias, the fact that there’s only one narrative, and one variety of reputation currency, makes such communities unable to independently address issues that aren’t per se even political at all.
2/ Once one side on some non-political topic (like Covid) ends up absorbed into the existing narrative (perhaps somewhat arbitrarily), members must tout that viewpoint lest they abandon the community wherein they have thus far accumulated their hard-earned reputation.
3/ A stance on Covid becomes inexorably aligned — for no intrinsic reason per se — with the prior political stance of the community. The members fall in line on the new topic without even realizing why. https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1339685502425948162?s=20
4/ Academics & journalists pride themselves as independent thinkers. Their goal in life is to speak truth. But their homogeneity even on political views can completely undermine their ability to independently & objectively find the truth on hosts of important non-political issues
5/ Humans don’t generally come to their views about what’s true in the calm, deliberate, rational fashion we idealize. We come to our beliefs on the basis of what the decentralized community narrative has “found.”
6/ And individual reputation-currency transactions are undergirded via emotional expression mediated signals, the topic of @DrTimBarber and my upcoming book, UNMASKED: Why We Express Emotions
7/ The fact that the truth and reputation mechanisms are decentralized can often be good, and *definitely* better than any centralized mechanism. https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1346494407634255873?s=20
8/ You want to direct yourself, and your discipline, more toward the truth? Then you must recognize the limitations, and side effects, of our decentralized reputation and truth mechanisms.
9/ I used to give advice on how to remain independent within such communities and narratives, including being “aloof.” The motivation then was optimizing one’s own creativity & independence, and not on the disease that occurs at the community level.
https://www.benchfly.com/blog/the-7-requirements-of-all-effective-scientists/
https://www.benchfly.com/blog/the-7-requirements-of-all-effective-scientists/
10/ Yes, we do need a new normal: One where academics, journalists, and everyone become tremendously more self-aware of these psycho-social forces at play. 2020 was a litmus test, and we must reshape ourselves to pass it next time. https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1310240737410387970?s=20
11/ It is the madness of crowds that is our greatest threat. We can individually try to be less susceptible. https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1343607045354893314?s=20
12/ And we must study these forces of mass delusion. They will always be with us, because we’re always with us. https://twitter.com/MarkChangizi/status/1340046007569145856?s=20
