David Mair

Pursue engagement at the cost of credibility and you’ll deserve neither and lose both.

@bobbyduffy.bsky.social

“High-quality listening during a political conversation decreases extreme political attitudes and increases people's willingness to reflect on their own beliefs.”

This is one of the arguments in favour of mainstreaming participatory and deliberative democracy as a way to address polarisation.

“The only goal is to regain the trust of the people.”

@elkevandenbrandt.bsky.social

Social media gives a false negative picture of the Overton window.

Participatory and deliberative democracy can deliver a more accurate picture by including the views of those who don’t post, scroll or even vote.

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

“Today, people find it easier to imagine that we can build intelligence on silicon than we can do democracy at scale, or that we can escape arms races. It’s complete bullshit.”
I am so here for this book. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Does this mean we need a different model for communicating social science compared to natural science?
Or does identity trump everything and ignores inconvenient natural and social science equally?
@jayvanbavel.bsky.social @matthewfacciani.bsky.social @scharfbillig.bsky.social

What about roustabout?

Is the constructive tension between democracy and the rule of law the institutionalisation of the tension between utilitarian and Kantian philosophies?

Irritating Discourse Cliche - "The Public Are Frustrated With Mainstream Politics" - up there with vague references to "the dangers of populism".

Look at the last century of democratic politics -

* Pre WW2
* Post-War
* Post-Post-War

Fascinating philosophy perspective on behavioural science @profafinlayson.bsky.social
To be fair, thanks to Nick Chater and others, behavioural scientists get weakness of "i" (individual) frame and need for system approach.
Key is to bring psychology, philosophy and polsci approaches together.

Science could enable a fascist future. Especially if we don’t learn from the past We need to reckon honestly with science’s past and present to avoid a grim future

Not for the first time wishing the useful distinction between “political” and “Political/partisan/party-political” has not been lost.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

MOST EXTREME DAY IN HISTORY

Once again,we are seeing something beyond any imagination:
Dozens of thousands of records are being brutalized nearly allover the world in over 160+ countries.

In 2+ centuries of climatology there had never been anything like this.
Wait for dozens of posts coming...

Trump’s ‘fear factor’: Scientists go silent as funding cuts escalate Many worry about retribution. But for others, speaking out is worth the risk

www.science.org/content/arti...

“First we shape our electoral systems and then they shape us” as Churchill might have said about politicians and democracy, rather than buildings.

@elkevandenbrandt.bsky.social @strobbe.bsky.social @ecf.com

The Trump Administration's attacks on science underscore the urgent need to safeguard scientific integrity in the federal government. The Scientific Integrity Act would codify protections for federal scientists to ensure federal research is protected from undue influence & informs policy.

Healthy democracy needs independent science and vice versa.

While factual or descriptive beliefs can be true or false, can normative beliefs be true or false or only right or wrong?

“… I think in that framework, it becomes a lot harder to think about what the relationship is between evidence and belief. This is an area where maybe there is an open question about whether it does make sense to talk about ‘truth’ as much when we think about the nature of social reality.”

“Those aren’t amenable to evidence in the same sort of way that a physicist would go about trying to answer questions. This becomes a much more collective effort in how we socially construct our values and our beliefs and …”

“Where things get more complicated is when we think about the social world, social reality and norms and practices, and the values and the aims that we’re all trying to see realised in society.“

“Apportioning one’s beliefs in line with the evidence makes most sense when you’re talking about, say, beliefs that are related to the natural world, physical reality, tables and chairs, and things that it makes sense to talk about as true beliefs that are grounded in facts,”

“The reason why concern for truth doesn’t dominate in the reasoning process is because that’s not what is actually relevant for the person trying to make sense of the reality in which they find themselves”.

Professor J McKenzie Alexander @lsephilosophy.bsky.social

@friebos.bsky.social

@nedboulting.bsky.social
It is Belgian national holiday tomorrow. That might explain why Campanaerts and Van Aert were chasing Wellens.

“the anglophone media is still setting the agenda for national media throughout the EU because English is the common language European journalists have between them.”

The fight to revive Europe’s shrinking rural areas Across the continent, remote villages are fading amid declining births and residents departing for greater opportunity in urban centres

New @eurovelo.com routes to connect these regions and encourage cyclo-tourism? I’m sure there is incredible beauty in these places. Maybe the @le-tourdefrance.bsky.social @lavuelta.bsky.social and Giro d’italia could showcase some of these regions even more?

on.ft.com/3TKw1xn

“social media is less like a neutral reflection of society and more like a funhouse mirror. It amplifies the loudest and most extreme voices while muting the moderate, the nuanced and the boringly reasonable.”

Important for politicians - Overton Window bigger than you would guess from social media.