In a 2008 TED Talk, psychologist Jonathan Haidt said the worst idea in psychology is the notion that humans are born as a “blank slate.” Like the cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, Haidt was rejecting the notion that the human mind is a blank slate at birth, an idea that can be traced to thinkers from
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America’s economy is in the early stages of “reopening” after dealing with the coronavirus pandemic for months. It’s a process that won’t be easy, simple, or without hiccups. Meanwhile, many in the mainstream media are being true to form in making it a game of ensuring conservatives and Republicans look like reckless, heartless monsters for
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Fear is a powerful emotion: it is sometimes rational, but it can cloud our reasoning. A number of fallacies pervade the COVID-19 debate. One is the fallacy of the missing denominator: we are told that X number of people have died of COVID-19, but we don’t appreciate the size of the population in which these
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On Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz eased restrictions on his state’s lockdown. But the eased restrictions quickly lost the spotlight as the inconsistency with which he issued them took center stage. “Restaurants and bars are integral to what makes Minnesota great,” Walz said, announcing that they could reopen in a limited, outdoor fashion with up
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address is famous for his prophetic warning about the military-industrial complex: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” Eisenhower’s warning is often repeated but
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Police officers dealing with the public have a fairly savvy approach to persuasion: first ask, then tell, then force. It works because it accounts for the dignity and self-respect of others. Uncertain rookie cops and bullies are the ones who forget to ask, adding unnecessary friction to encounters between citizens and the state. In the
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