When people don't accept the scientific evidence, it may be useless to present them with yet more evidence. They are not stupid. They are simply protecting their cultural identity. Here's the journalism: Science confirms: politics wrecks your ability to do math And here's the original study, Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government Kahan, Dan M., Peters, … Continue reading How cultural commitments damage your ability to reason
Tag: Dan Kahan
Science communication and conservative values
Roger Scruton's recent article in Prospect Magazine provides an interesting illustration of what Dan Kahn and Chris Mooney have been discussing on their respective blogs. (Kahn blogs regularly now at the Cultural Cognition Project and Mooney writes at the Desmog Blog.) The topic of their discussion: Is it possible to take the polemics out of … Continue reading Science communication and conservative values
Experts and Cultural Cognition
Dan Kahan's blog at the Cultural Cognition Project makes some conjectures about whether experts think in similar ways to non-experts. Specifically he wonders whether experts exhibit the kinds of cultural biases already demonstrated by non-experts. Do experts use cultural cognition? My observation is that there would need to be care taken to avoid something like … Continue reading Experts and Cultural Cognition
It matters who presents the message
Who would you trust to tell you what the risks are? Research from the Cultural Cognition project suggests the cultural identity of the presenter matters significantly to the public reception of a particular message about risk. In other words, we need our experts to be our experts, not the other side’s experts. It follows from … Continue reading It matters who presents the message
Moving beyond a failure in the marketplace of ideas
The following is a guest post from Prof Dan Kahan in response to a previous post here, on Margaret Heffernan’s book, Willful Blindness. 4culture’s insightful post put me in mind of something important that in fact he has said explicitly before: Understanding the contribution that cultural influences have on our perceptions of risk (and like facts) cannot only explain … Continue reading Moving beyond a failure in the marketplace of ideas
Culture and the Science of Climate Change
George Monbiot at the Guardian has finally begun to take account of Cultural Theory as a possible explanation for why people either believe or ‘refuse’ to believe in climate change. He cites an article in Nature by Dan Kahan of the Yale Law School Cultural Cognition Project. Prof Kahan says: ‘we need a theory of … Continue reading Culture and the Science of Climate Change
Cultural bias and the HPV vaccine
Response to Dan Kahan's study of cultural bias in risk perceptions of the HPV vaccine, with links to the Cultural Cognition Project and discussion of grid-group cultural theory.
Is Grid-Group cultural theory really a theory?
It was a trick of course. Yesterday I used Grid-Group cultural theory to ‘predict’ the Fatalist viewpoint of Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan. But like the magician who successfully predicted the lottery numbers, it’s more about sleight of hand than about actual magic… Despite the name, cultural theory isn’t really a theory at … Continue reading Is Grid-Group cultural theory really a theory?
Four Cultures 