It’s the holiday season, which means plenty of opportunities for uncomfortable interactions with family members about politics. How can you deal with such conversations effectively? My aunt invited me to her holiday party recently, where I sat across the table from my distant cousin Mark. He proclaimed the benefits of the Democratic Party’s recent efforts to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, arguing that it will be very good for the economy, and denouncing those who argued against it… Read more
December 21, 2017
How to Talk Politics With Family Over the Holidays
December 21, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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December 19, 2017
The Deadly Cost of Censoring the CDC
December 19, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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Do you want your medical treatment to be based on science? The Trump administration disagrees. It apparently banned the top US public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from using 7 words, including “evidence-based” and “science-based.” Prominent public health advocates have expressed outrage about these measures. For example, Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist and dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, tweeted “This is astonishing. It would be a parody of a flailing effort… Read more
December 15, 2017
How to Address Truth Denialism Effectively Over the Holidays
December 15, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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It’s the holiday season, which means plenty of opportunities for uncomfortable interactions with friends and family who are truth deniers. For example, my close friend invited me to her holiday party recently, where I sat across the table from her brother Mike. We got to talking about Donald Trump’s recently-successful efforts to ban people from many majority-Muslim countries from entering the US and his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos. Mike strongly supported Trump’s ban and rhetoric, and other anti-Muslim policies…. Read more
December 15, 2017
How to Talk to a Science Denier without Arguing
December 15, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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Caption: man and woman in a conflict (Gratisography/Pexels) It’s the holiday season, which means plenty of opportunities for uncomfortable interactions with friends and family who are science deniers, from people who believe the moon landing was faked to those who believe vaccines cause autism or who think that humans did not cause significant global climate change. How can you deal with such science deniers effectively? My close friend invited me to her house for Thanksgiving, where I sat… Read more
November 16, 2017
Roy Moore’s Systemic Danger to Our Democracy
November 16, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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The front-runner candidate for Alabama Senate, Republican Roy Moore, called The Washington Post “fake news” after the newspaper published a thorough investigation reporting on sexual encounters between Moore and multiple teenage girls, one as young as 14. Moore’s attacks on this highly-reputable newspaper are part of a recent broader pattern of prominent public figures using the label of “fake news” to denounce quality investigative journalism. Research suggests such attacks pose an urgent and systemic danger to our democracy, as… Read more
November 8, 2017
Celebrations, Rituals, and Constructing Meaning in Life
November 8, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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My family emigrated from the former Soviet Union to the US when I was 10, and our cultural heritage of ritual celebrations comes from that background. The most important Soviet celebration was New Year’s Eve, a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. A few hours before midnight, close family and friends gathered together. There was always a big New Year’s tree with a bright red star on top, and a huge dinner table piled with delicious food…. Read more
October 23, 2017
Which Politicians Should We Trust in the November 7 Election: The Pro-Truth Pledge
October 23, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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__________________________________________________________________ In these dark days of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” it’s hard to trust any politicians. How can we tell apart the ones who spout bald-faced lies from those who actually tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Fortunately, we now have a science-based tool for telling which politicians are comfortable committing to the truth, and which are not: the Pro-Truth Pledge. Let’s get the myths out of the way: we can’t trust our gut on… Read more
October 4, 2017
Knowing Just Enough to be Dangerous: How Overconfidence Subverts Rational Politics
October 4, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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By Joel Lehman ______________________________________________________________ “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” -Shakespeare It happens every year. It’s the beginning round tryouts on the talent show American Idol, and a man confidently takes the stage, sparks in his eyes. He thinks he’s destined for greatness, this is his moment. The music starts, and with anticipation quaking, he smiles full of composure, and boldly unleashes — a cracked and cringe-worthy voice!… Read more
September 13, 2017
Fighting the Normalization of Post-Truth Politics
September 13, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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_____________________________________ Donald Trump’s rally speech in Phoenix on August 22 was full of falsehoods. The lack of outrage over his deceptive statements points to the normalization of post-truth politics, when appeals to personal beliefs and emotions wins out over objective facts. To avoid this normalization, we need to borrow the successful tactics of the environmental movement in dealing with the pollution of our environment. During this speech, according to highly credible fact-checking organizations such as Factcheck.org and Politifact, Trump misled… Read more
September 5, 2017
Trump’s Transgender Gaslighting
September 5, 2017 By Gleb Tsipursky
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__________________________________________________________________ President Donald Trump signed a directive on Friday August 25 following up on his earlier tweets that he “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Whatever you think about the decree, the spin from the Trump administration about it amounts to gaslighting of the transgender community. Consider the terms of this order. It prevents any new openly transgender recruits from joining the armed forces. It also order the military to… Read more
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