How We Chose Violence
The term violence has achieved an amusing new cultural cachet in the age of Twitter. “He woke up and chose violence” prepares us to hear a funny insult, see a…
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Political Polarization
67 posts
Free Speech, Civil Rights and the Moral Imperative of Persuasion
The guarantee of freedom of expression in the First Amendment to United States Constitution has never abridged a publisher’s right to determine what content he prints in his newspaper. Just…
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A Fairness Doctrine for the Twenty-First Century
Michael Goldhaber, who popularized the term the attention economy, said of the US Capitol insurrection: “It felt like an expression of a world in which everyone is desperately seeking their…
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Social Media’s Role in the Riots that Are Shaping America
The most iconic image of last week’s events is that of “the Q shaman.” He wears a furry horned hat, his arms are snaked with cryptic cellular tattoos, his face…
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In Defence of Argument: “Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars” by Piers Benn
In the closing pages of Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars, Piers Benn writes: I was motivated to write this book because there was something that mattered to me, that…
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Media Bubbles and the Polarization of American Society
A common worldview is one of the most important things that hold a society together. In 2020, Americans have been pulled apart by incompatible perspectives more than ever before. Opinions…
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The Courage of Moderation in an Angry America
Shortly after Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, Twitter issued a reminder: “tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against anyone are not allowed and…
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Why Facts Are Overrated
Although the information age is said to have begun in the latter part of the twentieth century, one could argue that we are now experiencing its peak, since almost everyone…
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Feelings Don’t Care About Your Facts: The Psychological Roots of Ideology
Recent political commentary has observed a dissociation from traditional left–right political views and a move towards the extreme ends of the political spectrum. The increasing chasm between the major parties…
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Institutions vs. Individuals: How We Judge Our Political Opponents
Most policy approaches can be divided into two broad categories: those that address institutions and root causes, and those that focus on individuals and effects. For instance, in the context…
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Oppositional Thinking and the Importance of Compassion
The killing of George Floyd brought many systemic problems with police culture to wider consciousness. However, the event also led to a cycle of predictable posturing, online activism and critique.
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Ideological Theory of Mind: How to Stop the Culture Wars
As someone who spends most of my time studying and attempting to accurately explain an ideology—Critical Social Justice—I myself do not believe to have much merit, I find myself coming…
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Conversation, Not War: A Review of “Making Sense” by Sam Harris
In July, Sam Harris had a bad-tempered Twitter exchange with geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden over her criticism of Harris for having hosted Charles Murray on his podcast Making Sense. Usually,…
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Making Sense of 2020
We are currently experiencing the worst pandemic in a century and the most violent protests in fifty years, and potentially face the worst economic downturn in decades. What’s more, all…
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The Vicious Cycle Of Racial Polarization
If it weren’t already obvious from the recent mass protests and riots across America and the world in response to the gruesome police killing of George Floyd, race is one…
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The Viewpoint Hypothesis: Improving How We Define Left and Right
Image by Gerd Altmann It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. For a long time, people assumed…
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Poetic Truth: Left, Right And Center
The concept of poetic truth—first developed by Shelby Steele—refers to the fallacy that erases the distinction between fact and narrative. Derived from the concept of poetic license, in which a…
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Facebook Firing Squads: Tribalism in the Age of Covid-19
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Matt Bai writes that Americans in crisis “have a certain blood lust.” When the chips are down, Bai opines, “we can be counted on…
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