Arnold Kling: “Timothy Taylor writes, “Paul Heyne suggests that one approach to this concern is to believe that we all live in two worlds: a face-to-face society and a commercial society. Moreover, the moral rules for the two societies are not the same.” I call this our intimate world—friends, family, and co-workers—and our remote world—celebrities, politics, and the market. One point I make is that these worlds are mashed together on our smart phones, and I think that creates a lot of dissonance and confusion. I also find it interesting that Russ Roberts’ new book Wild Problems is predominantly about choices in our intimate world, while most economics is about choices in the remote world.”
FT: “What makes some people believe in conspiracy theories and false news reports more than others? Is it their political or religious perspective? Is it a lack of formal education? Or is it more about their age, gender or socio-economic background? A recently published study suggests that more important than any of these factors is another characteristic: the extent to which someone has — or does not have — intellectual humility. Intellectual humility can be thought of as a willingness to recognise our own cognitive limitations and biases, to admit when we’re wrong, and to be more interested in understanding the truth of an issue than in being right. Its spirit is captured nicely by the quote often attributed (probably wrongly) to John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change, I change my mind — what do you do, sir?””
Watching: The Rings of Power, on Amazon Video.
