The big example of conspiratorial beliefs and communications given in the podcast was Alex Jones. Arguably, a marginal player. What about the conspiracy theory of Trump and Russia? Hunter's laptop and Russia?
At the end, Mr Pinker says that we must rely on rationality and data. But rationality cannot formulate moral goals, it can only ass…
The big example of conspiratorial beliefs and communications given in the podcast was Alex Jones. Arguably, a marginal player. What about the conspiracy theory of Trump and Russia? Hunter's laptop and Russia?
At the end, Mr Pinker says that we must rely on rationality and data. But rationality cannot formulate moral goals, it can only assess outcomes of different actions, and frequently cannot even do that. And data is meaningless unless it is fit into a conceptual structure.
I found not a hint of Burke in Mr Pinker. He celebrates (as do I) the progress toward enlightenment that has been made, but this progress was made at a time when the prevailing belief systems had a distinct religious character. The French Revolution, the Russian coup of October, and the Khmer Rouge gov't and others of that ilk were explicitly rational movements.
The big example of conspiratorial beliefs and communications given in the podcast was Alex Jones. Arguably, a marginal player. What about the conspiracy theory of Trump and Russia? Hunter's laptop and Russia?
At the end, Mr Pinker says that we must rely on rationality and data. But rationality cannot formulate moral goals, it can only assess outcomes of different actions, and frequently cannot even do that. And data is meaningless unless it is fit into a conceptual structure.
I found not a hint of Burke in Mr Pinker. He celebrates (as do I) the progress toward enlightenment that has been made, but this progress was made at a time when the prevailing belief systems had a distinct religious character. The French Revolution, the Russian coup of October, and the Khmer Rouge gov't and others of that ilk were explicitly rational movements.