On These Questions, Smarter People Do Worse - our latest video, ad-free!
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Comments
Caveat: I'm further to the left politically than most any American and I'm an Australian. Equating numeracy to being able to do Maths, Yeah I'm an Aussie. You don't need trick people to work out reasoning ability.
Steve Prowse
2024-11-14 15:06:33 +0000 UTCA bit disingenuous to suggest that the solution to political gridlock is to avoid talking about science in ways that could be controversial. Dealing with the consequences of sea level rise post hoc at the municipal level is not the same kind of problem solving that can limit the broader effects of anthopogenic climate change nationally and worldwide. Unfortunately, if we want to be honest science communicators, we have to acknowledge that a particular "side" has flat-out rejected scientific inquiry. Even the "scientific curiosity" graphic is damning here. This is a nice idea for "uncontroversial" small-scale issues, but when it comes to broad policy, the argument is both facile and undermines the reality that people actually suffer and die from bad policy (e.g., the catastrophic effect on maternal and infant mortality we would be projected to see due to a federal abortion ban).
Max
2024-11-07 02:37:09 +0000 UTCDerek implied that there were similar questions about other topics, but did not show their results, which may have been different.
Jerrad Pierce
2024-11-06 01:24:21 +0000 UTCVery strange to qualify as "political views" subjects as factual as those used. They are facts, not opinions, and opinions on acting politically on those facts has nothing to do with numbers. If you give me numbers from "an american study" (common title here in Europe, and one study doesn't make science) on subjects I have analyzed, I will check sources, methodology whatever they are, but if they seem to confirm the consensus I perhaps will spend less time doing so. Nothing to do with opinion and even less with politics.
Falken Vape
2024-11-06 01:02:30 +0000 UTC1) While those in the higher numeracy group lost (more) accuracy due to bias, the graph still looks like overall the highest numeracy group was more often correct than the lowest numeracy group even controlling for political party.; this does not justify the titular conclusion. 2) Most importantly, there is NO way this was representative sampling, so the continued generalization to "smarter people" is unfounded (and annoying).
Tonya Schuster
2024-11-05 23:05:23 +0000 UTCThe gun control data appears to indicate that republicans are much more likely to let their bias inform their view. That seems relevant.
Matthew Umberger
2024-11-05 19:09:57 +0000 UTCAn important question: were people led to believe that the studies were real? (Update: no, but obviously they still behaved as if they believed they were. Strange. ) (BTW, I am (for American criteria) very far left European, and I think my numeracy is high (I am educated as a physicist and work as an ICT consultant). Several years ago I changed my mind on the actual meaning of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. The key was learning where and how the word "militia" is defined, along with the ancient law specifying even how many flints one must acquire with their muskets or something (OK, only males excluding, of course, slaves, but still, for the ideas of the time pretty much everybody). So, the amendment really meant everybody, not only the National Guard or equivalent, although the words "well regulated [militia]" should not be neglected. I am quite proud of that.)
Dragi Raos
2024-11-05 17:21:02 +0000 UTCI actually came to say it was poorly timed IMO. I think it would have been more productive to have gained exposure more than a few minutes before election day.
Jerrad Pierce
2024-11-05 12:33:12 +0000 UTCThank you for the thoughtful and well-timed piece. It’d be interesting to explore connections between this dualistic us-them tribalism and the game theoretic inevitability of two large parties that results from first past-the-post voting. Rather than worry about Arrows problems, perhaps a better measure of a voting system is whether it aligns incentives in favor of curiosity and nondualism.
TTST
2024-11-05 09:44:08 +0000 UTC
