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Theory of Knowledge

Facts matter after all: rejecting the “backfire effect”

March 12, 2018Eileen Dombrowski
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Good news: counter-argument with factual support may not be doomed after all. The “backfire effect”, as widely discussed in the past few years, was a truly disheartening phenomenon for anyone who cares about critical thinking or reliable knowledge. However, recent studies illustrate how the human sciences work as they offer revised conclusions – and at […]

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“Moral robots” and that messy human factor

May 8, 2017May 8, 2017Eileen Dombrowski
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In ethics, it’s the dilemmas that grab the headlines. They crash into the news for reasons similar to almost all news: they stand out from a norm of people muddling along in broad accord as they judge right from wrong; they sometimes pit groups of people against each other in noisy conflict; and they often […]

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Is mathematics a gateway to empathy?

December 12, 2016December 12, 2016Eileen Dombrowski
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Is the study of mathematics really a gateway toward empathy? I’m not fully convinced by the argument presented by mathematician Roger Antonsen , but I like him for making it. We need all the empathy we can get in our world. Certainly, his mathematical visualizations do demonstrate the importance of mental flexibility and imagination in mathematics, and do stand metaphorically […]

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Thinking beyond the knowledge bubbles

November 21, 2016December 16, 2017Eileen Dombrowski 1 Comment
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I’m taking a little holiday from watching the news. I do this sometimes. I turn off the volume to watch all those mouths move, then let all of the frustrated and angry people float away, sealed in their lovely bubbles. Escapism? Yes – and no. Sometimes it’s the only way to imagine myself outside my […]

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