Wednesday 19 January 2022

"Is the statement 'We are living in a post-truth world' true? If your answer is 'yes' then the answer is 'no' ..."


"Is the statement 'We are living in a post-truth world' true? If your answer is 'yes' then the answer is 'no' because you’ve just evaluated the statement in an evidentiary manner, so evidence still matters and facts still matter....
    "Anyone who urges universities to live up to their mission of promoting knowledge, truth, and reason is bound to be confronted with the objection that these aspirations are just so 20th century. Aren’t we living in a post-truth era? Haven’t cognitive psychologists shown that humans are fundamentally irrational? Mustn’t we acknowledge that the pursuit of disinterested reason and objective truth are Enlightenment anachronisms?
    "The answer to all of these questions is 'no'.”

~ Steven Pinker, from his article 'Why We Are Not Living in a Post‑Truth Era: An (Unnecessary) Defense of Reason and a (Necessary) Defense of Universities’ Role in Advancing it'
[Hat tip Stephen Hicks]

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