I’ve been thinking a lot about this conversation over the last few days. There’s so much wrong with it, it’s hard to know where to start. It’s impossible to address all of it. But let me start here. Civil discourse has two elements: civility, and discourse. Without the discourse part, all you have is civility;…
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to have an open mind. It’s hard. Background Reading Before I go any further, I’m going to ask you to look at two things other people have created. First, this brilliant comic by The Oatmeal, which describes the “Backfire Effect.” I’m not going to summarize;…
A friend of mine recently posted some data that Elon Musk cites, that compares the deaths from the flu, and from COVID-19, and then cites death statistics from tobacco, alcohol, obesity, road accidents, and pneumonia. “I’m only sharing data,” my friend noted. “Please feel free to interpret it as you see fit.” Of course, that’s…
I think American democracy ends this month. I had the opportunity to watch Schiff’s opening statements for the impeachment trial last night. I was already alarmed, but I had resigned myself to the inevitable outcome. No longer. I should have known this, but I did not: the most startling thing I learned is that the…
Russia wants to decrease our faith: our faith in one and another, and our faith in our institutions We’ve spent the past two years studying online disinformation and building a deep understanding of Russia’s strategy, tactics, and impact. … As good marketers, professional trolls manipulate our emotions subtly. … Russia’s goals are to further widen…
Some quick notes that struck me as I wandered the (eminently walkable) streets of Bath, UK… Form Follows Function. Language Follows Nothing Whatsoever. It occurred to me after several days here that the city is full of people of all shapes and heritage speaking every language, and when they open their mouth it’s impossible to…
This is mostly a condensed transcript from the Ezra Klein podcast entitled “Behind the panic in white, Christian America.” I’ve woven in a bit of context from another of his podcasts, “What deliberative democracy can, and can’t, do.” That one isn’t nearly as compelling; the most important insights are included in what I’ve written here,…
Selecting a candidate is hard. I think my wife Laura framed it really well: at least at first, it’s about inspiration and belief. We need a candidate who inspires us to think bigger, who inspires us to believe in the future, who inspires us to believe in our country and ourselves. But impractical ideas are…
