I'm writing this a few days after Queen Elizabeth II's death. Her image is on the front of every UK newspaper, on many electronic billboards and she's the subject of numerous TV and radio programmes. It's enough to make one seek out the Wikipedia page for cultural hegemony. On Twitter, the usual arguments are still raging. Then Twitter user Paul Gray chips in with a Tweet … [Read more...] about Why the ‘media is left-wing’ is one of the Conservatives’ most important lies
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Fundamental attribution error in political media
Fundamental attribution error - what is it? In social psychology, fundamental attribution error is the tendency for people to over-emphasise personality-based explanations for an individual's behaviour, and under-emphasise situational and environmental explanations. “Psychologists refer to the inappropriate use of dispositional explanation as the fundamental attribution … [Read more...] about Fundamental attribution error in political media
The Brexit bait and switch: Why did politicians encourage people to vote Leave?
Brexit had a Rorschach-test quality to it. Voting Leave could be the solution to any and every problem, according to many voters. Voters were encouraged to believe this by politicians and lobbyists, many of whom were being dishonest, according to political experts. Five years since the referendum, in his resignation letter, former Brexit minister Lord Frost has put into … [Read more...] about The Brexit bait and switch: Why did politicians encourage people to vote Leave?
Why Facebook is bad: social media’s role in the rise of populist politics
Jaron Lanier explains to David Baddiel why social media has led to a rise in populist politics. In the BBC documentary "David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger and Us", the English comedian, presenter and author explores the impact of social media on our lives. In the documentary, American computer scientist Jaron Lanier explains to Baddiel how social media is changing … [Read more...] about Why Facebook is bad: social media’s role in the rise of populist politics
The problem(s) with billionaires
There are thousands of billionaires, and they are making things worse. Here's why. Why we should worry about billionaires Us humans struggle with large numbers. Because of this, many of us cannot fully comprehend the billionaire. We underestimate their wealth and power.As the memes say: "People don't have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 billion is than 1 … [Read more...] about The problem(s) with billionaires