The poisoning of the American mind / edited by Lawrence M. Eppard, Jacob L. Mackey, and Lee Jussim.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mackey, Jacob L., editor.

Jussim, Lee, editor.

Eppard, Lawrence M., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Critical thinking.

Information integrity.

Misinformation--United States.

Misinformation.

Polarization (Social sciences)--United States.

Polarization (Social sciences).

Political psychology--United States.

Political psychology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (440 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Fairfax, VA : George Mason University Press, [2024]

Summary:

What would you have to believe in order to dress up as a shaman, paint your face, and storm the U.S. Capitol? What could possibly lead somebody to claim that it upholds white supremacy to encourage hard work, self-reliance, rational thinking, punctuality, and politeness? Such behaviors would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. And yet here we are, witnessing millions of people across the political spectrum displaying these clear indications of an epistemically poisoned mind. Both red America and blue America are retreating into their own information bubbles, seceding from a common reality. Both consume far too much misinformation and disinformation, developing worldviews that can sometimes be unintelligible to others. This book explores these disturbing developments and what they mean for our society and implores us all to recover a shared sense of what is true.

Contents:

Intro

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

Overview

Chapter 1: Golden Age of Information

Chapter 2: Epistemic Crisis

Chapter 3: Ideological Silos and Epistemic Secession

I. Defending Truth

Chapter 4: The Constitution of Knowledge

Chapter 5: Why Should We Trust Science?

Chapter 6: Understanding Science

Chapter 7: How Science Works

Chapter 8: A Skeptical Manifesto

Chapter 9: Common Tactics of Science Denialism

Chapter 10: There is Plenty of Trustworthy Journalism

Chapter 11: Identifying Reliable News Sources

Chapter 12: How NewsGuard Works

Chapter 13: How the Media Bias Chart is Created

Chapter 14: The Harper's Letter

II. Problems in Right-Wing Silos

Chapter 15: Deceit and the Danger to Democracy

Chapter 16: A Fire Hose of Dishonesty

Chapter 17: Fox's Pander-for-Profit Business Model

Chapter 18: Please Lie to Me, Tucker Carlson

Chapter 19: How We Know Recent Elections Were Not Stolen

Chapter 20: Truth and Consequences

Chapter 21: The "Great Replacement" and the "Big Lie

Chapter 22: The "Ground Zero Mosque" Presaged Today's GOP

Chapter 23: Anti-Immigrant Lies

Chapter 24: QAnon and the Satanic Panics of Yesteryear

Chapter 25: How Industry Undermines Public Health

Chapter 26: I was an Exxon-funded Climate Scientist

Chapter 27: The Alt-Right and Moral Righteousness

III. Problems in Left-Wing Silos

Chapter 28: Virtuous Lies

Chapter 29: Universities Must Choose One Telos

Chapter 30: Defining "Wokeness

Chapter 31: Ideology and the Social Sciences

Chapter 32: Attacks on Reality from the Left

Chapter 33: Bad Behavioral Science Exposed

Chapter 34: The Questionable Science of Microaggressions

Chapter 35: Problems with the IAT

Chapter 36: The Gender Identity Debate

Chapter 37: The Alt-Left and Moral Righteousness

IV. I Don't Know

Therefore, Aliens

Chapter 38: Common Traits of Conspiracy Thinkers

Chapter 39: Flat Earthers and Disinformation

Chapter 40: QAnon, Descartes, and Brains in Vats

Chapter 41: Anatomy of a Viral Conspiracy Theory

Chapter 42: Fighting Conspiracy Theories with Evidence

V. Parting Thoughts

Chapter 43: In Defense of Merit in Science

Chapter 44: The Importance of Facts and Expertise

Chapter 45: What Caused the Alt-Left and Alt-Right?

Chapter 46: Disinformation, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

Chapter 47: Strengthening Information Ecosystems

Chapter 48: We Need a Shared Reality

Chapter 49: The Epistemological Conditions of a Liberal Democratic Republic

Chapter 50: Searching for Answers

Endnotes.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781942695431

1942695438

OCLC:

1457637144