Chris C. Mooney's Blog, page 12

The Muppets vs. Fox News: Or, Left-Right Differences in Sense of Humor

[image error]The other night, I was watching Facebook light up with posts about the Muppets vs. Fox News spat–and I decided I had to write something about the left, the right, and senses of humor. The result is this item at DeSmogBlog, making this observation:

A lot of humor, after all, turns on irony and tone—and thus in turn, one's ability to perceive nuance and detect the real meaning behind ambiguous messages. And conservatives simply do these things differently than liberals.

In fact, left-right...

Announcing My Next Point of Inquiry Guest: Lawrence Krauss on A Universe from Nothing

[image error]Point of Inquiry is undergoing some changes–including the fact that I am going to be doing even more shows than before. Three a month now, rather than two.

To kick off the new and more intensive schedule, I've rebooked one of my most popular guests from last year–Lawrence Krauss, this time to talk about  his hot new book A Universe from Nothing.

The show will air on Monday; I'm interviewing Krauss on Friday.

If you have any questions for him….well, post them here. As those who listened to my

The Republican Brain, New Tour Dates: Los Angeles, D.C., Madison, West Virginia

[image error]My very first book talk–a pre-talk, really–was a big success. Some 150 people showed up in Santa Barbara on Thursday to hear about the Republican Brain, even though there was no book they could buy.

There were also some, er, challenging questions–suggesting the topic is going to draw controversy. I'll comment more on that soon enough.

For now, I want to list new tour dates–seven total.

First, there are three more "pre-tour" events, in February and March, including a panel at the AAAS meeting...

Liberals and Conservatives: Were We Just "Born That Way"?

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(Wikimedia; Creative Commons)

There's a great Guardian piece about the new University of Nebraska-Lincoln research on liberals and conservatives. You should read it–at least until I finish my own piece, which I'm currently editing.

But beware the Guardian headline. I know I've highlighted all the studies suggesting that liberals and conservatives differ genetically, but that is not the same as saying that liberals and conservatives are "born that way" or that our political differences are...

Latest Point of Inquiry Episode: Brian Malow, The Science Comedian

[image error]I think it is fair to say that the latest installment of Point of Inquiry stands out in at least one way–it is by far the funniest episode I've ever hosted.

It would be shocking were it otherwise, given that my guest was Brian Malow, aka, the Science Comedian.

He told most of the jokes, but I even told one of them that I think was pretty good–so I want to hear your reaction. What do you think of my prospects in stand-up?

Seriously, here's the show description:

Earlier this month, Point of...

Conspiracy Theorists More Likely to Believe Factual Contradictions

[image error]Via Live Science–I'm now perusing the paper, from the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science:

It's known that people who believe one conspiracy theory are inclined to endorse others as well. But new research shows that conspiracy theorists aren't put off by contradictory theories and offers a reason why.

"They're explained by the overarching theory that there is some kind of cover-up, that authorities are withholding information from us," said Karen Douglas, a study researcher...

On Global Warming, Should You Trust the Wall Street Journal, or Chevron, ExxonMobil and the Defense Department??

[image error]This is a guest post by Jamie Vernon, a 2011-12 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow.

The Wall Street Journal has published a letter that makes an emotionally persuasive case about why we should not "panic about global warming." The authors, 7 engineers and 9 scientists (4 of whom are climate scientists and 1 biologist), have assembled convincing arguments based on their opinions of climate science.  The question is, should we trust them?

We all care deeply about our planet and will do...

The Uneasy Relationship Between Explaining Science to Conservatives, and Explaining Conservatives Scientifically

[image error]Yesterday Dan Kahan wrote me a kind of open letter, describing the differences between our two overlapping "projects": To reach people with science and make them appreciate it on the one hand, and to explain why liberals and conservatives disagree about science and how this is rooted in who they are.

The letter was eloquent enough that I was prompted to compose a long reply, at DeSmogBlog. Far too long to repost here, but here's some of the meat of it:

…while you may well be able to use...

Science Communication: The Battle Has Turned, and We're Winning It

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(We did it for you, Carl...)

Recently Dan Kahan pointed me to this editorial in Nature. It is about global warming, and let me just quote:

No matter how evident climate change becomes, however, other factors will ultimately determine whether the public accepts the facts. Empirical evidence shows that people tend to react to reports on issues such as climate change according to their personal values (see page 296). Those who favour individualism over egalitarianism are more likely to reject...

Do Conservative Ideas Make More "Horse Sense" Than Liberal Ones?

[image error]This post is by Everett Young.

Although I'm trained as a political psychologist—which these days can verge on meaning something like "statistician who does models that are nominally about psychology applied to subjects that are nominally political"—I've always tried to think mostly and first about what happens in the everyday world of political talk. I still think that's the best path toward true understanding of ideological thinking—with statistical tests used to make sure you're not fooling ...