The World's Best Book Summaries
Where does our group mentality come from? How does it benefit us? In his book The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt argues that we can’t fully understand morality until we understand group mentality. He explains how we’ve learned to work together for the betterment of the whole, not just ourselves. Read more to learn about the origin of group mentality and how it relates to morality.
Why does moral intuition kick in before moral reasoning? Is reasoning a total slave to emotion? Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s experiments indicate that we react first with moral intuition, and then we employ reason. In his book The Righteous Mind, he provides additional evidence for this conclusion and explains why this is the way we make moral judgments. Read more to learn about moral intuition.
Why do humans have a tendency toward group cooperation? Is it always a good thing? People are groupish. We love to gather with others, and we often thrive on group cooperation. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that group cooperation and morality go hand in hand. While groupishness can lead to negative tribal thinking, it also can help us rise above detrimental self-interest. Read more to learn about the evolution and implications of group cooperation.
What is the connection between globalization and climate change? Will the Earth be able to withstand the effects of accelerating globalization? As a result of the accelerations in technology and globalization, climate change is also accelerating at a pace greater than anything seen before in human history. For the most part, the planet has been good at maintaining equilibrium. Today, however, changes are happening so fast and so globally that we’re approaching the limit of the planet’s ability to buffer the climate. In this article, we’ll discuss the effects of globalization and its implications for the planet Earth.
What was Roger Revelle’s impact on the climate change debate? How did doubt-mongering threaten to discredit him? In their book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway take on individuals or groups who seek to discredit science that they perceive to be a threat to their agenda. One of the targets of a doubt-mongering campaign was Al Gore’s mentor—Roger Revelle. Read more to learn about Roger Revelle and the merchants of doubt.
What is the early history of climate change science? What role did doubt-mongering play? Addressing climate change involves regulating energy use, the keystone of economic activity. This has made it a target of doubt-mongering—an attempt to discredit the science behind it. Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway discuss the early debate about climate change science in their book Merchants of Doubt. Read more to learn about early climate change science and the merchants of doubt.
What is the truth about anthropogenic global warming? Is global warming caused by humans? These questions have been part of the climate change debate, especially since the 1992 Rio Conference. Some people and organizations see their agenda or ideology at risk, so they seek to discredit science that points to climate change—and anthropogenic global warming in particular. Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway discuss this in their book Merchants of Doubt. Read more to learn about the debate surrounding the issue of anthropogenic global warming.
Is there an ozone hole over Antarctica? What is the science? What doubts have been raised? People have debated the size, severity, and cause of the ozone hole over Antarctica for years. Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway claim in their book Merchants of Doubt that some individuals and groups have sought to discredit some of the science because they believe it is a threat to their agenda. Read more to learn about the debate surrounding the ozone hole over Antarctica.
What is the history of the debate surrounding the insecticide DDT? What doubts were raised? Were they legitimate? In 1972, the EPA banned the use of the insecticide DDT in the U.S. Despite this, certain individuals and organizations kept the controversy alive by manufacturing doubt about the underlying science. In Merchants of Doubt, historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway tell the story. Read more to learn how the merchants of doubt engaged in the debate surrounding DDT.
How did generations past use science to “prove” that some races were better than others? What were the three phases of scientific bias? What lasting impacts did racial pseudoscience have on society? In her book Biased, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt discusses the three phases of historical scientific bias: human hierarchies, polygenesis, and evolutionary IQ. In the past, biased scientists would use pseudoscience and lies to justify inhumane acts such as slavery. Unfortunately, although disproved, many of the ideas are still deeply ingrained in society. Continue reading to learn about the dark history of scientific bias.