It is a universal maxim that if someone goes to the trouble of printing something on a T-shirt, then it is almost definitely not a hundred percent untrue, which is to say that it is more than likely fairly definitely not altogether false.
Neal Stephenson: Termination Shock
Manchmal kommt es vor, dass jemand auf gewaltige Weise recht hat und dass dieses Rechthaben jede Antwort überflüssig macht. Es unterbricht den ewigen Kreislauf des Einerseits-Andererseits. Eine geradezu himmlische Ruhe tritt ein.
Juli Zeh: Corpus Delicti
And the truth is that anyone can clearly see that humanity is split into two categories of individuals with manifestly different clothes, faces, bodies, smiles, movements, interests, and occupations; these differences are perhaps superficial; perhaps they are destined to disappear. What is certain is that for the moment they exist in a strikingly obvious way.
Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex
The major difference is in the world, not the arguments. In a time where actual conspiracies are commonplace, conspiracy theories acquire a ring of plausibility.
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We have always had disagreements about what’s true, but today, we have a disagreement over how we know whether something is true. This is an epistemological crisis, not a crisis over belief.
There is a distinction between reality and narrative. Narrative is used to hide reality from view. Narrative is the main tool of politics, of cult leaders and influencers, and of the advertising industry. To get in touch with reality I have to first cut through the thicket of narrative. It is a post-modern myth that everything is narrative. This itself is a narrative. It obscures the reality from view that behind the narrative lies reality.
I don’t see a sustainable science coming out of the meaningless game of excellence, publishing, and grant writing.
What my research indicated is that detecting and correcting issues in science, is too difficult to be sustainable. What my research also indicated, is that going back to the drawing board allows us to tackle issues in a much more straightforward, simplistic, and encompassing manner.
And if there’s an anecdotal thing I’ve learned: People want futures they can be a part of and experience, not just ones to think about and fight for.
Chris Hartgerink: Reflections on my PhD and building sustainable science. (medium.com)
A free press is indispensable for a functioning society of free citizens. Opponents of freedom try to discredit reliable news agencies by sowing doubt. The least we can do is spend time and effort to get informed by the news that talented and courageous journalists bring to us and that others do not want us to read.