In this episode, Doug interviews Dr. Julianne Romanello regarding a paper published by MIT entitled “Viral Visualizations: How Coronavirus skeptics Use Orthodox Data Practices to Promote Unorthodox Science Online”. This study followed anti-lockdown activists on social media and discovered groups of highly scientifically literate individuals utilizing cutting-edge data collation practices to argue that lockdowns don’t work. With no evidence, the paper concludes these groups must be racists who have weaponized critical thinking in order to radicalize others into “heterodox” beliefs, rather than simply admitting they make a good argument and advocating for public debate over this important issue. Find out more about Dr. Romanello and her work at www.heartsoverhexagons.com.
Find the MIT paper here: https://bit.ly/3zdp5gG
Episode 74: Sophistry and Technocracy with Dr. Julianne Romanello can be found here: https://bit.ly/3zinma3
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