I would say I do consider my self a utilitarian. On a personal level I do think in terms of utils. It's probably the autism. On a societal level I would say I'm a more flexible utilitarian -the problem with utilitarianism is that sometimes "society as a whole" can benefit the most from a small group getting all of the utility while everyone else gets none. When I say "flexible" I mean I think equity has utility for its own sake. There could never be a situation where all of the utility is that concentrated, because the concentration itself would cause so much disutility.
My next column that I'm about to post kind of addressed the "blind spot" question. A researcher cannot solve everything, but when there isn't concrete research we should still rely on whatever evidence and reasoning is available. If there isn't a research paper for everyone question we shouldn't just default to vibes, we should lower our standards just a tad until more concrete research happens.
I would say Americans don't trust research for two reasons. First, they don't understand it or don't have access to it. A lot of that shit is dense as fuck and a lot of it is behind a paywall. The higher education system is at a point where networking is more important than reading, they are becoming job factories more than places for young people to learn how to process actual research, so fewer and fewer people are willing and able to actually understand and seek out research.
The second is political, right-wing populists have tanked Americans' trust in higher education. Many on the right and in the middle view all researchers as a part of some ultra-elite evil cabal of manipulators who are trying to use numbers and dense research papers to control all of society. All of Trump's attacks on universities are part of a long-term plan to completely discredit the university system and therefore discredit the idea of objective evidence itself. I think a part of this problem is that many on the right and in the middle don't go to college (at least not to serious research universities).
I trust university researchers because I met them when I went to college. I know they aren't a part of an evil cabal of manipulators. They're dweebs. Actual fucking nerds, the whole lot of them. Researchers as a whole are far too autistic to control the world. They are just a group of dweebs with really niche special interests who for the most part don't really consider the political implications of their research at all. I doubt that many researchers spend much time thinking about anything but their special interest.
Quin do you consider yourself utilitarian? Also what happens if researchers have a blind spot? Americans should trust research but why don't they?
I would say I do consider my self a utilitarian. On a personal level I do think in terms of utils. It's probably the autism. On a societal level I would say I'm a more flexible utilitarian -the problem with utilitarianism is that sometimes "society as a whole" can benefit the most from a small group getting all of the utility while everyone else gets none. When I say "flexible" I mean I think equity has utility for its own sake. There could never be a situation where all of the utility is that concentrated, because the concentration itself would cause so much disutility.
My next column that I'm about to post kind of addressed the "blind spot" question. A researcher cannot solve everything, but when there isn't concrete research we should still rely on whatever evidence and reasoning is available. If there isn't a research paper for everyone question we shouldn't just default to vibes, we should lower our standards just a tad until more concrete research happens.
I would say Americans don't trust research for two reasons. First, they don't understand it or don't have access to it. A lot of that shit is dense as fuck and a lot of it is behind a paywall. The higher education system is at a point where networking is more important than reading, they are becoming job factories more than places for young people to learn how to process actual research, so fewer and fewer people are willing and able to actually understand and seek out research.
The second is political, right-wing populists have tanked Americans' trust in higher education. Many on the right and in the middle view all researchers as a part of some ultra-elite evil cabal of manipulators who are trying to use numbers and dense research papers to control all of society. All of Trump's attacks on universities are part of a long-term plan to completely discredit the university system and therefore discredit the idea of objective evidence itself. I think a part of this problem is that many on the right and in the middle don't go to college (at least not to serious research universities).
I trust university researchers because I met them when I went to college. I know they aren't a part of an evil cabal of manipulators. They're dweebs. Actual fucking nerds, the whole lot of them. Researchers as a whole are far too autistic to control the world. They are just a group of dweebs with really niche special interests who for the most part don't really consider the political implications of their research at all. I doubt that many researchers spend much time thinking about anything but their special interest.