[Tango-L] Style Wars: Truth and Truthiness

[Konstantin Zahariev]

On Nov 27, 2007 12:59 PM,  <Stephen.P.Brown at dal.frb.org> wrote:

> I don't see what authoritarians (right-wing or otherwise) have to do with
> it.  Truthiness is the result of informal networks of like-minded
> individuals who reinforce each others' perspectives and help maintain
> individual biases.  The key to an unbiased outcome is that there is a
> mechanism for sharing and aggregating the information and that observers
> are independent of each other rather than polarized into identifiable
> groups with self-perpetuating biases.

But I think the key is how these groups deal with information that
contradicts their views. The biased outcome/truthiness only persists
if unfavourable facts are selectively rejected, i.e. the outcome is
unfalsifiable. This apparently tends to happen with authoritarians
more, hence my mention of the concept.

So I think it is not whether participants in informal networks are
polarized or independent, but whether they allow or not their theories
and views to be falsifiable.

With best regards,

Konstantin
Victoria, Canada