"I'm a cultural scientist. I don't really practice science, but I love the traditions."
But I think the reason people get so uptight about conspiracies is it feels like someone is trying to put something over on us. We feel like a lot of conspiracy...leaders? Creators? are just con-men. And in the U.S. especially, we love a good con-man as long as we're not the perceived target.
But also, let's get science teams sponsored and cheerled just like we do sports teams. We've seen in the past couple of years a little bit of movement towards this with RBG and Einstein action figures, etc. Let's just run with it. Get me a USC Linguistics sweatshirt and trading cards with all the researchers latest stats. Let me yell at the t.v. when news hits that my favorite scientist has been traded to a different lab and let me celebrate the proxy victories of research breakthroughs. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that PR and marketing work, so let's put it to work for us.
Good show. I really enjoyed this one. Got both brain cells fired up and clicking.
"let's get science teams sponsored and cheerled just like we do sports teams." Absolutely love this and am all for it. How do we make it cool to be smart and thoughtful and thorough? (In a way that is accessible and grounded) How do you co-opt the incentive mechanism? Everybody remembers the PSA's we'd see on TV and the efforts ā admittedly often cheesy ā to make common sense or important knowledge catchy. Where's the modern equivalent? If there's something I'd love to see more budget on, this would be it. I don't know if anyone remembers that show, Junkyard Wars, where teams would battle it out to create something/ solve a problem using scraps. Can you imagine a Science/ Knowledge/ Invention League that got the kind of funding and visibility that up-start pro sports leagues do? As a sports fan would say: "LET'S GOOOOOOO"
Glad you liked it, Joel. I agree... the science team shit is something I've been fantasizing about for a while, but it feels eerily neoliberal and a little too "I Fucking Love Science" when I think about it now. Maybe I'm jaded about the world, but a lot of things I used to dream about feel like that now. I suppose we have to be the change or some shit like that right? LOL
Yeah, it's pretty cool once you start using it. It's a chrome extension that helps track what you read online. Measures your political bias, gives you "credit" for reading things and my favorite thing is the summary it gives you. I have a code for you to get instant access if you want it, just tell me where to send it!
Okay interesting but I probably wouldn't necessarily want anything involving Chrome. I try to stay away from whatever Google is doing as a general rule. While the concept sounds fun, that's a knock against in my view. I do my best to write things that exist from many different of perspectives though so I was curious about it on that end.
Hi Andrew, Mario here, co-founder of Readocracy. Thanks, Natasha, for trying to field the questions. 1) You can use Readocracy in Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Safari, and Edge. The caveat, though, given your concerns, is that you need to use the Chrome extension if you want to use Edge, Brave by default uses Chrome extensions, and for Safari there's a bit more friction, but that's just how extensions are in Safari in general. 2) As Natasha mentioned, our iOS app is in TestFlight and will be public soon. (I'd mention Android, but given where you stand I'll assume that's irrelevant!) 3) We're actually releasing a feature soon that actively helps you burst your various bubbles and get relevant content from as many perspectives as possible (we've identified 6 bubble layers). 4) Lots of questions answers in our FAQ: https://readocracy.com/faqs 5) If you have any further questions, i'm at mario@readocracy.com . Thanks for your interest.
I really enjoyed this interview! I have a passing knowledge of Shermer via The Skeptic Magazine (been awhile since I've read an issue) and I thought you had a great discussion. It really felt like a couple of peers having a discussion and some very thoughtful ideas.
"I'm a cultural scientist. I don't really practice science, but I love the traditions."
But I think the reason people get so uptight about conspiracies is it feels like someone is trying to put something over on us. We feel like a lot of conspiracy...leaders? Creators? are just con-men. And in the U.S. especially, we love a good con-man as long as we're not the perceived target.
But also, let's get science teams sponsored and cheerled just like we do sports teams. We've seen in the past couple of years a little bit of movement towards this with RBG and Einstein action figures, etc. Let's just run with it. Get me a USC Linguistics sweatshirt and trading cards with all the researchers latest stats. Let me yell at the t.v. when news hits that my favorite scientist has been traded to a different lab and let me celebrate the proxy victories of research breakthroughs. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that PR and marketing work, so let's put it to work for us.
Good show. I really enjoyed this one. Got both brain cells fired up and clicking.
"let's get science teams sponsored and cheerled just like we do sports teams." Absolutely love this and am all for it. How do we make it cool to be smart and thoughtful and thorough? (In a way that is accessible and grounded) How do you co-opt the incentive mechanism? Everybody remembers the PSA's we'd see on TV and the efforts ā admittedly often cheesy ā to make common sense or important knowledge catchy. Where's the modern equivalent? If there's something I'd love to see more budget on, this would be it. I don't know if anyone remembers that show, Junkyard Wars, where teams would battle it out to create something/ solve a problem using scraps. Can you imagine a Science/ Knowledge/ Invention League that got the kind of funding and visibility that up-start pro sports leagues do? As a sports fan would say: "LET'S GOOOOOOO"
Glad you liked it, Joel. I agree... the science team shit is something I've been fantasizing about for a while, but it feels eerily neoliberal and a little too "I Fucking Love Science" when I think about it now. Maybe I'm jaded about the world, but a lot of things I used to dream about feel like that now. I suppose we have to be the change or some shit like that right? LOL
Fascinating stuff. I'm curious about this Readocracy thing and how someone gets involved in it. I read the website and it didn't give me much detail.
Yeah, it's pretty cool once you start using it. It's a chrome extension that helps track what you read online. Measures your political bias, gives you "credit" for reading things and my favorite thing is the summary it gives you. I have a code for you to get instant access if you want it, just tell me where to send it!
Okay interesting but I probably wouldn't necessarily want anything involving Chrome. I try to stay away from whatever Google is doing as a general rule. While the concept sounds fun, that's a knock against in my view. I do my best to write things that exist from many different of perspectives though so I was curious about it on that end.
Hi Andrew, Mario here, co-founder of Readocracy. Thanks, Natasha, for trying to field the questions. 1) You can use Readocracy in Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Safari, and Edge. The caveat, though, given your concerns, is that you need to use the Chrome extension if you want to use Edge, Brave by default uses Chrome extensions, and for Safari there's a bit more friction, but that's just how extensions are in Safari in general. 2) As Natasha mentioned, our iOS app is in TestFlight and will be public soon. (I'd mention Android, but given where you stand I'll assume that's irrelevant!) 3) We're actually releasing a feature soon that actively helps you burst your various bubbles and get relevant content from as many perspectives as possible (we've identified 6 bubble layers). 4) Lots of questions answers in our FAQ: https://readocracy.com/faqs 5) If you have any further questions, i'm at mario@readocracy.com . Thanks for your interest.
Thanks Mario!
I appreciate the information. Iāll definitely keep an eye on it and reach out if I can see potential in it.
Yeah! I hear you. They just released an app, but I haven't gotten to play with it yet.
I really enjoyed this interview! I have a passing knowledge of Shermer via The Skeptic Magazine (been awhile since I've read an issue) and I thought you had a great discussion. It really felt like a couple of peers having a discussion and some very thoughtful ideas.
Thanks! He's a pro for sure. I really enjoyed the conversation, too.