Political Prejudice
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2012
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you think that you are rational and unprejudiced, Michael Blastland hopes you will be open minded enough to listen to the evidence which suggests that you are probably not.
We might think our views about global warming, nanotechnology or the value of IQ tests are based on scientific evidence. But the beliefs we hold about these issues often say more about our ability to screen out the evidence we dislike than it does about the scientific facts.
Michael Blastland investigates the causes of our cognitive biases and our remarkable ability to not let the facts get in the way of a deeply held belief.
Contributors include:
Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia Dan Kahan, Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School Roger Scruton, philosopher.
Producer: Chris Bowlby.
Transcript
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| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Thank you for downloading this edition of Analysis. |
| 0:39.6 | On this week's programme, the human tendency to not let the facts get in the way of our political |
| 0:44.3 | prejudices. The presenter is Michael Blasland. Hello listener, so pleased you could |
| 0:49.5 | join us. Nice to be with someone so rational and open-minded. |
| 0:53.5 | How can I tell? Well, you like Radio 4. |
| 0:57.0 | You're tuned to analysis. |
| 0:59.0 | Wouldn't catch you prejudging an argument. |
| 1:01.0 | Oh no, you're here for thinking evidence facts so here's a simple |
| 1:06.3 | question about climate change a thought provoker if ever there was is the earth |
| 1:11.2 | warming now this is a question of fact or science, well short of bigger controversies about whether humans are to blame or what to do about it, just the basic is the earth warming. |
| 1:22.0 | Nevertheless, those on the left are most likely to say yes, |
| 1:26.0 | those who say no are more likely to be on the right. Why is the left stroke right delete as applicable simply wrong or is there more to it? |
| 1:37.7 | The writer and philosopher Roger Scrutin is intrigued. |
| 1:41.8 | It is interesting that people's beliefs about plain matters of fact do tend to correspond to other |
| 1:50.4 | attitudes which are not intellectual but more deeply implanted in their |
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