Violent Crime, Last Boys, Misinformation
Links and recommendations + my latest in the Boston Globe
The Psychology of Social Status:
My new lecture series “The Psychology of Social Status” is now available exclusively at Peterson Academy.
I delivered six lectures in front of a live studio audience, exploring the psychology of social status, examining its evolutionary roots, developmental origins, and the fundamental role it plays in shaping human behavior. We examine individual differences in status-seeking, the evolutionary reasons behind status pursuit, and the complex relationships between status, envy, emotions, and intrasexual competition for romantic partners. We also investigate the dynamics of social status in relation to stories, plot lines, and arenas of competition, and conclude by discussing the concept of luxury beliefs and their impact on society.
Enroll here for immediate access.
Here’s the trailer:
Boston Globe:
Here’s my latest piece in my regular monthly column at The Boston Globe:
Excerpt:
The fact is, though, that misinformation doesn’t actually change minds all that much.
As far back as the 2016 election, exposure to online content didn’t appear to affect elections as much as had been thought. A 2017 paper by Stanford economists Levi Boxell and Matthew Gentzkow and Brown economist Jesse Shapiro found that political polarization has been most intense among the oldest Americans, who spend the least time online. The research suggested that cable news was a more significant driver of partisan divisions. A 2018 paper from the same authors found that Trump performed worse than previous Republican candidates among internet users and people who got campaign news online. The paper concluded that “the internet was not a source of advantage to Trump.”
[…]
What are the goals of people who post misinformation? In a 2021 study, the political scientist Mathias Osmundsen and his colleagues found no evidence that such individuals are ignorant. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best predictor of sharing misinformation was hatred of the opposing political party.
The researchers also found that left-leaning individuals are correct in their impression that Republicans are more likely to share misinformation online. Why is this the case? Osmundsen and his team found that the main type of news source that was more positive toward Republicans than Democrats was “fake” news from unreliable sources. This suggests that when Democrats are motivated to post content that ridicules the opposing party, they can easily locate such ammunition in mainstream outlets. Republicans, in contrast, must seek out fringe news sites to find equally useful ammunition.
Fact-checking seems harmless enough in theory, but, as the saying goes, “who fact-checks the fact-checkers?” When undertaken by biased and imperfect humans, these efforts often deepen the very social fractures and institutional distrust that drive the demand for misinformation.
You can read the whole thing here.
Links and recommendations:
Hiding the Ball on immigrant income by Garett Jones
The importance of a good reputation by Lionel Page
Why philosophers should worry about cancel culture by Joseph Heath
Last Boys at the Beginning of History by Mana Afsari
Stereotype Accuracy is One of the Largest and Most Replicable Effects in All of Social Psychology by Lee Jussim
Human Reproduction as Prisoner's Dilemma by Arctotherium
Follow me on Instagram here. The platform is less volatile and more chill than Twitter/X, so I post some spicier excerpts from my readings on my IG stories
You can follow me on TikTok here
Three interesting findings:
1. Most men (75.3%) could imagine marrying someone who does not have regular employment, but relatively few women (28%) had marriage interest in such a mate. However, more women (47.7%) than men (35%) could imagine marrying someone who is not good- looking. (source).
2. Sixty-eight percent of romantic relationships start from friendship. Romances where partners start as friends are more likely to be the rule than the exception. On average, friends-first partners were friends for almost 2 years before becoming romantic partners. (source).
3. Between 1958 and 1968, the rate of violent crime in the U.S. doubled:
My Reading List is Still Available:
I spent several months compiling a list of the most interesting and impactful books I’ve ever read.
The list contains my mini-reviews summarizing each book and explaining its importance.
If you are interested in getting it, just follow these two steps:
1. Order a copy of my book Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class in whatever format you want (print, ebook, or audiobook)
2. Send a screenshot or photo of your receipt or proof of purchase to the email address troubledmemoir@gmail.com and use the subject line SECRET READING LIST
Already purchased a copy? Just send a screenshot of your receipt to troubledmemoir@gmail.com with the subject line SECRET READING LIST and you’ll get the secret reading list right away.
That's it!
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Interesting about disinformation. There is another point to be made about the difference between the political right and left. Since the mainstream news media and all the "experts" it invites, and many of the "academic" studies that it cites, also tilt left... and we have a long list of narratives that the mainstream news media has pushed only to later discover that the "conspiracy" theories that they claimed to be "disinformation" have turned up true... the actual view from the right is an abusive power collective that has weaponized the media for the benefit of the left and with an agenda to defeat and destruct the right. That is the other domain of consideration for this thing we can disinformation. There is really no such thing when the news media has shed most if not all of any semblance of journalistic integrity and abuses its power of influence for politics. At that point it is just a war of memes and narratives. There is no moral justification for even considering disinformation being a thing, because all news is suspect of being just that.
My middle-school-aged daughter was given a lesson in one of her classes on the dangers of stereotypes by the school counselor this week. She hated it, and has spent a lot of time telling me how unproductive it was and told me that the counselor should’ve focused on every student’s individuality. Funny that the article on stereotypes linked comes to the same conclusion.