@gabriel @baslow Why do social science at all? Of course it’s interesting to study human behavior to understand why problems manifest. You can’t solve a problem until you understand it. Science is also not just done for problem solving¹. I’m also not sure why you’re fixated on legal remedies. If the problem is disease propagation, it’s useful to know what factors are in play.
@baslow @gabriel When the next pandemic hits, a response is more effective if it predicts & accounts for the spread factors in the various regions. If republicans are more likely to spread disease, that would just be the beginning of a series of studies that would be useful to work out why that is. (footnote 1): sometimes science is not for problem solving, but purely academic.
@gabriel @baslow I recall a study finding the average IQ of US populations on a per-state basis, which found states that consistently vote republican to have lower scores. Maybe those results are not useful for any purpose other than entertainment. But I don’t think scientific research necessarily needs to have a goal in mind other than serving as a basis for more research.
@gabriel @baslow I believe legal remedies are relatively less common for solving problems discovered by social science. It’s more common that it leads to social remedies. E.g. if the problem turns out to be that republicans oppose wearing a mask & another study were to show that republicans blindly follow republican leadership, part of a solution might be to coach/inform/pursuay republican leaders
bonifartius 𒂼𒄄
@koherecoWatchdog
no, the solution would be about finding ways to teach people not to blindly follow anyone. that is, if one is interested in some humanistic ideal and not just the usefullness of individuals to a constructed bullshit society.
at least legal action is openly visible and not manipulation of people for "their own good".
@gabriel @baslow
@gabriel @baslow @bonifartius The temptation is to say that republicans need to be taught critical thinking skills or to come up w/ways to get them to think through a stance (as opposed to blindly accepting their leaders msging), but I’m not sure to what extent that’s the case — vs. the possibility that (e.g.) they know masks reduce disease spread but they knowingly & willfully advocate for their team.
@bonifartius @baslow @gabriel …because they frame everything as a competition. Under #Trump, it’s interesting to see how the republicans will refuse facts in a Emporer-wears-no-clothes fashion when they equate going against their own leaders as a recipe for defeat. And it’s more important to not be defeated than it is to be correct about facts.
@bonifartius @baslow @gabriel Indeed, that would also be a good solution. It’d be a false dilemma to say it must be the only solution. There are many possible remedies. It would be really great for humanity if US republicans would stop blindly supporting their leaders even when the leaders are clearly wrong (e.g. in claiming an election is rigged or that a POTUS candidate is not US born contrary to evidence).