From the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World:
“In a study during the run-up to the Brexit vote, a small majority of both Remainers and Brexiters were able to correctly interpret made-up statistics about the efficacy of a rash-curing skin cream, but when voters were given the same exact data presented as if it indicated that immigration either increased or decreased crime, hordes of Brits suddenly became innumerate and misinterpreted statistics that disagreed with their political beliefs. Kahan found the same phenomenon in the United States using skin cream and gun control. Kahan also documented a personality feature that fought back against that propensity: science curiosity. Not science knowledge, science curiosity.”
In an age where we are inundated by information and skim instead of digest, there is every incentive for publishers to present information selectively and in a way that appeals to our biases and reinforces them. More than ever before we must be skeptical of everything we read AND be open to new ideas. At the same time.