Challenging Beliefs and Rationalization

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The chapter explores the process of how beliefs are formed and challenged, emphasizing the importance of seeking truth and questioning assumptions. It delves into how smart individuals can rationalize strange ideas, leading to the entrenchment of flawed beliefs within academic settings. Discussions also touch on the impact of ideology on research methodologies and the necessity of adopting a disposition of honest inquiry to overcome confirmation bias.

What happens when ideology replaces critical thinking across academia? Philosopher, author, and former professor Peter Boghossian witnessed this firsthand at Portland State University, and his school was not an anomaly. Known for his role in the “Grievance Studies Affair”, exposing the low quality scholarship published in activist-oriented journals, Peter is worried about how this strange fringe of academia has come to dominate universities. He’s now working to revitalize and advocate for what should be the core of education - critical thinking, open debate, and the rigorous pursuit of truth.

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Follow Peter on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/peterboghossian

Peter on Substack: https://boghossian.substack.com/

Peter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drpeterboghossian/featured

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Outline:

[0:00] Philosopher, author, and father

[2:06] How tenure corrupts academic journals

[13:50] Grievance studies and hoax papers

[21:18] Reasoning vs rationalizing

[29:56] Can ideology infect the hard sciences?

[36:50] What makes people vulnerable to dogma?