Michael Shermer: Be Skeptical of Popular Opinion

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The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity.

[michaeltrollan]

Spot on. Michael Shermer is exactly right.

[snorgonofborkkad]

This hits home for me. I remember my very first IRL encounter with what we used to call SJW's. Today she would be identified as a critical racist. This woman kept beating me over the head with statements like "it's a fact", "you can't argue with it", "Do you think you're smarter than me? You’re not immediately agreeing with me so you must think you’re smarter than me". When I responded with "I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just skeptical of your claims”, it was like she was trying to interact with an immovable object that she had never encountered before. She didn’t even understand what the word “skeptical” meant. I asked her if she had an education (which pissed her off) and she said "I went to a liberal arts school". These people are not being taught how to think, read, or speak. They're being indoctrinated in alt-left activist propaganda mills. They come out the other side more ignorant and misinformed about the world. And the nastiest part, they come out selfish and hateful.

[Johnwilkinsonofficial]

great mix of elements in this video, and a positive vision offered. more of this please !

[streglof]

Trigger warnings are like "Watch out! A puppy!" The warning itself will likely scare you more than the actual subject.

[amadeusdebussy]

And, even when you accept a claim, you should do so provisionally. That is, it should always remain open to being revised when and if new information comes up.

[NousNoesis]

Great video. Thank you, Michael Shermer and FAIR. Maybe correct the misspelling of "association" at 3:22?

[ray]

To my eyes and ears, this is a well put together snapshot of a call to be skeptical of the Critical Social Justice movement and its underpinnings. This need not be about skepticism in general or "popular opinion". It was produced and presented by FAIR, after all.

[SpookyNero]

I feel like YouTube is trying to bury your awesome channel. After all, YouTube knows what's best for us, right. 😊

[mijlaid]

Can we fix the typo at 3:30 please? It says Implicit Assosiation Test.

[overtonpendulum]

Yes, everyone should be more skeptical of the popular opinion that races and sexes are equal.

[AndyWearsPants]

You forgot to list historical determinism.

[thomasreaves]

Does he believe that we should apply the principle of ECREE to the study of the Holocaust?

[victorcates]

It makes sense to be sceptical to big ideas, but a lot of the problem is crude application. Even if a core idea holds, it's worth dealing with it carefully. A study might say we know some assertion to a certain probability based on an examination of problem at scale. Then people strip aware nuance, probability and apply scale to the individual. You can go after the study as flawed (if it is), but there are decent gains if you convince people to just be a smidge less absolute. If someone believes in implicit bias, they might still be hesitant if they're open to statistic outliers. If someone doesn't like the cops generally, they might still be open to an individual cop being good. For people who erect gallows to hang the unbelievers, it can be a big idea but probably requires a big ol' dash of zealotry.

[IAmNotAHorse]

Good video. Heads up you spelled “association” wrong when discussing the IAT.

[nicmart]

I’m also skeptical of unpopular opinions. Shermer and his ilk are completely unskeptical about psychiatry, which relies entirely on diagnoses that are not falsifiable.

[shockcat]

I am skeptical of the very concept of rac**t it has at least eight different meanings it’s impossible not to be one if you are targeted, (the people that use the word the most exempt themselves from the same type of behavior that they condemn). The definition was changed again due to political pressure it’s not a real word nor real concept.

The word rac**t or R-word is a derogatory racial slur with classism attached, used exclusively against people of European descent.

[seankessler]

What is it exactly that I should be skeptical of? "Popular opinion" seems kind of broad.

[AndyWearsPants]

Using a Nazi symbol was appropriate, but there should always be an example of a Communist showing the similarities with it to be balanced. Part of problem is the false implication that intolerant ideology only exists on the right. The mission of an organization like FAIR can never be achieved, because it will always get undermined, when asymmetrical attributions of intolerance are made in this way.

[sciencetroll]

This is a boy who's scared to think about a lot of things.

[Brian-gwhg]

The music bed in this video feels out of balance (too loud). Very distracting.