Jonathan Rauch: A Defense of Truth

Over the past several years, the United States has seemingly become a country divided by facts, "alternative facts," fake news, conspiracy theories and a “cancel culture” fueled by information and disinformation circulating on various social media platforms. Yet while the debate over truth seems to have reached a fevered and dangerous pitch since the disputed presidential election, this battle of what constitutes a factual idea is nothing new, according to well-known political scholar and writer Jonathan Rauch.
In Rauch's new book The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies program and a contributing writer to The Atlantic makes an impassioned defense of truth for a country often divided, and he notes that the war on reality has existed in the United States since its founding. Rauch's new book is an ambitious investigation into many of the country's biggest social disputes, from rampant lying, propaganda and disinformation; online outrage culture, and trolling, to cancel/callout culture, campus safe spaces, postmodernism and grievance studies; as well as attacks on science and expertise. Rauch weaves these many threads into a larger theory of what is being attacked and, importantly, how to defend it.
Anyone following today's most divisive political disputes won't want to miss this important conversation about the importance of reason in an age of illiberalism.
SPEAKERS
Jonathan Rauch
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies Program, Brookings Institution; Author, The Constitution of Knowledge: In Defense of Truth
Bruce E. Cain
Spence and Cleone Eccles Family Director, The Bill Lane Center for American West; Charles Louis Ducommun Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
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[@momofnine199]

By far the clearest and most intelligent discussion of the times we are in. So many people are living in their own reality, and it doesn’t help that the latest and greatest cliche is that we all have “our truth.” The overview on Trump’s roll in this chaos of the last four years was very well handled as well. He wanted (and still wants) so much chaos going on at all times in the public square that we don’t have time to research facts, form opinions or listen to our gut if it’s telling us we’re being duped. Thank you so much for this rich talk. Can’t wait to get the book and read it.

[@brianjennings7644]

damn..I'm going to have to watch this about 10 times.. so don't think it got only 1 "like" from me. I will order the book right now..(did) ..but, his narrative is so concise..Excellent presentation..bravo!!

[@donnazukadley7300]

@Brian Jennings I have watched it 3 times already!

[@garretttedeman]

Really, really outstanding talk, and some of the best & most-balance explication of disinformation. We need to keep studying these principles.

[@jabbermocky4520]

Cutting edge stuff. All generations need to be engaged in the research and deployment of counter measures..

[@dianakirby4303]

It was outstanding,a sort of reverse engineering of disinformation.

[@dianakirby4303]

WiFi Philosophy helps understand sound arguments,logical fallacies,...anyone who liked this should check it out🤔

[@ravipeiris4388]

Very sobering conversation. Thank you. I wish Fox news watchers would plug into this conversation.

[@susylove7739]

Great talk! Thanks.

[@ElaineMLove]

Me too Thanks! Suzy I like your last name!!:-)

[@kathyd9324]

Thank you! This is so needed these days.

[@commonwealthclubworldaffairs]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alexomar7464]

More information forces us to think critically, also gives all people a voice or some type of therapy.

[@misspm8157]

Things are so bad that the minute he said he voted center right , I lost all desire to listen to anything he said after that. Never did I think that way about a person before Trump.

[@jaimeesparza6215]

Be hopeful, be optimistic just the fact I found you Discussing/ talking exchanging ideas/theories makes me one person very hopeful :)

[@dianakirby4303]

The experiment with the lines where the answer is obvious and people are influenced to go against what they see, has always blown my mind. The experiment where they shock people repeatedly also blows my mind . I truly believe I would not have fallen for either, perhaps I overestimate my objectivity. I believe I would have asked questions and concluded that I was involved in some type of experiment,

[@chaserofthelight484]

You would be asking people who are doing the experiment and in on the experiment, making your decisions based on distorted facts. There was another experiment I seen… A person gets on an elevator, several actors are already on, they are all facing the back of the elevator. The biggest percentage of the time, the new person on the elevator will turn to look at the back of the elevator after a short period of time. I think that one is hilarious and thought about doing that one myself.

[@dianakirby4303]

The questions I was thinking of would be directed at anyone wearing a lab jacket, or running the experiment. They may have disqualified anyone with medical background, especially in the electric shock experiment. I have seen the elevator example, and I have always wanted to try this! Ilmao.

[@chaserofthelight484]

@@dianakirby4303 I say we just go for it!!! I’m a prankster anyway, plus I’m into how our brains work. At the very least, they’d walk out of the elevator scratching their head, I could see them having to tell someone about it. I think we should make someone’s day, I know it would make my day. LMFAO

[@superclaymaster]

Very well delivered talk. Particularly for a video lecture.

[@carinaekstrom1]

In the end, values should be built on facts.

[@Jesse-ey5xd]

I notice in my online conversations (particularly in the KZbin comment section) that my opponents typically don't have a method for arriving at the most likely truth when some uncertainty could exist. That's if they'll engage beyond unsupported assertions or ad hominem shots. How do you get someone to interrogate their base assumptions without threatening their identity? Belief seems determined by identity not compelled by facts and reason.

[@Anubis-hm7ro]

Thank you

[@robertbritt6134]

The illusion of division around undefined labels such as “conservative” and “progressive” is the basis of our cultural dysfunction. Facts are facts. Positions mean nuts.

[@rickhunter1454]

I wouldn't say it's something new. Disinfo infrastructure sustained the Vietnam War, and made the Iraq war possible. There is some karmic justice that it is now used internally.

[@RetiredRetread]

I know how ironic it is to say this, but my opinion is This discussion should be amplified across social media

[@blbphn]

45:30 he described the end goal as "we win, they lose", reflecting a mindset that tends to perpetuate the underlying problem....rather, ultimately, "we all win."

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Thank you.

[@commonwealthclubworldaffairs]

You're welcome!

[@juliehenderson1672]

If we all treated eachother with respect and humility, there would be support fi eachother, not destruction.

[@dianakirby4303]

👍🏼👍🏿👍🏻👍

[@paulcastillo953]

Develop knowledge teach knowledge to everyone and you won't believe lies from charlatanry

[@sands7779]

Recommend this interview from the Commonwealth Club which issues thought provoking content

[@kristinamelnichenko5775]

Noam Chomsky also says we have to do away with cancel culture. Personally I hate the idea of giving racists or Holocaust denotes a platform but I am here to learn.

[@johnhanks4260]

Truth and beauty are subconscious. It comes from conversations and critical thinking inside and outside. Common sense curiosity and the search for knowledge and understanding. Feelings of insecurity diminishes natural common sense security. The property owner national authority constitution was written against the authority of the people. Democracy. Property owners and now corporate state.

[@NJIT22]

Unfortunately both parties have this problem. Postmodernism questions modern epistemology. Today postmodernism and critical theories are fused in one ideological front. Please check in which political camps bearers of this ideologies reside.

[@carolefranki9755]

How different ,from Coco, the educated ape who passed away recently,are we?

[@steeneugenpoulsen8174]

I feel like he is confusing philosophy changing because of science, with science exploding in changes. Einstein's theories refined the ideas that Newton provide earlier. It did not make "Newton's laws" wrong. The problem is things like religion saying gays are bad or thing like people claiming that black people are stupid. Religion and other bad people just isn't interested in change. This is the reason that things seem to explode in change, because when you finally have the majority to create changes that is basically an overnight event, but it has taken many many years to get to the point.

[@benjaminblevins1882]

Climate change and centuries of oppression sustained by the structures of the Nation-State. Like "free enterprise" when one small group controls capital the free market is not open. The concept of a free market of ideas is similar. You need structure. Who sets the structure? You need structure to keep things the same way. Espitimological transformation is the current stage of struggle against the oppressive structure of imperialism and neoliberalism. Epistemology is not as much about "truth" as the structure of authority to establish a society's acceptance of a belief.

[@junanougues]

Clarification: Democrats, as opposed to Republicans, don't use disinformation tactics because they still believe in democracy and their goal is to protect it, not tear it down.

[@conormacnessa7723]

How many voted for Joe biden?

[@kristibyerts5987]

I did ...and so did millions of others

[@kristibyerts5987]

Maybe out in klan country he has no voters but he does anywhere else there is normal everyday folks.

[@EvvrEndeavors]

@@kristibyerts5987 Look at what you’ve done…… I would like to know the “everyday folks” that want open borders, defunding and dismantling the police and ICE, critical race theory, the destruction of the suburbs, censorship, super high inflation, terrible trade deals like the Iran Nuclear Deal, and a president (Slow Joe) who can’t form a complete sentence even with note cards.

[@countrydonald753]

@@EvvrEndeavors Blah blah blah same old Russian Spy disinformation. So lying T says anything ,oh Hunter Biden is a traitor, must be true. Must be nice not to have to think for yourselves, T has all the answers loathsome troll

[@kristinamelnichenko5775]

if you teach climate science objectively it is “pro climate change,” so what’s wrong with that? Just share the science

[@chaserofthelight484]

The problem is those who want to purposely share disinformation regardless of what science says to manipulate public perception to cause strife, public discord and confusion amongst the masses.