EF26 (AMA-EF7): The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF7

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(EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3

(EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF7

PLAY | DOWNLOAD It's Edward's job to bestow the black magic of verbal and written manipulation on the businessman to win the election. Where the tongue is quicker than the mind—and the pen sharp enough to cut—are these skills a well-respected art? Or are they just cheap mental tricks wielded by insincere charlatans? More...

EPISODE EF26 SUMMARY

Spoiler alert: You’re about to listen to an Ask Me Anything  (AMA) of Episode EF7, which was Season 1, Episode 5 of the Evolve Faster Podcast titled All Aboard the Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric.  The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is … can we trust reason? It’s a fascinating question that actually has surprisingly little research or philosophical investigation.

As a reminder about Episode EF7: Edward, a marketing master and spokesperson for the dark arts of rhetoric and propaganda, is hired to educate a controversial businessman running for an important public office.  It’s Edward’s job to bestow the black magic of verbal and written manipulation on the businessman to win the election. Where the tongue is quicker than the mind—and the pen sharp enough to cut—are these skills a well-respected art? Or are they just cheap mental tricks wielded by insincere charlatans?

The fifth episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Can we trust reason. Fake news can look very reasonable, especially when packed with numbers and percentages. If our reason is fake and new are fake, does that mean we’re becoming fake as well?

To peek behind the curtain of Episode EF7, we’ll dissect the following submitted questions:

  • Is this really what happens in politics?
  • Are there any honest politicians anymore?
  • Does just knowing about conformism help you to not allow it to happen?
  • What do we do about the problem of fake news?
  • Was there fake news before the Internet?
  • If rhetoric was once honorable, what happened?
  • Is this really what happens in politics? Are elections really won more on misdirection and fallacy than on a platform of truth, say, in the USA?
  • Who can I trust?
  • Who is most at risk and how can I help keep my kids away from shit like this?
  • And more…

Can We Trust Reason?

The big question driving Episode EF7 is … Can we trust reason? In an online world now overcome with fake news, reason and rational thinking would seem to be an obvious bet for an antidote. But how many times did you find yourself in a situation where your reasoning was unreasonable to somebody else? Does this mean it’s not a consistent tool we can trust in all situations? Or are there other skills you need to develop in your critical thinking toolbelt in order to fight fire with rhetorical fire?

So you shouldn’t discard reason as a reliable tool in your existential arsenal, but it’s prudent to give it a regular and proper maintenance job ever. Reason didn’t create us but the other way around. So when’s the last time humanity created something that’s 100% perfect? Following reason blindly is same as blindly following emotions — and it gets even worse when these two are mixed up.

Into The Rabbit Hole

SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to George Orwell. See the EF26 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more.

ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

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