Hi I’m Brian. I am a former university research professor and am interested in discussing – can scientific methods be used to explore topics central to philosophy? The distinction here is differentiating between a well-reasoned philosophical argument versus a discussion of how, in the real world, people develop attitudes and beliefs surrounding philosophical topics and questions. To begin with I am particularly interested in exploring the process of political polarization and more generally viewpoint polarization. How do so many different viewpoints come to be in one relatively homogeneous society? Viewpoint polarization is not only limited to political discussions and it is easy to notice its presence in religious, public health and civic planning discussions as well. In fact, at its base, the definition of what constitutes our shared ‘reality’ can be remarkably different person-to-person. Not surprisingly scientific discussions can also be polarized when competing theories for a single scientific observation have been proposed. So one starting point will be to explore similarities in the viewpoint polarization process as it applies to a wide range of topics.
LAUGHING APPLE – AT THE INTERSECTION
Where scientific philosophy meets the real world
