Tag Archives: bias

The Risks of Failed Risk Assessments On Natural vs Unfamiliar Sources of Energy

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Thoughtscapism

German society Nuklearia kindly invited me to write about risk perceptions on the topic of energy on their blog, where this piece originally appeared in German. You can read it in English below. Humans are naturally bad at assessing complex … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, energy, health, psychology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

17. Can Glyphosate Research Be Trusted?

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Thoughtscapism

In my series 17 Questions about Glyphosate, last but not least comes a post about the integrity of research, how funding may influence research results, and what corporate involvement with scientists may entail. And if scientists mostly are not influenced … Continue reading →

Posted in finance, science, society | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Why It’s So Hard to Talk About GMOs

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Thoughtscapism

Despite our best intentions, discussions about GMOs often quickly degenerate into shouting matches. If we really want to make a difference, we should consider the psychology of how and why our views are formed, and help others do the same. Instead of eagerly fighting with facts, the effect of kindness and curiosity on a debate could surprise you. Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, health, psychology, science communication | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plants Don’t Have Problems

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Thoughtscapism

As a preteen I wished that all humans would disappear from the planet and the beauty of nature would be left to flourish unhindered. I imagined I would be offered a big red button and I could annihilate the human race with … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, climate, environment, meta, science | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Am I Biased? Are You?

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Thoughtscapism

Bias is a mental heuristic, and it can be as useful as it is dangerous. How can we know if we are blinded by bias? Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, biology, health, nutrition, organic | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Injecting Kindness into the Debate

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Thoughtscapism

Vaccines are a topic that stir up a lot of emotions. How should we talk about them? Will anything we do make a difference? What if we frame the question somewhat differently: can we make a difference by the way behave in our interactions with other people? Continue reading →

Posted in epistemology, existentialism, health, medicine, psychology, science, science communication, society, vaccines | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments