Politics Archives - Knowing Neurons

Elizabeth Burnette April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 Bias, Cognition, Data, Misinformation, Politics

How Political Bias Changes Our Understanding of Data

Data literacy is the ability to understand the results and process of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data. This skill is becoming increasingly relevant with internet-driven improvements to data accessibility… Read More

Science Policy

Zoe Guttman November 6, 2021January 6, 2022 circadian clock, circadian rhythm, Daylight Savings, Legislation, Politics, Science Policy, Sleep

Why are legislators trying to get rid of daylight saving time?

It’s that time of year again when the days are getting shorter and the clocks are moved back. While many of us may consider the biannual time change to be… Read More

Science Policy

Yuki Hebner October 5, 2021November 1, 2021 Adolescence, Adolescent, Exercise, Gender, Hormone, Hormones, Legislation, Politics, Reproductive Health, Science Policy, Sex, sport, Sports, Transgender Rights, Women's Rights

Why “Saving Women’s Sports” Won’t Help Anyone

A wave of legislation marketed to improve conditions for women athletes conflates transgender participation with the enduring marginalization of women in sport. Ensuring supportive, not mutually exclusive, access to sports… Read More

Feature image depicting a brain in the center of a circle with a visual illusion background. On the left is a hand, palm up, holding a heart. On the right, another hand is tentatively reaching out to grab it. Designed by Alexa Erdogan.

Big Ideas Culture Philosophy Sensation and Perception

McKenna Becker April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 Bias, Blind spot, Cognition, Empathy, Illusion, Neuroplasticity, Optic nerve, Perception, philosophy, Photoreceptor, Politics, R.L. Gregory, Reality, Retina, Stroop Test, Top-Down Processing, V.S. Ramachandran, Visual Illusions

Understanding Visual Illusions Can Make Us More Empathetic

Philosophers and neuroscientists agree that if there is an objective reality, human beings can’t perceive it: philosophers refer to objective reality as a perception independent of any conscious awareness. Neuroscientists… Read More

Big Ideas Did You Know?

DanielToker August 17, 2017August 17, 2017 2004 Presidential Election, Amygdala, George W. Bush, Insula, irrationality, John Kerry, Neuroimaging, Neuroscience, philosopher-kings, Plato, political philosophy, Politics, presidential election, reason

You’re Not as Rational as You Think: Political Philosophy and the Science of Irrationality

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]ognitive scientists have known for decades that humans are inherently irrational when it comes to making economic decisions. This may seem obvious to a good poker player, who will likely… Read More

Big Ideas Science Policy

Kate Fehlhaber February 6, 2017October 8, 2017 Alternative Facts, Darwin, Dunning-Kruger effect, Einstein, Fact, Facts, illusion of confidence, illusory superiority, Instructor, Knowledge, Lemon, McArthur Wheeler, Politics, Psychology, SciComm, Socratic, Student, Stupid, Teacher, Trump, Veritasium, Vsauce

The Consequences of Illusory Superiority

On January 6, 1995, a large five-foot-six 270-pound middle-aged man robbed two Pittsburgh banks in broad daylight. He didn’t wear a mask or any sort of disguise. And he smiled… Read More