Beyond Intractability in Context Blog
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Posts ordered from most recent to earliest.
- An exploration of one of the most effective strategies for promoting confusion and undermining the sensible analyses of social problems -- "whataboutism." -- Whataboutism -- Aug 28
- An explanation, with important implications for criminal justice reform, of the disconnect between the United States' mass incarceration policies and its inability to fight crime. -- Still under-policed and over-imprisoned -- Aug 28
- An exploration of the limits of binary thinking on race and the advantages of a much more complex and nuanced exploration of our diversity -- an approach that can help diffuse a lot of tension. -- The Racial Binary Is Inadequate -- Aug 25
- An account of somebody who did something that we all need to do more -– really listen to and try to understand the people with whom we disagree. -- I spent years hating activists. Then I tried listening to them -- Aug 25
- Yet another example of what happens in politics when the need to defeat the other side becomes more important than building a democracy in which we would all like to live. -- See the ads Democrats are funding to boost far-right Republicans -- Aug 24
- From Francis Fukuyama an argument that while grassroots activism and electoral reform are important, what the US really needs is a major political realignment. -- Paths to Depolarization -- Aug 23
- A much more sophisticated, well documented, and accurate look at the nature of the gender divide and the role that it plays in the larger societal conflict. -- How You Feel About Gender Roles Can Tell Us How You’ll Vote -- Aug 22
- A provocative essay on the nature of complex biological and social systems, the importance of diversity, and threats to that diversity. -- Keeping our options open -- Frantic human activity has reduced both cultural and biological diversity. Now we must protect the dwindling alt -- Aug 21
- A truly radical idea -- instead of devoting all of your energy to defeating a threatening adversary try acting in ways that lead them to be less threatening and better neighbors and citizens. -- Making the other side better -- Aug 21
- A readable case study of the complexities of contemporary policymaking and an explanation of why we can't seem to fix much of anything. -- There Has to Be a Better Way to Run the Government -- Jul 14
- One key to avoiding war is to take the threat seriously and not fall into the "it could never happen here" trap. -- ‘How Civil Wars Start,’ a Warning About the State of the Union -- Jul 13
- A look at the extraordinary complexity of language and the many ways in which efforts to control its use can have surprising, unintended, and often detrimental consequences. -- San Francisco Schools Are Retiring ‘Chief.’ That’s Not as Frivolous as It Seems. -- Jul 12
- A look at what social scientists think are the differences between political extremes on the left and the right. -- How Much Damage Have Marjorie Taylor Greene and the ‘Bullies’ Done to the G.O.P.? -- Jul 11
- A persuasive argument against one of the terrible manifestations of fear, hopelessness, and cynicism – the decision not to have kids. -- Your Kids Are Not Doomed -- Jul 10
- Reflections on the many dangers swirling around the criminalization of hate. #mbi_context -- Ahmaud Arbery’s racist killers are grotesque, but their ‘hate crimes’ prosecution was a show trial -- Mar 10
- A reminder that we will soon face additional, serious health challenges that will require us to move beyond today's destructive healthcare politics. #mbi_context -- When Antibiotics Stop Working -- Mar 10
- Another "listening-to-both- sides-of-an argument post." This one, on "what the left gets right," complements an earlier post on "what the right gets right." #mbi_context -- What the Economic Left Gets Right About Politics -- Mar 10
- A pretty sober and sensible analysis of the risks that the Ukrainian War could escalate into a large-scale nuclear confrontation. #mbi_context -- Putin Is Brandishing the Nuclear Option. How Serious Is the Threat? -- Mar 09
- An exploration of something that is supposedly smarter than traditional tests of statistical significance! #mbi_context -- I’m a Parent and a Statistician. There’s a Smarter Way to Think About the Under-5 Vaccine. -- Mar 09
- It's easy to judge the mistakes of the past, but it's better to learn from them. #mbi_context -- The Contradictions of American History -- Mar 09
- Long-term trends toward an increasingly peaceful and just world can only continue if we work very hard to make this a reality. #mbi_context -- The End of an Illusion -- Mar 08
- A reminder of how quickly startling events can lead to a global reframing of the way people think about their world. #mbi_context -- The Week That Awoke the World -- Mar 08
- As Kenneth Boulding observed, anything that can go wrong EVENTUALLY will. That's why we can't tolerate a continuing, low probability risk of nuclear war. #mbi_context -- Cumulative probabilities for nuclear war -- Mar 08
- A sensible look at how we have been able to keep periods of intense conflict between nuclear-armed powers from erupting into the nuclear war. #mbi_context -- How to Stop a Nuclear War -- Mar 07
- A rare and inspiring example of how "power-with" power can be mobilized to fight "power-over" aggression. #mbi_context -- How the West Marshaled a Stunning Show of Unity Against Russia -- Mar 07
