Political polarization: a curse of knowledge?

Purpose: Could the curse of knowledge influence how antagonized we are towards political outgroups? Do we assume others know what we know but still disagree with us? This research investigates how the curse of knowledge may affect us politically, i.e., be a cause of political polarization. Background: Research on the curse of knowledge has shown that even when people are incentivized to act as if others do not know what they know, they are still influenced by the knowledge they have. Methods: This study consists of five studies consisting of both experimental and non-experimental and within- and between-subjects survey designs. Each study collected samples of 152-1,048. Results: Partisans on both sides overestimate the extent to which stories from their news sources were familiar to contrapartisans. Introducing novel, unknown facts to support their political opinion made participants rate political outgroup members more negatively. In an experimental design, there was no difference in judging an opponent who did not know the same issue-relevant facts and someone who did know the same facts. However, when asked to compare those who know to those who do not, participants judged those who do not know more favorably, and their ratings of all issue-opponents were closer to those issue-opponents who shared the same knowledge. In a debiasing experiment, those who received an epistemological treatment judged someone who disagreed more favorably. Conclusion: This research provides evidence that the curse of knowledge may be a contributing cause of affective political polarization.

Democracy, epistemic agency, and AI: political epistemology in times of artificial intelligence.

Democratic theories assume that citizens have some form of political knowledge in order to vote for representatives or to directly engage in democratic deliberation and participation. However, apart from widespread attention to the phenomenon of fake news and misinformation, less attention has been paid to how they are supposed to acquire that knowledge in contexts shaped by artificial intelligence and related digital technologies. While this topic can also be approached from an empirical angle, this paper contributes to supporting concerns about AI and democracy by looking at the issue through the lens of political epistemology, in particular using the concept of epistemic agency. It argues that artificial intelligence (AI) endangers democracy since it risks to diminish the epistemic agency of citizens and thereby undermine the relevant kind of political agency in democracy. It shows that next to fake news and manipulation by means of AI analysis of big data, epistemic bubbles and the defaulting of statistical knowledge endanger the epistemic agency of citizens when they form and wish to revise their political beliefs. AI risks to undermine trust in one's own epistemic capacities and hinder the exercise of those capacities. If we want to protect the knowledge basis of our democracies, we must address these problems in education and technology policy.

Hydrogeological Knowledge from Below: Water Expertise as a Republican Common in Early-Modern Venice.

This essay looks at early-modern Venice hydroculture as a case of episteme from below. The forms of water knowledge it developed were multilayered and collective in their essence and solidly rested on a social experiential basis that was rooted in labour (especially fishing) and practices (especially water surveying and engineering). In accordance with the city's republican esprit (and correspondent political values), its episteme emerged as the encounter and negotiation between various institutions and groups: the fishermen of San Niccolò in Venice, the practitioners of the water magistrature and political authorities. This essay explores the institutional settings of this water culture, seen as an instance of bottom-up epistemic construction. It especially addresses three historical instances: firstly, a seventeenth century program to map public waters in order to block their alienation for private fish farming; secondly, water officers' interviews with fishermen aimed to assess the state of the lagoon hydromorphology and, thirdly, fishing regulations. Venice communitarian and circular forms of knowledge production are here contrasted to an opposite paradigm, which was embodied by the Galileian mathematician and Rome courtier, Benedetto Castelli. His interactions with the Republic of Venice on water management and his approach to hydraulic problems are revealing of an elitist and abstract understanding of scientific knowledge that guided political decisions from above without taking in any consideration the opinions of the 'vulgar'. While his science was the expression of a top-down political epistemology, Venetian water knowledge was more egalitarian. It left room for exchange, inclusiveness and bottom-up codification; it valued the gathering of different experiences (including the fishermen's practical knowledge of their waters) and rested on a concrete and systemic (organicist) understanding of natural-anthropic processes.

The Double Legacy of Bernalism in Science Diplomacy.

Recent debates in the history of science aimed at reconstructing the history of scientific diplomacy have privileged the analysis of forms of diplomacy coming from above. Instead, the objective of this paper is to raise awareness of these debates by looking at attempts at scientific diplomacy from below. Such a shift in perspective might allow us to observe the impact of marginalized social agents on the construction of international diplomatic choices. This article particularly focuses attention on how the legacy of Bernalism has fostered the emergence of two different types of science diplomacy. On the one hand, Bernalism has influenced the goals of organizations such as UNESCO and the World Peace Council, which are forms of science diplomacy I would term from above. On the other hand, Bernalism has also been at the origin of radical scientific movements that I propose to interpret as forms of scientific diplomacy from below. These have, in fact, played a cardinal role not only in raising public awareness of the social and political roles of science, but also in the more direct participation of scientists in defining the political objectives of their research activity. From this point of view, I analyze how an association like the World Federation of Scientific Workers proposed (at least in the beginning) greater democratic participation than the top-down structures of other forms of scientific internationalism.

[Pandemia, ignorancia y sufrimiento evitable.] / Pandemic, ignorance and avoidable suffering.

COVID-19 pandemics gave us relevant lessons that are going to leave a durable mark in our individual and collective experience. Those lessons are both practical and endowed with a moral import. But the pandemic has left a trail of experiences poorly elaborated that leads, with some urgency, to forced silence and to the cancellation of emotional trauma. The aim of this paper was to disentangle the complex relationship that arises, under conditions of uncertainty, between knowledge and ignorance, both from the perspective of experts and of policy makers, and even of the ordinary people, struck or not by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To that end, I distinguish between three different levels of analysis (agency, institutions, and ideological frameworks) so to argue that the mismatches that occur in all of them, and between them, are sources of avoidable harm. The purpose of this exploration was, therefore, to bring to the floor, relying on the conceptual tools of the political epistemology, both the aspects of the traumatic experience that still lack an adequate elaboration and the features that provide an improved resilience for individuals and societies in tackling with the frightful consequences of the pandemic.

La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha dejado lecciones relevantes que van a marcar, durante años, nuestra experiencia individual y colectiva. Son lecciones tanto prácticas como de orden moral. Pero la pandemia ha dejado también un rastro de experiencias pobremente elaboradas que conducen, con cierta premura, al silencio forzado y a la cancelación del trauma. El propósito de este trabajo fue mostrar la compleja relación que, en condiciones de incertidumbre, se establece entre conocimiento e ignorancia, tanto en la perspectiva de los expertos, como en la de los políticos e incluso de los ciudadanos corrientes, víctimas o no del virus SARS-CoV-2. Para ello se distingue entre tres diferentes niveles de análisis (de la agencia, de las instituciones y de los marcos ideológicos subyacentes) y se argumenta que los desajustes que se producen en cada uno de estos niveles, y entre ellos, son fuente de sufrimiento evitable. El propósito del trabajo fue, por tanto, sacar a flote, con los instrumentos conceptuales de la epistemología política, tanto los principales perfiles que siguen sin ser adecuadamente elaborados en esta experiencia traumática como los factores que hacen posible una mayor resiliencia, para los individuos y las sociedades, a la hora afrontar las consecuencias dramáticas de la pandemia.

Pandemia, ignorancia y sufrimiento evitable / Pandemic, ignorance and avoidable suffering

La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha dejado lecciones relevantes que van a marcar, durante años, nuestra experiencia individual y colectiva.Son lecciones tanto prácticas como de orden moral. Pero la pandemia ha dejado también un rastro de experiencias pobremente ela-boradas que conducen, con cierta premura, al silencio forzado y a la cancelación del trauma. El propósito de este trabajo fue mostrarla compleja relación que, en condiciones de incertidumbre, se establece entre conocimiento e ignorancia, tanto en la perspectivade los expertos, como en la de los políticos e incluso de los ciudadanos corrientes, víctimas o no del virus SARS-CoV-2. Para ello sedistingue entre tres diferentes niveles de análisis (de la agencia, de las instituciones y de los marcos ideológicos subyacentes) y seargumenta que los desajustes que se producen en cada uno de estos niveles, y entre ellos, son fuente de sufrimiento evitable. Elpropósito del trabajo fue, por tanto, sacar a flote, con los instrumentos conceptuales de la epistemología política, tanto los principalesperfiles que siguen sin ser adecuadamente elaborados en esta experiencia traumática como los factores que hacen posible unamayor resiliencia, para los individuos y las sociedades, a la hora afrontar las consecuencias dramáticas de la pandemia.(AU)

COVID-19 pandemics gave us relevant lessons that are going to leave a durable mark in our individual and collective experience. Thoselessons are both practical and endowed with a moral import. But the pandemic has left a trail of experiences poorly elaborated thatleads, with some urgency, to forced silence and to the cancellation of emotional trauma. The aim of this paper was to disentanglethe complex relationship that arises, under conditions of uncertainty, between knowledge and ignorance, both from the perspectiveof experts and of policy makers, and even of the ordinary people, struck or not by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To that end, I distinguishbetween three different levels of analysis (agency, institutions, and ideological frameworks) so to argue that the mismatches thatoccur in all of them, and between them, are sources of avoidable harm. The purpose of this exploration was, therefore, to bring tothe floor, relying on the conceptual tools of the political epistemology, both the aspects of the traumatic experience that still lack anadequate elaboration and the features that provide an improved resilience for individuals and societies in tackling with the frightfulconsequences of the pandemic.(AU)

Introduction: Scientific Authority and the Politics of Science and History in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe*.

What sounds like a laborious set up for a shallow joke actually hits the core of the problem this issue covers: What do the leading archaeologist of the former German Democratic Republic in re-unifying Germany, Bulgarian scientists in the late 1960s and some recent discussions about representations of Polish ancient history have in common? They all operate along fractures in the crust of scientific authority, they mark moments in time when classical figures of knowledge reach or breach authoritative status. They serve to study how authoritative speech bridged and manifested these relations and help identify areas where scientific authority is contested. This volume transcends this topological rhetoric with a praxeological take on scientific authority. Concentrating on authority figures, it brings specific margins and contestations into sight. The papers in this volume study cases from former socialist countries of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, and thus examples that present us with the complexity of agonal relations within state socialism and post-socialist transformations that complicate matters of scientific authority in many ways, yet also offer illustrative examples of shifting constellations of (scientific) authority.

A dispersão da psicologia: do debate epistemológico ao estudo de uma divisão de psicologia aplicada / La dispersión de la psicología: del debate epistemológico al estudio de una división de psicología aplicada / The dispersion of Psychology: from the epistemological debate to the study of a division of applied psychology

Resumo: Este artigo trabalhará a discussão quanto a pluralidade ou unidade da psicologia. Destacaremos como este tema se projetou no cenário dos países francófonos ao longo do século passado. Como contraponto, investigaremos os modos de articulação produzidos pelos saberes e práticas psicológicos, através dos atuais Estudos em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade, a partir da Teoria Ator-Rede e da Epistemologia Política. Examinaremos os modos de engajamento que certas técnicas terapêuticas produzem no intercurso com diversos atores humanos, mas igualmente com dispositivos sociotécnicos. Estas técnicas terapêuticas estão sendo acompanhadas na Divisão de Psicologia Aplicada da UFRJ desde 2010 por meio de: descrições dos artefatos presentes em certas práticas terapêuticas e dos dispositivos nela presentes; entrevistas com pessoas em entrada e intercurso de terapia, estagiários, orientadores e responsáveis pela triagem; e observações etnográficas em sessões de supervisão de abordagens diversas. Por meio dos resultados destas pesquisas, discutiremos as formas de conexão das práticas psi.

Resumen: Este artículo trabajará en la discusión sobre la pluralidad o unidad de la psicología. Vamos a destacar cómo este tema fue proyectado en el escenario de los países francófonos a lo largo del último siglo. Como contrapunto, investigaremos los modos de articulación producidos por los saberes y prácticas psicológicas, a través de los actuales Estudios en Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad, basados ​​en la Teoría Actor-Red y en la Epistemología Política. Examinaremos los modos de compromiso que ciertas técnicas terapéuticas producen en el intercurso con varios actores humanos, pero también con dispositivos sociotécnicos. Estas técnicas terapéuticas vienen siendo acompañadas en la División de Psicología Aplicada de la UFRJ desde 2010 por medio de: descripciones de los artefactos presentes en determinadas prácticas terapéuticas y de los dispositivos presentes; entrevistas con personas en renta y pasantía de terapia, pasantes, consejeros y responsables de la selección; y observaciones etnográficas en sesiones de supervisión de diversos enfoques. A través de los resultados de estas investigaciones, discutiremos las formas de conectar prácticas psi.

Abstract: This paper will discuss the plurality or unity of psychology. We will highlight how this theme was projected in the francophone countries scenery over the past century. As counterpoint we will investigate the ways of articulation produced by psychological knowledges and practices through the recent Science, Technology and Society Studies, from Actor-Network Theory and from Political-Epistemology. We will examine the modalities of engagement that certain therapeutic techniques produce in the relation with diverse human actors and socio technical devices. These therapeutic techniques are being accompanied in UFRJ's Division of Applied Psychology since 2010 through: the description of the artifacts present in certain therapeutic practices and of the devices present in those; interviews with people entering and under therapy, trainees, mentors and the ones responsible for the screening; and ethnographic observations in supervision sessions of diverse approaches. Through the obtained results, we will discuss the ways of connection of psi practices.

Border cases between autonomy and relevance: Economic sciences in Berlin--A natural experiment.

The faculty of economics at today's Humboldt University in Berlin, as no other institution of economics, has witnessed three radical ruptures in its history: in 1933, National Socialism replaced the pluralism prevailing in the Weimar Republic by imposing a "German economics"; after WWII, GDR authorities replaced this NS regime by imposing a Marxist imperative, which after the fall of the wall was replaced by the Western standards of neoclassical economics. In reconstructing these three reforms, institutional history can serve as a context in which questions about the political nature of economic knowledge can be answered that remain speculative in a conceptual context. I thus present a natural experiment in the political epistemology of economics: How do economists respond to, resist, and stabilize, changing political regimes? How do economists renegotiate the autonomy of economic knowledge given changing demands as of its social task? Among others, I show that contrary to Robert Merton's old, but still widely held thesis in political epistemology-that the values of science are compatible only with democratic regimes-the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes created better conditions for methodological pluralism in economics than democratic society.