I’ve said the last two posts that I would quote the passages of Rauch’s book in which he describes what he considers to be the components of the “reality-based community.” And how it struck me that some of these components are likely what the simple-minded right thinks of as the “deep state” that is somehow conspiring to deprive them of their freedom, and which they would eliminate (DeSantis would “cut their throats”), without understanding them or why they are needed to preserve our complex society. So for now (never mind scanning and converting to text, as I suggested earlier) here are two photos showing pages 100-102 of the book. Click on images for expanded views.
The takeaways here are the ‘norms’ or rules upon which these professions work. In particular how researchers, and journalists, should not be told in advance what conclusions to find. That is, avoid motivated reasoning. “They regard lying and making up stuff up as a firing offense.” (And yet, this hasn’t prevented social media, and Fox News, from doing precisely that. Because there is an audience for their lies. Which many people prefer, over reality.)
