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It is not just the Twitterati. Science, too, has its [[confirmation bias]]es at a meta-level, uncontrollable even by double-blind testing methodologies. Experiments which ''confirm'' a hypothesis are ''a lot'' more likely to be published than those which ''don’t''.<ref>{{br|The Hidden Half: How the World Conceals its Secrets}}, by Michael Blastland.</ref> Of those failed experiments that ''are'' published, far fewer are cited in other literature. [[Falsification]]s ''die''. | It is not just the Twitterati. Science, too, has its [[confirmation bias]]es at a meta-level, uncontrollable even by double-blind testing methodologies. Experiments which ''confirm'' a hypothesis are ''a lot'' more likely to be published than those which ''don’t''.<ref>{{br|The Hidden Half: How the World Conceals its Secrets}}, by Michael Blastland.</ref> Of those failed experiments that ''are'' published, far fewer are cited in other literature. [[Falsification]]s ''die''. | ||
It happens in any, and every social structure: even [[woke]] ones. Whoever occupies a position of standing or influence in a [[power structure]], wields the tremendous power to ''ignore'' ideas which don’t suit her own predilections. As long as the power structure is not in crisis, “inconvenient”, “awkward”, “disruptive” suggestions are a distraction; they divert resources from the true path; they | It happens in any, and every social structure: even [[woke]] ones. Whoever occupies a position of standing or influence in a [[power structure]], wields the tremendous power to ''[[ignore]]'' ideas which don’t suit her own predilections. This isn’t mendacious, bad faith behaviour: a core operating condition of any successful [[paradigm]] is the filtration of data that doesn’t help the programme — “noise” and reinforce data which does — “signal”. As long as the power structure is not in crisis, “inconvenient”, “awkward”, “disruptive” and irrelevant suggestions are equally a distraction; they divert resources from the true path; they have the potential to upset the existing programme, and those who are conducting it. It is much easier to overlook the direction a new suggestion might take than engage energy, time and resources in a fight you might end up losing. We all do it. Ask Kodak: someone there ''invented the digital camera''. Management looked the other way: it didn’t suit the path the firm was on. | ||
[[Falsification]]s ''die''. | [[Falsification]]s ''die''. | ||