I don’t have any extended (or meandering) thoughts for today, so instead I wanted to link to a fascinating, in-depth NYT article here - on philosopher Bruno Latour, “the Post-Truth Philosopher.”
It’s a deep dive into the history, personality, and effects of this man who critically examined the ways that scientific processes have evolved, and culture has reacted to that evolution. It seems like, at first, his work helped turn a critical eye on the self-assured higher status of scientists so that they could understand their own shortcomings and the political and social networks that they operate in - same as everyone else. Now it seems he needs to fight a defensive crusade in order to protect the veracity of the findings of scientists, especially climate scientists, against a rising tide of people who believe all science is either wrong or subjective and able to be dismissed. There’s a deeper character story here, I think, but I can’t access it at the moment. At the very least, it’s a fascinating and relevant intellectual recounting that helped me understand, on some level, how society may gotten to the point where large swaths of the population can consciously dismiss facts.