Millions of online book co-purchases reveal partisan differences in the consumption of science, researchers report:
Passionate disagreements about climate change, stem cell research and evolution raise concerns that science has become a new battlefield in the culture wars. We used data derived from millions of online co-purchases as a behavioural indicator for whether shared interest in science bridges political differences or selective attention reinforces existing divisions. Findings reveal partisan preferences both within and across scientific disciplines.
Across fields, customers for liberal or ‘blue’ political books prefer basic science (for example, physics, astronomy and zoology), whereas conservative or ‘red’ customers prefer applied and commercial science (for example, criminology, medicine and geophysics). Within disciplines, ‘red’ books tend to be co-purchased with a narrower subset of science books on the periphery of the discipline.
We conclude that the political left and right share an interest in science in general, but not science in particular. This underscores the need for research into remedies that can attenuate selective exposure to ‘convenient truth’, renew the capacity for science to inform political debate and temper partisan passions.
I have nothing but contempt for writers who use “Blue” as the color for the Far Left. Have those people never heard of the USSR’s Red Army, or Mao’s Little Red Book, or the Scarlet Banner?
By this misrepresentation, they are demonstrating they are either ignorant buffoons, or they are deliberately trying to obfuscate the obvious fact that what they call “liberal” is in fact a cloaked form of the Extreme Left-Wing, a philosophy which has failed every time it has been tried.
That said, how did the authors determine the political preferences of book-buyers?
“That said, how did the authors determine the political preferences of book-buyers?”
I believe it says they did it by matching purchases of politically oriented books to purchases of scientific books by the same “co-purchase[r]“. Obviously there is the potential confound that a right winger might purchase a left wing book out of curiosity, and vice-versa, but they seem to make the assumption that such purchases will be drowned in the overall association.
“We used data derived from millions of online co-purchases…”
In my experience left-wingers search science for ways to leverage their political goals, while right-wingers search science for flaws in the left-wingers’ political plans in order to thwart them.
Thus the authors reveal themselves to be probably left-oriented when they say, “This underscores the need for research into remedies that can attenuate selective exposure to ‘convenient truth’, renew the capacity for science to inform political debate and temper partisan passions.”
They are do-gooders.
In my opinion what is lacking in both political sides is the search for reality so that individuals might deal with it most successfully.
Most people know nothing about science in particular.
Political people are no exception.
Gavin Longmuir says, “I have nothing but contempt for writers who use ‘Blue’ as the color for the Far Left. Have those people never heard of the USSR’s Red Army, or Mao’s Little Red Book, or the Scarlet Banner? By this misrepresentation, they are demonstrating they are either ignorant buffoons…”
Either you don’t know what you are talking about or you are gaslighting us.
I’m old enough to remember in Federal elections the Republicans were Blue and the Democrats red. The press changed it. The reason is fairly obvious and once again, isn’t it always the same people filling us with lies, the Jews owned the press when they changed it to bamboozle people.
People say I’m obsessed by the Jews, but the sheer amount of distortion, crime, evil and fucking up the works these people do means most all significant events they are muddying up the waters with their gaslighting. In reality they’re not saying I’m obsessed because I am; it’s that they don’t want people to know how psychopathically fucked up they are.
Sam: “I’m old enough to remember in Federal elections the Republicans were Blue and the Democrats red. The press changed it. The reason is fairly obvious …”
Sam, that was exactly my point. We are in complete agreement — if you can bear to be in agreement with a gaslighter.
We all know why the Extreme Left media switched the color scheme. What we don’t know is why all the “Republicans” and “conservatives” meekly went along with this obvious attempt to obfuscate the increasingly socialist/fascist nature of the Democrat Party.
“…if you can bear to be in agreement with a gaslighter…”
I’m perfectly agreeable to agreement from anyone any time.
Gavin Longmuir says, “Sam, that was exactly my point. We are in complete agreement.”
I wish to point out why I say you were gas-lighting.
You point out rightly that it’s a abomination that Republicans are shown as the RED team. The shifty, slinky part is that now you say that you knew all along that it was changed. You can not help but know who is responsible, but…you never pointed that out. So in fact your whole comment was rage porn to agitate people while knowing the source of the agitation but “conveniently” refusing to actually name the people responsible. There’s a lot of this.
Like the video Jim leaked. The police or N.G. or whoever lets the center of the town burn down and then marches through the suburbs shooting at people.
Same thing. Ignore the source of the agitation and pretend it’s some amorphous vapor in the air when we know good and well it’s crooked prosecutors and crooked police chiefs that refuse to do their jobs.
Of course the police are filled with crooked people who could care less about the community because they psychologically evaluate them to only hire them that are that way.