clear the shelters on KPRC 2 is
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Tech of Houston.
>> Crowds have been a big part
of our society for many years,
especially recently. It
seems when diverse opinions
that generated large groups of
people taking to the streets
demanding social
justice or up the Capitol steps
to stop the steal which courts
across America determined
didn’t happen. That has not
kept millions of
people from embracing and
believing things that aren’t
true. Covid vaccines. Another
Tampa where groups have dug end
with one belief,
one other doctor Steven Nelson
is instructional associate
professor of sociology at the
University of Houston
who studies social psychology
and deviance. Doctor Nelson.
Thank you for joining This
morning. There are millions
of people in our country who
apparently believe an provable
and unproven things you say
that people seem to be ready to
do so. Why is that? Yeah, well,
thanks for having me, I share
your frustration with
that. But. It is a very human
thing too believe all sorts of
things were just them, frankly,
not very good
at determining truth from
fiction as individual human
beings. You know, we’re not
even when we really want to do
it right. We feel great.
All
>> by a season and logical
fallacies and errors and
superstitions
to win prone to believe things that aren’t so what a
that aren’t so what a
benefit to do so. And you say
social benefit where If
we are, I had a group where and
other people in a group believe
those things too. We can get
social status to get that sense
of belonging
and identity my believing
things, whether they’re true or
not and really be in our
political advantage or social
advantage.
And I did manage to do that.
To come out of a good reason
you for their plenty of sources
of information out there where
we can find facts. But that
seems like over the last number
of years.
>> Various groups. They seem
adamant about information that
spurious at at best. Are you
with the challenge with when
groups are faced with trying to
find the truth is a lot more
challenging for them to do so.
It is challenging to do
Again, as individuals were
pretty
good mess. That’s why we as a
culture, as a society developed
home number of institutions
to do this very thing. You
know, we have. The criminal
justice system
in courts. When we want to
determine whether somebody
committed a crime or not.
And that means a whole
bunch of rules of evidence and
that and the training, the goal
line. And that’s certainly the
way isn’t science right.
We scientific method than we
have years and years of
training and we have peer
review. So
those institutions a step in
and help us and individually
myself included. We’re pretty
bad at the time of the
determining the true when we
get together in one of these
institutions, we’re much more
likely to get
it right. So in our are
remember one of the the
previous administration talked
about alternative facts which
doesn’t exist. But there’s so
much information playing in all
of this talk about the fact
that
we’ve lost the institutions
that are provided the
legitimacy through the years.
It seems that we’ve lost a lot
of that. there’s a perception
that somehow. I agree. I a lot
of people have lost trust in
those very important social
institutions. Those
institutions have been
criticized in many
ways legitimately. From people
who want to better those
institutions,
but also from people who are
really cynically and
politically why undermine those
institutions like historically
the tobacco lobby
in the fossil industry have
attacks and science. Not
because they signs was wrong
because they knew they could
lose money of people who leave
the things that science was So
that’s a real problem. And then
we end up with someone like
Donald Trump are really made.
It a core part of his politics
to attack and undermine all
of certain core institutions
of truth.
So people particularly people
just don’t trust those
institutions much these so you
do it that it seems to be that
there are a lot of people who
cross the political aisle in
various different groups and we
have different
you know, just don’t believe
each other even though they may
see facts right in
their face. What are the
dangers of seeing a
continuation of this kind of
group think when all these
large groups are believing in
something even when facts
indicate that what they’re
quote believing in doesn’t
exist. It’s incredibly dings.
I mean, the only
thing that keeps us as a
society is this idea called
social solidarity. It means
that we see things the same
way we have shared experience
and Sen shared values and
shared vision. What we’re here
doing. I’m one that falls
apart. We all have a sister and
young multiple societies.
And that means we have
arguments that we don’t need
to have. I means it’s much
harder to solve some of the
really important.
Social problems, global climate
change for one.
And in can lead to violence.
Honestly, as we saw on January
So I is it is an eternal
optimist. Always looking for,
to the best possible answer.
Is there a way to get us back
on track. Get all our groups
in societies are those
different divergent groups on
same.
>> Pacer lease in a place where
we can be more harmonious as
opposed to more adversarial.
>> Well, I certainly hope so.
But it doesn’t want to have a
what I mean.
The main issues are this lack
of trust
in institutions. And are not
breaking apart essentially.
I think I’m we have to find
ways to rehabilitate these
institutions and that means
bringing people who have
developed distrust to rebuild
them to reconstruct them in
ways that we can all start to
trust I would hope that media
can be a part of that and can
bring us together
more in in rather to so many
times in media, we get brought
together to fight in 20 months
football game rather than being
brought together where the goal
is to communicate and
solve problems. I’m going to be
wonderful if we can get brought
together and I and sure goals
like them up from from your
mouth to God’s ears and to not
return a lock to talking to an
eternal optimist said, doctor
Nelson, thank you
so much.
>> We thank you again also for
sticking around Alexa
conversations. This deserves a
little bit more talk. So let’s
do that. But thank you.
Hopefully we’ve been able to