Does Politics Make us Get our Sums Wrong?
Researchers have measured how much personal opinions cloud our judgement. The study suggests maths ability plummets when we are looking at data which clashes with our worldview.
To what degree do our personal opinions cloud our judgement? Yale University researchers have attempted to detect and measure how our political beliefs affect our ability to make rational decisions. The study suggests that our ability to do maths plummets when we鈥檙e looking at data which clashes with our worldview. Ruth Alexander and Ben Carter consider Professor Dan Kahan鈥檚 findings.
(Image: 'The Thinker' by French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Sat 9 Nov 2013 11:50GMT91福利社 World Service Online
- Sat 9 Nov 2013 22:50GMT91福利社 World Service Online
- Mon 11 Nov 2013 03:50GMT91福利社 World Service Online
Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU
Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.
When can you trust statistics?
91福利社 Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
Podcast
-
![]()
More or Less
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life
