KEVIN DORST
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Stranger Apologies

Weighing the Risks (Guest Post)

10/10/2020

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Reasonably Polarized will be back next week. In the meantime, here's a guest post on the rationality of framing effects, by Sarah Fisher (University of Reading), based on a forthcoming paper of hers that asks whether the "at least" reading of number terms can yield a rational explanation of framing effects.  The paper recently won Crítica's essay competition on the theme of empirically informed philosophy—congrats Sarah!
2300 words; 10 minute read.
​
As we learn to live in the ‘new normal’, amidst the easing and tightening of local and national lockdowns, day-to-day decision-making has become fraught with difficulty. Here are some of the questions I’ve been grappling with lately:
  • When would be a good time to visit friends and family members?
  • Should I head out to the shop/ pub/ restaurant/ hairdresser this week?
  • Would it be more sensible to stay home?
A year ago these questions had easier answers. I only needed to check in on my mood, bank balance, or general state of dishevelment. Now it’s far harder to weigh up the costs and benefits of going out and about. There’s so much more hanging on each decision. Is it worth taking the risk of picking up – or passing on – the virus? Of course, we will all settle on our own ways of balancing these concerns. But, in this post, I’m going to look at how our attitudes to risk depend on framing.

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A Glass Half Full? (Guest Post by Sarah Fisher)

4/11/2020

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(This is a guest post by Sarah Fisher. 2000 words; 8 minute read.)
We could all do with imagining ourselves into a different situation right now. For me, it would probably be a sunny café, with a coffee and a delicious pastry in front of me––bliss. Here’s another scenario that seems ever more improbable as time goes by (remember when we played and watched sports…?!):

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    Kevin Dorst

    Philosopher at MIT, trying to convince people that their opponents are more reasonable than they think

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