Epistemic closure

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Nov 10, 2012, at 10:12 AM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM> wrote:

> On Nov 10, 2012, at 10:04 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> =
> wrote:
> 
>> On Nov 10, 2012, at 8:52 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> =20
>>>> The term refers to a situation where the information you receive is
>>> biased.
>>> =20
>>> Surely it's more complicated than just turning a blind eye to good
>>> evidence. The sentence Victor quotes is decidedly unhelpful.
>>> =20
>>> I doubt that Brooks fully absorbed the article Ben refers to; =
> therefore I
>>> doubt that he's using the term as a logician was.
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>> Maybe more like the most basic form of epistemic closure:  sticking =
> one's fingers in one's ears and singing loudly =
> LA-LA-LA-LA-I-CAN'T-HEAR-YOU.
> 
> It refers more to an environment where the information has become =
> filtered and the people in the environment cannot see that.
> 
> See =
> http://www.redletterchristians.org/persecution-and-epistemic-closure/ =
> which has "Epistemic closure is a recently defined philosophical term =
> that describes someone who is so thoroughly encased in the echo chamber =
> of their own ideology that they are completely immune to considering =
> other viewpoints" and other information.

Here is another excellent example of the word in action: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/11/sabotaging-sandy.html

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA
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