Public Lies And Private Truths

Author : Timur Kuran
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674248139
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Private Truths, Public Lies written by Timur Kuran and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1998-06-16 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preference falsification, according to the economist Timur Kuran, is the act of misrepresenting one's wants under perceived social pressures. It happens frequently in everyday life, such as when we tell the host of a dinner party that we are enjoying the food when we actually find it bland. In Private Truths, Public Lies Kuran argues convincingly that the phenomenon not only is ubiquitous but has huge social and political consequences. Drawing on diverse intellectual traditions, including those rooted in economics, psychology, sociology, and political science, Kuran provides a unified theory of how preference falsification shapes collective decisions, orients structural change, sustains social stability, distorts human knowledge, and conceals political possibilities. A common effect of preference falsification is the preservation of widely disliked structures. Another is the conferment of an aura of stability on structures vulnerable to sudden collapse. When the support of a policy, tradition, or regime is largely contrived, a minor event may activate a bandwagon that generates massive yet unanticipated change. In distorting public opinion, preference falsification also corrupts public discourse and, hence, human knowledge. So structures held in place by preference falsification may, if the condition lasts long enough, achieve increasingly genuine acceptance. The book demonstrates how human knowledge and social structures co-evolve in complex and imperfectly predictable ways, without any guarantee of social efficiency. Private Truths, Public Lies uses its theoretical argument to illuminate an array of puzzling social phenomena. They include the unexpected fall of communism, the paucity, until recently, of open opposition to affirmative action in the United States, and the durability of the beliefs that have sustained India's caste system.

Author : Timur Kuran
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674707580
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Private Truths, Public Lies written by Timur Kuran and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1997-09-30 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preface Living a Lie The Significance of Preference Falsification Private and Public Preferences Private Opinion, Public Opinion The Dynamics of Public Opinion Institutional Sources of Preference Falsification Inhibiting Change Collective Conservatism The Obstinacy of Communism The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System The Unwanted Spread of Affirmative Action Distorting Knowledge Public Discourse and Private Knowledge The Unthinkable and the Unthought The Caste Ethic of Submission The Blind Spots of Communism The Unfading Specter of White Racism Generating Surprise Unforeseen Political Revolutions The Fall of Communism and Other Sudden Overturns The Hidden Complexities of Social Evolution From Slavery to Affirmative Action Preference Falsification and Social Analysis Notes Index.

Author : John J. Mearsheimer
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199975450
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Why Leaders Lie written by John J. Mearsheimer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an analysis of the lying behavior of political leaders, discussing the reasons why it occurs, the different types of lies, and the costs and benefits to the public and other countries that result from it, with examples from the recent past.

Author : Andrew J. Turner
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004187758
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Private and Public Lies written by Andrew J. Turner and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Graeco-Roman literary works, historiography, and even the reporting of rumours were couched as if they came in response to an insatiable desire by ordinary citizens to know everything about the lives of their leaders, and to hold them to account, at some level, for their abuse of constitutional powers for personal ends. Ancient writers were equally fascinated with how these same individuals used deceit as a powerful tool to disguise private and public reality. The chapters in this collection examine the themes of despotism and deceit from both historical and literary perspectives, over a range of historical periods including classical Athens, the Hellenistic kingdoms, late republican and early imperial Rome, late antiquity, and Byzantium.

Author : Madelon L. Finkel
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313082200
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Truth, Lies, and Public Health written by Madelon L. Finkel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-08-30 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The politicalization of research findings has become prevalent over the past two decades. Politics often prevents the implementation of policy supported by irrefutable science. Most of us understand something about how this is happening with stem cell research, but Cornell's Madelon Finkel delves deep into the subject to make the issues clear, also revealing how ideology and politics are distorting, diminishing and destroying scientific research results regarding topics from needle exchange, HIV/AIDS prevention and medical marijuana to antiobiotic use with animals later marketed for human consumption. When ideology—whether it is the ideology of scientists and clinicians or of politicians—distorts scientific findings and public health judgment, public welfare is endangered, potentially affecting every person in our nation. Finkel also discusses how research is funded and how ideology has influenced that process. Numerous examples are given to illustrate the consequences of co-opting the scientific integrity of a program in this way.

Author : Charles Lewis
Publisher : PublicAffairs
ISBN 13 : 1610391187
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book 935 Lies written by Charles Lewis and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2014-06-24 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facts are and must be the coin of the realm in a democracy, for government "of the people, by the people and for the people," requires and assumes to some extent an informed citizenry. Unfortunately, for citizens in the United States and throughout the world, distinguishing between fact and fiction has always been a formidable challenge, often with real life and death consequences. But now it is more difficult and confusing than ever. The Internet Age makes comment indistinguishable from fact, and erodes authority. It is liberating but annihilating at the same time. For those wielding power, whether in the private or the public sector, the increasingly sophisticated control of information is regarded as utterly essential to achieving success. Internal information is severely limited, including calendars, memoranda, phone logs and emails. History is sculpted by its absence. Often those in power strictly control the flow of information, corroding and corrupting its content, of course, using newspapers, radio, television and other mass means of communication to carefully consolidate their authority and cover their crimes in a thick veneer of fervent racialism or nationalism. And always with the specter of some kind of imminent public threat, what Hannah Arendt called "objective enemies.'" An epiphanic, public comment about the Bush "war on terror" years was made by an unidentified White House official revealing how information is managed and how the news media and the public itself are regarded by those in power: "[You journalists live] "in what we call the reality-based community. [But] that's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality . . . we're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." And yet, as aggressive as the Republican Bush administration was in attempting to define reality, the subsequent, Democratic Obama administration may be more so. Into the battle for truth steps Charles Lewis, a pioneer of journalistic objectivity. His book looks at the various ways in which truth can be manipulated and distorted by governments, corporations, even lone individuals. He shows how truth is often distorted or diminished by delay: truth in time can save terrible erroneous choices. In part a history of communication in America, a cri de coeur for the principles and practice of objective reporting, and a journey into several notably labyrinths of deception, 935 Lies is a valorous search for honesty in an age of casual, sometimes malevolent distortion of the facts.

Author : David Fanning
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521028318
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Shostakovich Studies written by David Fanning and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-11-02 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These eleven essays lay a foundation for a proper understanding of Shostakovich's musical language and provide new insights into issues surrounding his composition.

Author : Bruce Bartlett
Publisher : Ten Speed Press
ISBN 13 : 0399581170
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Truth Matters written by Bruce Bartlett and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distinguish fake news from reliable journalism with this clear and concise handbook by New York Times best-selling author Bruce Bartlett. Today’s media and political landscapes are littered with untrustworthy sources and the dangerous concept of “fake news.” This accessible guide helps you fight this deeply troubling trend and ensure that truth is not a permanent casualty. Written by Capitol Hill veteran and author Bruce Bartlett, The Truth Matters presents actionable tips and tricks for reading critically, judging sources, using fact-checking sites, avoiding confirmation bias, identifying trustworthy experts, and more.

Author : Susan D. Blum
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1461638852
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Lies That Bind written by Susan D. Blum and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2007-01-10 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This provocative book explores the ideology of truth and deception in China, offering a nuanced perspective on social interaction in different cultural settings. Drawing on decades of fieldwork in China, Susan D. Blum offers an authoritative examination of rules, expectations, and beliefs regarding lying and honesty in society. Blum points to a propensity for deception in Chinese public interactions in situations where people in the United States would expect truthfulness, yet argues that lying is evaluated within Chinese society by moral standards different from those of Americans. Chinese, for example, might emphasize the consequences of speech, Americans the absolute truthfulness. Blum considers the longstanding values that led to this style of interaction, as well as more recent factors, such as the government's control over expression. But Chinese society is not alone in the practice of such customs. The author observes that many Americans also excel in manipulation of language, yet find a simultaneous moral absolutism opposed to lying in any form. She also considers other traditions, including Japanese and Jewish, that struggle to control the boundaries of lying, balancing human needs with moral values in contrasting ways. Deception and lying, the book concludes, are distinctively cultural yet universal—inseparable from what it is to be a human being equipped with language in all its subtlety.

Author : Dilip Hiro
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135043809
Total Pages : 455 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Iran under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals) written by Dilip Hiro and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1985, this is a comprehensive study of the Middle East's most strategic country, set against the background of the Islamic heritage of Iran and the rise and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty. Dilip Hiro describes the various phases through which the Islamic revolution has passed, gives an incisive account of the first Gulf War, and provides an historical survey of Iran's relations with the West, the Soviet bloc, and other countries of the region.