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US Politics

US Politics

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts

The Conversation
Summary
Nutrition label

78% Informative

Julian Zelizer : Populism is less about being liberal or conservative than it is appealing to the public.

He says it's a populist's dream: demotion of formal expertise in favor of "common sense" Zelizer says research shows common sense is steeped in bias and often leads us astray.

Facebook announced it would roll back expert fact-checking on its U.S. social media platforms.

Dannagal G. Young: When our pathway to knowledge is limited by our experiences and intuition, we’re not actually looking for truth.

He says the more a person trusts common sense, the more likely they are to be wrong.

Young: Populists elevate common sense as a virtue to promote a worldview that rejects verifiable facts, exaggerates our biases.

VR Score

79

Informative language

75

Neutral language

51

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

54

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

30

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