Content on Truth
Mathematics, Computing, Ethics, and Religion: From Naïve “Contradictions” to Deep Agreement
We need to follow great advice to be independent thinkers.
Balaam and Abraham: What They See, and What They Miss
When do we see the blessings in front of us, and when do we miss them? Or, conversely, when do we see the problems in front of us, and when do we miss those?
How Conspiracy Thinking Starts: A Conversation with Michael Shermer, PhD
Dr. Michael Shermer and Rabbi Mitelman discuss the balance of skepticism and understanding we must bring to people whose viewpoints seem puzzling to us.
What We Know and What We Believe: A Conversation with Tania Lombrozo, PhD
Rabbi Mitelman and Tania Lombrozo, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Princeton University, discuss how our brains latch onto and reject facts, and what that has to do with belief.
Why America Is Ripe for Election Conspiracy Theorizing
The psychological need for understanding the world is joined by two other needs that underlie conspiracism—feeling safe, and belonging to social groups that affirm or encourage self-respect.
Scientific Conflict About the Coronavirus Lockdown
There is a unique danger of data wonkishness: putting so much stock in scientific abstractions that reality itself becomes invisible.
The Torah is True – Even if It’s Not Fact
Some truths are true because they are the stories that shape our perspective on the world. Torah is the inspiration for, and the vessel that holds, this Truth.
CNN’s Dana Bash on Social Media, Truth and Falsehood
CNN anchor Dana Bash spoke at Congregation Shir Hadash, in the heart of Silicon Valley, about how her Judaism influenced her journalistic work, as well as how the advent of social media has changed how we talk to one another.
If Science Needs Proof, Can Religion Offer Truth?
It is ok for people to have disagreements – on politics, on faith, on religion, on leadership. But we need to understand how to be in dialogue with one another.
Our Brains are Not Scientists, They’re Lawyers
A conversation between Joshua Holo and Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman on Truths, Untruths and the Problem of Perspective.
Is Faith Like ‘Fake News’?
As a scientist, it takes years of training and failing, and occasionally succeeding, to become comfortable with knowing that some day you might be proven wrong. How different that looks through the lens of faith!
God as a “Scientific Object”
We need to keep rethinking what we believe about God based on new ideas and new experiences.