The Daily Populous

Tuesday July 6th, 2021 evening edition

image for New study indicates conspiracy theory believers have less developed critical thinking abilities

New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories.

Not only have these tools mostly not been scientifically tested, but to our knowledge, the idea that people who believe more in conspiracy theories have less developed critical thinking ability had never been properly tested.

This opportunity came about because, due to circumstances, one of my co-authors took the time to translate a critical thinking ability test in French.”.

In addition, the participants were asked if they thought there was a relationship between belief in conspiracy theories and critical thinking ability.

First, the more people believe in conspiracy theories, the worse they perform on a critical thinking ability test.

This test is characterized by an open-ended format highlighting several areas of critical thinking ability in the context of argumentation,” Lantian told PsyPost.

The study, “Maybe a Free Thinker but not a Critical One: High Conspiracy Belief is Associated With low Critical Thinking Ability“, was authored by Anthony Lantian, Virginie Bagneux, Sylvain Delouvée, and Nicolas Gauvrit. »

Manchester University sparks backlash with plan to keep lectures online

Authored by theguardian.com
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The University of Manchester is facing a mounting backlash from students after becoming the first to unveil plans to keep its lectures permanently online with no reduction in tuition fees.

However, Manchester pledged to continue in-person teaching for lectures with an “interactive” element, such as question and answer sessions.

A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “This is not online teaching, but about augmenting in-person lectures, seminars, labs, Q&As and discussions, and workshops with high quality online materials for self-study. »

Going Public: Iceland's Journey to a Shorter Working Week

Authored by autonomy.work
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“This study shows that the world’s largest ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success.

It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks – and lessons can be learned for other governments.

“Our roadmap to a shorter working week in the public sector should be of interest to anyone who wishes to see working hours reduced. »