SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: West Memphis Three, Hubris, Schizophrenia
Document Summary
On the search for planet x to save lowell"s reputation, pluto was picked out amongst the stars and linked with the expected massive planet in the public"s mind. Pluto become a planet in the first place through mistakes, hubris, and hype. The 2 proposed definitions of a planet either fail to include pluto, or also include asteroids and comets. The official name change has more to do with people than it does with science. Pluto is already being downgraded in modern textbooks; what we call things has an impact on how we view them. Humans have a tendency to see what they expect to see. People are subject to an array of cognitive biases : the habit of our brains to let the first fact we see guide our evaluation of the next facts. Likely to interpret ambiguous evidence as that supporting our case. Possible solution: have a devil"s advocate pick out flaws in the prosecutor"s case.
