There are no facts, just opinions, and anyway: everyone lies. How can we still find common ground for conversation – even at the Christmas table? Peter Kryko and Kassaba Molnar, analysts at Policy Capital, spoke about their recent research on the Litmusz podcast.
Three out of four Hungarians strongly doubt the possibility of acquiring factual knowledge in today's information environment – revealed the “Political Capital” website From his recently published research.
In our podcast, we talk about the knowability of reality and facts, the contradictions of conspiracy theories, the effects of postmodern political propaganda, and China experts with our guests: Peter Kryko, Director of Political Capital, and Kassaba Molnar, Research Leader.
- How widespread are opinions among the Hungarian public, according to which there are no facts at all or cannot be known in the current situation?
- Who is most vulnerable to this suspicion?
- How do realist relativism, and skepticism about the possibility of knowing news and facts, relate to belief in conspiracy theories and fake news?
- Finally, some tips on how to talk at Christmas dinner with relatives who don't believe in knowing the facts.
During the conversation, participants refer to many interesting studies and reading materials, if the topic interests you, we recommend these contents:
The full text of the research is available here: https://policycapital.hu/pc-admin/source/documents/hdmo_pc_tanulmany_2_tenyrelativizmus_kozvelemeny_20231130.pdf
We've highlighted the findings that seem most interesting to us in this article: https://www.lakmusz.hu/a-magyarok-kozel-60-szazaleka-gondolja-hogy-objektiv-valosag-valojaban-nem-letezik-csak-kulonbozo-velemenyek-vannak/
You can read Peter Kryko's interview with Alan Sokal – in which the Sokal case, hard science, and postmodern ideologies, among other things – are discussed on Qubit.hu: https://qubit.hu/2022/06/22/alan-sokal-ki-kell-jelenteni-hogy-igenis-letezik-objektiv-igazzag
You can access the Mertek Media Analysis Workshop study on the relationship between party preferences and news consumption habits at this link: https://mertek.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mertek-fuzetek_29.pdf
Asa Wickfors's work, which examines realist relativity, is published in Hungarian here: https://www.typotex.hu/author/1436/wikforss____sa
Study A HDMO (Hungarian Digital Media Observatory) It was made within the framework of a project called Political Capital and Lakmosh. The project Co-funded by the European Commission, Support was obtained through open tender. The consortium forming HDMO enjoys complete autonomy in all its activities.
Cover Photo: ROBERT BROOK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRA / RBR / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via AFP
