Forming beliefs in a world of filter bubbles
Why do so many Republicans still believe that the recent US presidential election was fraudulent? Is it possible to reach coronavirus deniers with factual arguments? A study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University of Amsterdam provides insights into what it is that stops people from changing their minds.
Feeling Time - How the GDR Sang its Future. A History of Emotions
Citizens of East Germany wanted to use music and lyrical forms to propagate hopes, desires, and visions of socialist Germany’s future and to influence the coming generation on an emotional level. Writing of the GDR as a “modern time regime”, Juliane Brauer tells the story of a promised future and the results of its failure to be realized. The certainty and belief in progress that characterized the beginnings were replaced with mistrust and disappointment over shattered dreams.
Social media, a threat to democracy?
An international team of experts – including researchers from the Center for Adaptive Rationality – has investigated the influence of social media on our political behavior. In the report “Technology and Democracy,” published by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the research team identifies challenges that arise when people interact politically on online platforms like Facebook, Youtube or Twitter that are not subject to much public oversight or democratic governance.
Artificial intelligence in art: a simple tool or creative genius?
Intelligent algorithms are used to create paintings, write poems, and compose music. According to a study by an international team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Center of Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, whether people perceive artificial intelligence (AI) as the ingenious creator of art or simply another tool used by artists depends on how information about AI art is presented.
“Mächtige Gefühle” – New book by Ute Frevert
Emotions make history. They steer and shape not only individuals but entire societies. Politicians use them, but can also trip over them. Ute Frevert charts a history of powerful feelings and what they achieved from the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and the National Socialist regime, through East and West Germany to the new Federal Republic. She presents love and hate, shame and pride, outrage and grief in their changing forms and meanings.
From a Population of 1.2 Million, Economy in US Cities Becomes Innovative
An analysis of historical economic data in the USA shows that the economic development of cities always follows a similar path. Only from a population of 1.2 million upwards does a transition to innovative economies take place. The study by Inho Hong, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Humans and Machines, and researchers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University was published in the Science Advances.
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November 23, 2020
Offspring Magazine - The Podcast | A discussion with the Vice Presidents of the Max Planck Society - Ulman Lindenberger
November 19, 2020
Bayern2 | Die gereizte Gesellschaft: Ist Wut für was gut?
November 16, 2020
3Sat Kulturzeit | "Mächtige Gefühle" - Gespräch mit Ute Frevert
November 14, 2020