Intelligence and individual differences in astrological belief. “Of our psychological measures we find intelligence, as measured with Wordsum, to have the largest effect size, negatively predicting belief in astrology. Education also predicts disbelief, supporting the “superficial knowledge” hypothesis. Measures of religiosity and spirituality had null effects, in contradiction of the “metaphysical uncertainty” hypothesis that a need for metaphysical beliefs causes one to believe in astrology. We find that right-wing individuals are less likely to believe in astrology, in contradiction to Theodore W. Adorno’s “authoritarian” of astrology. We also find no effect scientific trust on astrological belief. “
Oof. Via Tyler Cowen.
The Death of Government Expertise (The Atlantic) “Populists are generally wary of experts, especially those who work for the government, but Musk is no man of the people: He is the richest human being in the world, and he runs major companies that rely both on government-provided expertise and significant government subsidies. As my colleague Anne Applebaum wrote, “Musk has made no attempt to professionally audit or even understand many of the programs being cut”—a willful indifference that gives away the game.”