Pod Academy

"We need to get away from the idea that knowledge, expertise and truth are obvious and given." This first lecture in the IF Project lecture series, Thinking Between the Lines: Truth, lies and fiction in an age of populism is given by Professor Will Davies of Goldsmith's, University of London. Professor Davies's powerpoint can be found here. What does it mean to know the world?  Why can't we agree on what is true anymore?  Why do many people no longer trust experts? Professor Davies sets out to fathom what is driving the conflicts and fragmentations in the infrastructure underpinning our understanding of the world.   Using his most recent book, Nervous States, as a jumping off point he analyses the the disintegration of consensus, identifying the roles played by the ubiquity and speed of technology as well as economics and psychology. Importantly he asks, what is a fact?  And in answer looks back in history, drawing on the work of Mary Poovey (A History of the Modern Fact ) who traced the origins of 'acce