It’s very hard for a regular person to understand what the Russian or Chinese or Turkish perspectives on events are from reading Western media. It would be valuable to have a high-quality mainstream news media source that takes special effort to make sure that this is explored, including by having on-staff anthropologists. This would increase understanding between countries and reduce the chance of Great Power Conflict.
I wonder whether Larissa MacFarquhar (author of Strangers Drowning) may be someone to talk to about this. She managed to understand Julia Wise so well that I learned new things about myself from reading her chapter in the book. The only other people who can do that are close friends of mine who’ve known me for years. Maybe Larissa is just similar to Julia and so had this level of insight, but maybe she’s also exceptionally gifted at perspective-taking.
Better Reporting on Other Countries’ Perspectives
Epistemic Institutions
(Refinement of better news)
It’s very hard for a regular person to understand what the Russian or Chinese or Turkish perspectives on events are from reading Western media. It would be valuable to have a high-quality mainstream news media source that takes special effort to make sure that this is explored, including by having on-staff anthropologists. This would increase understanding between countries and reduce the chance of Great Power Conflict.
I wonder whether Larissa MacFarquhar (author of Strangers Drowning) may be someone to talk to about this. She managed to understand Julia Wise so well that I learned new things about myself from reading her chapter in the book. The only other people who can do that are close friends of mine who’ve known me for years. Maybe Larissa is just similar to Julia and so had this level of insight, but maybe she’s also exceptionally gifted at perspective-taking.