tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/spin-11688/articlesSpin – The Conversation2024-01-10T13:28:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168742024-01-10T13:28:57Z2024-01-10T13:28:57ZEarth isn’t the only planet with seasons, but they can look wildly different on other worlds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561980/original/file-20231127-27-h9xkjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C2055%2C1445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nearby planets can affect how one planet 'wobbles' on its spin axis, which contributes to seasons. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/orbits-of-planets-in-the-solar-system-royalty-free-illustration/1148112202?phrase=planets+orbit&adppopup=true">Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spring, summer, fall and winter – the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It’s easy to take this cycle for granted here on Earth, but not every planet has a regular change in seasons. So why does Earth have regular seasons when other planets don’t? </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vxyrNXoAAAAJ&hl=en">I’m an astrophysicist</a> who studies the movement of planets and the causes of seasons. Throughout my research, I’ve found that Earth’s regular pattern of seasons is unique. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-earths-tilt-creates-short-cold-january-days-173403">rotational axis that Earth spins on</a>, along the North and South poles, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt">isn’t quite aligned</a> with the vertical axis perpendicular to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. </p>
<p>That slight tilt has big implications for everything from seasons to glacier cycles. The magnitude of that tilt can even determine whether a planet is habitable to life. </p>
<h2>Seasons on Earth</h2>
<p>When a planet has perfect alignment between the axis it orbits on and the rotational axis, the amount of sunlight it receives is fixed as it orbits around the Sun – assuming its orbital shape is a circle. Since seasons come from variations in how much sunlight reaches the planet’s surface, a planet that’s perfectly aligned wouldn’t have seasons. But Earth isn’t perfectly aligned on its axis.</p>
<p>This small misalignment, called an obliquity, is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_tilt">around 23 degrees</a> from vertical for Earth. So, the Northern Hemisphere experiences more intense sunlight during the summer, when the Sun is positioned more directly above the Northern Hemisphere.</p>
<p>Then, as the Earth continues to orbit around the Sun, the amount of sunlight the Northern Hemisphere receives gradually decreases as the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun. This causes winter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing the Earth as a blue circle on the left and on the right, with a blue arrow tilted a few degrees towards the right cutting through it, and a green arrow tilted up cutting through it. The angle between the two arrows is red, labeled 'obliquity.' In the middle is a drawing of the Sun." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566402/original/file-20231218-21-biar6k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The obliquity marks the difference between the Earth’s spin axis (blue) and the vertical from orbit (green). The Northern Hemisphere experiences summer when the tilt lines it up directly with light from the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The planets spinning on their axes and orbiting around the Sun look kind of like spinning tops – they spin around and wobble because of gravitational pull from the Sun. As a top spins, you might notice that it doesn’t just stay perfectly upright and stationary. Instead, it may start to tilt or wobble slightly. This tilt is what astrophysicists call <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/precession-of-the-equinoxes">spin precession</a>.</p>
<p>Because of these wobbles, Earth’s obliquity isn’t perfectly fixed. These small variations in tilt can have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1746691">big effects on the Earth’s climate</a> when combined with small changes to Earth’s orbit shape. </p>
<p>The wobbling tilt and any natural variations to the shape of Earth’s orbit can change the amount and distribution of sunlight reaching Earth. These small changes contribute to the planet’s larger temperature shifts over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. This can, in turn, <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">drive ice ages and periods of warmth</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DD_8Jm5pTLk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Earth’s seasons result from a variety of factors, including orbit and axial tilt.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Translating obliquity into seasons</h2>
<p>So how do obliquity variations affect the seasons on a planet? Low obliquity, meaning the rotational spin axis is aligned with the planet’s orientation as it orbits around the Sun, <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">leads to</a> stronger sunlight on the equator and low sunlight near the pole, like on Earth. </p>
<p>On the other hand, a high obliquity – meaning the planet’s rotational spin axis points toward or away from the Sun – <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/">leads to</a> extremely hot or cold poles. At the same time, the equator gets cold, as the Sun does not shine above the equator all year round. This leads to drastically varying seasons at high latitudes and low temperatures at the equator. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A planet with a reversed zonation is represented by a blue circle next to a drawing of a sun, with a green oval representing the planet's orbit around the sun. A blue arrow pointing towards the sun represents the planet's spin axis, and a green arrow point up represents the planet's orbit direction." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566405/original/file-20231218-19-pudn6j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a planet’s spin axis is tilted far from the vertical axis, it has a high obliquity. That means the equator barely gets any sunlight and the North Pole faces right at the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a planet has an obliquity of more than 54 degrees, that planet’s equator grows icy and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-8252(93)90004-Q">the pole becomes warm</a>. This is called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-8252(93)90004-Q">a reversed zonation</a>, and it’s the opposite of what Earth has. </p>
<p>Basically, if an obliquity has large and unpredictable variations, the seasonal variations on the planet become wild and hard to predict. A dramatic, large obliquity variation can turn the whole planet into a snowball, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3179">where it’s all covered by ice</a>. </p>
<h2>Spin orbit resonances</h2>
<p>Most planets are not the only planets in their solar systems. Their planetary siblings can disturb each other’s orbit, which can lead to variations in the shape of their orbits and their orbital tilt. </p>
<p>So, planets in orbit look kind of like tops spinning on the roof of a car that’s bumping down the road, where the car represents the orbital plane. When the rate – or frequency, as scientists call it – at which the tops are precessing, or spinning, matches the frequency at which the car is bumping up and down, something called a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/361615a0">spin-orbit resonance</a> occurs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a planet, shown as a blue circle with an arrow through it representing a tilted, spinning axis, orbiting around the Sun, with another planet's orbit overlapping with it, causing the orbit to tilt up and down." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561691/original/file-20231126-23-xe830c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The orbits of planets close by and the precession motion of a planet on its axis can affect seasonal patterns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gongjie Li</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Spin-orbit resonances can cause these obliquity variations, which is when a planet wobbles on its axis. Think about pushing a kid on a swing. When you push at just the right time – or at the resonant frequency – they’ll swing higher and higher.</p>
<p>Mars wobbles more on its axis than Earth does, even though the two are tilted about the same amount, and that actually has to do with the Moon orbiting around Earth. Earth and Mars have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/361608a0">similar spin precession frequency</a>, which matches the orbital oscillation – the ingredients for a spin-orbit resonance. </p>
<p>But Earth has a massive Moon, which pulls on Earth’s spin axis and drives it to precess faster. This slightly faster precession prevents it from experiencing spin orbit resonances. So, the Moon stabilizes Earth’s obliquity, and Earth doesn’t wobble on its axis as much as Mars does. </p>
<h2>Exoplanet seasons</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/are-there-any-planets-outside-of-our-solar-system-164062">Thousands of exoplanets</a>, or planets outside our solar system, have been discovered over the past few decades. My research group wanted to understand how habitable these planets are, and whether these exoplanets also have wild obliquities, or whether they have moons to stabilize them like Earth does. </p>
<p>To investigate this, my group has led the first investigation on <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">the spin-axis variations of exoplanets</a>. </p>
<p>We investigated <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">Kepler-186f</a>, which is the first discovered Earth-sized planet in a habitable zone. <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-earth-sized-planet-found-in-the-habitable-zone-of-a-nearby-star-129290">The habitable zone</a> is an area around a star where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet and life may be able to emerge and thrive.</p>
<p>Unlike Earth, Kepler-186f is located far from the other planets in its solar system. As a result, these other planets have only a weak effect on its orbit and movement. So, Kepler-186f generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aabfd1">has a fixed obliquity</a>, similar to Earth. Even without a large moon, it doesn’t have wildly changing or unpredictable seasons like Mars.</p>
<p>Looking forward, more research into exoplanets will help scientists understand what seasons look like throughout the vast diversity of planets in the universe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gongjie Li receives funding from NASA.</span></em></p>You might hate winter, but at least you know what to expect every year. Other planets have wobbly axes that lead to wild, unpredictable seasons.Gongjie Li, Assistant Professor of Physics, Georgia Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018002023-04-11T16:12:13Z2023-04-11T16:12:13ZGreat apes like to spin themselves dizzy, a lot like children do, research shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519625/original/file-20230405-18-3jddjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C22%2C3015%2C1990&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/orangutan-portrait-young-monkeys-1975040408">Evgeniyqw/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children love to spin. Whether it is by whirling around on their feet, whipping around on a tyre swing, or tumbling down a grassy hill, they revel in the drunken effects of dizziness that follow. As humans mature, they might outgrow spinning on the playground, but find other ways to alter their senses - dancing, skating, roller coasters, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202501/">and for some of them, psychoactive drugs</a>. </p>
<p>It turns out humans are not the only primate with a desire to spin ourselves and stimulate our senses. In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-023-01056-x">recent study</a>, my co-author Adriano Lameira and I found some other primates like to do this too. The great apes – which include chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, in addition to humans – <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/humans-are-apes-great-apes/">have a more complex brain than other primates</a> and share a similar neurophysiology. Our findings suggest that they also share our desire to induce altered states of perception. This may even have played a role in the evolution of the human mind.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNKyG4C2VlA">2011</a>, and then again in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfS5kBGBh00">2016</a>, a captive gorilla named Zola went viral for his flair for “breakdancing” – the spinning, playful displays that he liked to perform while splashing around in water. These videos made me wonder about the spinning behaviour of apes more generally. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VNKyG4C2VlA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Spinning has been documented as a part of great apes’ repertoire of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-017-1096-4">communicative gestures</a>, in previous research. But Zola’s behaviour appeared to be as much about fun as it was about communication. </p>
<p>I scoured YouTube for videos of spinning primates and found <a href="https://evolang.org/jcole2022/proceedings/jcole2022_proceedings.pdf#page=606">hundreds of examples</a> of great apes and other primates spinning themselves around in different ways, from pirouettes to backflips. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young chimpanzee swinging in tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=898&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519626/original/file-20230405-1625-49lngr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The apes in the study got dizzy for the fun of it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-chimpanzee-swinging-tree-264035690">Abeselom Zerit/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In our study, my team focused on 40 videos which showed great apes spinning themselves on ropes and vines. We thought ropes might enable the apes to spin at faster speeds and for more rotations than they could with just their bodies. </p>
<p>Our intuition proved right: they often reached and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19RDBMAOKU">sometimes exceeded speeds</a> of two to three rotations per second. That’s as fast as human spinning experts we compared, which included ballet dancers, circus performers, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/congress-on-research-in-dance/article/abs/ukrainian-hopak-from-dance-for-entertainment-to-martial-art/11FE9632C947D1663532123655CFEBBA">Ukrainian hopak dancers</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/heres-what-you-should-know-before-attending-a-whirling-dervish-ceremony-in-turkey/2019/04/11/1af4bbac-57af-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html">Sufi whirling dervishes</a>. </p>
<h2>Apes still get dizzy</h2>
<p>These professionals train themselves to be <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/25/2/554/305011">immune to the sensory effects</a> of extreme spinning. But – as I can attest, having recently tried this in my office (for science) – spinning around at even one rotation per second will make most people dizzy. </p>
<p>The spinning apes in our study appeared to fare no differently. They would often spin for multiple bouts. Three on average, with each bout lasting for about five-and-a-half rotations. Between bouts, the apes would sometimes let go of the rope and stumble around, often falling clumsily to the ground, before jumping back up to do it again. </p>
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<p>Many of the apes we observed were in captivity, and in these cases, rope spinning may have helped them overcome boredom. But we also found several instances of young mountain gorillas in the wild spinning on jungle vines during playful social interactions, sometimes even taking turns. They too would spin, stumble around, fall, and get back up to do it again. </p>
<p>Given the close evolutionary relationship between great apes and humans, it is likely the motivation to spin stems from a shared tendency to seek and delight in experiences that stimulate and alter our senses. </p>
<h2>Humans turn to drugs</h2>
<p>Of course, humans sometimes go far beyond spinning to achieve this. The deliberate use of psychotropic drugs, from alcohol and tobacco, to marijuana and LSD, is widespread in cultures across the world. </p>
<p>It often plays an important role in many <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2021.177">social rituals and spiritual ceremonies</a>. For example, in some indigenous cultures of South America, the use of the <em>ayahuasca</em> (a hallucinogenic brew made from local plants) is used by shamans (and others) to connect with ancestors thought to exist in other realms. </p>
<p>Evidence of similar rituals can be <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1902174116#">traced back for millennia</a>. Some scientists have <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729425">argued that psychedelics</a> might have been crucial to the evolution of modern human cognition and culture, enhancing our creativity and helping us to forge deeper social connections.</p>
<p>Mushrooms containing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin">psilocybin</a> might have played an especially important role, as they would have been prevalent in many of the habitats of our hominid ancestors. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young chimpanzee swinging and jumping from a tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519628/original/file-20230405-14-g42aaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hard to deny this young chimpanzee is enjoying twirling around.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-chimpanzee-swinging-jumping-tree-200203994">Abeselom Zerit/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compared to twirling induced dizziness, chemical substances offer a more intense way to alter your state of consciousness. And it may seem a long way from spinning yourself dizzy to having a spiritual epiphany on a psychedelic trip. </p>
<p>Yet, spiritual practices such as those performed by the Sufi dervishes, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFIQMM8bZQk">who whirl themselves into a meditative trance</a>, demonstrate the potential for spinning to induce a profoundly altered state of mind. Perhaps even gentle spinning helps us to see the world from a different perspective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201800/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Perlman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees seem to enjoy the buzz of getting dizzy.Marcus Perlman, Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1774492022-04-20T19:54:33Z2022-04-20T19:54:33Z‘This worked much better than I thought.’ Why you need to watch out for strategic lies in the federal election<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457874/original/file-20220413-24-jqdror.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the federal election, politicians of all persuasions will use a range of campaigning and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-vomit-principle-the-dead-bat-the-freeze-how-political-spin-doctors-tactics-aim-to-shape-the-news-106453">spin tactics</a>. But there is a difference between “gilding the lily” and lying with strategic intent, a trend that is growing in western democracies. </p>
<p>The February 2022 <a href="https://www.edelman.com.au/trust-barometer-2022-australia">Edelman global trust survey</a> finds citizens increasingly expect government leaders will “purposefully mislead them by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations”. In Australia, that expectation has risen three percentage points to 61% since last year. </p>
<p>In a “<a href="https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-757">post truth</a>” world, we are seeing lies proliferate online. Recent election campaigns in the United States and United Kingdom suggest lying is now a successful strategic campaign tool.</p>
<p>Australian voters need to be on high alert. </p>
<h2>The ‘strategic lie’</h2>
<p>As we argue in our recent journal article, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161221994100">strategic lying</a>” has evolved from political spin tactics, intensified by the growing ranks of political communication professionals and the rise of social media. </p>
<p>It is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/strategic-lies-deliberate-untruths-used-as-a-political-tactic-new-study-159723">campaign device</a> used to shape what issues are discussed in the media and how they are framed. It is designed to grab media attention with an initial, deliberate lie. This shifts the news agenda onto a politician’s preferred territory.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if the lie is easily corrected because the subject of the lie is then amplified and kept on the news agenda. The distribution of the lie is further increased by social media and amplified by the mainstream media. </p>
<p>The more outlandish the lie, the better.</p>
<h2>The Trump approach</h2>
<p>Former US president Donald Trump used strategic lies before, during, and after his time in office. </p>
<p>His first most obvious strategic lie came in 2011 when he claimed to have “proof” Barack Obama was not born in the United States, making him ineligible to occupy the White House (the so-called “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37391652">birther controversy</a>”). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former US president Donald Trump." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457855/original/file-20220413-16-w7n5iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former US president Donald Trump has a track record of using strategic lies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Seward/AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the next three years, Trump continued to raise the issue, despite the lie being <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/sep/16/donald-trump/donald-trumps-pants-fire-claim-he-finished-obama-b/">comprehensively rebutted</a>. He did so not because he expected people to believe it but, as a strategic lie, it kept the issue of Obama’s origins and his “otherness” on the mainstream news agenda. </p>
<p>More recently, Trump’s baseless claims of the “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-courts-election-idUSKBN2AF1G1">election steal</a>” have fuelled riots and generated support for a possible presidential re-election campaign, while distracting attention from the simple fact that he legitimately lost the election. </p>
<h2>Brexit lies</h2>
<p>In the UK, lies about the cost of staying in the European Union featured heavily in the Brexit campaign. The false <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2016/may/23/does-the-eu-really-cost-the-uk-350m-a-week">claim</a> “we send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead” was central to the “Leave” campaign and ensured the “cost” of EU membership dominated the referendum. </p>
<p>Its architect, political adviser <a href="https://dominiccummings.com/2017/01/09/on-the-referendum-21-branching-histories-of-the-2016-referendum-and-the-frogs-before-the-storm-2/">Dominic Cummings</a>, subsequently gloated the falsehood was designed “to provoke people into argument. This worked much better than I thought it would”. He also described it as “a brilliant communications ploy”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former political strategist and special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457856/original/file-20220413-28-7kcn63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former political strategist and special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alastair Grant/AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Australian federal election</h2>
<p>The issue of truth and lies is at the core of the 2022 federal election. </p>
<p>Labor <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/deputy-opposition-leader-richard-marles-describes-liberal-party-as-bin-fire-as-election-campaign-begins/news-story/8e67a53f9182cdd12c42010282e9982">argues</a> it goes to the heart of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s character, who has already been criticised for <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-morrison-gaining-a-reputation-for-untrustworthiness-the-answer-could-have-serious-implications-for-the-election-171816">being loose with the truth</a> by members of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-05/barnaby-joyce-mean-text-is-the-least-of-scott-morrison-problems/100807836">Coalition</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-02/why-macron-is-calling-scott-morrison-a-liar-over-submarines/100587732">French President Emmanuel Macron</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1454867866734432257"}"></div></p>
<p>The Labor party also has form when it comes to political dishonesty. It’s “Mediscare” campaign in 2016 paved the way for the Coalition’s “Death Tax” scare campaign in 2019. Both campaigns were <a href="https://theconversation.com/lies-obfuscation-and-fake-news-make-for-a-dispiriting-and-dangerous-election-campaign-115845">gross misrepresentations</a> of the truth, the latter arguably a local example of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/08/it-felt-like-a-big-tide-how-the-death-tax-lie-infected-australias-election-campaign">strategic lying</a>. </p>
<p>A brief search of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=AU&view_all_page_id=13561467463&sort_data%5Bdirection%5D=desc&sort_data%5Bmode%5D=relevancy_monthly_grouped&search_type=page&media_type=all">Facebook Ad library</a> shows signs both parties are running similar scare ads in the 2022 election about the Coalition making cuts to Medicare and Labor increasing taxes.</p>
<p>Labor is also arguing the Coalition wants to put all pensioners on a cashless debit card, while the Liberal Party has alleged Labor wants a “retiree tax”. Neither claim <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/18/factcheck-is-there-any-truth-to-scare-campaigns-about-the-cashless-debit-card-and-retiree-tax">is true</a>. </p>
<p>In the lead up to the election, the Morrison government alleged Labor leader Anthony Albanese was China’s preferred choice as prime minister and his deputy Richard Marles was a “Manchurian candidate”. This was roundly rejected by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/china-scare-campaign-morrison-play-national-interest-australia/100837080">leaders of the intelligence community</a>. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.zalisteggall.com.au/commonwealth_electoral_amendment_stop_the_lying_bill">renewed debate</a> about the need for federal laws about truth in political advertising. </p>
<p>The Hawke government <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9697/97rp13">introduced provisions</a> in 1983 but they were deemed “unworkable” and scrapped the following year partly because </p>
<blockquote>
<p>political advertising involves ‘intangibles, ideas, policies and images’ which cannot be subjected to a test of truth, truth itself being inherently difficult to define. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this, <a href="https://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/parties-and-candidates/electoral-advertising">South Australia</a> has had laws prohibiting political ads that are “inaccurate and misleading to a material extent” since 1985. These are generally seen to <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/sites/constitution-unit/files/184_-_doing_democracy_better.pdf">set positive boundaries</a>, even though adjudication of complaints is time consuming. New provisions came into force in the <a href="https://www.elections.act.gov.au/news/2021/changes-to-campaign-finance-and-truth-in-political-advertising-laws-to-commence-from-1-july-2021">ACT in 2021</a> but are yet to be tested.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Voters line up on election day." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457877/original/file-20220413-10273-hvp86m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A federal government attempt to enforce truthfulness in political advertising was abandoned in the 1980s as ‘unworkable’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Wainwright/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/media/2022/03-07.htm">Australian Electoral Commission</a> has launched a campaign to combat misinformation, but its aim is to “debunk mistruths about federal electoral processes”, not the veracity of political claims made by candidates. </p>
<p>Twitter <a href="https://business.twitter.com/en/help/ads-policies/ads-content-policies/political-content.html">banned</a> political advertising in 2019, and <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/how-google-is-supporting-the-upcoming-australian-federal-election-731314">Google</a> and <a href="https://about.facebook.com/actions/preparing-for-elections-on-facebook/">Facebook</a> have increased transparency around spending on political ads. Facebook is also fact-checking misinformation from third parties such as unions and advocacy groups. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fact-checking-can-actually-harm-trust-in-media-new-research-176032">Fact-checking can actually harm trust in media: new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The real solution is in the hands of politicians and political parties. As the <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2022-trust-barometer">Edelman trust suvey</a> finds, improving the quality of information would help lift trust across institutions. If politicians care about the quality of debate, the integrity of the election result, and public trust, then they can’t give in to the temptation of strategic lies. </p>
<p>In the meantime, media outlets need to be very careful about how they refer to these claims once they have been proven to be false.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Fisher was a ministerial media advisor in the Beattie Labor government 1998-2001.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivor Gaber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A strategic lie is designed to grab media attention with an initial, deliberate lie. This shifts the news agenda onto a politician’s preferred territory.Caroline Fisher, Associate Professor of Communication, University of CanberraIvor Gaber, Professor of Journalism, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624152021-06-15T12:25:22Z2021-06-15T12:25:22ZSticky baseballs: Explaining the physics of the latest scandal in Major League Baseball<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406219/original/file-20210614-126247-1yxj5ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C39%2C2907%2C1916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It used to be spit balls, but now sticky baseballs are giving pitchers an advantage.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baseball.jpg#/media/File:Baseball.jpg">Tage Olsin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cheating in baseball is as old as the game itself, and pitchers’ modifying the ball’s surface is part of that <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Neyer-James-Guide-to-Pitchers/Bill-James/9780743261586">long history</a>. Adding to the lore of cheating is a <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/09/questions-and-answers-surrounding-mlbs-sticky-stuff-problem/">new scandal</a> involving pitchers who may be applying sticky substances – what players refer to as “sticky stuff” – to baseballs.</p>
<p>Major League hitters are striking out this season <a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-take-another-stab-at-unpacking-the-rising-strikeout-rate/">nearly one in every four times they step to the plate</a>, compared with one in six times in 2005. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eHzYy_EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a sports physicist</a> and longtime baseball fan, I’ve been intrigued by <a href="https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2180019">news reports</a> that applying sticky substances to balls can make pitches spin faster. And if pitchers can throw their fastballs, curveballs and sliders with more spin than in previous years, their pitches will be tougher to hit. How does science explain all this?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman struggling to open a jar full of preserves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406220/original/file-20210614-125373-10ppylh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When you can’t get a jar open, increasing friction between your hand and the lid can help.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-lid-is-really-tight-royalty-free-image/175213030?adppopup=true">Steex/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sticky stuff increases friction and torque</h2>
<p>If you want to understand what all the sticky fuss is about, you need to know some friction basics.</p>
<p>You’ve surely tried to unscrew a lid from a stubborn jar. If there isn’t enough friction between your fingers and the lid, you may not be able to exert enough torque – the rotational analog of force – to get the lid to turn. One way to get more torque on the lid is to increase the frictional force. In my home, we keep a circular piece of rubber to increase friction and help open tough jars. </p>
<p>Pitchers want more friction between their fingers and the baseball, and they are supposedly using some interesting substances to accomplish this. According to a <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/04/sticky-stuff-is-the-new-steroids-daily-cover">recent Sports Illustrated article</a>, “pitchers have begun experimenting with drumstick resin and surfboard wax.” “They use Tyrus Sticky Grip, Firm Grip spray, Pelican Grip Dip stick and Spider Tack, a glue intended for use in World’s Strongest Man competitions and whose advertisements show someone using it to lift a cinder block with his palm.” That article noted one instance of a ball so sticky players could see fingerprints on it, and another story in which a ball could be stuck to a person’s open hand with his palm facing the ground. All of these sticky substances would increase friction and thus give pitchers a better grip on the ball.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A spinning cylinder with smoke helping to visualize the uneven air currents." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406222/original/file-20210614-131717-1e75bef.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Topspin creates a wake of air that pushes a ball down, as seen in the image above where air is flowing right to left past the metal cylinder in the center that is spinning clockwise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnus-anim-canette.gif#/media/File:Magnus-anim-canette.gif">MatSouffNC858s/WkimediaCommons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More spin makes pitches harder to hit</h2>
<p>Today’s sticky fingers are the latest attempts by players to gain an <a href="https://registration.mlbpa.org/pdf/MajorLeagueRules.pdf">unfair</a> <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball">advantage</a>. But how does sticky stuff make a pitch harder to hit? It helps increase spin rate. </p>
<p>Unless a pitcher throws a knuckleball, which has very little spin, all baseballs are spinning at well over 1,000 revolutions per minute when they leave pitchers’ hands. That spin creates a force – let’s call it the spin force – that causes baseballs to move and curve in ways that can throw off hitters.</p>
<p>As air smashes into a moving baseball, it doesn’t wrap completely around the ball – it separates off the surface before reaching the back of the ball. Think of water flowing along the sides of a moving boat. The water doesn’t smoothly wrap around the back of the boat – there is a wake of turbulent water behind it. But when a rudder turns the boat, the wake moves off to one side. Newton’s third law says that if the boat pushes water in one direction, water has to push the boat in the opposite direction, causing the boat to turn.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-corona-important">The Conversation’s most important coronavirus headlines, weekly in a science newsletter</a></em>]</p>
<p>The same idea applies to a spinning baseball. If the baseball is spinning, the wake of air behind the ball will be asymmetric. So the spin force pushes the ball in the opposite direction from which the wake of air is pushed.</p>
<p>Consider an overhand curveball. In this pitch, a Major League Baseball pitcher pulls down on the front of the ball when he releases it, generating topspin. A top-spinning curveball pushes air upward off the back of the ball, just like a wake coming off one side of a boat. Because the ball pushes the wake of air upward, the air’s force on a curveball is downward. Curveballs thus experience a push downward on their way to the plate, all thanks to the spin force.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A baseball player swinging and missing a pitch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406224/original/file-20210614-126665-1iiqqfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The extra spin from sticky stuff could make a baseball move 2 inches more compared with pitches in previous years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/taylor-walls-of-the-tampa-bay-rays-swings-at-a-pitch-during-news-photo/1323047032?adppopup=true">Douglas P. DeFelice/Contributor via Getty Images Sport</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How effective is sticky stuff?</h2>
<p>Here is where the alleged cheating comes in. </p>
<p>As with pitchers in the past, a Major League pitcher today could put sticky stuff on his fingers in the locker room, stick some to his uniform or even get some from a teammate. The substances starring in the current scandal would help create more spin. A good pitcher can throw a curveball at 85 mph with a spin rate of 2,400 rpm with about 20 pounds of friction force between the pitcher’s fingers and the ball. <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/">Freely available pitch data</a> shows that some pitchers have increased their spin rate by about 400 rpm on curveballs compared with previous seasons. That’s a 17% increase in spin rate and requires a 17% increase – or an additional 3 pounds – of friction force coming from sticky substances.</p>
<p>For an overhand curveball, an extra 400 rpm of topspin can lead to more than 2 inches of additional vertical drop – which just happens to be the thickness of the sweet spot of a baseball bat. In other words, a Major League Baseball batter familiar with a pitcher’s curveball might swing where he thinks he’ll make great contact, except because the sticky stuff and extra spin the ball will cross the plate 2 inches lower than the batter expects. He’ll either miss the pitch or hit a weak grounder.</p>
<p>Strikeouts are happening at an <a href="https://calltothepen.com/2021/04/17/mlb-strikeouts-killing-game/">all-time high rate</a> and sticky stuff may be one of the culprits. Major League Baseball is already <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/31596907/spider-tack-goo-cops-open-secret-answering-20-questions-mlb-foreign-substance-mess">contemplating</a> what to do about all the reports of sticky fingers. Umpires may soon periodically check pitchers during games. </p>
<p>But whatever the league decides, the cat-and-mouse game between players seeking enhanced performance and the league trying to catch them will continue, adding to the rich lore of cheating in baseball.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162415/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Eric Goff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pitchers in Major League Baseball have been striking out more batters than ever, and some people say it’s because they’re adding sticky stuff to the balls.John Eric Goff, Professor of Physics, University of LynchburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545592021-03-23T03:27:17Z2021-03-23T03:27:17ZCurious Kids: when I stop spinning, why do I feel dizzy and the world looks like it’s tilting?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390277/original/file-20210318-21-1bsp7x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C998%2C652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/adorable-little-boy-spinning-circle-park-275249207">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Why do you get dizzy when you stop spinning? - Finn, 7</strong></p>
<p><strong>Why does it look like the world is tilting when I spin around really fast, and then lie down? - Milosh, 7, Brisbane</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Great questions, Finn and Milosh! </p>
<p>Your ears are really amazing. They help you hear <em>and</em> help you balance. And when you walk, run, jump and spin around, the parts of your ear that help you balance get really excited. Here’s what’s going on in your ears when you spin around (and when you stop).</p>
<h2>Which way’s up?</h2>
<p>Deep in your ears, past your ear drums, you have <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/ears">balance organs</a> that tell you what is up and what is down. They also tell you that you’re moving, and even how you’re moving.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279394/">Three of these balance organs</a> look like the inner tubes of a bicycle wheel. You can see these three tubes in blue in the picture below. These tubes tell you when you are moving and spinning.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Inner ear, with balance organs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390276/original/file-20210318-19-7xyapk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">See those three blue tubes? These are the balance organs we’re talking about.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-inner-ear-cochlea-on-white-101905957">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tubes are filled with fluid, like water. When you move your head, the fluid in the tubes begins to move. The moving fluid bends hairs on the top of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereocilia_(inner_ear)">hair cells</a> that are also in the tube.</p>
<p>When the hairs bend in one direction, the cells become excited. The cells then send a message to your brain that your head is moving in that direction.</p>
<p>Amazingly, moving your head <a href="https://vestibular.org/article/what-is-vestibular/the-human-balance-system/peripheral-vestibular-system-inner-ear/">also moves your eyes</a>. When you turn your head in one direction, your eyes move in the opposite direction. This is why you can clearly look at road signs in a bumpy car without the sign becoming blurry.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-our-ears-pop-97259">Curious Kids: Why do our ears pop?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>I feel dizzy now</h2>
<p>When you spin around and around on the spot, this moves the fluid in one of the tubes. The fluid in the tube moves in the same direction as if shaking your head “no”. </p>
<p>If you spin around really fast, the fluid in your ear moves really fast too. This is what happens when you first start to feel dizzy. </p>
<p>When you stop spinning, your head stops moving but the fluid in the tube of the balance organ keeps spinning. So now your brain thinks you are spinning in the opposite direction. This is what makes you feel dizzy again. </p>
<p>Your eyes then flick very quickly back and forth to the right and left too, even though your head is not moving anymore.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slzh3scDm2U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Here’s what’s going on in your ear when you spin around, then stop.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>I think I need to lie down</h2>
<p>If you lie down after spinning around really quickly, the water in the tube is spinning in the same direction as shaking your head “no”. </p>
<p>But now your head is in a different position. Instead of flicking right and left, your eyes flick up and down. </p>
<p>So, if you lie down after spinning really fast, the brain gets two messages about what your head is doing (going round and round, and lying down). These two messages join together and trick your brain into thinking the world is tilted.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Lim receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation</span></em></p>Blame your ears, your eyes and your brain. But mainly your ears!Rebecca Lim, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy (Anatomy), University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1432302020-08-11T17:04:14Z2020-08-11T17:04:14ZPublic relations is bad news<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351992/original/file-20200810-20-1fm63r2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2658&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mourner in Calgary places flowers at a memorial for a Cargill worker who died from COVID-19. A PR campaign that alleged workers would rather collect government assistance than work failed to mention their employment in industries hit hard by COVID-19.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the Canadian economy slowly recovers from COVID-19 lockdowns, <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/some-employees-cite-cerb-as-reason-to-refuse-return-to-work-cfib-survey-says-1.5027100">there have been news articles</a> suggesting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7184365/businesses-staff-refusing-return-to-work-survey/">encouraging workers to stay off the job</a>. </p>
<p>But a peek behind the headlines reveals the source of the story to be a business lobby group using a powerful and classic public relations strategy — <a href="https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/news-releases/more-one-quarter-small-firms-report-workers-refusing-return-work-preference">the news release</a> — to manipulate headlines.</p>
<p>The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) represents more than 100,000 members who operate small businesses across Canada. The association advocates for specific policy changes that advance the goals of their membership. </p>
<p>In recent years, the CFIB has lobbied <a href="https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/15-minimum-wage-job-killer-ontarios-youth-cfib-report">against increasing the minimum wage</a> and <a href="https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/new-federal-labour-law-changes-giant-step-backwards-innovation-and-productivity">against guaranteed personal leave for workers</a>, among other causes. </p>
<h2>Swaying public opinion</h2>
<p>To rally support for these changes, organizations like the CFIB employ public relations strategies designed to secure headlines that sway public opinion and put pressure on governments. This is especially important when their policy goal is at odds with public sentiment. </p>
<p>For example, polling suggests Canadians <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-and-polls/Canadians-Split-On-Future-Of-CERB-Half-Believe-CERB-Should-Be-Discountinued-At-Its-Earliest">overwhelmingly support</a> the federal Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit, known as the CERB, which pays $500 a week to workers who are out of work due to the pandemic. </p>
<p>The CFIB, however, said in its news release that the CERB is a “disincentive” to work and wants to see wage subsidies expanded to include more profitable small businesses. To campaign for this, organizations like the CFIB use PR techniques to undermine public support for CERB and advocate for their own policy solutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An employment insurance form on a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351656/original/file-20200806-24-1u5r4kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The employment insurance section of the Government of Canada website is shown on a laptop in Toronto on April 4, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jesse Johnston</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>PR makes it a challenge to know what is fact and what is spin, even from reputable news sources. Since the 1950s, critics have questioned the intent of PR practices. They have examined how organizations use the authority of mass media outlets to advance specific policy agendas that better fit their aims. </p>
<p>PR is a form of manipulation: it’s used to shift public opinion. It is expressly designed to benefit the organization wielding it.</p>
<p>This tension can be found in the early 20th century, when modern PR was established as a coherent set of business practices. During this period, activists and journalists alike pressured state and provincial governments into developing aggressive regulatory regimes that would soften the sharpest edges of industrial capitalism.</p>
<p>In the early 1900s, massive scandals fuelled public mistrust in business in North America. Labour activists, journalists and academic critics wrote shocking exposés that revealed the wealthy’s <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyofstandar00tarbuoft">gross consolidation of corporate power</a>, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54710/54710-h/54710-h.htm">their influence in municipal politics</a> and their attempts <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Treason_of_the_Senate.htm">to game the highest levels of government</a>. </p>
<h2>Progressive policies</h2>
<p>To the dismay of wealthy capitalists, progressive governments responded to the revelations by developing policies that regulated <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=59#">working conditions</a>, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/221/1/">reined in corporate power</a> and bolstered the protections of ordinary people <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xvii">as citizens</a> <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/s-88-draft-bill-pure-food-and-drug-act-december-14-1905">and consumers</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two boys working in a glass factory in the early 1900s." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351659/original/file-20200806-16-3n0hhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Midnight at the glassworks in Indiana, with children on the job. Child labour was among the practices outlawed by progressive governments in the early 1900s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Library of Congress)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As corporate interests lost public support, they fought back with canny public relations strategies designed to flip the story, framing business as a public service and businessmen and capitalists as allies, not enemies, to ordinary people.</p>
<p>These tactics were further formalized during the First World War when PR men, advertisers and government officials came together to form the United States federal government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI). </p>
<p>The CPI enlisted advertisers, commercial illustrators and public relations experts to build a home front propaganda campaign that would rally support for the war effort. CPI illustrator Charles Dana Gibson called for evocative campaigns that showed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1918/01/20/archives/cd-gibsons-committee-for-patriotic-posters-artists-have-been.html">“the more spiritual side of the conflict.”</a></p>
<p>The success of the CPI helped legitimize the American advertising and PR industries. It taught public relations experts an invaluable lesson: It paid dividends to link their clients — titans of industry and major corporations — to the promise of democracy. </p>
<h2>Collective well-being</h2>
<p>It was only through the careful management of public opinion regarding industrial capitalism, PR experts began to argue in the 1920s, that true democracy and collective well-being was possible.</p>
<p>Today the news release, along with public opinion surveys, are immensely influential PR tools for shaping what gets covered as news and how it’s covered. </p>
<p>PR has become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700701767974">the backbone of news production</a> globally, capitalizing on underfunded newsrooms and overworked journalists. </p>
<p>The news release is designed to make life easy for the busy journalist. It provides them with ready-made narratives and interpretations that are easily translated to a news article. In fact, news releases are often presented as a standardized genre, with countless guides listing the same <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/11/02/writing-a-press-release-14-elements-you-need-to-include/#4324c25b719f">10 to 14 elements</a> that <a href="https://www.shopify.ca/blog/how-to-write-a-press-release">every news release </a> should include in order to <a href="https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/external/news/publicising/how-to-write-a-press-release/inverted-pyramid">quickly communicate</a> the organization’s point of view and message. </p>
<p>This standardization makes news releases easy to circulate and easy to critically examine. For example, the recent CFIB release announced both the results of their membership survey on the CERB and provided an interpretation of it. </p>
<p>The survey provides the gloss of objectivity (by allowing an organization to point to findings rather than blatant ideological posturing) while a pull-quote from their president offers an interpretation: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It is clear that CERB has created a disincentive to return to work for some staff, especially in industries like hospitality and personal services … CERB was created as emergency support for workers who had lost their job due to the pandemic, not to fund a summer break. This is why it is critical that all parties support the government’s proposed change to end CERB benefits when an employer asks a worker to return to work.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The CFIB news release made for a quick and easy story turnaround.</p>
<h2>Misleading interpretations</h2>
<p>But we should be wary of such ready-made interpretations, because they’re often misleading. For example, the CFIB president’s commentary quickly fell apart when economist Armine Yalnizyan, an <a href="https://atkinsonfoundation.ca/atkinson-fellows/">Atkinson Fellow</a> on the Future of Work, <a href="https://twitter.com/ArmineYalnizyan/status/1284096946874068998">took a closer look</a> at the CFIB survey data. </p>
<p>The hardest jobs to fill were in meatpacking, hospitality and food processing, all jobs identified as <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-class-divide-the-jobs-most-at-risk-of-contracting-and-dying-from-covid-19-138857">high-risk for COVID-19 transmission</a>. It’s not that workers prefer a measly $500 a week over their regular paycheque. It’s that they feared for their lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a mask carries a sign that says lives are more important than profits outside a Cargill meat-processing plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351658/original/file-20200806-18-141pf4r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters stand on the side of the road as workers return to the Cargill beef processing plant in High River, Alta., that was closed for two weeks because of a COVID-19, in May 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1959, <em>New York Post</em> columnist Irwin Ross sought to pull back the curtain on PR in <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/image-merchants-the-fabulous-world-of-public-relations/oclc/4840671&referer=brief_results"><em>The Image Merchants: The Fabulous World of Public Relations</em></a>.</p>
<p>“In an atmosphere drenched with the clichés of public relations,” he wondered in his book, how could anyone discern truth? </p>
<p>Today’s public relations techniques can be used by just about anyone. They are taken up by a host of organizations, from large corporations to unions to activist groups. </p>
<p>But the organizations that can most afford to hire expensive professionals stack the deck against smaller groups and officials. Even in the 1950s, “the biggest budgets, the highest priced and usually most expert talent are maintained by industry,” Ross wrote.</p>
<p>PR, he concluded, is a fundamentally hollow, anti-democratic enterprise. Corporate interest groups and politicians may state their commitments to the public good, but their real goal remains the “public acceptance of the status quo in our economic arrangements.” </p>
<p>Faced with a global pandemic that is laying bare the gross inequities of Canadian society, we would do well to heed his warning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Guadagnolo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Public relations is a form of manipulation, used to shift public opinion. It is expressly designed to benefit the organization wielding it, something we’d be wise to remember during the pandemic.Dan Guadagnolo, Postdoctoral Fellow in American Studies, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182342019-06-05T10:41:12Z2019-06-05T10:41:12Z2D spintronics has already transformed computing – now we’re making it work in three dimensions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277878/original/file-20190604-69075-1s3e7n3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/abstract-background-163743035?src=avU0DY-XMpU4W1RuKZPhfA-1-86">Deniseus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/shift-from-electronics-to-spintronics-opens-up-possibilities-of-faster-data-45864">Spintronics</a> might not be the sort of word that comes up in everyday discussions, but it has been revolutionising computer technology for years. It’s the branch of physics that involves manipulating the spin of a flow of electrons, which first reached consumers in the late 1990s in the form of magnetic computer hard drives with several hundreds of times the storage capacity of their predecessors. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277923/original/file-20190604-69059-1rnkyks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remember me?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-mp3-player-53699233?src=qYJ2tOgj7jex4cr1-kFz9w-1-23">leviana</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These and other electronic devices have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PMbN0PVyy0">since been refined</a> to make computers many times more powerful again, not to mention much cooler and more energy efficient – enabling everything from MP3 players to the smartphones of today. <a href="https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-starts-testing-smallest-spin-qubit-chip-quantum-computing/#gs.g5k0jo">Intel</a> and <a href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/03/a-preview-of-bristlecone-googles-new.html">Google</a> began unveiling quantum processors last year, and <a href="https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-starts-commercial-shipment-of-emram-product-based-on-28nm-fd-soi-process">Samsung</a> and <a href="https://www.everspin.com/news/everspin-ships-world%E2%80%99s-first-pre-production-28-nm-1-gb-stt-mram-customer-samples">Everspin</a> launched MRAM (magnetic random access memory) chips a few months ago. This new technology is expected to substantially improve computing performance – by <a href="https://www.spintronics-info.com/nec-and-tohoku-university-developed-spintronics-text-search-chip-cuts-power-reduction-99">one estimate</a>, for example, the potential reduction in power requirements could be over 99%. </p>
<p>Even so, all these advances have been labouring under a major limitation: the spin manipulation is confined to a single ultra-thin layer of magnetic material. Tens of these layers are typically stacked in a “sandwiched” structure, which interact through complex interfaces and interconnects, but their functionality is fundamentally 2D in nature. </p>
<p>Industry leaders like Stuart Parkin, who created IBM’s original spintronics-driven computer hard drive, the <a href="https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/spintronics/">Deskstar 16GP Titan</a>, have <a href="https://youtu.be/kB0ixO5lrzQ">been saying</a> for years that one of the biggest challenges in magnetic computing is to shift to a much more flexible and capable 3D version.</p>
<p>This would see information transmitted, stored and processed across any point of the three-dimensional stack of magnetic layers. Recent pioneering <a href="https://www.spintronics-info.com/worlds-first-3d-spintronics-chip-developed-cambridge">advances</a> are starting to bring this paradigm shift <a href="https://www.agenciasinc.es/en/News/Three-Dimensional-Nanomagnets-for-the-computer-of-tomorrow">closer</a>, but we still face great challenges to reach the same degree of control as we have in two dimensions. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-019-0386-4">new paper</a> led by the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Hamburg, the Technical University of Eindhoven and the Aalto University School of Science, we have taken a significant step towards achieving that goal.</p>
<h2>Spins and charges</h2>
<p>Traditional electronics is based on the fact that electrons have electrical charges. In a basic computer, chips and other units transmit information by sending and receiving tiny electrical pulses. They register a “one” for a pulse and a “zero” for no pulse, and by counting these over millions of repetitions, it becomes the basis of a language of instructions. </p>
<p>Traditional magnetic hard drives rely on properties associated to electrical charges too, but they work on a different principle, with very tiny regions of a flat magnetic disk recording zeroes and ones via its two possible magnetic orientations. Magnetic drives have the great benefit that data is still there even when the power is switched off, though the information is recorded and retrieved much more slowly than using the transistors that we find in computer circuits. </p>
<p>Spintronics is different: it exploits both the charge and the intrinsic magnetism of electrons - otherwise known as its spin. The difference between spin and charge is sometimes likened to the way that the Earth orbits the sun but also spins on its axis at the same time. But whereas electrons are always negatively charged, they can spin “up” or “down”.</p>
<p>It was <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2007/summary/">discovered</a> in the late 1980s that if an electrical current was conducted through a device formed by a non-magnetic sheet sandwiched between two magnetic sheets, the resistance of this device to the electron flow would change dramatically depending on the orientation of the magnets within the two magnetic sheets. </p>
<p>This effect was readily exploited in hard drives, with these spintronic systems acting as very sensitive sensors that could read many more zeroes and ones of magnetic information within the same area than previous hard drives – thus transforming storage capacity. Known as giant magnetoresistance, this later yielded the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2007/summary/">Nobel Prize in Physics</a> for Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg, the two scientists who discovered it simultaneously. </p>
<h2>Chiral spintronics</h2>
<p>Since the birth of spintronics, there have been many important advances, including some recent exciting ones in an area called chiral spintronics. Whereas we usually think of two magnets as having a “north” and “south” that rotate towards or away from one another along a 180º line – watch the compass towards the end of <a href="https://youtu.be/Mp0Bu75MSj8">this video</a> for example – under particular conditions, tiny magnets at the atomic level also present chiral spin interactions. This means that neighbouring magnets have a preference to orient at angles of 90º. </p>
<p>The existence of these interactions is a key ingredient to create and manipulate pseudo-particles called magnetic skyrmions, which have topological properties that <a href="https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2019/05/could-skyrmions-change-the-future-of-computing/">enable them</a> to perform computing applications more effectively, with huge potential to further improve data storage. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277933/original/file-20190604-69075-940e9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An attractive notion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/magnet-plant-lines-triangles-point-connecting-753575932?src=H1nOZS9ebp625GHgnLRDlQ-1-22">piick</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Until now, however, chiral spin interactions had only been observed and exploited in 2D spintronics. In our new paper, we show for the first time that this interaction can be also created between magnets located at two neighbouring magnetic layers separated by an ultra-thin non-magnetic metallic layer. </p>
<p>For this, we created a device with a total of eight layers using a technique called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6ZIkmIVm6c">sputtering</a> to deposit nanoscale thin films. We had to carefully tune the interfaces of the layers to balance other magnetic interactions, and we studied the behaviour of the system under magnetic fields at room temperature employing lasers. The way the device behaved was confirmed by complementary magnetic simulations performed by our collaborator at the University of Hamburg. </p>
<p>This discovery opens new exciting routes to exploit further 3D spintronic effects, with chiral spin interactions playing a pivotal role to create more compact and efficient ways to store and move magnetic data along the whole 3D space. Future work will focus on finding ways to increase the strength of this interaction and expand the range of devices where the effect is present. We expect our work will attract great interest within the spintronic community and stimulate industry to continue working on magnetic computing devices based on these radically new concepts.</p>
<p>The first impact of spintronics in the computing market was extremely fast – it took just eight years from the discovery of giant magnetoresistance to the launch of IBM’s Deskstar 16GP Titan in 1997. The leap to 3D still needs to overcome multiple obstacles, from precisely fabricating the necessary devices to exploiting magnetic interactions in unconventional computing architectures. Our recent discovery brings us a step closer to achieving this very challenging but exciting objective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amalio Fernandez-Pacheco receives funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, and the Royal Society. He is also affiliated with the University of Cambridge.</span></em></p>Manipulating electron spin has heralded everything from iPods to the latest laptops. Stand by for the next paradigm shift.Amalio Fernandez-Pacheco, EPSRC Early Career Fellow, Physics and Astronomy, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181012019-06-03T17:10:37Z2019-06-03T17:10:37ZIs Robert Mueller an antique? The role of the facts in a post-truth era<p>In just a little over eight minutes – on the morning of Wednesday, May 29th – the post-truth era came to an end.</p>
<p>Or did it?</p>
<p>That’s when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/mueller-special-counsel.html">Special Counsel Robert Mueller took the podium</a> and addressed only the facts concerning his <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mueller-report-sent-to-attorney-general-signaling-his-russia-investigation-has-ended/2019/03/22/b061d8fa-323e-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html">two-year-long investigation into Russian interference</a> in the 2016 presidential election as well as possible collusion and obstruction of justice.</p>
<p>Some might feel that Mueller struck a blow for truth and reality in a world where we are daily surrounded by opinion, spin and commentary. He seemed determined to follow the old rules no matter the madness that surrounded him. </p>
<p>Others, however, might feel that Mueller presented himself more as an antique specimen, and not a particularly useful one at that. How? By refusing to accept the reality that he was giving his address in a world where he knew his statement would be spun, lied about and exploited by others. </p>
<p>What is the role of someone who speaks only of facts in a tornado of partisan bombast? Is it a breath of fresh air? Or an abdication of responsibility to protect the country’s interests?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277689/original/file-20190603-69059-jlgq3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It used to be that lies had the power to shock. Now, facts are the outliers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU1OTYwMzk2MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMzI2MjQ3NzQ5IiwiayI6InBob3RvLzMyNjI0Nzc0OS9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOjEsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiQTI0NUM3Q3Rlak5RQ08zczFBR1hleFVBRVFVIl0%2Fshutterstock_326247749.jpg&pi=33421636&m=326247749&src=NNmmW-XRFNEiUm4k74aWag-1-5">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Facts vs post-truth</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.leemcintyrebooks.com/lee.php">I’m a philosopher</a> who studies the rational foundation for belief. In my book, “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/post-truth">Post-Truth</a>” (MIT Press, 2018), I explore the idea that “post-truth” actually goes far beyond the Oxford dictionaries’ definition of it as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” </p>
<p>Instead, I offer the idea that post-truth is more usefully understood as the “political subordination of reality,” in which truth is the first casualty on the road to authoritarianism.</p>
<p>If that is right, what are we to think of Mueller’s fact-based statement?</p>
<p>At the start, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/mueller-transcript.html">Mueller outlined the parameters and limitations of his investigation.</a> Given <a href="https://fas.org/irp/agency/doj/olc/092473.pdf">Justice Department guidelines</a>, he said, he could not charge a sitting president with a crime (left unsaid: even if he felt that he had committed one). </p>
<p>Furthermore, in the interest of “fairness,” Mueller offered that it would be untoward to accuse someone of a crime when there could be no ultimate determination of guilt or innocence at trial. </p>
<p>Thus, Mueller offered no opinion on whether Trump had committed a crime. (Left unsaid: What would be the point?) As he put it, charging Trump with a crime was “not an option we could consider.” </p>
<p>The two things “left unsaid” would not be “factual” statements, but rather opinions, and he was avoiding those.</p>
<p>But then we get to the most intriguing part of Mueller’s statement, where a brief lesson in logic is in order.</p>
<h2>What Mueller believes</h2>
<p>In deductive logic, there is a relationship called the “contrapositive,” which demonstrates the equivalence between statements like “if P, then Q” and “if not Q, then not P.” Millions of LSAT takers have come to learn this by evaluating the validity of arguments like the following:</p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>1. Premise: If it's raining, the streets are wet
2. Premise: It's raining
3. Conclusion: Therefore, the streets are wet
</code></pre>
<p>This is a deductively valid argument, indeed famously so. The lesson here: If you buy the truth of the premises there can be no doubt about the truth of the conclusion. This one is a cinch. </p>
<p>Now compare this argument to a second one:</p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>1. Premise: If it's raining, the streets are wet
2. Premise: The streets are not wet
3. Conclusion: Therefore, it is not raining
</code></pre>
<p>This one, too, is deductively valid, and in fact it follows the form of the contrapositive explained above. If the premises are true, one cannot help but believe the conclusion. It is, in effect, the same type of argument. </p>
<p>But now for the moment of “truth.”</p>
<pre class="highlight plaintext"><code>1. Stated premise: "If we had confidence that the
president clearly did not commit a crime,
we would have said so."
2. Unstated premise: We did not say so
3. Conclusion: We did not have confidence that the
president did not commit a crime.
</code></pre>
<p>Remove the double negative and you get the implication that – without quite saying it – Mueller believes that Trump committed a crime.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277690/original/file-20190603-69059-1sw5r9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Washington Post says that President Trump has made ‘made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims’ while in office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Trump-Kim-Summit/8c8d45c381c64349b5afba5518495ede/31/0">AP/Susan Walsh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Logic chopping? Cheating?’</h2>
<p>Is this message from Mueller post-truth? Cheating? Too clever by half? Or is it, as the attorneys sometimes call it, “<a href="https://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#Logic%Chopping">logic chopping</a>,” the practice of using nitpicky, pedantic logic arguments to avoid dealing with the larger truth?</p>
<p>During his statement, Mueller stood with military bearing, refusing to debase himself by using the outrageous tactics of partisanship, personal attack or even overstatement. </p>
<p>Reading from his carefully prepared script, never wavering from what he has allowed himself to say, Mueller could be a prisoner of war reading a hostage statement, hoping his message will nonetheless get through.</p>
<p>Or perhaps he’s more of a schoolteacher, telling us what to study because – Congress – this will be on the test. </p>
<h2>Does Mueller matter?</h2>
<p>Have Americans’ sensibilities been so dulled by a post-truth environment that they no longer recognize the facts – and what they imply – unless they are presented within the context of politics? </p>
<p>Is America not only post-truth, but also post-logic? </p>
<p>The response to Mueller makes it seem that way. The man-who-stuck-to-the-facts was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/mueller-resigns-special-counsel.html">immediately derided</a> as a partisan hack or as a straitjacketed government functionary. About the nicest thing said about him was <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-to-think-about-muellers-statement/">in the nonpartisan publication Fivethirtyeight</a>, where staff writer Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux said “In some ways, Mueller’s statement felt out of sync with the current political moment.” </p>
<p>Perhaps the role of a truth-teller in a post-truth world – the “current political moment” – is simply to play it straight: neither to indulge in false equivalance nor to pick a team just because one side is doing most of the lying. </p>
<p>[<em>Expertise in your inbox.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Sign up for our newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day</a>.] </p>
<p>But telling it straight is only one-half of the equation. Such truth-tellers can insist that we do some of the work ourselves, rather than respond with lazy, thoughtless reflex. They remind us of what we have lost when all is opinion or spin – our independence of mind.</p>
<p>In a post-truth world, where everyone is jockeying for advantage and position, a truth-teller is trying to get our attention. </p>
<p>Is anyone still listening? Are we willing to do the work?</p>
<p>
<section class="inline-content">
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248895/original/file-20181204-133100-t34yqm.png?w=128&h=128">
<div>
<header>Lee McIntyre is the author of:</header>
<p><a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/post-truth">Post-Truth</a></p>
<footer>MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</footer>
</div>
</section>
</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lee McIntyre is a registered Democrat. MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</span></em></p>What’s the role of someone who, like
Robert Mueller, speaks only facts in a tornado of partisan bombast? Is it a breath of fresh air or an abdication of responsibility to protect America’s interests?Lee McIntyre, Research Fellow Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1064532019-01-31T19:13:18Z2019-01-31T19:13:18ZThe vomit principle, the dead bat, the freeze: how political spin doctors’ tactics aim to shape the news<p>It’s election season again and behind the scenes, the political “spin doctors” are working around the clock.</p>
<p>They are the campaign advisers, social media strategists, press secretaries and others who craft political messages to help “sell” their candidate. The term “spin” is contested, of course, and like the phrase “fake news” has become an easy retort for people who reject any version of events that does not reflect their own. </p>
<p>But the fact is any good spin doctor employs a range of overt and covert tactics to get their message across, and I’ve listed some below.</p>
<p>This list is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1329878X16634870">drawn</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670042000246089">from</a> a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0363811115301776">range</a> <a href="https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/sideshow">of</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229676143_Spin_From_Tactic_to_Tabloid">academic</a> and other <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Public_Relations_Democracy.html?id=KQNBU4-svD4C&redir_esc=y">sources</a>, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/14805537/RE-ASSESSING_THE_PUBLIC_S_RIGHT_TO_KNOW_The_shift_from_journalism_to_political_PR">and</a> my own personal experience as a “spin doctor”. (I was once a media adviser to Labor’s Anna Bligh, a former Queensland premier. I am also married to one.) It is by no means exhaustive, but it provides an overview of some of the traditional tactics employed by political media advisers and politicians.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-reputation-that-matters-when-spin-doctors-go-back-to-the-newsroom-81088">It's reputation that matters when spin doctors go back to the newsroom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Overt and covert spin tactics</h2>
<p>British researcher Ivor Gaber <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/016344300022004008">talked</a> about “overt” and “covert” tactics used by press secretaries in the Blair government in the UK. </p>
<p>Overt refers to standard or benign public relations tactics, such as writing press releases, staging events, giving speeches and appearing in the media. </p>
<p>Covert, on the other hand, refers to a range of cynical techniques to manage information - these are the more malign tactics most people associate with “spin”.</p>
<p>The list below contains a wide range of “covert” tactics drawn from a range of research and personal experience. Each of these tactics is employed in a bid to exert control over the way the news media report the message:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>the leak:</strong> these are strategic leaks offered by politicians or their staff to journalists, in exchange for no scrutiny. In other words, you only get the leak if you promise not to seek comment from the opposing side, or other critics. This is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1065196">increasing</a> and is a real problem</p></li>
<li><p><strong>the freeze:</strong> punishing journalists for negative reporting</p></li>
<li><p><strong>the spray:</strong> a form of bullying and intimidation, this is another way of punishing journalists for negative coverage. Many political reporters who file an unfavourable story can expect to “cop a spray” over the phone after it’s published</p></li>
<li><p><strong>the drip:</strong> the act of keeping favoured reporters on a drip of exclusive information</p></li>
<li><p><strong>staying on message</strong>: the goal of every public appearance or interview by a politician. In itself, it’s not a malign tactic, but the constant repetition of the same messages without answering questions can be a form of obfuscation</p></li>
<li><p><strong>pivoting:</strong> this refers to politicians shifting away from a difficult question or issue to the one he or she wants to talk about</p></li>
<li><p><strong>the vomit principle:</strong> this rule of thumb is widely referred to in political offices. The idea is that if you repeat something so often you feel like vomiting, only then is it likely to be cutting through with the public</p></li>
<li><p><strong>playing a dead bat</strong>: this refers to not responding to a media inquiry or giving a minimal response in an effort to kill the story</p></li>
<li><p><strong>the truth, but not the whole truth:</strong> this refers to being selective with what one reveals, sharing only the most beneficial or least damaging information</p></li>
<li><p><strong>throwing out the bodies/taking out the garbage:</strong> these tactics are used to disclose damaging information under the cover of a major distraction. The classic example often used is that of Jo Moore, a media adviser in the Blair government in the UK. On the day of the 9/11 attacks she <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1358985/Sept-11-a-good-day-to-bury-bad-news.html">sent out an email saying</a>: “It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors expenses?” Other common days to bury bad news are Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, grand final day, Melbourne Cup day, or a distraction like a royal visit</p></li>
<li><p><strong>get rid of it now:</strong> the aim of this tactic is to release all of the damaging information on an issue at one time, so the negative story can be dealt with quickly rather than allowing it to bleed on for weeks in the media. One media adviser I interviewed explained it like this: “It’s a truism in politics - If you’ve got to eat a shit sandwich you’ve got to eat it straight away… The advice was always, ‘Get rid of it now. Go and deal with it now’.”</p></li>
<li><p><strong>fire-breaking:</strong> setting up or staging a diversion to distract attention away from another issue. In the film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/">Wag the Dog</a>, the US president fabricates a war in Albania to distract from a sex scandal. Less extreme examples would be launching a new policy to distract from a negative issue in an attempt to shift the media’s attention</p></li>
<li><p><strong>kite-flying:</strong> this means testing or floating an idea before making a commitment to announce it</p></li>
<li><p><strong>feeding or starving a story:</strong> feeding a story means keeping it alive by commenting on it in the media. Starving a story means starving it of oxygen by not commenting on it. The theory being that after a while the media will get bored and move on</p></li>
<li><p><strong>keeping out of the media/being a small target:</strong> this is a useful tactic if the politician is unpopular and affects the polls, has a controversial portfolio or is an accident-prone poor performer</p></li>
<li><p><strong>flying under the radar:</strong> this refers to just quietly getting on with things without publicising it</p></li>
<li><p><strong>dishing dirt:</strong> this is where old claims suddenly emerge publicly before or during an election in an effort to smear someone’s reputation. The “dirt” can come from outside or inside a party. It’s a tactic used to try to destroy someone’s career</p></li>
<li><p><strong>dog-whistling:</strong> <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/why-politicians-love-to-play-the-wedgeandblockgame-20150901-gjca68.html">using specific subtle language</a> and messages to target a particular section of the audience</p></li>
<li><p><strong>wedging:</strong> this tactic involves raising an issue that is popular in the electorate and sensitive to the party you are opposing to “wedge” them in to a difficult position and sow division in the party. </p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>To hear Caroline Fisher in conversation with Michelle Grattan in a special election spin-themed episode of our podcast <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/trust-me-podcast">Trust Me, I’m An Expert</a>, click <a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-how-to-spot-the-work-of-a-political-spin-doctor-this-election-season-106338">here</a> or search for it in your podcast app.</p>
<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
<p>Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click <a href="https://pca.st/VTv7">here</a> to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).</p>
<p>You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/trust-me-im-an-expert/id1290047736?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D8"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3RydXN0LW1lLXBvZGNhc3QucnNz"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
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<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-Wa3E5A"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7myc7drbLJVaRitAMXLB7V"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106453/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Fisher is a former media adviser to Anna Bligh. Her husband, Matthew Franklin, is a media adviser to Labor MP Anthony Albanese. </span></em></p>Any good political spin doctor employs a range of overt and covert tactics to get their message across. Here are some of the most common ones.Caroline Fisher, Assistant Professor in Journalism, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/703072016-12-16T15:20:46Z2016-12-16T15:20:46ZWhat makes test cricket’s best spin bowler so effective?<p>With a victory over England in the fourth test by an innings and 36 runs, India’s cricket team <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/38285670">have secured</a> their fifth consecutive test series win and have now gone over four years <a href="http://stats.espncricinfo.com/usa/engine/records/team/match_results.html?class=1;id=2012;team=6;type=year">without losing</a> a test match on home soil – a run of 18 matches. Throughout this period we witnessed the meteoric rise of Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s prize test match finger spin bowler. </p>
<p>Ashwin, <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/rankings/content/page/211270.html">now the number one</a> ranked bowler in world cricket has amassed 15 five-wicket hauls in tests, the highest for any bowler in two successive calendar years. In September he <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-new-zealand-2016-17/content/story/1059096.html">became</a> the second-fastest bowler to claim 200 test wickets in his career.</p>
<p>Statistics aside, success on the world stage is not a matter of chance, quite the contrary. Ashwin’s journey is a culmination of his technical refinement, innovation and the teammates who bowl alongside him.</p>
<h2>Refining the technique</h2>
<p>While there are many facets that contribute to a successful spin bowler, imparting a high number of revolutions on the ball is seen as critical and the main cause for both the ball’s “drift” in the air and deviation off the pitch. Coupled with the ability to pitch the delivery in advantageous areas, elite finger spin bowlers such as Ashwin play an integral role in the success of teams competing in the international game.</p>
<p>A forthcoming study on the biomechanics of elite finger spin bowling, led by myself and my colleague, Mark King, at Loughborough University in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board, profiled 30 elite male finger spin bowlers over a four-year period (including the English spinners Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar and James Tredwell). Our team of researchers explored the technical factors within a bowling action that influence the rate at which a ball spins. </p>
<p>The team observed very strong positive relationships between the orientation of the bowler’s pelvis and the rate at which the ball spins during flight, particularly at the instance of front foot contact and ball release. These findings created a compelling argument that highly advanced motions of the pelvis are paramount to producing high spin rates to the ball and therefore that spin bowling should not be solely thought of as an upper arm skill.</p>
<p>The movement during the ball’s flight is due to its “lift” or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23f1jvGUWJs">Magnus force</a>, which affects the way a ball reacts during motion. This movement occurs because on the side of the ball which is advancing due to the spin motion the air flow is slowed down, <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-8949/88/01/018101">creating a high pressure region</a>. On the other, receding side, it creates a low pressure region. The difference in pressure causes a “lateral” force perpendicular to the ground and a lateral movement of the ball during flight. This is known as drift. </p>
<p>The force of the lift will vary in direction and magnitude and depends on the amount of spin and the axis along which the ball is spinning. In addition, cricket balls have a seam, and spinners commonly apply spin along the line of this seam to help their grip on the ball. This means the spin axis is commonly kept perpendicular to the direction of the seam, promoting a stable seam position and the possibility of the ball deviating off the seam the moment it hits the pitch.</p>
<p>When the ball meets the pitch surface, particularly in India (due to drier pitches creating high friction between the ground and the ball), this commonly creates large lateral deviation and a heightened challenge to the opposing batsman.</p>
<p>Coming back to Ashwin, since 2012 he has noticeably made a number of key technical changes to his bowling action to improve alignment and promote a transfer of momentum throughout his delivery stride. In 2016, he now bowls with a slightly open pelvis orientation when his front foot hits the ground. This differs to the strictly side-on, or at times closed-off pelvis orientation that he used when releasing the ball back in 2012. He now has the ability to rotate his pelvis effectively and efficiently, promoting the transfer of kinetic energy from the pelvis to the hand as he releases the ball, and so injecting greater spin onto the ball. </p>
<h2>Partnerships and pace</h2>
<p>Humility is a strong virtue in any individual. With this in mind, Ashwin’s rise to stardom has to be partly credited to his <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/cricket/skills/newsid_3207000/3207491.stm">orthodox left arm spin</a> partner, Ravindra Jadeja. </p>
<p>Between November 2015 and the end of the fourth test against England in mid-December 2016, India’s star duo had accumulated the most wickets in test cricket – an incredible <a href="http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/bowling/most_wickets_career.html?class=1;id=6;type=team">124</a>. The pair are unrelentingly accurate, with Jadeja mounting great pressure, bowling 53 maidens (an over, or six consecutive deliveries where no run is scored) in the current series against England alone.</p>
<p>The speed at which the ball is released also plays a significant role in the success of an elite spin bowler. When a new, competent batsman enters the crease, they use the idiosyncratic cues provided by the bowler, such as the release velocity, height, and angle of preceding deliveries. This forms a mental template of the ball’s trajectory – essentially an attempt to predict the trajectories of the deliveries to follow. </p>
<p>Here, Ashwin’s subtle variation of the speed and the axis around which he spins the ball comes into play. He commonly delivers his stock ball with an initial release speed around 54mph. Variations of pace close to this speed may exploit a batsman’s mental template and take advantage of the batsman’s subtle “blindness” to length and speed. This can create a fatal weakness in judgement, particularly for any new batsman at the crease. </p>
<p>The new batsman’s ability to tell what speed and trajectory the ball will arrive is now sub-optimal, meaning vital mistakes are made in deciding whether to come forward or back when playing the ball. This can result in a quick return to the dressing room.</p>
<h2>Innovation</h2>
<p>Ashwin can also be considered as one of the modern game’s great innovators through his use of a unique delivery known as the “carrom” or “sodukku ball”, meaning “snapping of fingers” in the Tamil language. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pz7s5HG2TMk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>When delivering the carrom ball, Ashwin spins the ball using half as many revolutions as he would with one of his regular deliveries. The ball is released out of the front of the hand as opposed to the side, using the middle digit to impart spin. As a result it is very difficult for the opposing batsman to distinguish and therefore a dangerous tool of deception. </p>
<p>With this magnitude of spin, the ball’s trajectory is much straighter and results in many wickets as the opposing batsman often plays down the wrong line of trajectory. As a result, Ashwin, who is one of the very few operators of this delivery in the world game, has one of the highest percentages of dismissals for leg before wicket in test cricket to date. </p>
<p>All this has combined to make Ravichandran Ashwin one of the most effective bowlers in today’s modern game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Sanders is affiliated with Loughborough University, The English Institute of Sport and receives research funding from The England and Wales Cricket Board. </span></em></p>The rise of India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is down to both art and science.Liam Sanders, PhD Researcher, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/689292016-11-18T07:31:48Z2016-11-18T07:31:48ZThe surprising origins of ‘post-truth’ – and how it was spawned by the liberal left<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146406/original/image-20161117-18108-16xjrp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not much of that about...</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Post-truth” has been announced as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/15/post-truth-named-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries">Oxford Dictionaries’ international word of the year</a>. It is widely associated with US president-elect <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/opinion/campaign-stops/the-age-of-post-truth-politics.html">Donald Trump’s extravagantly untruthful assertions</a> and the working-class people who voted for him nonetheless. But responsibility for the “post-truth” era lies with the middle-class professionals who prepared the runway for its recent take-off. Those responsible include academics, journalists, “creatives” and financial traders; even the centre-left politicians who have now been hit hard by the rise of the anti-factual.</p>
<p>On November 16, 2016 Oxford Dictionaries announced that “post-truth” had been selected as the word which, more than any other, reflects “the passing year in language”. It <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/post-truth">defines “post-truth”</a> as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. </p>
<p>The word itself can be traced back as far as 1992, but documented usage increased by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37995600">2,000% in 2016 compared to 2015</a>. As Oxford Dictionaries’ Casper Grathwohl explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We first saw the frequency really spike this year in June with buzz over the Brexit vote and again in July when Donald Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination.</p>
<p>Given that usage of the term hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, I wouldn’t be surprised if post-truth becomes one of the defining words of our time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Punditry on the “post-truth era” is often accompanied by a picture either of Donald Trump (for example, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37995600">BBC News Online</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/15/post-truth-named-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries">The Guardian</a>) or of his supporters (<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/11/post-truth-politics-dont-be-so-patronising/">The Spectator</a>). Although The Spectator article was a rare exception, the connotations embedded in “post-truth” commentary are normally as follows: “post-truth” is the product of populism; it is the bastard child of common-touch charlatans and a rabble ripe for arousal; it is often in blatant disregard of the <em>actualité</em>.</p>
<h2>The truth about post-truth</h2>
<p>But this interpretation blatantly disregards the actual origins of “post-truth”. These lie neither with those deemed under-educated nor with their new-found champions. Instead, the groundbreaking work on “post-truth” was performed by academics, with further contributions from an extensive roster of middle-class professionals. Left-leaning, self-confessed liberals, they sought freedom from state-sponsored truth; instead they built a new form of cognitive confinement – “post-truth”.</p>
<p>More than 30 years ago, academics started to discredit “truth” as one of the “grand narratives” which clever people could no longer bring themselves to believe in. Instead of “the truth”, which was to be rejected as naïve and/or repressive, a new intellectual orthodoxy permitted only “truths” – always plural, frequently personalised, inevitably relativised. </p>
<p>Under the terms of this outlook, all claims on truth are relative to the particular person making them; there is no position outside our own particulars from which to establish universal truth. This was one of the key tenets of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy">postmodernism</a>, a concept which first caught on in the 1980s after publication of Jean-Francois Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report On Knowledge in 1979. In this respect, for as long as we have been postmodern, we have been setting the scene for a “post-truth” era.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146407/original/image-20161117-18134-17v752g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new economy: no truth here.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-447476002/stock-photo-modern-city-diorama-and-wireless-sensor-network-sensor-node-and-connecting-line-information-communication-technology-internet-of-things-abstract-image-visual.html?src=SIjy5SHF_szTlLFFrdaqgg-1-7">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>And these attitudes soon spread across wider society. By the mid-1990s, <a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2032138,00.html">journalists were following academics in rejecting “objectivity”</a> as nothing more than a professional ritual. Old-school hacks who continued to adhere to objectivity as their organising principle were scolded for cheating the public and deceiving themselves in equal measure. </p>
<p>Nor was this shift confined to the minority who embraced war reporter Martin Bell’s infamous “<a href="https://thatspikesnotsharp.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/journalism-of-attachment/">journalism of attachment</a>”, which supported the idea that journalists should respond personally to events. Under the flag of pragmatism, the professional consensus allowed for a lower-case version of truth, broadly equivalent to academic relativism – which nonetheless dissociated professional journalism from the allegedly anachronistic quest for the one true truth, as in Ivor Gaber’s <a href="theendofjournalism.wdfiles.com/local--files/ivorgaber/Ivor%20Gaber.doc">Three Cheers For Subjectivity: Or The Crumbling Of The Seven Pillars Of Journalistic Wisdom</a>. But this shift meant that journalists were already moving towards a “post-truth” age.</p>
<h2>Meanwhile, in the ‘creative’ economy …</h2>
<p>In the second half of the 1990s, branding comprised the core business of the newly categorised “<a href="http://www.heartfield.org/Creativity_Gap.pdf">creative industries</a>”. Bright young things generated fast-growing revenues by creating a magical system of mythical thinking known in shorthand as “the brand”. </p>
<p>Branding came to be seen as far more important than the mundane activity of product design, development and manufacture. In Britain, <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/culture/2013/01/meeting-our-makers-britain%E2%80%99s-long-industrial-decline">as the latter went into decline</a>, the simultaneous expansion of City-type activities meant that the national economy was reconfigured around whatever the next person was prepared to believe in, which is as close as financial markets ever get to the truth. In Western economies, this system of managed perceptions and permanent PR – promotional culture as a whole way of life – has now largely replaced the incontrovertible facts of large-scale manufacturing. </p>
<p>Throughout the second half of the 1990s and into the new century, there was optimistic talk of a “<a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/neweconomy.asp">new economy</a>”, driven by the expansion of technology and the internet. It was seemingly based on a whole generation of “symbolic analysts” – Robert Reich’s term for “<a href="http://prospect.org/article/importance-symbolic-analysts-working-america">the workers who make up the creative and knowledge economies</a>” – happily <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/feb/01/livingonthinair.extract">living on thin air</a>. </p>
<p>Even then, there were concerns that the associated media sector was a living example of the Emperor’s New Clothes, as illustrated by television’s “self-facilitating media node”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/10/nathan-barley-charlie-brooker-east-london-comedy">Nathan Barley</a>. But it is now clear that in moving inexorably towards free-floating, barely verifiable “intangibles” (a buzzword of the time), the millennial hybrid of creative and financial services was also a stepping stone to “post-truth”.</p>
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<h2>Political post-truth</h2>
<p>But the political realm experienced parallel developments, too, and they were similarly aligned to the trend towards “post-truth”. In the US, Bill Clinton initiated the transformation of politics into “showbiz for uglies” – a show of inclusivity performed in a series of shared national experiences. In the UK this was exemplified in Tony Blair’s role at the forefront of public reaction to the death of Princess Diana. The extent to which such phenomena are best understood as myth rather than reality, has been well illustrated in the recent film <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p04b183c/adam-curtis-hypernormalisation">HyperNormalisation</a> by Adam Curtis. </p>
<p>By the turn of the century, government was already less about the “truth” than about how “truths” could be spun. So-called <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/alastair-campbell-spin-iraq-recurring-nightmare-about-tony-blair-gordon-brow-a6952921.html">“spin doctors”</a> took centre stage; it was government by PR – and the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-inquiry-tony-blair-iraq-war-spin-unspun-a7123741.html">Iraq War was a prime example</a>. Facts, apparently, took a back seat. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146409/original/image-20161117-18128-1f3l6vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Let me spin you a yarn…</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-447476002/stock-photo-modern-city-diorama-and-wireless-sensor-network-sensor-node-and-connecting-line-information-communication-technology-internet-of-things-abstract-image-visual.html?src=SIjy5SHF_szTlLFFrdaqgg-1-7">Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, the art of government was also being dumbed down into “evidence-based” managerialism – the largely exclusive process with which “Washington insider” Hillary Clinton has been unfavourably associated. </p>
<p>As further practised by Tony Blair, during his stint as UK prime minister, outgoing US president, Barack Obama, and their respective administrations, the subdivision of politics into (a) cultural experience and (b) management, has made a dual contribution to the social construction of “post-truth”. </p>
<p>As the protagonists neared the role of a priest or pop star in their near-mythical performances, so the Clinton-Blair-Obama triad has moved politics further away from truth and closer to the realm of the imagination. Meanwhile, in the hands of managerialists what was left of the truth – “the evidence base” – was soon recognised by the wider population as a tool for use in social engineering, and largely discredited as a result – hence the mounting hostility towards experts, on which Brexiteer <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/10/michael-goves-guide-to-britains-greatest-enemy-the-experts/">Michael Gove</a> sought to capitalise in the run-up to the EU referendum. </p>
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<p>On both counts, prominent representatives of the centre-left prepared the ground for the post-politics of “post-truth”. The irony is that some of their closest relatives have been the first casualties of its further realisation.</p>
<p>“Post-truth” is the latest step in a logic long established in the history of ideas, and previously expressed in the cultural turn led by middle-class professionals. Instead of blaming populism for enacting what we set in motion, it would be better to acknowledge our own shameful part in it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Calcutt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Brexit and Trump aren’t to blame. The rise of ‘post-truth’ is rooted in the middle-classes, not the masses.Andrew Calcutt, Principal Lecturer in Journalism, Humanities and Creative Industries, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/580062016-04-29T10:06:06Z2016-04-29T10:06:06ZA new state of matter: quantum spin liquids explained<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120548/original/image-20160428-28040-ojld52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spin, liquid – just add quantum.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Panom Pensawang/shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Magnetism is one of the oldest recognised material properties. Known since antiquity, records from the 3rd century BC describe how <a href="http://www.oceannavigator.com/January-February-2003/Lodestone-and-needle-the-rise-of-the-magnetic-compass/">lodestone</a>, a naturally occurring magnetised ore of iron, was used in primitive magnetic compasses. Today, thanks to the theory of quantum mechanics we now understand the nature of magnetism, too, with the concept of spin explaining the behaviour of elementary particles such as electrons in the material that make it magnetic.</p>
<p>Spin, a property of sub-atomic particles such as electrons and quarks, makes each individual electron behave as if it were a tiny magnetic compass needle. The millions or billions of electron spins in a piece of material interact with each other in various ways and stabilise to form the different possible magnetic states found in solid matter. Taken together in such large numbers, the spin of the material’s electrons grants the same magnetic properties to the material itself.</p>
<p>Magnetism is essential for the basic trappings of modernity: magnetic materials form the basis of modern electronics and information storage. With this in mind, scientists have pursued the discovery of materials with entirely new magnetic behaviours or new states of matter with unprecedented and potentially beneficial properties. </p>
<p>One is that of a <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/focus/Focus%20on%20Quantum%20Spin%20Liquids">quantum spin liquid</a>, first proposed by the Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist PW Anderson in the early 1970s. In a paper published in the journal Nature Materials, a research team led by Professor Stephen Nagler at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US has <a href="http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat4604.html">demonstrated the quantum spin liquid nature</a> of the magnetic material ruthenium trichloride (α-RuCl₃).</p>
<h2>How do quantum spin liquids form?</h2>
<p>Quantum spin liquids are frequently found in a class of materials known as <a href="http://phys.org/news/2015-04-frustrated-magnets-reveals-clues-discontent.html">frustrated magnets</a>. In a conventional magnet, the interactions between spins result in stable formations, known as their <a href="http://www.britannica.com/science/long-range-order">long-range order</a>, in which the magnetic directions of each individual electron is aligned.</p>
<p>In a frustrated magnet, the arrangement of electron spins prevents them from forming an ordered alignment, and so they collapse into a fluctuating, liquid-like state. In a true quantum spin liquid, the electron spins never align, and continue to fluctuate even at the very lowest temperatures of absolute zero, at which the spins in other magnetic states of matter would have already frozen.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120520/original/image-20160428-28044-1rvjot9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herbertsmithite, a candidate quantum spin liquid source.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Herbertsmithite-herb03a.jpg">Rob Lavinsky/iRocks.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The conditions required for a quantum spin liquid to form are often found in nature. The most famous example is the copper-based mineral <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-26600.html">Herbertsmithite</a>, for which there is significant evidence to suggest that a quantum spin liquid state exists within the frustrated magnetic layers of copper ions that make up its structure. </p>
<h2>Where do we find quantum spin liquids?</h2>
<p>A challenge for scientists is to recreate the conditions required to synthetically grow candidate quantum spin liquid materials in the laboratory to allow for a complete understanding of their properties.</p>
<p>Quantum spin liquids’ evasive character make it notoriously difficult to confirm their existence and pinpoint their exact nature. The presence of a quantum spin liquid can be inferred from a lack of alignment of electron spins, but definitive confirmation is tricky: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, as the adage goes. A more sophisticated approach is to uncover the more distinctive and unique characteristics of the quantum spin liquid to allow for a positive confirmation.</p>
<p>This is why Nagler’s study is particularly noteworthy. In experiments using <a href="http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/neutron-spectroscopy">neutron spectroscopy</a>, the team revealed that α-RuCl₃ realises something extremely close to a special flavour of quantum spin liquid called a <a href="http://www.esrf.eu/home/news/spotlight/content-news/spotlight/spotlight236.html">Kitaev spin liquid</a>. A prerequisite for this particular quantum spin liquid state is that the spins of the magnetic ruthenium ions form a frustrated honeycomb network: a layered, two-dimensional hexagonal structure, similar to that assumed by carbon atoms in graphite.</p>
<p>In their experiment, a beam of neutron particles created by a particle accelerator was scattered from the sample of α-RuCl₃ transferring energy between the neutrons and the sample in the process. This energy transfer was quantified by a set of detectors surrounding the sample, and the response observed fits that described by the theory developed for the Kitaev quantum spin liquid in particular.</p>
<h2>What can we do with quantum spin liquids?</h2>
<p>We now recognise that the quantum spin liquid comes in several different varieties with subtly different properties, but that they all share the ability to support peculiar quantum mechanical phenomena. This is exciting, and not just from a purely scientific perspective: these states could be used in the development of quantum computers and other transformative quantum technologies that are expected to provide revolutionary changes to how we process and store data throughout the 21st century. </p>
<p>In the age of quantum computing, we will be able to perform calculations that are currently unsolvable on even the most powerful supercomputers of today. This will allow for breakthroughs in a vast array of fields in which we are tackling some of the biggest challenges of our time, from drug discovery to the design of smarter materials for a whole host of applications. As we discover more candidate quantum state liquid materials and better understand their behaviour, we will unravel ever more exotic physics and discover ways to manipulate and control this novel state of matter to our advantage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58006/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Clark receives funding from The Leverhulme Trust. </span></em></p>Here’s how they could revolutionise science.Lucy Clark, Research Fellow, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/413882015-05-07T05:50:54Z2015-05-07T05:50:54ZElection 2015: the most heavily managed campaign of all time<p>Over the two years that this election campaign has effectively been running, it has arguably been the most heavily managed in UK history. The tendency has only intensified as we approach polling day and the opinion polls <a href="http://may2015.com">point to</a> an uncertain outcome. </p>
<p>Television coverage of the campaign trail, which has dominated the election once again, has been faithfully relaying the latest <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/922801/The-Image-A-Guide-to-Pseudo-Events-in-America">pseudo-events</a> constructed by the parties as news. The 24/7 news channels are particularly vulnerable, such is the need for slick packaged visuals to help fill airtime. </p>
<p>By now the viewing public must be somewhat inured to images of the party leaders surrounded by carefully selected enthusiastic supporters, many holding placards with key party slogans, strategically placed to appear in shot for media camera crews. We also now have the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11498227/Tory-MPs-ordered-to-pose-for-photos-with-voters-during-selfie-election.html">“spontaneous selfie”</a>, as party leaders have endless photos taken with excited supporters. </p>
<p>Not only are these ideal for being shared on new media, they are also filmed by old media for inclusion in news reports on evening news bulletins. What better way to appear normal and connected with real people than to participate in the selfie phenomenon? In reality, one senses they would struggle to hold a conversation with them.</p>
<p>Message and candidate control have been a key element of the main parties’ communication strategies. There has been a grim determination to ensure that party leaders do not actually meet any real people, for fear of unscripted moments like when Gordon Brown <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/apr/29/gordon-brown-gillian-duffy-bigot">referred to</a> a voter as a bigot in 2010 without realising he was being recorded. Such “moments of truth” are anathema to the carefully constructed images and narratives of the campaign managers. </p>
<h2>When is a debate not a debate?</h2>
<p>Another defining feature of this presidentialised campaign has been the stilted debate formats. They have provided very little debate – and indeed no one-on-one clashes between the two rivals for Number 10 – as <a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/03/milibands-performance-last-night-vindicates-the-tories-strategy-of-no-head-to-head-debates/">intended by</a> Conservative Party strategy. Instead we have been treated to the regurgitation of pre-crafted sound-bites. A rare exception was the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/30/tonights-election-leaders-question-time-comes-from-dreamworld">palpable audience frustration</a> during BBC Question Time on April 30, where we glimpsed public desire for some straight answers from politicians. </p>
<p>These debates might have offered little new in terms of content and policy, but they attracted a huge amount of media commentary. This meta-coverage is exemplified by the introduction of the spin room into the election lexicon. The spin room represents the mainstream media’s open complicity with the campaign managers to manufacture the news. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most glaring example was when David Cameron did not participate in a BBC leaders’ debate, but his spin doctors <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/chicken-david-cameron-sends-spin-5526898">were allowed to</a> interpret the event for journalists in the spin room. In effect the spin room offers a platform for the instant recycling of the latest party briefing, however thin, in what now apparently passes for sophisticated and informed analysis. Just because many reporters and correspondents openly fess up to this contrivance does not make it any more illuminating or helpful to the voter.</p>
<p>It is clear that social media has been factored into election strategies as well, though somewhat uncreatively. The main parties <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/apr/27/social-media-general-election-political-parties">appear highly risk averse</a> on these digital platforms. And there is a sense that much of this is consumed by the politically converted and committed. Whether all the trolling and extolling that passes for political dialogue within partisan filter bubbles is reaching and influencing undecided voters <a href="http://may2015.com/featured/which-party-is-winning-the-war-on-social-media/">remains to be seen</a>. </p>
<h2>The torture chamber</h2>
<p>If the TV debates, spin rooms and social media “buzz” represent an electoral echo chamber then the partisan British press resemble a torture chamber, particularly for Ed Miliband. He has faced relentless negative coverage in Tory-supporting newspapers, and this <a href="http://blog.lboro.ac.uk/general-election/media-coverage-of-the-2015-campaign-report-4/">appears to be</a> intensifying in the final stretch of the campaign. </p>
<p>Little wonder that Labour was keen to fight this campaign on television and radio. This is just as evident as the Tory campaign calculus to avoid formats where Cameron may become unstuck, place leadership at the centre of its campaign, and continually repeat its key messages (Conservative = competence, Labour = chaos x SNP influence).</p>
<p>It is hard not to conclude that the spin doctors in the main parties appear to have based their communication strategies on a rather pessimistic view of the British public. On this logic, voters cannot be trusted to make informed judgements on complicated public policy matters, and politicians must stick to very basic messages that might “break through” and resonate. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20461630">Lynton Crosby</a>, the chief Tory party strategist, is a recognised master of this style of dog-whistle campaigning. It plays to popular prejudices and identifies wedge issues that divide parties from their core support. The repeated Tory emphasis on the role and legitimacy of the SNP is perhaps the most high-risk wedge issue in British public life just now. How this plays out may have implications well beyond the formation of the next government and well beyond the control of the party spinners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will is a steering committee member of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in Europe, and of co-founder & director of Spinwatch. The views expressed here are entirely his own, however. </span></em></p>From spontaneous selfies to the spin room, the communications gurus have excelled themselves this time aroundWill Dinan, Lecturer, Communications, Media and Culture, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293232014-07-28T02:00:14Z2014-07-28T02:00:14ZWhy spin trumps policy – until we build a new system of substance<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/spinning-it-the-power-and-influence-of-the-government-advisor-2406">Spin</a> is widely seen as the scourge of contemporary politics. We rail at politicians who seem more intent on appearing to act, rather than coming up with and pushing through important policy decisions. </p>
<p>It’s the main reason, political observers say, that trust in political leaders and the democratic system has <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/trust-in-the-nations-government-and-politicans-has-fallen-to-record-lows-study-finds-20131020-2vutg.html">fallen to record lows</a>.</p>
<p>The triumph of spin over substance in recent years is seen largely as a failure of leadership. Political parties are promoting leaders who lack the vision and conviction to come up with future-focused policy that can tackle the big issues of the 21st century. </p>
<p>The answer to the problem seems just as straightforward. Replace these poor leaders with braver, more visionary ones and our political system will again deliver the long-term policy solutions we need.</p>
<p>The result is an ever-faster leadership merry-go-around. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3412173.htm">Julia replaces Kevin</a> who <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-26/rudd-prevails-over-gillard-in-leadership-ballot/4783422">replaces Julia</a> and is then <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-07/tony-abbott-claims-election-victory/4943606">replaced by Tony</a>, who <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/liberal-leadership-spill-tony-abbott-wins/story-e6frfkvr-1225805630744">replaced Malcolm</a> who, some now say, should <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/we-want-malcolm-turnbull-voters-say-20130719-2q87x.html">replace Tony</a>.</p>
<p>But what if the real barrier to good policy is not the people inhabiting the system?</p>
<p>What if our democratic system is making it more and more difficult for politicians – no matter how determined or well-intentioned they are – to come up with coherent policy programs or get public support for their agendas?</p>
<h2>Our system is outdated and broken</h2>
<p>In reality, our political system – otherwise known as <a href="http://australianpolitics.com/democracy-and-politics/key-terms/liberal-democracy">liberal democracy</a> – represents a 19th century political construct. When we dive beneath surface appearances, we find its institutions and decision-making processes are built around 19th century assumptions and organising principles about how the political and policy world should work, as well as how citizens should engage with it.</p>
<p>The key institutions responsible for creating policy and winning the public consensus needed to activate policy change – namely elected parliaments and political parties – are simply not designed to deal with the 21st century world.</p>
<p>The comparatively languid rhythms of 19th century time are reflected in the highly deliberative, drawn-out policymaking processes embedded in all parliaments. They are supposed to allow elected representatives enough time and scope to decide and legislate on policy in a deliberate, considered way.</p>
<p>Yet, as time has become increasingly super-sped by globalisation and the internet, these languid timeframes become increasingly out of whack with the 21st century world.</p>
<p>Liberal democracy also assumes elected representatives are the prime decision-makers on policy because they are best able and placed to understand the world around them. At the top of the policy and political hierarchy, they are in a privileged position to “see” further and decide which policies best shape the future.</p>
<p>Yet in today’s increasingly super-complex, hyper-networked world it has become nearly impossible for elected politicians and parliaments to anticipate and proactively shape what is going on. This is because in the internet-driven, networked world, knowledge and information are increasingly devolved outwards, not upwards.</p>
<h2>Old political boundaries are gone</h2>
<p>Further, our democratic system assumes that most political or economic events will be contained within the geographical boundaries of electorates, states or even countries. It assumes that national parliaments will always be the dominant realm which will decide what, in terms of policy, will have a major and ongoing impact on the citizens they represent.</p>
<p>Yet in an increasingly globalised, digitised world, more and more of the issues that affect us are escaping the control and authority of our parliaments.</p>
<p>These barriers to coherent policy action are compounded because the political party system is failing. Party systems provide for distinctive political programs usually organised around dualistic, left-right views of the world. They are offered to citizens in the expectation these will meet most, if not all, their political and policy aspirations.</p>
<p>Thus liberal democracy assumes that the party system is the best way to corral and organise the political voice of citizens to advance change. Yet it has become increasingly difficult for major parties to order the 21st century political world around these assumptions. </p>
<p>This is primarily because parties continue to try to project themselves around 19th century cleavages of class, geography and ideology. These divides have increasingly little relation to the complex, rapidly changing political voices and identities of a social media-driven, globalised citizenry.</p>
<p>Parties respond by continually altering their political and policy programs to chase the ever-changing political identities of the increasingly pervasive <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=123872974538534;res=IELLCC">“swinging voter”</a>. In the process, they undermine their core claim of representing consistent policy positions, as well as their key points of differentiation from rival parties.</p>
<p>The result is a growing distrust and disconnect from the political party system. Record numbers of citizens are <a href="https://theconversation.com/losing-the-faith-can-political-parties-recapture-the-public-imagination-2456">detaching themselves</a> from party affiliation.</p>
<p>It also means the political party system is increasingly incapable of organising broad support – otherwise known as a mandate – for major policy change. In short, even if politicians are able to come up with coherent policy, they find it harder and harder to <a href="https://theconversation.com/keating-reform-and-the-difficult-notion-of-political-capital-21315">generate a mandate</a> to act on it.</p>
<h2>All that is left for politicians is spin</h2>
<p>Faced with these growing challenges, politicians retreat into “territories” of action where they can still demonstrate authority as well as differentiate themselves from rival political leaders. In particular, they withdraw into <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-a-thought-the-election-could-be-more-about-personality-16757">personality-based politics</a> such as the way they dress, the values they hold and the way they communicate.</p>
<p>They also retreat into short-termism like the <a href="https://theconversation.com/calming-the-media-storm-20215">24-hour media cycle</a>. This is because the short-term is another “territory” they can still control as their ability to anticipate, let alone shape, anything that occurs beyond next month, or even next week, diminishes.</p>
<p>Shorn more and more of their policy action functions, the role of politicians is reduced to that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-prime-minister-we-want-stories-not-lessons-1297">storytellers</a> and commentators about events they have little capacity to control. This becomes the ultimate territory of political competition in 21st-century liberal democracy: who can construct and tell the most coherent, cut-through and clever narrative? </p>
<p>In other words, which politician has the most ability to “spin”?</p>
<p>No system, political, economic or social, lasts in perpetuity. Liberal democracy in its current form reached its use-by date in the early 1990s when the super-speed, super-scale and super-complexity of political, social and economic activity began to take hold. </p>
<p>Because liberal democratic systems are simply not designed to deal with this different world, our first challenge is to recognise the real reasons that force our politicians to rely more and more on spin rather than substance.</p>
<p>Our second is to think seriously and strategically about ways to renovate our democratic system so it can again develop policy outcomes that address the pressing challenges of the 21st century.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Triffitt presented on this topic at a recent workshop (<a href="http://www.cmpm2014.org/">http://www.cmpm2014.org/</a>) on political campaigning hosted by the University of Sydney.</span></em></p>Spin is widely seen as the scourge of contemporary politics. We rail at politicians who seem more intent on appearing to act, rather than coming up with and pushing through important policy decisions…Mark Triffitt, Lecturer, Public Policy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.