Sean Carroll

But that doesn't mean, therefore, we don't need an objective mainstream media. We need it more than ever. We need— both objectivity and competence and effectiveness, right?

But that doesn't mean, therefore, we don't need an objective mainstream media. We need it more than ever. We need— both objectivity and competence and effectiveness, right?

I completely agree that the Israel and Gaza conflict, it's not the only example, but is an example of something where there are certain sort of standards and guardrails and expectations within what we think of as the objective mainstream media that prevents a lot of stories from being told. That's a problem. That's something that you should work to try to fix. We should work to try to fix.

I completely agree that the Israel and Gaza conflict, it's not the only example, but is an example of something where there are certain sort of standards and guardrails and expectations within what we think of as the objective mainstream media that prevents a lot of stories from being told. That's a problem. That's something that you should work to try to fix. We should work to try to fix.

But it's not going to be solved by saying, forget about objectivity in media. Let's just have individual different media outlets that tell us what we want to hear, right? That is not actually going to solve anybody's problems. Those things should exist. That's fine. Can exist. But we also need something that is common to everybody.

But it's not going to be solved by saying, forget about objectivity in media. Let's just have individual different media outlets that tell us what we want to hear, right? That is not actually going to solve anybody's problems. Those things should exist. That's fine. Can exist. But we also need something that is common to everybody.

One of the huge problems in what is going on in the United States right now is that not only are really terrible things happening at the upper level of governments, but half of the country has no idea that these terrible things are happening because they're not told by their media outlets. And that is a problem. Anonymous says, It's not so much a matter of easier or harder.

One of the huge problems in what is going on in the United States right now is that not only are really terrible things happening at the upper level of governments, but half of the country has no idea that these terrible things are happening because they're not told by their media outlets. And that is a problem. Anonymous says, It's not so much a matter of easier or harder.

There's challenges in both cases. In both cases, it's super important to know your audience, right? I mean, my books, my popular books are generally pitched at a slightly higher level than other people's popular books because I'm not, you know, I'm not really, I would like to sell, I have to say this very carefully, I would like to be the best seller of the world.

There's challenges in both cases. In both cases, it's super important to know your audience, right? I mean, my books, my popular books are generally pitched at a slightly higher level than other people's popular books because I'm not, you know, I'm not really, I would like to sell, I have to say this very carefully, I would like to be the best seller of the world.

I would like to sell a billion copies of my books, but I am not optimizing to do that. I am not writing a book specifically because I think it will sell the most copies. I want to write the book I want to write, and then I want people to buy it, okay? Those are two separate things.

I would like to sell a billion copies of my books, but I am not optimizing to do that. I am not writing a book specifically because I think it will sell the most copies. I want to write the book I want to write, and then I want people to buy it, okay? Those are two separate things.

I want to write the book that is something that I can be proud of, and people who want what I have to offer will get something out of it, okay? And that's a variety of things. That might be textbooks, that might be popular books, that might be kind of in-between books like The Biggest Ideas. In terms of the challenges, you know, for textbooks, textbooks are very functional, right?

I want to write the book that is something that I can be proud of, and people who want what I have to offer will get something out of it, okay? And that's a variety of things. That might be textbooks, that might be popular books, that might be kind of in-between books like The Biggest Ideas. In terms of the challenges, you know, for textbooks, textbooks are very functional, right?

They're very purposeful. It's not simply a matter of pleasure and distraction that you read them. You want to learn a skill from the textbook. I think that one of the reasons why my general relativity book has become relatively popular is because there's a lot of general relativity books on the market.

They're very purposeful. It's not simply a matter of pleasure and distraction that you read them. You want to learn a skill from the textbook. I think that one of the reasons why my general relativity book has become relatively popular is because there's a lot of general relativity books on the market.

many of them—I'm trying to say this very politely—they're not meant to teach people general relativity, or at least they're not trying as hard as they could to teach people general relativity. They're trying to get it right, to sort of put forward some body of knowledge that the author thinks is important.

many of them—I'm trying to say this very politely—they're not meant to teach people general relativity, or at least they're not trying as hard as they could to teach people general relativity. They're trying to get it right, to sort of put forward some body of knowledge that the author thinks is important.

But when you write a textbook, you have to take into account who's reading it, where they're coming from, what they already know, etc., etc. And there might be things that you think are really cool, but putting them in your textbook isn't actually helpful to the audience members. So optimizing for actually teaching the subject is the very simple strategy that I had in mind.

But when you write a textbook, you have to take into account who's reading it, where they're coming from, what they already know, etc., etc. And there might be things that you think are really cool, but putting them in your textbook isn't actually helpful to the audience members. So optimizing for actually teaching the subject is the very simple strategy that I had in mind.