Australians love a fiery contest, whether on the sporting field or in the corridors of Canberra. Which is why this week’s spat between Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly, which played… Read more »
The coronavirus disease is now a pandemic. You might feel like the world is slipping into an abyss, but every one of us can do something to keep those around us… Read more »
Ethan Porter was about to write the most difficult sentence of his PhD program. He opened his laptop. Looking at the keyboard he reflected on the “nightmare stories” he’d heard… Read more »
The article below was originally published by The Conversation and is based on my research in the journal Environmental Communication. Will J Grant, Australian National University In an ideal world,… Read more »
*** Update – Ecker et al (2019) has published compelling new information showing that a Q&A format is actually quite effective in getting people to update their false beliefs. In… Read more »
Have you ever come across someone who simply refuses to acknowledge facts when they don’t suit their argument? Chances are if you’ve debated matters of politics, religion or science, even… Read more »
A few weeks ago we had a look at whether humour could be used to make arguments more persuasive. How timely then that research just published has investigated whether anger… Read more »
Governments can be the best communicators and the worst communicators. Sometimes they produce award winning campaigns that save millions of lives, yet at the same time they often produce baffling… Read more »
We’ve all seen times when humour has worked to change someone’s mind. A salesperson might have disarmed you with a joke and five minutes later you’re reaching for your credit… Read more »
Statistics can be scary. But a good understanding of stats is needed to understand relationships, impacts and effectiveness. Most people would probably prefer to pull their own teeth out than… Read more »