What on earth is going on with American politics? Fake news? Eric Merkley demystifies our instincts to develop bias, how they are targeted by politics, and how to overcome them to make our political discourse more productive, civil and factual.

Eric Merkley is a Ph.D. candidate at UBC’s Department of Political Science and a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholar. His research focuses on how citizens make judgments on public policy in the context of limited information and motivation. His recent ongoing projects explore why American voters polarized on climate change, and more broadly on the conditions under which public preferences may diverge from expert opinion, such as on free trade, and genetically modified foods. Eric has provided expert commentary on U.S. elections, polling and public opinion, and campaign strategy for outlets such as the CBC, Breakfast Television, Roundhouse Radio, and News 1130. He has also recently worked as a Research Associate at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, specializing in agriculture policy. Eric holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and Social Statistics from McGill University.

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The BC Humanist Association was formed in 1984 and we have a regular attendance of over 30 people at our Sunday meetings.

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