Why Scholars Should Take Their Show On the Road

Key points

We typically prefer taking mental shortcuts when processing information.

Our current media environment privileges pithy soundbites that might seem at odds with scholarly perspectives.

Academics and researchers should commit to making their work easily digestible and accessible to the public.

Including informed voices in public spaces can reduce our (default) reliance on the loudest voices.

Research across diverse domains—from economic decision-making to social stereotyping—has shown that human beings are “ cognitive misers .” In other words, our default mode for processing information favors bite-sized chunks. Leaving aside individual variability and motivational overrides, we prefer shortcuts and snap judgments over long, winding paths and deliberative thinking.

How