New Frontiers

Philosophy of Fiction Fictional storytelling is an important and pervasive part of how human cultures transmit knowledge and values across generations. But there are many philosophical questions that arise from this human act of fiction-making. For instance, what does it mean for a work of fiction — that is, a made-up story — to say something about what s true? Hannah H. Kim, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona, thinks that by examining questions like this, it might help us navigate our current media landscape rife with misinformation, bots, and propaganda. And in so doing, also teach us something about what it means to live a good life. Social Media & Democracy Social media has played an increasingly pivotal role in shaping political life, and social scientists are working to better understand its impacts. Yotam Shmargad, a computational social scientist at the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy, is at the forefront of this burgeoning new research field. He examines ways in which social media technology is skewing our political realities, but notes that this might be a temporary blip in the history of democracy. On the Origin of COVID Michael Worobey is an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and one of the world's leading researchers into the genomic origins of pandemics. His work thrust him into the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has embroiled him in the politicized debate over that virus' origin. Did COVID-19 come from a Wuhan lab leak, or did it have a zoonotic source in the Wuhan wet markets? Although Worobey's research has pointed definitively toward a market origin, public opinion on the topic has been slow to catch on.