Well I apologize for the effects of the discussion, but you’re also right.
I come from a conservative white Catholic family, and a big part of getting my head right as an adult has been realizing that the negativity-first approach to life isn’t the only way to live, isn’t healthy, and that it’s OK for me to reject it. And I’m close with my family and see them all the time, so it’s unfortunate that even though they are nice to me and we have good times, they can just be a fucking downer to be around.
And you’re spot on about the confidence stuff, both in how the wrong people have it, and in how it works so well on so many people. And I’m 100% convinced it influences how strongly echo chambers and confirmation bias are with them. Their combination of misplaced confidence despite the prideful ignorance, and their default negative stance on anything that’s different or “other” just leads to them rejecting different ideas before even considering them. After all, anybody who doesn’t agree with all the truths they know is clearly an idiot and should be ignored, right?
Unfortunately my negative-first approach is largely medical and so far no treatment has worked for more than a few weeks, but I remain hopeful.
How do we break up these echo chambers then? They’re no good for anybody and I haven’t met a single person that had all the answers.
I gotta admit I have some conservative values that I keep, like sincerely thinking that there should be very little regulation on guns and actively support restructuring of the atf.
That said, since only the most extreme viewpoints get amplified, until the barriers and enclaves of communication come down, until the rational is amplified over the extreme, we are going to have to deal with the fact that WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH NOW is probably the most cooperative we are going to be as a nation for a very VERY long time, and in 20 years we are going to look back at the shit cauldron of online discourse 2015-preset the same wistful nostalgia Millennials think of the 90s for economic growth.
Well I apologize for the effects of the discussion, but you’re also right.
I come from a conservative white Catholic family, and a big part of getting my head right as an adult has been realizing that the negativity-first approach to life isn’t the only way to live, isn’t healthy, and that it’s OK for me to reject it. And I’m close with my family and see them all the time, so it’s unfortunate that even though they are nice to me and we have good times, they can just be a fucking downer to be around.
And you’re spot on about the confidence stuff, both in how the wrong people have it, and in how it works so well on so many people. And I’m 100% convinced it influences how strongly echo chambers and confirmation bias are with them. Their combination of misplaced confidence despite the prideful ignorance, and their default negative stance on anything that’s different or “other” just leads to them rejecting different ideas before even considering them. After all, anybody who doesn’t agree with all the truths they know is clearly an idiot and should be ignored, right?
Shared commiserations fellow recovering Catholic.
Unfortunately my negative-first approach is largely medical and so far no treatment has worked for more than a few weeks, but I remain hopeful.
How do we break up these echo chambers then? They’re no good for anybody and I haven’t met a single person that had all the answers.
I gotta admit I have some conservative values that I keep, like sincerely thinking that there should be very little regulation on guns and actively support restructuring of the atf.
That said, since only the most extreme viewpoints get amplified, until the barriers and enclaves of communication come down, until the rational is amplified over the extreme, we are going to have to deal with the fact that WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH NOW is probably the most cooperative we are going to be as a nation for a very VERY long time, and in 20 years we are going to look back at the shit cauldron of online discourse 2015-preset the same wistful nostalgia Millennials think of the 90s for economic growth.