r e b m a h C o h c E <----------------------------> E c h o C h a m b e r s

 


I foolishly spent part of the day in an echo chamber.  You know the type of place:  everybody has the same opinion, though each claims to be a Truly Independent Thinker.  They just all happen to agree.  What a co-inky-dink!

In this case, I was sucked in by the topic article--an article predicated on the very climate theory that every member of the discussion group knew was false, no matter what those mere scientists thought.  The article was about the dangers presented by climate change, and asked what we can do about it.  Silly me, I came there expecting a discussion of the article's point.

Oops.  

Every comment was about how climate change is phony, disproven, blah blah blah.  The article was ignored. I was informed that peer review is worthless.  That scientific consensus was worthless.   That any climatologists who supported the climate change theory were "pseudo-scientists."  That anybody who didn't agree with the leitmotif of the group was closed-minded.

In short--a typical echo chamber.  I should have known better!!


But it made me reflect on some of the topics that, these days, almost always result in either an echo chamber or a flame war.  The election.  Climate change.  Q-Anon.  The "mainstream media is all on one side" stuff.  The Joe Biden is Demented stuff.  And so many more, all really, really stupid.  But I still fall for it sometimes!

Do you find yourself sucked into this stuff?  Is there a secret craving for a really big battle?  What drives us into these arguments with people who cannot hear anything?  And does it mean we're as silly as they are?

Tell us your echo chamber story!


AlexTheKay



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It

Image
Here’s what Russia’s 2020 disinformation operations look like, according to two experts on social media and propaganda. By   DARREN LINVILL   &   PATRICK WARREN Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t  “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,”  as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy. Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously. MORE: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/ Posted by Jamie B.
Read more

The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term

Image
The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term   (Photo: Photos: Getty Images) Americans will almost certainly go to bed on Nov. 3 without knowing who won the presidential election. Since millions of people will vote by mail, constraints on time and resources will slow ballot counting into potentially a weeks-long process. Voting patterns suggest it’s likely that President  Donald Trump  could end Election Day in the lead in certain key states, only to be overtaken by Democratic opponent  Joe Biden  when more votes are tallied.  This could create a nightmare scenario during the three months stretching from Election Day to the Jan. 20 inauguration: a battle on the state and congressional level over who is the legitimate winner. This could include Congress reconvening on Jan. 6, presided over by Vice President  Mike Pence , with no consensus over its potential role in choosing the next president. This is arguably the most likely of th
Read more

Philosophical Question #14 – Lifestyle Choices

Image
Here is an interesting question in my list of philosophical questions: 1.) Should governments have penalties for those who live unhealthy lifestyles? A list of unhealthy lifestyles would include things like smoking, drinking, illegal drugs, prostitution, and other “vice” type activities. I guess the “government penalties” would be referring to monetary punishments, withholding medical treatments (insurance companies would love that), possibly imposing/regulating very high (exorbitant) prices on things considered unhealthy in order to cut down on their use, and other possibilities. 2.) Or, would you say that living an unhealthy lifestyle, likely resulting in a LOT of eventual personal pain and suffering, should be punishment enough for unhealthy lifestyles? When people make bad choices in life, often in their youth where ignorance and immediate gratification takes them over,  3.) Should a society be obligated to help "fix" them, by way of tax money?   Is that part of
Read more