One of the many reasons I follow a diverse amount of ideas on here.

One of the many reasons I follow a diverse amount of ideas on here. I abhor echo chambers and gladly walk into posts with ideas I don't necessarily agree with. I do this to have the discussion. However, it seems most people are more interested in their like minds. They're interested in +1s and shares, "atta boys" or the feeling of acceptance they get from echoing their echo chambers.

I think the internet, especially social media, has made it easier for people to hide behind ideological walls so they never have to be confronted with different ideas. And this is bad. It weakens the mind, detracts from honest debate and prevents progress.

Originally shared by Bodhipaksa

This is a must-read article: "Sharing links that mock a caricature of the Other Side isn’t signaling that we’re somehow more informed. It signals that we’d rather be smug assholes than consider alternative views. It signals that we’d much rather show our friends that we’re like them, than try to understand those who are not."
https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063#.w4sjat5h4

Comments

David Gross said…
I have to read later.
I agree that this is true with a lot of people.
A good calm exchange of ideas; even if I completely disagree is acceptable and just as I readily admit to something I don't know - I have no problem changing my position on a subject if enlightened factual information is presented in a thoughtful fashion.
Irreverent Monk said…
I convinced an antivax mom with autistic child who was convinced the child turned autistic upon vaccination, to be pro-vaccination. By sharing information repeatedly.
Melina M said…
I actually go out of my way to follow people who write well thought-out posts that I disagree with.  That's often the best way to get high quality information that could potentially change your mind on a controversial issue (or conversely, change the mind of the other person).

Unfortunately, there often is a large disparity in the amount of research and information on each side of certain issues.  For example, I've started staying out of any discussions where one side is using the Bible (or any other religious text) as supporting evidence because the people who rely on that usually view the positions as "faith vs. science" instead of "faith vs. evidence" or "faith vs. reality".  And there are some people, like the flat-earthers or the birthers, who simply will not be convinced of the truth regardless of evidence.
Lorne Thomas said…
Google+ started out as a pretty good idea, then came circles, then communities, now thanks to the very things you point out the place is a ghost town of high school cliques and the most ridiculous characters around. I am amazed that every one seems to have an apple box to stand on, where for the love of all things good do they get them and when their mom's told them that they were special why did they believe her?

Cheers.
Shawn McClure said…
LOL, when I first saw this and started reading through the article, I thought "the Other Side" was referring to life after death and/or the "supernatural realm".
Jason ON said…
Well, it is a ghost town. ;)

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