Nem on 06 December 2016
| Augen said: The challenge I see, even here reading this thread, is people like the idea that they have a firm grasp on reality and how the world works. It is hard to be introspective, to admit you may be wrong or that another view has more merit. We treat this as a form of weakness. I see this in discourse all the time, the instinct to attack the other, to divide among ideological tribes and "defeat" opposing view points. Objectivity is very difficult to pull off, so I see some people creating false equivalence in desire to appear neutral. Sometimes one side is wrong on an issue, but we put more stock in feelings and worldviews than we do on facts or evidence. I'm not going to say I'm above this. I try to understand, as best as I can, why I have certain inset bias through experiences in my life. See complexity of an issue and weigh various views. The critical point is trying to avoid the mentality that being right or "winning" is the goal. The goal is to expand knowledge base and gain a more complete picture on issues. Unfortunately, with what I see on social media outlets, I can say this entrenchment of ideas seems to be deepening to the point that we simply live in different realities making even basic discussion a challenge. |
Keeping an open mind is very good in order to search knowledge. But if you are indeed trying to understand reality, you know that there are inescapable facts.
This reminds me of a recent debate about religion. Open-mindedness is what you use when trying to understand someone, but if their view isn't validated, you can't just keep this neutral state like nothing happened. You have to draw conclusions. There is no middle ground for everything.
I'm not sure wich media you refer to, but the comedy news shows are very much in-the ball. More than the actual information networks.
