Whatever your opinion is.
There is a lot more evidence for it than ever before.
There is good money to be made amplifying our unspoken desires.
You’re last partner sucked
Want to learn a list of reasons your partner was definitely a narcissist, you’re a heroine that did everything right and that actually all men are just arseholes that can’t be trusted?
There’s a podcast for that.
You’re feeling right wing
Want a list of reasons why conservatism is the patriotic bedrock that keeps society together and that Donald Trump is the hero who will save you from baby eating immigrants?
There’s a Youtube for that.
You’re a young horny lonely single male
Want the promise of massive wealth, hot babes at your beckoning, and the deep understanding that success is your birthright?
There’s Andrew Tate for that.
Confirmation bias spiral
If you hear or read something that enforces a prior belief, it spikes your dopamine.
It’s easy to dive down a content worm-hole that knows us better than we know ourselves.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.
Our quiet wishes are no longer a hunch but an absolute fact in our minds. We have found overwhelming evidence that we are definitely right.
Our unconventional desires get pushed into more extreme ideologies.
Whilst our conviction becomes stronger, those who oppose our ideology become seen as the enemy.
Our empathy for other opinions and other people vanishes, to be replaced with hate.
The opposition experiences the same amplification process
Both sides see the opposition becoming increasingly radical, further validating the urgency of their own radical belief.
We don’t notice our slide or realize the opposition experiencing the same thing. We feel increasingly right as they appear increasingly idiotic.
In the world of ever more content with increasingly specific niches, there is increasing opportunity to be divided.
The bedrock of Democracy
Human progress was built on trusting each other and the wisdom of the crowd. Democracies worked on the fundamental belief that all parties are acting for our shared interests.
We might not share the same strategy or opinions but we know that opposite parties fundamentally want us to be safe and free.
Fragility of Democracy
If a political party believes that the other party will use their power to lock them up or harm them, democracy can crumble.
You need to form a dictatorship for your own safety and lock up the other party before you are locked up.
We forget that democracy is a mostly new thing.
We’ve taken it for granted without realising how unstable and difficult it is to maintain. Dictatorships are worse on every level, but they define most of human history because it is hard to trust others with power.
The happiest societies trust the governments to work for them. But when that breaks down it’s better to have a strong leader who maintains order with questionable ethics than to have constant upheaval.
Tribalism and identity
The growing divide in society is not just the effect of social media, Trump, and radical content creators.
It is because of our inherent nature for Tribalism and our inability to see truth if the truth means we are wrong.
Humans do not want to question their hunches but to confirm them. This is seen in our:
Our cognitive bias to think we are right
(Article: Illusion of certainty)Our rampant inability to understand data
(Article: Why everyone is wrong)Our natural need to look down on others
(Article: Snobishness and why your superiority complex is the best)
This becomes heated because the untamed mind defends itself with anger:
We don’t respond to the world not behaving how we want it to, anger is often the result of expectations
(Article: Anger = entitlement to what we can not have)When we feel threatened by insecurity instead of introspecting we shout louder
(Insecurity screams, confidence whispers)We naturally justify our own actions and judge others - most evil acts are not knowingly or intentionally evil
(Article: 7 types of lazy thinking)
Can we do anything?
What interests us is what amplifies our opinions or makes us angry. Content that spikes emotions attracts interest.
Division then is the natural conclusion of content generated to interest us.
A complex answer of why both sides are right and that there are a lot of moving factors is less interesting than a confident and simple opinion.
Start with ourselves
Rather than obsessing over why everyone else in the world is an idiot, it’s better to start with ourselves.
Strap the oxygen mask to yourself first if you will.
We should intentionally spend more time looking at why we are wrong than why others are wrong.
You might not be able to convince other people to challenge themselves but at least do it for yourself.
Seek to learn
Instead of judging others look to learn from them.
Empathising with other peoples perspectives to see why they got there rather than assuming it is because they are muderous nut jobs.
“Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to incompetence”
Ironically when people feel listened to they are much more likely to consider your own ideas.
Be trustable
If nothing else the biggest problem is that people feel that if you don’t share their opinion, then you condemn them.
If someone thinks you are out to get them we know democracy breaks down, but so does reasonable communication.
When people feel they can trust others they in turn are more likely to be trustable.
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
― Ernest Hemingway
Interesting -
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https://revolver.news/2023/10/ron-paul-hamas-was-created-by-israel-and-the-us-to-counteract-yasser-arafat/
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Never heard this before, but if it’s true -TALK ABOUT UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES!!!
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So the subtitle would be: "When the Divide and Conquer Play Goes Bad". I think that all (our?) government(s) might be able to view this as an object lesson, a premonition of sorts....
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NoW,
let's think about what can go wrong with this plan....
Abortion - No Abortion
White Supremacy - Black Power
George Floyd - ANTIFA - Defund the Police
LGBTQ-TRANS-STUPOR - Bible
Thumper
"Would you rather have a live son or a dead daughter?"
Child sex trafficking - ice cream and laptops
No penalty for crime
No serious penalty for assaults
Hush, hush - Cross dressers raping in female prisons, let's not talk about that!
They IDENTIFY AS FEMALE!
Import fentanyl (and Lord knows what else, across open borders)
Open Border to mix the races (and cultural norms) up completely - SHUT UP
YOU RACIST!
And don’t forget…
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Those dirty anti-VAXers - FOLLOW THE SCIENCE STUPID!!!!!
AND OMG - TRUMP SUPPORTERS!!!!!!
What did Hill call them? DEPLORABLES?
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And what have you got?
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Just look at the Middle East…
Hate, Chaos, Bloodlust, and Barbarism