RE: Algorithms, Outrage, and a Death: America’s Political Rot
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I get exactly the same feeling when scrolling through Twitter. It's not limited to political topics—even with everyday, close-to-home issues—negative and inflammatory posts rack up tons of likes and spread like wildfire. And then, for each theme, the pro and con sides engage in endless battles. They don't listen to each other at all; they just vent what they want to say.
Every topic has its complexities stripped away and simplified, crafted to hit people's emotions head-on. And not in a way that evokes positive feelings, but rather to stir up anger and hatred... Is it the inflammatory news and content that's to blame, or have we become people who can only react to "easy-to-understand" things...? (Though, to be honest, this binary choice itself is flawed.)
At the very least, I want my sons to learn to see things from multiple perspectives, so I've banned short videos for them, and on weekends, we watch movies from various genres together and discuss them.
I've written a lot here, but I truly think your intuition is spot on.
I'm with you — I want to expose my kids to many different perspectives and teach them to to think about things instead of jumping to just one position; asking why these perspectives are so different, for instance, and what that difference can tell us. Critical thinking is a very important skill.