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> The underlying problem in the US is we've stopped talking to each other. Yes, but this is not just in the US, unfortunately. I have relatives in many places
by xnu 10y ago
> The underlying problem in the US is we've stopped talking to each other.
Yes, but this is not just in the US, unfortunately. I have relatives in many places of the world, and things are escalating everywhere.
I blame social media for that.
People can't look at each other in the eye anymore, so they forget what it is like to feel empathy. They congregate around small online bubbles, and a lot of people is almost PTSD-anxious about talking to people of other bubbles. So they resort to humiliation and other tactics. When they try to talk the same way IRL, they get shunned, which makes them feel victimized and justified in their hate. Now we're seeing real politicians espousing the crazy ideas we'd only see in comment sections ten years ago.
It's a downward spiral, unfortunately.
- forgottenpass 10y agoPeople can't look at each other in the eye anymore, so they forget what it is like to feel empathy. I hear a line of reasoning like this quite often and I have yet to understand it. I simply don't accept that empathy is a necessary precondition to productive conversation. I can have a productive disagreement with someone that I don't empathize with. I can have a productive disagreement with someone I loathe and can barely force myself to maintain eye contact. It's called being an adult.