4 ms·

Maybe you're right. I wonder how much of it is non-stop political articles in our faces if we consume social media combined with the fact that we rely so little

Maybe you're right. I wonder how much of it is non-stop political articles in our faces if we consume social media combined with the fact that we rely so little on our neighbors and friends because we don't have to so understanding and sympathy skills have plummeted. On the latter point I wonder if lower human social contact and ease of escape online means lower tolerance towards differing opinions, or even things we deem wrong. It feels more and more like typed opinions are people shouting into the sky, and when disagreed with they get offended and lash out or they say "you're not who I was referring to," almost like that racist grandma stereotype.

komali2 8y ago
I'm not sure. I remember having the realization in ~2015 that you aren't allowed to be a moderate, in ANY discussion, on reddit (back when that was the only forum I used regularly). Be the discussion about racism, police brutality, or even whether or not sourdough should be steamed when baked. You are RED or you are BLUE. And if you're BLUE, you're FULL BLUE or you're a nazi. So like I'd come in talking about being a 3rd party voter and get shit on. Or about how there may be middle ground, on, say, gun control, and get downvoted to obvlivion. I don't know, polarization is powerful, I guess. I mean, it seems absurd to me that the 300 million people in this country are literally split black and white down the middle on all issues. Surely not. It defies logic that 150 million all perfectly support total access to guns while also opposing all forms of abortion while also hating all forms of welfare (this definitely can't be possible because shitloads of republican voters are on welfare). So, something's up. My guess is that it behooves those in power to keep the population divided? No idea.

4 ms·

Maybe you're right. I wonder how much of it is non-stop political articles in our faces if we consume social media combined with the fact that we rely so little

by castlecrasher2 8y ago

komali2 8y ago
I'm not sure. I remember having the realization in ~2015 that you aren't allowed to be a moderate, in ANY discussion, on reddit (back when that was the only forum I used regularly). Be the discussion about racism, police brutality, or even whether or not sourdough should be steamed when baked. You are RED or you are BLUE. And if you're BLUE, you're FULL BLUE or you're a nazi. So like I'd come in talking about being a 3rd party voter and get shit on. Or about how there may be middle ground, on, say, gun control, and get downvoted to obvlivion. I don't know, polarization is powerful, I guess. I mean, it seems absurd to me that the 300 million people in this country are literally split black and white down the middle on all issues. Surely not. It defies logic that 150 million all perfectly support total access to guns while also opposing all forms of abortion while also hating all forms of welfare (this definitely can't be possible because shitloads of republican voters are on welfare). So, something's up. My guess is that it behooves those in power to keep the population divided? No idea.