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You are not alone. I have witnessed similar changes in people older than me. I have also been wondering how to prevent that.

bonestamp2 8y ago
It's not surprising. That generation grew up as the conventions in media itself were being developed. Those are my parents and they have a much different view and trust in media than my generation, and my kids have even less trust in media. My dad flipped. My mom hasn't (yet) but I think that's because she's overly skeptical of everything. The part I fear most is that healthy dose of skepticism that most people used to have is being turned against those people. If you're not with us, you're against us. Nope, that's a false dichotomy. My father doesn't know what a false dichotomy is. That wasn't something he was taught in grade school or business school. That is something I was taught. I think the best thing we can do is not argue with the older generation about the subject matter itself, but simply arm them with the tools to find flawed arguments in the subject matter. If you're reading this, and you're not familiar with the concept of logical fallacies, that's a good place to start because fake news is almost always built on logical fallacies that are easy to disassemble once you can spot them: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/ https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-kno... Once everyone has the tools to debate effectively, then we can have civilized discussions about the actual subject matter itself.
- JKCalhoun 8y ago
  > The part I fear most is that healthy dose of skepticism that most people used to have is being turned against those people. That is my fear as well. "Believe nothing," would be the wrong takeaway from all this, but I'm afraid a cynical population of our youth might very well be following that course. Be skeptical of skepticism too I tell my daughters.
  - michaelchisari 8y ago
    The New Sincerity and Meta-Modernist trends offer a refuge of sorts. The naiveté of modernism (and disastrous effects of grand narratives in the 20th century) led to post-modern deconstruction and questioning of what they considered truths which were too easily accepted. Unfortunately, that led to cynicism, "analysis paralysis" and other forms of intellectual and (for lack of a better word) spiritual exhaustion. It's hard to believe in anything that, when you really break it down and analyze it is wrong in so many ways. And that applies to virtually everything, in all honesty. There are no perfect answers. It's important, though, to believe in something. You're right that we are seeing that cynicism turned from apathy to destruction and hate. I think a great case study in how to ask questions while still believing in building something positive is the show, The Good Place. The specific episode, "Jeremy Bearimy" deals with how you pick up the pieces from realizing that nothing matters, everything is a mess and humanity is deeply flawed.
  - bsder 8y ago
    I think that "Believe extremely skeptical of anything you are forwarded--especially if it is virally interesting" is probably closer to actionable.
    - mcculley 8y ago
      This is close to the point I was trying to make about memetics and evolutionary psychology: "Is this post triggering in me some irrational behavior to which humans are commonly susceptible?"

bonestamp2 8y ago

It's not surprising. That generation grew up as the conventions in media itself were being developed. Those are my parents and they have a much different view and trust in media than my generation, and my kids have even less trust in media. My dad flipped. My mom hasn't (yet) but I think that's because she's overly skeptical of everything. The part I fear most is that healthy dose of skepticism that most people used to have is being turned against those people. If you're not with us, you're against us. Nope, that's a false dichotomy. My father doesn't know what a false dichotomy is. That wasn't something he was taught in grade school or business school. That is something I was taught. I think the best thing we can do is not argue with the older generation about the subject matter itself, but simply arm them with the tools to find flawed arguments in the subject matter. If you're reading this, and you're not familiar with the concept of logical fallacies, that's a good place to start because fake news is almost always built on logical fallacies that are easy to disassemble once you can spot them: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/ https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-kno... Once everyone has the tools to debate effectively, then we can have civilized discussions about the actual subject matter itself.

JKCalhoun 8y ago
> The part I fear most is that healthy dose of skepticism that most people used to have is being turned against those people. That is my fear as well. "Believe nothing," would be the wrong takeaway from all this, but I'm afraid a cynical population of our youth might very well be following that course. Be skeptical of skepticism too I tell my daughters.
- michaelchisari 8y ago
  The New Sincerity and Meta-Modernist trends offer a refuge of sorts. The naiveté of modernism (and disastrous effects of grand narratives in the 20th century) led to post-modern deconstruction and questioning of what they considered truths which were too easily accepted. Unfortunately, that led to cynicism, "analysis paralysis" and other forms of intellectual and (for lack of a better word) spiritual exhaustion. It's hard to believe in anything that, when you really break it down and analyze it is wrong in so many ways. And that applies to virtually everything, in all honesty. There are no perfect answers. It's important, though, to believe in something. You're right that we are seeing that cynicism turned from apathy to destruction and hate. I think a great case study in how to ask questions while still believing in building something positive is the show, The Good Place. The specific episode, "Jeremy Bearimy" deals with how you pick up the pieces from realizing that nothing matters, everything is a mess and humanity is deeply flawed.
- bsder 8y ago
  I think that "Believe extremely skeptical of anything you are forwarded--especially if it is virally interesting" is probably closer to actionable.
  - mcculley 8y ago
    This is close to the point I was trying to make about memetics and evolutionary psychology: "Is this post triggering in me some irrational behavior to which humans are commonly susceptible?"