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Misinformation is nothing new and just as the amount of misinformation has increased, the amount of information has increased too. I would bet that the average
by Hermel 6y ago
Misinformation is nothing new and just as the amount of misinformation has increased, the amount of information has increased too. I would bet that the average citizen is better informed overall today than say 50 years ago.
- SketchySeaBeast 6y agoPossibly. But there's been a huge signal boost for the extreme views. 50 years ago you couldn't find out about the corona protests and half an hour later be reading website after website after website about how 5G causes a virus.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoYou couldn't read a website, so you'd go down to the cult's headquarters to learn about it in person. It was a huge social problem in the 70s!
- SketchySeaBeast 6y agoWhich, ironically, would have probably kept a large portion of the rural populace and the smaller urban centers without a HQ immune to it.
- kadoban 6y agoThat's still a much larger barrier to entry though. Getting someone to click a link is much easier than getting them to visit you in person at a particular place and time.
- kevin_thibedeau 6y agoThe misinformed weren't winning elections 50 years ago.
- gammarator 6y agoRichard J. Hofstadter would like a word.
- pdonis 6y agoCitation needed.
- deegles 6y agoProbably, but the core issue (at least in the US) is that a large fraction of informed citizens have moved to coastal cities, leaving the less informed citizens with more voting power. This means that misinformed citizens are gaining more influence over time, not less.
- WalterBright 6y ago> but the core issue (at least in the US) is that a large fraction of informed citizens have moved to coastal cities, leaving the less informed citizens with more voting power Every person imagines they are better informed than those they disagree with, especially when it comes to politics. There are exceptions to this rule. For example, I am better informed than those who disagree with me.
- pdonis 6y ago> the core issue (at least in the US) is that a large fraction of informed citizens have moved to coastal cities No, a large fraction of citizens who think they are better informed have moved to coastal cities. Most of them are mistaken. If they are so well informed, why are the coastal cities they live in the places with the highest per capita crime rates and the highest cost of living?