This very interesting article from last Thursday's Washington Post explores the biological differences between the way liberals and conservatives think. Apparently, tests show that they are wired with opposing personalities, and hence, accept different realities. Makes sense to me. Then there is the following sentences from the article:
Exactly! That sentiment is exactly in line with what my blog is about. In my opinion, the heightened polarization of America has less to do with politics itself and more to do with the parochial scope in which people view politics. This narrow mindedness is largely due to ICT's effect on the way people access news.
Today, RSS feeds and Google alerts have removed the diversity of ideas from peoples day. For example, people no longer flip through the newspaper to see op-eds written by columnists of opposing views. A liberal may set his or her alerts to see the new Thomas Friedman piece, while a conservative may get one about the latest Charles Krauthammer op-ed. Depending on which article you read, President Obama is either Israel's greatest friend or her greatest foe. The point is, due to ICT, people only see one slanted side of any issue.
Additionally, the proliferation of cable news has led to very different channels of thought (pun intended). For example, a conservative is more prone to watch Fox News whereas a liberal may change the channel to MSNBC. Same goes for blogs, Huffington Post exists in opposition to the Drudge Report.
Even though ICT has given us access to a worlds worth of knowledge, people tend to seek what they already know. Increasingly, news just reenforces previously held views. In other words, we used to interpret the same news differently, but now, due to the evolution of ICT, we simply no longer see the same news.
"We have access to the same news but we no longer consume the same news. The biological differences are exacerbated by the fact that we only read what we want. RSS, Google Alerts, blogs, etc."
Exactly! That sentiment is exactly in line with what my blog is about. In my opinion, the heightened polarization of America has less to do with politics itself and more to do with the parochial scope in which people view politics. This narrow mindedness is largely due to ICT's effect on the way people access news.
Additionally, the proliferation of cable news has led to very different channels of thought (pun intended). For example, a conservative is more prone to watch Fox News whereas a liberal may change the channel to MSNBC. Same goes for blogs, Huffington Post exists in opposition to the Drudge Report.
Even though ICT has given us access to a worlds worth of knowledge, people tend to seek what they already know. Increasingly, news just reenforces previously held views. In other words, we used to interpret the same news differently, but now, due to the evolution of ICT, we simply no longer see the same news.
No comments:
Post a Comment