As the US grapples with the implications of a post-Roe v. Wade country, I thought I would rerun my best of list for my newsletters. Each one of these tools may be useful in conversations. Here’s my all time favorite. One of the truths of our human condition is that the world is complicated. Another truth is that we humans want to simplify it. We want there to be right and wrong, black and white. Our media, and especially social media, feed into our tendency of duality. In fact, social media amplifies our tendency to simplify things. Those are the images or tweets or stories that go viral.
What specifically would I learn? How we each are biased by our news silo? What is missing from both? I know that when I am part of something public, the news reports on it are never quite perfect or always seem to have missed something I knew from being there in person, in truth. But still, believing deliberate lies and being used like that is pathetic. I suppose I could ask "How am I also being 'used' by others, manipulated, ...and do I sometimes want or need to be?"
How does this apply to the folks driving by in their trucks who seem to hate Democrats, and who walk by agreeing with our Uncle Sam telling them to VOTE, ... and walk away in disgust when they hear it is the Democrats having an Open House? They are so dogmatic they would not even agree to talk, and surely cannot read an article or agree it isn't simple! I did do that sort of thing with my students in Bioethics, .... and educated colleagues. But deliberate ignorance finds these people voting against their own interests, and forgive me, but I find myself wishing they would die of ignorance and science denial. I know several people whose old dogmatic aunts who were Trumpers, who died of COVID since they took his words/ lies to heart and thought it was a hoax. I think we should arrest folks who endanger others, or somehow stomp out media coverage and parroting of lies. If Trump and several of Trump world's leaders would be arrested, publicly, bravely, that might set a better example. Aristotle said that SOME people cannot be reasoned with, but just need PUNISHMENT!
What specifically would I learn? How we each are biased by our news silo? What is missing from both? I know that when I am part of something public, the news reports on it are never quite perfect or always seem to have missed something I knew from being there in person, in truth. But still, believing deliberate lies and being used like that is pathetic. I suppose I could ask "How am I also being 'used' by others, manipulated, ...and do I sometimes want or need to be?"
How does this apply to the folks driving by in their trucks who seem to hate Democrats, and who walk by agreeing with our Uncle Sam telling them to VOTE, ... and walk away in disgust when they hear it is the Democrats having an Open House? They are so dogmatic they would not even agree to talk, and surely cannot read an article or agree it isn't simple! I did do that sort of thing with my students in Bioethics, .... and educated colleagues. But deliberate ignorance finds these people voting against their own interests, and forgive me, but I find myself wishing they would die of ignorance and science denial. I know several people whose old dogmatic aunts who were Trumpers, who died of COVID since they took his words/ lies to heart and thought it was a hoax. I think we should arrest folks who endanger others, or somehow stomp out media coverage and parroting of lies. If Trump and several of Trump world's leaders would be arrested, publicly, bravely, that might set a better example. Aristotle said that SOME people cannot be reasoned with, but just need PUNISHMENT!