I look at it like heroin addiction or alcoholism - eventually it destroys the host. Eventually, as a species, we learn to treat it as the toxic thing it is. Herb Stein's Law applies.
That's just it though - you run through the weak sisters first, then there aren't any more of them to poison. After that, it gets harder - and harder again. That's the real reason fentanyl deaths in America have dropped. Those people are dead. Same thing happened with Covid - it killed off a bunch of people ("killed" in scare quotes actually) but then subsequent host generations were made of sturdier stuff. This will run its course once it consumes the weak-minded. It's just about to the burnout phase where it becomes an endemic annoyance, but not nation-altering.
The problem is that fresh fools enter the voter rolls every year, and they are young, earnest, and more prone to outrage than people who've been around a lot longer.
Good attitude to have. It all starts with being comfortable with not knowing things. That and accepting that you don't have to have an opinion on every thing that comes up. Also, very few people even care about your opinions.
I suspect a lot of this outrage is coming from people just thinking out loud and venting about it. Seldom is it a conversation. Except you, Peter.
I think social media has been a huge culprit in this. Before the Internet, people could throw out hot-take opinions in conversation, and there'd not only be no record of them, the feedback and dialogue would change them before the had a chance to set.
Now, if you type something, it's there forever, and your natural inclination is to defend rather than improve it. Couple that with the positive feedback the like-minded send via clicks, and the lack of awareness of those who disagree or question but can't be bothered to engage, and we get a vicious doom spiral.
I do remember, with mixed feelings, those days when there was no such thing as the Internet or mobile phones. There is definitely some benefit to the Internet in being able to do research and find information quickly and easily (though I always loved the card catalog at the library), but you are right - being connected ALL THE TIME, is not healthy for anyone.
I remain hopeful this is "just a phase" we're going through that will eventually exhaust itself, literally and figuratively.
I'm not optimistic. Too many players have a vested interest in perpetuating outrage.
I look at it like heroin addiction or alcoholism - eventually it destroys the host. Eventually, as a species, we learn to treat it as the toxic thing it is. Herb Stein's Law applies.
It may destroy the host, but the dealer just finds another customer.
That's just it though - you run through the weak sisters first, then there aren't any more of them to poison. After that, it gets harder - and harder again. That's the real reason fentanyl deaths in America have dropped. Those people are dead. Same thing happened with Covid - it killed off a bunch of people ("killed" in scare quotes actually) but then subsequent host generations were made of sturdier stuff. This will run its course once it consumes the weak-minded. It's just about to the burnout phase where it becomes an endemic annoyance, but not nation-altering.
I wish I was as optimistic as you. Seems to me that, just when you think the idiocy has subsided, someone builds a better idiot.
The problem is that fresh fools enter the voter rolls every year, and they are young, earnest, and more prone to outrage than people who've been around a lot longer.
BAILI! And the book to grab with your glass of wine is “Meditations”🤗
Marcus Aurelius, or Descartes?
Descartes if I were feeling particularly *graphic* 🤗
Good attitude to have. It all starts with being comfortable with not knowing things. That and accepting that you don't have to have an opinion on every thing that comes up. Also, very few people even care about your opinions.
I suspect a lot of this outrage is coming from people just thinking out loud and venting about it. Seldom is it a conversation. Except you, Peter.
I think social media has been a huge culprit in this. Before the Internet, people could throw out hot-take opinions in conversation, and there'd not only be no record of them, the feedback and dialogue would change them before the had a chance to set.
Now, if you type something, it's there forever, and your natural inclination is to defend rather than improve it. Couple that with the positive feedback the like-minded send via clicks, and the lack of awareness of those who disagree or question but can't be bothered to engage, and we get a vicious doom spiral.
It’s really important to be willing to change your mind based on evidence.
I do remember, with mixed feelings, those days when there was no such thing as the Internet or mobile phones. There is definitely some benefit to the Internet in being able to do research and find information quickly and easily (though I always loved the card catalog at the library), but you are right - being connected ALL THE TIME, is not healthy for anyone.
Amen!