Alexander Karn
From 1914 to 1933, Germans were faced with nearly continuous turmoil and a series of economic and political crises, including episodes of political violence.
Young Germans, as the Nazi most began to surge, wrote and spoke about the impact of all the instability and the way they became, in a sense, addicted to the drama.
There is a LOT to learn from this.
One of the most concerning aspects of the current moment is the way that media manufactures politics into a dramatized narrative.
Alexander Karn
Coverage of the election is turned into a horse race.
Congressional politics is transformed into a Marvel comic, with heroes, villains, feats of strength, and THWACK! POW!!! discourse.
We scroll in search of fresh outrages, celebrity endorsements, and "breaking news" that isn't.
I fear that we are addicted to the drama and turmoil that fuel conflict and violence and are increasingly averse to the boring, hard work, and studied decision making that democratic politics require.
Paul Cantrell
@xankarn
I’m not sure that “we” are. I think the press is producing election coverage like reality TV because that’s the business model they understand, not because it’s the kind of coverage people would choose.
Alexander Karn
I'm thinking more of the consumption side of things. About our info-seeking habits. I know there is also a production side to this, and it's absolutely gross and morally inexcusable, really.
But people do choose this coverage every day. Click bait exists because many of us do take the bait.
Paul Cantrell
@xankarn
I hear you, and used to lean harder on this line of reasoning myself.
I’ve changed my perspective, particularly in light of what we’re learned from the web about the surprising consequences of putting recommender systems in a feedback loop. I now think we should view media that exploits human cognitive traps not as a consumption failure on the part of individuals, but like pollution.
Paul Cantrell
@xankarn
To strain the pollution analogy a bit:
When a company puts something in the water that causes human cells to become cancerous, we don’t say “well you shouldn’t drink that” (much pollution is effectively unavoidable) or “well it’s your cells that got cancer.” Instead, we say, “This damages humans. Stop putting it in the water.”
There’s a certain point where it’s about the human body itself, not individual choices. That it’s in the brain doesn’t make it less toxic.
Alexander Karn
Last thing I’ll say here is that I’m wary of any discussion of how to protect democracy that doesn’t preserve a space for individual choice and responsibility.
You’re right that our brains are being hacked and our minds are being polluted, but if we abdicate all responsibility in the face of it, that’s game over, I’m afraid.
Paul Cantrell
@xankarn
I don’t propose abdicating responsibility, any more than I’d advocated giving it up for any other form of pollution. I’m just arguing for properly understanding the shape of the problem.
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