I love everything you share here. This is something I really hope more people start to become aware of and seek to challenge in themselves and in their communities.
As you stated, the radicalization is deeply fueled by the way social media is set up. We are constantly being fed more and more information that fits our bias about how the world works, what is 'right and wrong', that presents viewpoints that justify our point of view and that contradict or 'discredit' any opposing voice - and this can greatly impact what we think is going on 'out there' in a way that is totally off of what is happening in REAL reality.
So many of us get radicalized in these online communities because we are living in an echo-chamber where we aren't actually having a real, one to one relationship with reality and what's happening in real people's lives.
This is how we can be so easily radicalized, when we are being shown a view point and a perspective that simplifies 'how things are', and when we have little to no exposure to the REAL people who are facing REAL life circumstances - we can easily lose touch with why our extreme views may not be all there is.
We want the world to be simple, we want to feel like we understand and we want to feel like we have all the answers - and the more 'extreme' we get in our viewpoints, the more we are going to have to be denying reality in order to allow ourselves to believe that our lack of nuance, context and awareness is truth.
I think a lot of the time, actively seeking out alternative voices, actually talking to real people, living our real lives and having genuine connections outside of this social media 'thing' is the answer. The more isolated we become, the worse this is all going to get.
It's so important to be aware that we seek these black and white stances because they make us feel secure that life is figured out - and to be mindful that in reality, embracing the complexity and nuance so that we can actually deal with it is the actual solution we're looking for.
I love everything you share here. This is something I really hope more people start to become aware of and seek to challenge in themselves and in their communities.
As you stated, the radicalization is deeply fueled by the way social media is set up. We are constantly being fed more and more information that fits our bias about how the world works, what is 'right and wrong', that presents viewpoints that justify our point of view and that contradict or 'discredit' any opposing voice - and this can greatly impact what we think is going on 'out there' in a way that is totally off of what is happening in REAL reality.
So many of us get radicalized in these online communities because we are living in an echo-chamber where we aren't actually having a real, one to one relationship with reality and what's happening in real people's lives.
This is how we can be so easily radicalized, when we are being shown a view point and a perspective that simplifies 'how things are', and when we have little to no exposure to the REAL people who are facing REAL life circumstances - we can easily lose touch with why our extreme views may not be all there is.
We want the world to be simple, we want to feel like we understand and we want to feel like we have all the answers - and the more 'extreme' we get in our viewpoints, the more we are going to have to be denying reality in order to allow ourselves to believe that our lack of nuance, context and awareness is truth.
I think a lot of the time, actively seeking out alternative voices, actually talking to real people, living our real lives and having genuine connections outside of this social media 'thing' is the answer. The more isolated we become, the worse this is all going to get.
It's so important to be aware that we seek these black and white stances because they make us feel secure that life is figured out - and to be mindful that in reality, embracing the complexity and nuance so that we can actually deal with it is the actual solution we're looking for.
<3