I think my filter bubble is more of a filter screen, a
screen with a few bigger holes in it. A lot of the various things I “like” on
social media in the news media realm are definitely on the conservative side of
the spectrum. I don’t like very many things that bring in a liberal
perspective. That being said, I have a significant number of friends that I
rely on to give me that outside perspective. I let them pick and choose the
articles from the liberal end of the spectrum and I like to read them, sometimes
with an eye-roll, sometimes not. I think this system gives me confidence that I
will find substantive liberal material, rather than the kind that simply spews
anger back and forth. I can trust my friends to
When it comes to unfriending or “unliking” something,
I feel like I have been relatively nice (for lack of a better word) about it. I
never unfriend any of my liberal friends due to their political views, save for
one when I was rather young. He attacked my faith and I didn’t want to have to
worry about him doing it again. However, a few years later I reflected on it
and I regret my decision; it was rather childish. While I rarely have any
liberal pages liked to be able to unlike, I do find myself unliking
conservative news sources when their commentary becomes particularly fiery or
rage-filled. Only being angry doesn’t solve problems in my book. I do consider
myself to be very conservative on most issues, so to say that I “unlike”
conservative news sources, bodes well to the openness of my filter bubble.
Obviously, there are still a substantial amount of
things that don’t make it through my filter bubble. But, I do like hearing the other
side because I think it gives me a clearer picture of what the other side
values and why they value it. I think I get a borderline healthy amount of
material from each side.
Dissoi Logoi is essential to compromise and compromise
is essential to maintaining political balance. People need to be able to hold
healthy and substantive debate without becoming the ravenous beasts that some
people are known to be. They need to be able to see the other side as someone
who also wants to have a better future. That way they can see the oppositions’
ideals as valid arguments rather than dismissing them entirely. I think just
the opposite has been stimulated by our increasingly networked society. Now
people are able to pick what news sources they like and if they only choose
those that align with them, they will become increasingly less sympathetic to
the cause of the other side. It’s not just the fault of the people; the
algorithms that pick what articles people see are also just as responsible.
The increased polarization has created and stalemate
in Congress. Congress, whose approval rating is exceedingly low, tries to do
what people want and people don’t want compromise. They say they do, but what
many post online seems to say otherwise. Since Congress needs to compromise to
get things done, they don’t get a lot done which further lowers their approval
rating. It’s a vicious cycle that no one seems to understand.
Clearly, the increasing polarization is a huge problem…
maybe. For the most part, I would agree that it is a problem that needs to be
solved. And I think the solution is to reunite the political factions.
Obviously, it will never be all fine and dandy but, at least to a certain
extent, working on compromises would help immensely. The reason I say maybe,
however, is that there is a chance, though rather small (and I certainly wouldn’t
necessarily advocate it), that there would be a benefit in finding a peaceful
way to separate the factions into independent nations or even perhaps separate governing
bodies within one nation… wait a second… we already have that. Yes, I think that
there may be some merit to increasing state power if the political polarization
continues to increase. To go to the extreme, perhaps we need two separate
Americas where people can decide how they want to live but where changing to
either one is open to citizens of both, at least somewhat; all you have to do
is move. This would certainly be many, many years down the road, but if things
don’t get better, it may be required before things get deadly.
An area where I can engage in dissoi logoi more would
be in general political conversation. While I do love to listen and engage in
political discussion, I sometimes only search for ways to bolster my own cause.
It’s not always true but I do have a hard time thinking about the background of
someone else’s cause and why they think the way they do. I think my political
discussions could use a healthy serving of understanding. And I can start by
spending more time pondering what’s running through their head. Unfortunately,
there is little time to do this in a back and forth, but doing so before and
after will lead to even healthier discussion in the future.
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