A broken bridge over a widening gulf
So, lets talk beliefs -- a pickup line which falls somewhere near "nice shoes" on the totem of phrases never to say. Within the stratifying nature of politics in today's culture, our views on politics and parties often cause more of a widening gulf between people than it has in many years (most commentators are citing 1968, but I think that analogy does not quite hold up). But how do we form our beliefs, and is the need to seek alternative points of view apparent in today's political landscape?
Beliefs are formed numerous ways: Inherited from family, relayed by friends and from personal investigation. It would be far too tedious to write on the first two items, due to the personal nature of how it is achieved, but the latter is far more quantifiable.
One of the great hurdles which faces modern media is the adaptation to the digital sphere. For news, most people generally are informed by what they read on Facebook. But the question has been raised, "How often are people exposed to other points of view?"
Facebook has one of the most complicated algorithms in terms of how particular items wind up in one's news feed. I will spare you the technological jargon explaining how this works, but essentially, Facebook tracks every post the user "likes" and will place more posts in the timeline, tailored to each person's preferences.
For example, if you "like" a post praising Donald Trump's "political prowess" then more articles of that particular persuasion will likely appear in your news feed. The same can be said for Bernie Sanders or any other candidate.
The problem is by having just one perspective, it leaves little room for other viewpoints, and essentially, the user is only getting one side of the story.
More often than not, people are just reaffirming their own opinions instead of seeking out other perspectives.
There are many reasons people become steadfast in their political beliefs, but in my opinion, more often than not the fear of being wrong or having their perspective challenged is a thought not worth having respectively.
In terms of beliefs, people become stubborn, steadfast in knowing their view is the "correct" view and nothing can change this. This statement is not directed at one political persuasion, instead the left and right are equally guilty of it. But, by shutting ourselves down to other points of view, we are creating this division in our political system which will continue to grow.
At its most optimistic, for democracy to work it should rely on the public making informed decisions on a particular candidate. Regardless of what end of the political spectrum one tends to favor, I think most of the public would agree having an informed populace is a good thing.
To be informed it takes effort, it takes discussion and work.
But perhaps that point is past, and this article is all for naught. And for the foreseeable future, the only ideology which will remain is either you're either correct, or you're not.
Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.
- -- Posted by pattidanner on Thu, Feb 25, 2016, at 4:38 PM
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