The idea that “it’s the internet’s fault,” has been beat to death, and for good reason. It is an engine for distribution of garbage ideas. We all know that. I think there is a deeper issue, though, that explains where we are today. (2/14)
Thread: In the space of a morning, I learned of the “Incel” movement, listened to an Uber driver tell me that Pizzagate is true, and heard that my neighbor is addicted to a YouTube conspiracy channel. I feel like we have passed some critical mass of crazy, but why? (1/14)
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When I was 17, I got reallllly into the absurd theory that Paul McCartney died and was replaced, and the Beatles left subtle hints to his fate in their albums. I first heard about this idea on SNL. Then I printed some articles from the internet and dug in deep (3/14)
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I asked my parents, aunts and uncles, discussed it with my music teacher. The further I got into the weeds if it, the more obsessed I became. I was pretty convinced for a while. But two important things kept me from going off the deep end. (4/14)
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The first is that everyone looked at me like I was crazy. My friends, my family - they listened to my ramblings, but in the end they told me that it was ridiculous. This is crucial: I couldn’t find anyone to buy into my crazy idea (5/14)
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The second thing that happened was that I ran out of content. There were a few articles on the young internet, but not much. Social Media wasn’t around, and I wouldn’t have thought to order a book on the topic. The bad intel that was driving my curiosity dried up. (6/14)
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These two things helped me resurrect Sir Paul - (1) I was confronted with voices of reason everywhere and (2) there was a limit to the addictive information that fed the theory. For these simple organic reasons, the bad idea died. (7/14)
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One can see how this evolutionary process works to select good ideas and kill bad ones as a natural function of living in a social society. I want to tickle a sleeping lion, but everyone in my tribe says it’s dumb and there is no information to the contrary. That stops me. (8/14)
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But these days, this is where the internet comes in. All of the lion ticklers now have their own digital bubble to discuss lion tickling. They can chat about it. Write articles about it. Make videos. In this bubble, dissenting voices select themselves out or are ignored (9/14)
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More people join, people from all over the world, people of all ages. Soon it seems that EVERYONE believes that tickling lions is the key to life. How could all these people be wrong? This idea is POPULAR in my new tribe. (10/14)
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We are naturally predisposed to trust the wisdom of the group. But the digital group is not representative of society in such a way that it kills bad ideas for a greater good. The bad ideas seek out bubbles in which they survive, and reality distorts around them. (11/14)
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There is no moderator to jump in and tell the Incels, pizzagaters, etc. that it’s crazy. Average Joe doesn’t even know about the bubbles. There is no end to the information and conversation that can be shared on the topic. The bad idea is free to thrive and spread. (12/14)
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Until what happens? It becomes something like a religion. it crowds out everything else. The holder of the idea reaches such a level of certainty that it seems rationale to plow a van into a group of people, which is both sad and terrifying. (13/14)
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But the really scary part is that it only seems to be getting worse, and there are no good solutions on the table. We are simply wired to be persuaded by this kind of thinking, and on the internet there is no need to listen to reason and no end to the content.(14/14)
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