The Roundup 2

The Echo Chamber
I have recently been giving a lot of thought to the “echo chamber”–the tendency of people to associate primarily with people who share their views. As a result, the information they receive on political issues generally conforms with their beliefs. It becomes a form of political tribalism. While studies have come to mixed conclusions about the number of people trapped in an echo chamber, almost nobody claims that it doesn’t exist. An echo chamber is certainly comfortable. One’s ideas aren’t challenged. One doesn’t need to think, question premises, examine new evidence. One can just spout tired bromides. It would seem that ignorance is indeed bliss.

Arguing vs. Discussing
Anyone interested in politics has undoubtedly engaged in a discussion that quickly turned into an argument. In the end, nobody has changed their mind and everyone is angry. A fundamental cause of this is the failure to identify common goals or values. Too often, we hear someone utter something, and we immediately respond with our disagreement. That is not an invitation for a conversation. It is an incitement for an argument. We fail to identify the goal that they seek to achieve. If we want to have discussions (and perhaps change minds), then we must first seek to find common goals and values. And they exist a lot more than we might think.