Can bad ideas spread like a virus? Are we susceptible to making the wrong decisions? What separates us from the radicalists that terrorize society today?
As it turns out, not much.
Today’s guest, Andy Norman, takes us through a comprehensive introduction on cognitive immunology. This is an emerging science of the mind that looks into how people start sliding down the slippery slope to fake news, misinformation, and disinformation in today’s post-truth society.
According to Andy Norman, the average flat earther is extremely gullible in certain respects but also hypercritical in others.
Their train of thought begins with this vague idea that the world may truly be flat and that everybody else is just intentionally misinterpreting the truth. Since not everyone is educated to fact-check and test ideas in the right way, they start going down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and conspiracy websites.
They become increasingly intrigued by the feeling that they’re in on this big secret. As a result, they start isolating themselves in echo chambers of their own making. Soon they have an airtight community of fellow believers who believe in the same sentiments they do—and we are the ones looking in.
These people have hardly done due diligence and they are feeding off of incredibly unreliable information. In this sense, the mind has become “infected” with bad ideas, and these ideas spread like parasites.
If we want humanity to evolve for the better, we need to strengthen our immune systems so that we are not vulnerable to these parasites. While it will eventually call for systemic change to address how our perspectives are largely shaped by the way we grew up, we can only kickstart this on a personal level.
To better equip humanity against all the fake news and misinformation, Andy Norman suggests bringing back the Socratic Method. This is a method of learning which focuses on a dialogue between teachers and students, furthered by the teacher continually asking probing questions.
The constant questioning is an effort to explore the underlying beliefs that shape the student’s views and opinions. In many ways, this is a good technique to engage in dialogue with others who do not have the same mindset as you do. Today, there are so many different world views and perspectives.
Amidst this, it may become difficult to reach out to one another because we are afraid of coming across as offensive, insensitive, or dismissive. Conversely, it may also be difficult for people to reach out when we start considering our ideas as a part of who we are.
Our ideas of how to view the world should be fluid, and held only within the boundaries of reason. It is when we convince ourselves that we need to defend ideas to an absolute value that we turn into radicalists, which exist on both sides of all spectrums: politically, religiously, and socially.
It’s important to hold your ideas at a distance. Yes, the feeling of being a part of a community can be all-encompassing. Knowing that you are affirmed by others who hold the same ideas can be empowering. But if this is taken too far, it will only serve to isolate you from others.
We can only move forward when we move forward together. The alternative is to accept that we are not our ideas. Our ideas will reach limits, and we must part with them then. We should only entertain ideas within certain bounds while holding true to our values.
Hold your beliefs loosely. Be ready to part when someone raises a sufficiently good reason, an opportunity to question: is it worth still believing in this idea if it means that holding onto it isolates me from humanity?
Here at TARTLE, we are invested in the evolution of humanity. The next step forward will take data-driven measures at reaching the truth in a post-truth era. With that said, we need to look out for each other and hold ourselves accountable for our ideas.
Ask questions. Help your loved ones reach conclusions. Keep an open mind and be slow to take offense. A line of inquiry is not a personal attack, but an attempt at getting to the bottom of the ideas you hold about yourself, the society, and the world.
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