The Social Dilemma

Jack said:
The way my son described it to me, was that they put you in 'groups', 'silos', 'buckets'. They (the social platforms) find what you like and then target you with everything related to that. Are you a 'religious' person, they surround you with everything religious until you think EVERYONE is a religious person. Are you a 'racist'. They inundate you with everything that would be considered racist and after awhile you think EVERYONE is racist. Are you a 'Communist', ... 'Gun Lover', ... 'Social Conservative', ... the List goes on.
The eventual effect is that you are in your 'own world', unconnected with actual everyday people that are all around you. It divides the Country. There's no real communication between one 'silo' and the next. From what my son tells me, it's a pretty good descriptor of why the Country is like it is.
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Yes, algorithms, the new evil, the new spies.
 
Phantasmal said:
The year cable news became a thing it was for profit. If you needed a documentary to realize this, no wonder we’re in this position. If you watch cable news for anything but entertainment you are part of the problem.
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I disagree


CNN and MSNBC do facts


The LEANING talk was created because republicans can’t win in a world of facts.


Look at world news


BBC and others tell the same facts non Fox News tell
 
Phantasmal said:
.

Yes, algorithms, the new evil, the new spies.
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People need to realize the internets are a different deal


When you join things like Facebook you agree to be massaged into your separate little world

I don’t do ANY of those type sites
 
Bull&Terrier said:
Has anyone here seen it?


If you want to understand why we really are this divided these days, look no further than media, social media..... I strongly recommend you all watch this documentary. you are a commodity that increases their profits the more divided you are.


https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
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I did watch The Social Dilemma earlier this year. It's fascinating. Many of my closest friends work in tech/social media. It's been a really interesting and ongoing conversation between all of us for months.
 
Beijing Biden said:
that is part of it, but there are still fundamental issues that have divided us for years irrespective of social media.

does social media provide a catalyst to make it worse? No doubt.

But it comes down to the simple fact that 50% of the country can't agree on how the country should be run. That is unsustainable. So instead of forcing 50% of the people to live unhappily every four to eight years, wouldn't it be best to just have an amicable divorce and divide up the property?

This relationship is not working. We do not agree on fundamental issues of governance like the muder of an unborn child, taxation, private property etc. Now we can continue on this path to eventual civil war or we can part ways amicably. The left can live in their socialist utopia of no borders, electric cars, no fossil fuels and taxing the rich at 90% to pay for it all.

The rest of us will live by the free market and not let leftists in for longer than two days
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Well, that was a master class in what is actually wrong with American politics. If you put American conservatives and American liberals on the political spectrum, they would be pretty close to each other. If you put American Republicans and American Democrats on the same political spectrum, they would be almost indistinguishable.

Our problem is not our differences. They're virtually nonexistent if more Americans had the means, the curiosity, and the intellectual capacity to explore true differences on a global scale. Our problem is that the two major political parties have spent uncountable amounts of money learning how to best manipulate the voters who serve them (the parties). Your post is a perfect example of where we went wrong. You (and tens of millions of people like you) have been brain washed into thinking that the problem is your neighbor and not the system itself.
 
Beijing Biden said:
I appreciate the recommendation, but I don't need to watch it to know how destructive social media has become. I do not participate in social media platforms other than Parler, but I rarely go there. I joined merely as a political statement against the censorship of the other platforms
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So you refuse to watch a cerebral explanation of the consequences of social media and then register an account with a conspiracy theory social media platform? smh
 
Beijing Biden said:
that is part of it, but there are still fundamental issues that have divided us for years irrespective of social media.

does social media provide a catalyst to make it worse? No doubt.

But it comes down to the simple fact that 50% of the country can't agree on how the country should be run. That is unsustainable. So instead of forcing 50% of the people to live unhappily every four to eight years, wouldn't it be best to just have an amicable divorce and divide up the property?

This relationship is not working. We do not agree on fundamental issues of governance like the muder of an unborn child, taxation, private property etc. Now we can continue on this path to eventual civil war or we can part ways amicably. The left can live in their socialist utopia of no borders, electric cars, no fossil fuels and taxing the rich at 90% to pay for it all.

The rest of us will live by the free market and not let leftists in for longer than two days
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That makes no sense. The left and right are mixed together. There is no line of demarcation between the like the north and south.
 
Diesel said:
Well, that was a master class in what is actually wrong with American politics. If you put American conservatives and American liberals on the political spectrum, they would be pretty close to each other. If you put American Republicans and American Democrats on the same political spectrum, they would be almost indistinguishable.

Our problem is not our differences. They're virtually nonexistent if more Americans had the means, the curiosity, and the intellectual capacity to explore true differences on a global scale. Our problem is that the two major political parties have spent uncountable amounts of money learning how to best manipulate the voters who serve them (the parties). Your post is a perfect example of where we went wrong. You (and tens of millions of people like you) have been brain washed into thinking that the problem is your neighbor and not the system itself.
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At a high level I agree with a lot of what you say here in terms of many/most of us want similar things; good jobs, to be healthy and happy, good schools and opportunities for our children etc. we just have differing ideas on how we should achieve it. But as you say we have far more in common than which divides us. There are pockets of the country who believe America is a fundamentally flawed nation and not worth fighting for in its present form but they aren't a majority.

From my life experience I can speak to what it's like living in an area dominated by one political party that has no outside opposition. On one hand most people agree on most issues which people like. Yet they call politics a blood sport here for a reason. In our case its Dem vs Dem instead of the normal Dem vs Repub. And people in our area are still pissed at our local government. Now it can be said maybe it's a different level of anger when the area is being run by one of your 'own' but I see the argument and passion here the same as the national level. I guess my point is while I'd rather live in an area where my 'side' is in power it's not a panacea.

And I also agree political parties exist to win elections and gain power. I understand we as individuals like to ascribe these great attributes and virtues to our party (because we feel better about ourselves being a member of such a group) but at the end of the day politicians (and political parties) are flawed individuals like we all are.
 
evince said:
It’s Fox News


Fox has spewed right wing lies for decades


Without fox the Republican Party would already be dead
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THIS is why you are literally A FUCKING JOKE. Yes, of course Fox is biased. We all know that. See how easy that was to admit when a person is truthful? But so is MSNBC and CNN,....probably even more so than Fox. But you wont admit that and THAT is why you are nothing but a partisan hack not to be taken serious.
 
Stone said:
THIS is why you are literally A FUCKING JOKE. Yes, of course Fox is biased. We all know that. See how easy that was to admit when a person is truthful? But so is MSNBC and CNN,....probably even more so than Fox. But you wont admit that and THAT is why you are nothing but a partisan hack not to be taken serious.
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Okay, cable news is biased. Can we go back to reading the news and stop depending on someone on TV talking?!
 
Bull&Terrier said:
Has anyone here seen it?


If you want to understand why we really are this divided these days, look no further than media, social media..... I strongly recommend you all watch this documentary. you are a commodity that increases their profits the more divided you are.


https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
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I will happily watch it,....probably yet today. But in a way Im betting it will kind of piss me off. Make me want to yell...." WHERE HAS EVERYONE BEEN?!" Ive been talking about this kind of thing for decades.
 
BidenPresident said:
Fair enough. It's called, "marketing." Nothing new, just different technology.
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I think the 'essence' is the 'pigeon-holing'.
It's not like you go to a Classroom or an Office and are surrounded by people with a myriad of differing opinions.
The 'Social Media' companies target people based on their preference, then ... SURROUND them with like-minded individuals. DISTORTING their view of Reality.
(I haven't seen it, but this is what my son is telling me)
 
Stone said:
THIS is why you are literally A FUCKING JOKE. Yes, of course Fox is biased. We all know that. See how easy that was to admit when a person is truthful? But so is MSNBC and CNN,....probably even more so than Fox. But you wont admit that and THAT is why you are nothing but a partisan hack not to be taken serious.
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Dear fucking idiot


All other news reports basically the same stories


Fox claims they all are liars

Fox reports fucking Russian lies

They helped bush lie us to war

They claimed the economy was fine until it fucking crashed under bush

They repeated fucking lies and avoided facts


All the other news turned out to be correct huh


Fox lies

You are a fucking idiot to believe them

Fuck you very much
 
Jack said:
I think the 'essence' is the 'pigeon-holing'.
It's not like you go to a Classroom or an Office and are surrounded by people with a myriad of differing opinions.
The 'Social Media' companies target people based on their preference, then ... SURROUND them with like-minded individuals. DISTORTING their view of Reality.
(I haven't seen it, but this is what my son is telling me)
Click to expand...


Okay. I really have no idea what social media is.
 
cawacko said:
At a high level I agree with a lot of what you say here in terms of many/most of us want similar things; good jobs, to be healthy and happy, good schools and opportunities for our children etc. we just have differing ideas on how we should achieve it. But as you say we have far more in common than which divides us. There are pockets of the country who believe America is a fundamentally flawed nation and not worth fighting for in its present form but they aren't a majority.

From my life experience I can speak to what it's like living in an area dominated by one political party that has no outside opposition. On one hand most people agree on most issues which people like. Yet they call politics a blood sport here for a reason. In our case its Dem vs Dem instead of the normal Dem vs Repub. And people in our area are still pissed at our local government. Now it can be said maybe it's a different level of anger when the area is being run by one of your 'own' but I see the argument and passion here the same as the national level. I guess my point is while I'd rather live in an area where my 'side' is in power it's not a panacea.

And I also agree political parties exist to win elections and gain power. I understand we as individuals like to ascribe these great attributes and virtues to our party (because we feel better about ourselves being a member of such a group) but at the end of the day politicians (and political parties) are flawed individuals like we all are.
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As to your last paragraph, I think it's more sinister than that. Politicians are people. All people are flawed. All of that goes without saying. I think that the political parties, though, actually corrupt the people who identify with them. I know it's sort of a counterintuitive claim because political parties don't exist without individuals, but I honestly believe that the root of our political unrest has more to do with structural politics than human nature.

The American political system was good intentioned. The founding documents did a decent job for a long time. They can still save us if we amend them, but in their current form, they are largely obsolete. The way people produce, share, and consume information is utterly unrecognizable to the Founders. The career aspect of public service was never intended by the Founders. I have no illusions that the Founders did not fully comprehend and condone the influence of money over politics, but I do not think their wildest imaginations could grasp the relative wealth of modern corporations.

I have never registered with a political party. I try to be consistent in my judgment of them, but their offenses are not always equal. As you and I have both said, we collectively have more in common than not, but that doesn't prevent unlimited money and psychological warfare from manipulating the average, undereducated American into hating anyone who deviates from their thoughtless political ideals.
 
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