re: How can we fix public discourse?

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We need to evolve beyond Right and Left, Conservative and Liberal. These terms have no meaning anymore in today's world. We need to evaluate ideas as either good or bad. Flesh out the positive and negative consequences both in the short and long term.

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Don't try to bring any logic or reason into this discussion!


Conspicuous consumption in politics is truly ruining the country.

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We need to evolve beyond Right and Left, Conservative and Liberal. These terms have no meaning anymore in today's world.

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Those are tossed around and used to help divide the general populace. If we're busy fighting with each other, we don't notice what the powerful are really doing.

My views vary, but socially are pretty progressive. But I can have a civil conversation with almost anyone, as long as they're not combative when debating. That's when everything goes to shite, and it's becomes fighting.

The television media has profited greatly by using this format, which has trickled into our society. That attitude and outlook is just cancerous, and has created, or maybe just accelerated, the culture war our society is in.

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You could start by *********ing Rush Limbaugh, who, IMO, originated both the venomous tone of our public sphere, and the "when in doubt, don't hesitate to invent your own facts" maneuver.

******** omitted in the name of improving the quality of public discourse.

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Dude, the poisonous environment goes back a couple decades before Limbaugh. It's gone off the rails with the election of Trump.

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On controversial subjects, I usually find that the more one reads and studies an issue, the more nuanced they understand the issue to be. They may not break from their position in the slightest, but it becomes less black and white and they begin to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the respective sides.

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The opposite is also true.

Famous quote: “The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.”

This is in line with the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Wikipedia explains that it:

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occurs where people fail to adequately assess their level of competence — or specifically, their incompetence — at a task and thus consider themselves much more competent than everyone else.

...In simple words it's "people who are too stupid to know how stupid they are".

The inverse also applies: competent people tend to underestimate their ability compared to others ...

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Most people who actively discuss politics these days are no different than college football fans. They'll defend their side regardless of the truth.

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How can we fix public discourse? by HeadCoach

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less diversity of thought