True North in the Chaos
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” — Herbert Simon
In order for our Republic to function properly, it requires an enlightened, informed, and engaged citizenry - not one that has deluded itself into believing it is any or all of these things.
Never before have we had such access to information and yet such a shallow understanding of the world around us. We are all flooded with so much information on any given day that it is almost impossible to keep up.
How does one find true north in the chaos? How can a person think for themselves while staying up-to-date on current events when news is almost entirely comprised of political commentary and click-bait sensationalism?
Worse yet, how can the intellectually honest engage with a media that demands an immediate reaction of unequivocal denouncement or uncritical praise depending on the person’s tribe of choice without allowing time for more details to emerge and opposing viewpoints to be expressed and vetted?
It is difficult, so most of us just drink the kool-aid every day, never challenging what we believe or giving ourselves a chance to think critically. We consume news without learning or growing. Cheering on our horse when we are in power, and booing the opposition when they are fortunate enough to win the throne. A cyclical, binary pattern that never ends.
“Don’t depend on drinking the Kool-Aid. It’s popular, tastes sweet today, but it will give you cavities tomorrow.” - Matthew McConaughey
So what do we do? Where do we go? The good news is the answer lies within us all. To take a lesson from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Aaron Burr, “Talk less, smile more.” Take a brief moment to pause before you yell about what “you’re against or what you’re for.”
You might be saying to yourself, “You can’t be serious?” And while I am certainly not trying to encourage people to self-censor, I think it is important for us to all be more judicious and thoughtful before making judgements and shouting our opinions from the mountaintop, or more practically… on Twitter.
The outrage du jour cycle is so familiar and predictable that we ought to be embarrassed about how easily we continue to fall for it. The formula is simple:
An event occurs, limited facts about the situation are known.
Major news networks and outlets race to report it on cable news and social media.
Political commentators analyze the event, offering predictions and assumptions, even though details are scarce.
Partisans look for ways the event confirms or advances their narrative or works against the that of their opponent(s).
For-profit clickbait companies boil the news and/or commentary down to a soundbite and try to monetize it by stoking the interest or outrage of their target audience.
Meanwhile, individuals (you and me), engage with the content at each level, further dividing our nation into tribes and breeding discontent.
Before you know it, a simple news story has morphed into an us-versus-them narrative centered around a controversy that may or may not actually exist. Worse yet, we all then feel required to chime in on the “controversy” out of the fear that our silence will be considered violence or complicit support.
These problems aren’t new, they are simply the latest iteration of imperfect information flow constructed by imperfect humans. As Josh Billings observed in the 1800’s, "It ain't ignorance causes so much trouble; it's folks knowing so much that ain't so."
So how do we find true north in the chaos?
Stay convicted in your principles, but remain open minded enough to learn and grow as a person. Stay up-to-date on current events, but be patient enough to allow the entire story to be told before jumping to conclusions. Stay loyal to your allies, but engage in vigorous discussion and debate with those with whom you disagree.
Don’t allow yourself to become a pawn in a very public game of chess that threatens the fabric of our own democracy.
The problems facing our country are very serious, perhaps more now than anytime since the Second World War. We need strong minds to think outside of the box if we are going to escape groupthink and emerge from this complicated situation a freer and stronger society.
One of the things we take pride in as Americans is that we always rise to the occasion. Let’s not ruin the streak now.
