The problem of living inside echo chambers
Are you a victim of the social media bubble?
Pick any of the big topics of the day – Brexit, climate change or Trump's immigration policies – and wander online.
Eric Weinstein and Jocko Willink discuss the reality of war
On the latest episode of The Portal, the two men talk about the consequences of a public being shielded from battle.
- On The Portal, Eric Weinstein discusses the consequences of Americans not seeing the reality of the wars we wage.
- His guest, former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, says that every war ensures that innocent civilians will die.
- Both men agree that the public should be exposed to the reality of war instead of being shielded from it.
Fame-seeking mass shooters get more media coverage, study finds
Is it time media outlets stop publishing the names and photographs of mass shooters?
- The study examined mass shootings from 1966 to 2018, finding that shootings have become more common and more deadly since 2000.
- The results showed that fame-seeking mass shooters received significantly higher media coverage than their counterparts, with 97 percent of fame-seeking mass shooters getting a mention from the New York Times.
- Recent research shows connections between the amount of media coverage on mass shootings and their likelihood to occur shortly after.
Let us now stop praising famous men (and women)
What does fame have to do with merit, anyway?
After the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris nearly burned down in April, the French luxury-goods magnate François-Henri Pinault was celebrated for committing €100 million to reconstruct what he called 'this jewel of our heritage' and ushering in a flood of donations from other benefactors and companies.
Have conservative groups mastered the art of internet activism?
Left-leaning groups don't seem to have made as full use of the internet as right-leaning ones. As one conservative put it, Paul Revere had a horse, but they have the internet.
- Initially, people saw the internet as a tool for driving more participatory, pluralistic, and personal discussions, especially around politics.
- However, with the exception of major movements like Occupy Wall Street, left-leaning groups haven't made as much use of the internet as right-leaning ones. In her research, Jen Schradie found that liberals see the internet as one tool of many to advocate for fairness; the trouble is, the idea of "fairness" brings together many disparate groups, making it difficult to present an organized, unified front, especially online.
- Conservatives see the internet as a vehicle for freedom — freedom from the state, free markets, and freedom of information. Conservatives made the internet their platform, where they could organize and discuss issues that they didn't believe were being represented in the media.
