Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

This doesn't feel like a very insightful article. Everyone is noticing the cultural splintering and the propagation of extremist beliefs, but I really seldom see insightful commentary which really explains why these things might be happening. Nor do I see very much commentary which provides useful ways to think about these phenomenon.

This article is no different, and mistakes modern problems for old-fashioned causes. "People got their ideas from the wrong sources" is really all this article offers and really doesn't scratch the surface why extremist ideas are propagating so much nowadays, or why culture is splintering and trust in institutions is so low.



It's epistemological. Humans live in folk science causality which is what myth, narrative, news (and op-eds like this) feed us like heroin to addicts.

Science is anything but: correlations extended in time-space.

The only solution is chuck storytelling.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: