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All aboard the partisan outrage train!
Mar. 18th, 2017 12:08 amEDIT: this was a link to an episode of the Cracked podcast. Archived episodes now have to be purchased.
I don't actually expect anyone to listen to this entire 1 1/2 hour podcast (even though all their podcasts are really good), but one good point raised was regarding how the left and right often just experience each other through outrage filters which weed out all but the most stupid and ridiculous examples of the other side, and give us a hit of dopamine as we bask in the feeling that we're better than those idiots.
"The other side, that's all they get of us – the dumbest of the dumb people saying the worst things at the worst time and phrasing it in the worst way, and they're only experiencing your point of view... like if you wonder "why can't they just listen to what we say when we say that everyone should have [healthcare] coverage" – they don't hear that, they get a clip of Lena Dunham or pick your obnoxious leftist, saying something incredibly awkward or stupid or that makes them sound out of touch, and that's all they get, because they have the same outrage filter."
I can attest to being a bit hooked on the outrage train – I went through a period when I would read the comments below an article about climate change and be a bit disappointed when there wasn't someone saying something staggeringly ignorant.
I don't actually expect anyone to listen to this entire 1 1/2 hour podcast (even though all their podcasts are really good), but one good point raised was regarding how the left and right often just experience each other through outrage filters which weed out all but the most stupid and ridiculous examples of the other side, and give us a hit of dopamine as we bask in the feeling that we're better than those idiots.
"The other side, that's all they get of us – the dumbest of the dumb people saying the worst things at the worst time and phrasing it in the worst way, and they're only experiencing your point of view... like if you wonder "why can't they just listen to what we say when we say that everyone should have [healthcare] coverage" – they don't hear that, they get a clip of Lena Dunham or pick your obnoxious leftist, saying something incredibly awkward or stupid or that makes them sound out of touch, and that's all they get, because they have the same outrage filter."
I can attest to being a bit hooked on the outrage train – I went through a period when I would read the comments below an article about climate change and be a bit disappointed when there wasn't someone saying something staggeringly ignorant.
