EOTC #2: On the Echo Chamber

     

          Let’s define what exactly an Echo Chamber is.

Echo Chamber: An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered.

               These can easily be created on social media accounts by following and interacting with certain groups, videos, or people that share your viewpoints. These groups will then share ideas that they support, and the “chamber” will soon be filled with ideas that only support what you think and don’t offer any outside ideas.

               On YouTube, which can also act as an echo chamber in how the algorithm works with how it suggests videos that are similar to the one you may be watching, a channel called Freedom Tunes animates short, satirical, five minutes videos (it varies) about Libertarian ideologies. This includes maximum freedom for every individual while lowering government intervention in someone’s everyday life. Now this may be something that I agree with and share with my friends, but I seek to take down my echo chamber by going out of my way to watch videos that may not align with my ideals so I can see an issue from another perspective.

               On Facebook, you may have family members that share different viewpoints. It is vitally important for you to invest time into looking into their ideals because you never know, you may find something that changes your mind, or you might even find you agree on something. You don’t have to along with everything they’re saying but treat this like germs as if you were a child. Yes, you want to keep your child clean and healthy, but they have to build up an immune system somehow, so letting them play in the dirt/mud/creek/wherever might give them the boost that they need. You don’t need to dunk their heads underwater and make them drink it, but letting them splash and accidentally drink some isn’t as awful as it sounds. Their bodies need to learn how to combat any diseases, just like how you may need to learn how to tolerate and or debate properly when dealing with ideals that don’t align with yours.

               Unfortunately, for this country, many people are politically polarized, and just mentioning any kind of support for a candidate that a friend group may not share can have you kicked out. One of my closest friends was threatened by his parents that he’d be excommunicated from his family if they found out he was a supporter of Donald Trump. He isn’t, but still, that’s pretty intolerant. I’ve been called names like Nazi, racist, sexist, etc. for simply suggesting we should listen to other viewpoints, such as Donald Trump, not so we can agree with him, but so we can learn how to argue and not rely on fallacies in our rhetoric. This isn’t even an exaggeration, most of my high school experience was me trying to defend myself among an onslaught of assumptions. I don’t want kids who think differently to be humiliated and excluded like I was, it can be incredibly detrimental to one’s physical and mental health.