Exam 1 Echo Chambers & Epistemic Bubbles PDF

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Exam 1: Echo Chambers & Epistemic Bubbles Friday, January 22, 2021

12:46

• Echo Chamber: what happens when you don't trust people from the other side. A social structure from which other relevant voices have been actively discredited. Members are not irrational, but misinformed, about where to place their trust. They hear, but dismiss, outside voices. Their worldview can survive exposure to those outside voices because their belief system has prepared them for such intellectual onslaught. "Do not trust anything you hear or lean outside of this group" ○ Not easily shattered; far more pernicious and robust ○ Offer a useful explanation of current informational crises --> epistemic bubbles cannot ○ Self-enforcing: once someone begins to fall victim, ideologies self-validate ▪ Examples: participants in online discussions or forums like Reddit of FaceBook, which, during the 2016 Presidential Election, in particular, were repetitions of stable standpoints instead of diverse opinions; Rush Limbaugh's conservative radio show for discrediting things like same-sex marriage, epidemics, etc.; discussions concerning opioid drugs and whether they should be considered suitable for long-term pain maintenance; other things that temporarily suspend all beliefs about things like who and what is trusted, and that don't equally trust all outside sources • Epistemic Bubble: when you don't hear people from the other side. An informational network from which relevant voices have been excluded by omission (they've just been left out, either purposefully or inadvertently) ○ Threaten excessive self-confidence, are easily shattered (can do so by exposing members to arguments they've missed). Also, rather ramshackle: they go up easily and collapse easily, too. ▪ Examples: North Korea and the Hermit Kingdom. All "outside" voices are silent, except for the voices and orders of the regime....