America has become 'uniquely stupid'

Author: FLRW

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#1
FLRW
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The last 10 years in America have been "uniquely stupid," social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says.
And Haidt is laying the blame squarely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
In a 2022 essay in The Atlantic, Haidt wrote that it was not Americans who were getting stupid as individuals; rather USA’s institutions.
Haidt, who is professor of ethical leadership at NYU-Stern, argues that social media is allowing people to intimidate others and make them afraid of public consequences for anything they say. And that makes institutions structurally stupid, because people have stopped dissenting, questioning and challenging.
“Democracy is going to take over everything, including the Arab world, we thought, and then almost out of nowhere, everything went to hell around 2014.”
Democracy without strong institutions is enfeebled, he says.
“There is this simplistic, naïve view of democracy that most of us in America have, which is democracy is great. The founding fathers wanted us to have democracy, it's the best system.
“No; democracy is a really difficult and a fairly bad system, Plato said it's the second worst system because it always decays into tyranny.

#2
Best.Korea
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@FLRW
Even two completely opposite persons can unite if each of them does something the other wants.

The problem with democracy is that it is at its best just a tyranny of majority.

Country can only be united if each person can realize at least some of his wishes. However, tyranny of majority essentially means that a good part of society might not get anything it wants.

But thats at best.

At worst, a retarded majority doesnt even know what it wants and never even learns from its own mistakes. This is what we have now. People believe in authority, but they also believe in whatever feels good. 

Majority arent capable of any great logical thinking, so letting them run a country is probably a bad idea. They are not experts on economy or on morality. 

In the words of Hitler:

100 retards can never be better than one smart individual.
#3
Lemming
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@FLRW
When I look at America,
I see 'much dissenting, questioning and challenging between groups.
#4
Mall
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@FLRW
Yup, that's liberalism for you.
#5
n8nrgim
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The biggest problem is that the way people got their news and stay informed has become fragmented. The usa used to watch the same TV shows and news and movies etc, but now everything is fragmented, especially the news. People r stupid and lack critical thinking and believe whatever their news source agenda wants them to believe. The nightly news use to unite everyone and tell everyone what to think with whatever agenda they had. Remember every news source is bias.
#6
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@Best.Korea
The problem with democracy is that it is at its best just a tyranny of majority.
I've always hated that phrase. It is wrong in the sense that the majority isn't made up of any superficially defined group, is made up of nothing but opinions, which can change. Thus it fosters an environment where debate, not force, becomes the primary tool for achieving ones own ends. That is meaningfully different than any reasonable usage of the word tyranny.
#7
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@Double_R
Thus it fosters an environment where debate, not force, becomes the primary tool for achieving ones own ends
Majority doesnt understand debate.
#8
badger
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I think social media exacerbates it, but I don't think it's the root cause. We have all of these things in Europe and we're not so silly. I think America is uniquely political owing to a number of factors: being the biggest superpower in the world, the unique social circumstances surrounding a recently freed slave subclass, just the lunatic amount of guns you all have lying around, the idiot healthcare, and on. You've all got a lot to be political about, more than most, and I think you've got an overdeveloped political muscle for it. You're all very much up in each other's business. The rest of the world is just going about our day. I can probably name 3 Irish politicians.
#9
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@FLRW
And Haidt is laying the blame squarely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Then why is Tik Tok being banned in America which is not listed among those media platforms being blamed for making Americans uniquely stupid?
#10
Mharman
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If yall want to read the article w/out creating an account or giving ad revenue to the Atlantic, here it is:


It’s essentially a critique of social media from a centrist’s point of view, in which the writer argues that social media had promoted extremist context for the sake of engagement that has resulted in Americans becoming more polarized and tribalistic. In addendum to this is the argument is the argument that each side has become more toxic to members of its own that dissent from some of the more extreme views, resulting in increasing extremism from both sides.

This results in him levying a main accusation against the right and left.

For the right, he argues their version of extremism has turned them into a radicalized party of conspiracy theorists who are so deep in shit ideas that they view America as constantly under attack from non-patriots, ie traitors, of which Donald Trump took advantage of.

For the left, he argues their version of extremism has led them to pressure historically classical left institutions into adopting woke ideology to the point where reasonable ideas are thrown away in favor of identity-based politics, resulting in a party that views America as constantly under threat from racists, and accuses those who oppose violent protests of being “racist.”

While I don’t agree with every part of the article (I doubt anyone in this site does), it stands out as a great critique of social media and polarization in general. It also provides a window into how centrists currently view our nation’s politics, if you want to understand their perspective.

Some of his solutions to these problems are intriguing as well, although as a libertarian, I am strictly opposed to any government regulation that aims to enact his proposed solutions to the social media side of things. Ranked choice voting is intriguing- I’m more skeptical of his proposed Supreme Court reform.
#11
Shila
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@Mharman
It’s essentially a critique of social media from a centrist’s point of view, in which the writer argues that social media had promoted extremist context for the sake of engagement that has resulted in Americans becoming more polarized and tribalistic. In addendum to this is the argument is the argument that each side has become more toxic to members of its own that dissent from some of the more extreme views, resulting in increasing extremism from both sides.
Central to this argument is the issue of immigrants. They are dividing America and its values. American exceptionalism is lost as it reduced America to its immigrant past.
#12
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@Mharman
@FLRW
We're sort of floundering in the wake of Alternative Intelligence now.


Will we become an endangered species?



I do derive pleasure and satisfaction from farting...Such is where I am at....I'm guessing that there are a lot of similar Americans.



Though clever stupid is an inherent human condition.


Slicked down hair with a centre parting, see what I mean.


I bet that Adolph Hitler thought that he too looked cool.


Not to mention tattoos.


Gender realignment surgery?...Don't even go there.
#13
Best.Korea
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@Mharman
Americans were stupid even before social media.

#14
Shila
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@Best.Korea
Americans were stupid even before social media.
History is proving the wrong side won the civil war in America.
#15
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@Shila
History is proving the wrong side won the civil war in America.
If Japan won WW2, it would all be better. Good guys never win.
#16
Shila
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@Best.Korea
History is proving the wrong side won the civil war in America.
If Japan won WW2, it would all be better. Good guys never win.
Japan would have needed China to win WW2. It couldn’t do it alone.

#17
zedvictor4
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@Shila
America needed nukes.
#18
Shila
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@zedvictor4
America needed nukes.
Now they need Hitler.
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#19
FLRW
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In 2026 China will have the greatest GDP of all countries.
#20
Shila
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@FLRW
In 2026 China will have the greatest GDP of all countries.
Not that fast. China still trails America by 10 trillion dollars annually.

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#21
FLRW
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@Shila

When Trump destroys the USA, China will jump to first place.
#22
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@FLRW
When Trump destroys the USA, China will jump to first place.
Remember it’s America that put Trump in the White House for the second time. China will owe it to America for making it jump to first place.