EOTO #2: Echo Chambers and Confirmation Bias

 

Echo chambers, they're everywhere nowadays, they are all over social media and news outlets, but what is an echo chamber? Well echo chambers are a reference to when a set of beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication inside a closed system. This can be a very dangerous thing, this is because echo chambers are often centered around one idea that is repeated by like-minded people created a hive mind mentality. It is my belief that echo chambers are to blame for many of the polarizing issues seen within our country today. However, the blame doesn't solely lie with echo chambers, often times echo chambers have a lasting effect on the people that get trapped by them creating a bi-product called confirmation bias. 

 Confirmation bias is when someone deliberately searches for, favor and recall info in a way that supports their beliefs. These two as stated above have caused a polarizing effect across our country. This is because people caught within echo chambers often refuse to research, believe, or even entertain ideas/beliefs that don't belong to the group so no new ideas are circulated. This can most commonly be seen on social media platforms like Twitter. 

With all the bad that echo chambers and confirmation bias cause they are actually very natural human responses. We are social creatures who want nothing more than to have a since of belonging. Homophily by beliefs isn't necessarily a bad thing, it allows people to belong to something. Its just the after effects that we need look at with caution. 

With the creation of social media we just took it for granted like any other technology before it. We haven't taken the necessary precautions to protect ourselves from polarization and now we are paying for it. We have people refusing to believe the truth because they are too brainwashed to believe that maybe they are wrong and with a lot of people thinking that way, it can be very dangerous. As we have seen in recent years the hive mind can become hostile and people can absolutely get hurt.

The only way to combat echo chambers and confirmation bias is to formally sit down and talk things out in a civilized manor. Which could be easier said than done but, it is my belief that we should maybe open up our minds to the possibility that maybe we share common ground as people. There's no reason for the level of hostility seen in recent years.