Can we grow if we only talk to mirrors? That is to say, how much growth is possible if we only seek out the points of view that mirror our own? Do you think people may come together more and strive to educate themselves further if instead of the stark bias we have from channel to channel or newscast to newscast, they all made a point of offering DIVERSE views and perceptions?

It strikes me when I do watch news or read online statements about news, that people seem to really only want to believe what they ALREADY believe, without being willing to expand their views or perceptions or knowledge. the current climate of 'anything that doesnt have my spin is fake news' does not help at all. do you think the time might come with the next generations, when the demand will be for more objective news and verifiable facts in our meda sources?


I hope they can do better.

an interesting question.
I've been bombarded with the same and the same news, living in Denmark, but never fell for it as all other Danes did...Why? I don't know.
I'm not easily brainwashed, as I have my own, already set opinions which definitely not follow the populism or hatred that people are so easy to catch on to.
Hatred are the easiest emotion to tricker in humans, obviously.
I'm going the opposite way. as soon as something become a mass psychosis,
I per instinct know something is wrong. How and why, I have NO idea, but the I go against it... I can't stand Mass psychosis. Or gang mentality.
I'll rather live in the forest alone than follow a bunch of retards. as well as I can't take people preaching for me, telling what to do, what to see. Telling me what is popular, who is popular.. I will automatically turn away.

Damn...Am I stalking you now??
It seems that I'm the only one that answered on two occations...Lol.
Ok... I seem like a stalker... I'll stop that, sorry...Hahaha.

Remember what I said in a PM about some people having different ideas "bored into them"? Many have ideas that they believe is true. Even when it's an outlandish idea. Some people lie to themselves. They get up ideas in their minds. And think that it's the truth. Even when they can't back up their position. Take them out of there comfort zone, then they have to face the truth.

They would rather believe the made up over a fact. I personally believe it's because they just can't face reality. Reality takes them out of there comfort zone.

Most of it I see now seems to be built on hate and disillusion. They hate and believe so deeply in what they think is right, then what is really right becomes wrong in that person's mind. And to them that belief and hate are so deep seeded, the lie becomes the truth. And if you try to tell them any different or show them any different, it's fake. Or some other excuse.

Anything to hold on to the illusion.

I think it's called, "Egocentrism".

http://www.verywellmind.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-egocentric-4164279

Yes, every morning look yourself (your reflection I mean) in the mirror and say positive stuff(today will be a good day, I look great, who's the man?!I'm the man etc)....and life will be better.... at least, that's what he(some guy) said~

I look and say,... damn i need a haircut.

its called positive affirmation and Im all for that too. I am concerned more about when we have such a positive view of ourself that no one else really matters and no other experience is valid.

Yeah them blinkers are worn by most people. If people would give themselves just a few moments to hear the other views they'd realise that it's good for your mind, the truth and the way you may look at it. When they do they all go "oh yeah I didn't think about it that way". What they mean is they didn't want to think about it that way, so didn't!

Since when does a fish need a haircut?

(Responding to Stubeedoo's main profile image.)

I think a lot of people don't really care about any experience or perception but their own. I think those people don't grow much in life. If that makes them happy, it makes them happy.

I don't like to have a stagnant mind, however. I think its a great resource to expose ourselves to other opinions and perceptions. A better way for us to have balance, which is a big thing in life for me BALANCE. Not too far to one side or the other, but firmly placed where one can see pretty clearly each direction.




An example for me is that i have been friends with people from different religions and no religion at all. They have very different perceptions from me and from each other. But I don't besmirch them for it. I can relate to and understand, instead, what they believe and why. I just do not agree.

a big loss we face in an egocentric culture is being able to have different opinions from a place of respect and understanding, instead of JUST fighting to not be the loser, or to not be wrong.

Seeking out only like minded and never opening to others actually stagnates and regresses ourselves.

It's a bit of a complexed issue, not everyone sticks to their own views and rejects others for the same reasons and factors. There is a sort of self defense mechanism in our minds that makes it difficult to see different points of views and change our own, I think this is a big factor in most cases.

Many are afraid to expand their horizons.
The get 'stuck' in their view of things.
It has a lot to do with curiosity and imagination.

People who are open to new ideas have a wider range of acceptance to change.

Much of this can be blamed on 2 factors:
1. The decreased attention span of America in conjunction with the smartphone. Everything needs to be expressed in a little sound bite so it fits on the screen and people are able to comprehend it. Very little can be honestly expressed in a sound bite or headline. On the internet it is often referred to as "click bait".

2. The media's search for ratings. Many news organizations twist the actual news to appeal to their base listener. While the facts may still be there, the choice of words, especially adjectives and adverbs, conveys positive or negative bias to the story they are reporting. One only has to compare the headline with the content of the story to reveal the bias. Another great word added to news stories in the last couple years is "analysis". The writer analyzes the news facts and tells you what you should think about those facts. There are very few honest news organizations that reliably report the factual news!!

I agree with the spirit, and general sense that's behind what you've said here. But I think you've got things a bit backwards.

Look at WHY mass media corporations look for ratings, and solve that search for ratings the way that they do. They never CAUSED the American people to want quick, short answers, they just catered to it, because that's what works. We can certainly criticize them for failing to see the better duty to report what people NEED to understand, but as long as capitalist profit motive is what drives everything, that's likely to remain a rare choice.

I myself blame this particular era of near pure profit motives, on the shift I directly witnessed that took place back in the late 1960's or so, when the people who took over the then Big Three broadcast companies, bought firmly into the Business Science approach to everything, and switched from using News reporting ONLY to fulfill their FCC obligations, and demanded instead that all news programs make profits independent of the rest of the controlling corporation. We can't go back now, because the structure of the world was so changed by the internet, that we have to way for corporate America to be held to account for access to media, as we once could.

And overall, humans have ALWAYS sought the short and the simple answer to everything. This is why it has so often been easy to appeal to the simplest motivations in people: short term greed, a sense of being "absolutely right," and pretty much anything that a person can say to themselves "I don't even have to think for so much as a MOMENT!!! Because I KNOW!!" has always been common.

I suspect THAT goes back to the nature of childhood. A small child's motivations are usually limited to "I get the candy if I do that." Or "I don't get yelled at if I do this." Frankly, from what I've seen, it's actually rare for humans to develop a much more subtle or complex approach to their later lives, than that. They add lots of verbiage, and often build a list of imaginary authorities and clever sayings to say WHY they should get the candy, but at the base of it all, it's still just candy cravings that drive them. And sound bites and snappy sayings, are the equivalent of intellectual candy.

Well said, as usual.

A couple of cautions to suggest:

* it can be hard to discern a difference between "seeking alternate source confirmation," and "looking for excuses to believe what we already do." Sometimes even people who intend to develop serious and accurate visions of the world, make that error.

* it's also easy to read all sorts of alternate viewpoints, but only really do it in order to prepare "clever" refutations, rather than do so in an honest effort to understand that another legitimate point of view does exist.

Basically, something I recognized long ago, still holds true: it takes a HUGE amount of very conscious effort and work, to genuinely seek truth. If you find you aren't having any trouble trying to get a hold on life, that probably means you've inserted yourself inside a cocoon of delusion.

Sure.
You can "grow" from pretty much anything.
Helps if you actually use more useful terms than "grow."
Cancer is a growth, too.


Is it a competition? Do we compare "growth" to determine who is "better?"

Depends on what you want to do, or who you want to be.
Not all growth is good. Some things you grow out of, you'll eventually miss. Some paths you grow along excludes growth in another.

Other than that, if you seek out the points of view that mirror your own you're validating your own group. Group cohesion, depth of interpersonal bonding, reducing the stress involved with having to deal with new information, responsibilities, and demands, have value too.


Sure! They'd come together and form social groups to seek out the confirmation bias they used to find that "channel to channel or newscast to newscast" offered more conveniently.


That demand has always been around.

People would rather be comfortable than be correct.
If reality isn't emotionally comfortable, then it will be denied for as long as possible.

Now there is a truism!!

When I look in the mirror I don't think politics, religion, finances or friends, I just see WRINKLES. My insides still think I am 40....so I try to stay away from the mirror..... as far as thoughts, I like to hear other people's opinions, just don't like to have them shoved down my throat.

You're still beautiful. Don't be ashamed of wrinkles, you earned them.

I've been losing my hair since I was around 18 or so. Someone asked me how old I was and when I told them, they said I looked 15 years older than I am. I said Damn right I look older, I've been through a lot in life. I don't care what others see or think. What I see is someone who has lived life and continues to live life.

Anyway, I'm just saying you're a pretty lady and you should see that in the mirror.