Breaking down the echo chamber

There’s nothing I hate more than a bunch of people sitting in a circle (metaphorically, at least) and agreeing with each other. I hate when people express dominant, mainstream opinions, such as “all politicians lie,” as if they were unique and poignant thoughts. There is something beautiful in dissent.

Maybe I’m just a contrarian. After the 2009 Video Music Awards, I jumped to Kanye’s defense and dedicated my life to hating everything Taylor Swift. After “The Decision,” I jumped to Lebron’s defense. I had never watched basketball, but during the last year, surrounded by my hometown Bulls’ fans, I followed the sport religiously, increasingly finding myself drawn to root for the hated Miami Heat.

I know. I’m a tool.

But even tools can be useful. Hammers hammer, screwdrivers drive screws and people like me shut down these echo chambers and force people to support their statements with logic and reasoning.

“Screw Lebron” becomes “Lebron shouldn’t have made such an ordeal out of his free agency” becomes “Lebron is a very talented basketball player who has significant room to mature, as proven during his free agency.”

“Kanye is a gay fish” becomes “Kanye is arrogant and sometimes rude, which leads to some personal dilemmas but also fuels one of the greatest musical geniuses of our time.” These statements are conciliatory and reasoned, can be debated and contain few dialed-up, emotional sentiments. 

Disagreement is important. These “memes” or “echo chambers” (I have another term for them that isn’t particularly print-friendly) spread like wildfire, sometimes encouraged by certain dumb micro-blogging websites I have previously expressed my distaste for.

It’s important that someone slows them down and acts as devil’s advocate. There’s no doubt that people like to hear things they already agree with — one need only listen to Fox News or MSNBC for a few hours to hear the exact same half-truths repeated endlessly until they are accepted as fact.

And their ratings, which outstrip the less opinion-driven CNN, are proof that people like to listen to what they already agree with. What’s more, echo chambers leave people with little knowledge based in fact — no fewer than seven studies have found Fox News viewers significantly misinformed about current events facts.

In their defense, both Fox and MSNBC have included attempts to represent opposing viewpoints on their channels — but MSNBC’s “conservative” Joe Scarborough is hardly hitting the primetime in his 6 a.m. time slot.He has been referred to by Republican standard-bearer Rush Limbaugh as a “neutered, chickified moderate.”

Fox’s Alan Colmes was little more than a punching bag for Sean Hannity before Colmes left his anchor role at Fox. Let me add a final caveat: I’m not arguing against people taking principled stands for or against certain issues.

If you believe that abortion is murder, or if you believe that limiting abortion is infringing on women’s rights, you’re welcome to your opinion. I’m merely suggesting that the most intelligent use of your time would not be spent with those you agree with.

I’m fairly liberal, but I don’t participate in any liberal campus organizations because I don’t particularly feel the need to be comforted by spending an hour or two a week with other college liberals, talking about how Fox News sucks or how Rick Perry’s dumb. 

Challenge yourself. Challenge your beliefs by engaging the beliefs of others. I participated in competitive debate for four years of high school, where my position about a given topic would be determined by a coin flip at the start of the round.

The requisite intellectual flexibility that provides is, in my opinion, invaluable. And studies have shown that academic debates foster critical thinking, creativity, communication, leadership and open-mindedness.

Nelson Mandela, Richard Nixon and at one point 50 percent of U.S. Senators were
former debaters. We can’t avoid debate because it is inherently uncomfortable; it should instead be sought out.

What I’m getting at, finally, is best expressed by Canadian author Thomas Haliburton. “Hear one side and you will be in the dark. Hear both and all will be clear.”

­— shlumorg@indiana.edu