Facebook May Be Democracy’s Best Hope
From polarization to spam, the problems of social media are the problems of democracy.
Category: Evolution
Racism Makes You a Dick: A Story About Penis Size
What is it about racism that makes otherwise bright people function as though they were idiots, wreaking havoc on the world around them from a place of perceived innocence?
Democracy in the Age of the Algorithm
Breaking up the Russian/Republican project might end that particular campaign, but it won’t disarm this cheap, readily available weapon, just waiting to be used again.
Fake news highlights the instability of monocultures
Diversity is about more than the humane tolerance of others, it is an evolutionary imperative. We will master a world of looser, more diverse cultural ties, or fall behind those who do.
Trends impacting the world in our lifetimes
Cultures and individuals who leverage these big trends are likely to prosper while those who swim against this tide are swept into irrelevance. It pays to look past the headlines and plan for the future.
Fake news, evolution, and political failure
We embrace fake news because it is easy, because it confirms what we want to believe about the world. Fake news is folklore; comfortable, mentally soothing stories about things that did not happen. Fake news may be pleasant, but it is an inferior evolutionary adaptation. Institutions built on fake news will underperform fact-driven institutions until they are eventually swept away in failure.