ReConsider

Latest Episodes:

Social Shaming Dec 03, 2021

Show notes

I think a lot of the societal breakdown we are seeing is a matter of human psychology -- designed for pre-historical humans by evolution -- running up against technology that it can’t handle and goes kindof crazy trying to confront.

-This is probably why social media is so harmful for teenagers -- social dynamics on steroids that you can’t ever really win

-Also talked about this a lot with bubbling behavior and learning things from people who look like me rather than people who seem smart

-I think one form - social shaming - is leading to an unintended acceleration of radicalization

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Fascism Almost Came to America Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

In the 1930s, Fascism was surprisingly popular in the US. Then a World War made the word anathema, but wanting a strongman to make everything better for us is getting more popular. Believe in our liberal institutions is in decline. Are we getting more tolerant of totalitarianism?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Did It Come to This? Part 4, the rise of niche media platforms Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

Social market dynamics are driving the ever-greater fracturing of public discourse. Can it be pulled back together? In this episode Erik finishes his series with the MIT Enterprise Forum on media technology and political polarization.

Check out the show notes for the original slide deck at http://www.reconsidermedia.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Did It Come to This? Part 3, the role of media technology in political polarization Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Erik expands substantially on work from Wedged, talking about how media technology, now and in the past, contributes to (or doesn't contribute to) political polarization.

Check out the show notes at http://www.reconsidermedia.com for the slide deck!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Volume Bias Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

In the words of the legendary Terry Pratchett, in the Discworld novel The Truth:

“A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has had a chance to get its boots on.”

Or from one of my favorite bands, The Protomen in their song, “The Hounds”:

“When I say he was a monster

When I set fire to his name

It does not matter where you hear it from

Whether truth or lies, it gets said all the same

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…

Whatever’s on the table plays!”

Volume bias

I’ve been on a kick recently about a propensity for us to misunderstand or misrepresent people who aren’t in our tribe. And how BS gets amplified.

In “How to casually radicalize a citizen,” we talked about how people with less-than-awesome intent can easily (and do) create a stream of the worst of the opposition. You can see this and then get a bit radicalized yourself, as we see.

But this is happening passively, too. I call it VOLUME BIAS.

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Selective Forgiveness Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

What are you willing to forgive in the heroes of your story?

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How I Learned to Start Worrying and Loathe the Bomb Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

Agenda:

Weren’t nukes good for global stability? The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction
Game Theory and the First Strike problem of most nuclear weapons
The Dr. Strangelove scenario
Were there close calls? Yes, here are all of them
Also, the broken arrow problem
Can you actually get rid of nukes? Probably not….
...but can you get rid of the first strike problem? Probably!
The magic of stealth boomer submarines
Fmr. SecDef William J Perry’s modest proposal
How would you get this done? Who do you lobby?

https://www.wjperryproject.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patron Q&A! #1 Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

I finally managed to get a bunch of patrons to send me questions. Many who are eligible have still sent none, so I’m going to be doing another soon!

Some GREAT questions came in this time! Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Competing Frames Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Do you ever feel like your political opposition is talking right past you? As if you are having two entirely different conversations?

You might be working with COMPETING FRAMES. Come learn how those work - and how to win.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Escape Jun 26, 2021

Show notes

How does the United States escape spiraling political polarization? Waiting for a hero may not work. The cause of polarization is structural; the solution must be, too.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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