From a clip I can no longer find, Joe Rogan talks about our political divide and how extremists from both sides of the aisle have forsaken a large majority of the population, the reasonable middle, in favor of activating the far-wing agendas.
This happens for several reasons.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Or the vocal minority is louder than the silent majority. And reporting bias as well, those who wish to speak up tend to have something to say. We see this in Yelp reviews and product reviews. Are polarizing reviews and beliefs the best way to incite change?
Unfortunately, yes. Political extremism is a great negotiating tactic in which a partisan issue is brought up as strongly and as extremely as possible, all the while being ready to settle with a much lower bargain. Much like starting with an absurdly high dollar amount to leverage the highest barter, political issues too can be gassed up in the hopes that any gain is made.
Reasonable, grounded conversation is sensibly had in the first couple dialogues exchanged. With complex issues, time, innovation, or procedure usually dictate the natural pacing. But with unreasonable, ungrounded conversation, dialogue can go on indefinitely, with very little regard to innovation or procedure. Unreasonable conversations and bad actors can engage far longer than what is socially acceptable on controversial topics.
Without watching the context of this image, we can identify a familiar composition on news television. Grabbing the opinion of several pundits, the network frames varied exchanges and dialogues that range from one side of the aisle to the other. It doesn’t matter what the headline or topic could be, this format works with any regard as long as the network is able to find a contrarian to any viewpoint.
The reason this format is popular is because it spans a lot of time, which daytime television is in abundance of. The format caters to everyone’s opinion regardless of the validity or extremism of it. And as for the reasonable middle population which holds little opinion on the topic, they are not so concerned with the issue to begin with that they would naturally spend lengthy amounts of time watching the topic on the news in the first place. This is why the news is becoming both more polarizing and more willing to engage with controversial topics. It caters to the most passionate, the ones who would spend the most time watching and engaging with the content. This in turn damages the experience for the reasonable middle, the silent majority.
In my personal life, I find it a strength of mine to be able to extend an intellectual hand to the other side of a conversation and to be able to understand their point and reflect on which parts resonated and which parts don’t. As the scale of the conversation grows larger and the viewpoints become more extreme, it seems that the ability to hold genuine dialogue fails as the media, the consumers, and the investors all battle for a part in a nonsensical exchange.
We see this happening with social media, with split-offs from our larger traditional platforms of Twitter and YouTube to smaller, less restrictive, platforms like TRUTH Social or Rumble.
This is partly due to a mass communication and the ability for a completely random person to post their opinion online and for that opinion to carry some, more, or any weight compared to other opinions, when previously this was nearly impossible. Just one generation ago, the likelihood that anyone could write a movie review or share a political view and for that piece of writing to get even 100 people to read it was astronomically smaller than what it is today. Going back further, it is even more dramatic. Because people know they can be heard, they also believe they should be heard. Which, to be honest, not everyone’s opinion should be heard.
While there is a lot more to discuss about the reasonable middle and the extreme ends, I’ve also touched on the topic of gatekeeping and how the internet has allowed everyone universal access to services ranging from sharing opinions to selling products. In future writing, I’ll expand more on both topics.
Leadership, Design, Writing 