Polarization in media does not appear to be a problem until it becomes a major one. When we are tasked with considering existential threats to our society, we are quick to visualize possibilities of nuclear war or asteroid impacts. However, a more realistic threat to our way of life is a dissolution of our ability to communicate and collaborate effectively. The recent increase in distrust of the “other side” limits our ability to think rationally and work together to solve complex problems — problems that could become existential threats themselves.
The polarization in our daily discourse carries over into our politics, creating reactionary, escalatory environments that lead to suboptimal outcomes in domestic policy and geopolitics. While many people will agree that polarization presents an existential threat to society, it is significantly more difficult to determine concrete ways to address this issue.
In today’s digitally connected global economy, our social structures are more complex than any one person could possibly comprehend. The pace of new disputes and developments makes it impossible to stay ahead of the game. On our journey towards depolarization, we are left with futile attempts to hit a moving target that races ahead of us.
Our antiquated traditional media systems and disincentivized social media landscape have been subtly pushing us towards polarization over the course of multiple decades. It takes time to mold people’s worldviews and alter their beliefs. To reverse this trend in the short-term would require cataclysmic events that force everyone to question how they previously saw the world and admit that they may have been wrong in their beliefs.
We want to avoid cataclysm. It leads to disarray and destruction that could set back our growth trajectory by multiple decades. Instead, at Aemula, we aim to reverse trends of polarization over the long-term, creating new systems and incentive structures to remove the powerful polarizing pressures exerted by our current system of digital media.
We cannot predict when a cataclysmic event may take place, so we instead opt to move with urgency to develop a new protocol for news distribution before it is too late.
This week, we highlight writers who are doing the hard work now to increase our probability of achieving depolarization prior to a cataclysm. We encourage you to consider subscribing to these writers individually and sharing any content you find interesting.
Framechange
Written by Eric Thompson, a former management consultant who researched and ran multiple publications focused on tech and business trends before co-founding 6pages, along with researcher Krysia Sikora, who is also a researcher for the DC-based think tank Alliance for Securing Democracy.
“Our mission is to promote a stronger democracy by reducing polarization. We believe understanding multiple perspectives is the most efficient way to stay informed while developing empathy for those you may not agree with.
It’s easy to tune out opposing voices. Often it can be out of fear. It may also be driven by an assumption that people who disagree with us have malicious intentions or are misinformed. Often neither are the case – people with different views have their own stories and their own sincere intentions.
We hope Framechange helps you broaden your knowledge, engage in more nuanced conversations, and evolve your thinking along the way.”
Travis Monteleone
Written by Travis Monteleone, a UT-Austin graduate and PE investor writing about politics, polarization, and theology, with volunteer experience with depolarization organizations such as Braver Angels, the Forward Party, and the Burke-Paine Society.
“I have a specific interest in U.S. polarization and its causes. My interest in polarization has developed over the past several years through first-hand volunteer efforts with a few major depolarization organizations, including Braver Angels, the Forward Party, and the Burke-Paine Society.
Polarization is arguably the most existential threat of our lifetime, so most of my posts will involve some discussion of polarization-related topics.
An overview of my thinking on polarization can be found at the link below, in which I argue that the main cause of affective polarization is negativity bias. I’d start here for an overview of my thinking on this subject.”
Taylor Dotson
Written by Taylor Dotson, author of The Divide — a book on the decline and revival of democracy — who writes about the science of politics, technology, and society.
“Democracies around the world are in crisis, but not for the reasons one often hears in the media.
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Despite handwringing over post-truth and misinformation, the biggest reason why it seems like we no longer live in the same country or reality is that people are obsessed with truth. Specifically, they think that *they* know it, and everyone else is ignorant, brainwashed, or too corrupt to see reality for what it self-evidently is. If you want to know more, my book, The Divide: How Fanatical Certainty is Destroying Democracy gives an overview of why we’re in this mess and how we could start to dig ourselves out of it.”
Interested in cross-posting your content to Aemula? Reach out to writers@aemula.com to get started! With cross-posting, you can:
Instantly expand your audience
Increase your earnings
Maintain full ownership of your work
Plus, you will have the opportunity to access community resources and grants to support the content you want to create! Cross-posting comes with no costs, no obligations, and you can stop or remove your content at any time.
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