Structural stupidity, The Atlantic Flashcards
German political scientist posited the idea of the ‘spiral of silence’ for how the scope of debates get narrowed. How does it work?
People are fairly aware of dominant opinions within groups. If people with views at the edge of these groups get silenced, a more moderate opinion becomes the new edge, and so on until the range of acceptable debate is strongly narrowed.
In what ways can mass media influence our view of public opinion?
Mass media can distort our view of public opinion. See the research on how we misjudge what other people think - we think everyone else (particularly those on other sides of politics) have far more extreme views than they actually do (might give e.g. of how many people Americans thought the police shoot each year).
How can social media affect the the timeline for narrowing the acceptable range of debate?
Social media can speed up this timeline in radical times. What is acceptable to say at one point can get your fired in a fairly short period of time. (see gender critical views - Maya Forstetter, views on using slurrs - Mike Pesca, find other egs of reasonable people?).
