I enjoyed reading that, some really interesting points. One thought it prompted was when you quoted Nathan Heller ("Trump seemed to think that much of the voting public couldn't be bothered with details—couldn't be bothered to fact-check, or deal with fact checkers. [...] Detail, even when it's available, doesn't travel widely after all. Big, sloppy notions do. […]"). It made me think of a post that Enrico Bertini wrote on Substack a week or so ago (https://filwd.substack.com/p/titles-in-data-visualization-empirical) when he was alerting us to research on how people look at the titles of charts more than the actual content of charts. Looking at a chart's title and not the chart itself is a bit like not bothering with the details, not bothering to fact-check...
Interesting read, such a massive divide in perception between the population. As a non American giving my 2 cents, I think you are ignoring the disastrous performance of the Democrat party while in power. One adminstration put forth control, efficiency, prosperity, peace and stability. One party put forth incompetence, Wokism gone crazy, economic hardship, blatant deception in the ability of the president, judicial persecution of a political opponent, running a campaign on hatred of Trump rather than any actual policy, or so it seemed.
How any American could have much faith in the democrats to take the lead for another four years is beyond me and this played out in the election results. Pointing to data predicting the country would be better off with Kamala feels like grasping at straws. Though Trump's administration now has to put its money where its mouth is and quickly. (Hope this doesn't come across as abrasive, not meant so. As I said, I can't grasp the massive divide in perception between 'Left' and 'Conservative'. Perhaps the Democrats need to discard the extreme left that has seemingly captured the party.)
Hi Tim! Thank you for sharing your opinion. While I hear your interpretation of the Democrats' failures (which I partly agree with), that's just one piece of the puzzle.
The U.S. landscape is much more complex than this.
The real issue is that neither party has succeeded in elevating policies and data to the forefront. Instead, we've turned American politics into a personality contest, fueled by misinformation. The role of media and social media algorithms in spreading false narratives and creating division for engagement can't be ignored. Hate, rage and disgust are powerful emotions that are promoted on most of those platforms.
Also - I don't know if you live here, but to me it's important to understand that the U.S. political landscape is deeply shaped by historical redlining, ongoing voter suppression, and legalized corporate influence through Citizens United, among other things. It'd also be hard to ignore the size of the country itself and how little populations across the country interact (if ever). These systemic issues are crucial context for understanding American democracy's current state.
As someone who lives here and interacts with people across different backgrounds, I can tell you that most political conflicts I witness stem from hearsay and media narratives rather than actual disagreements over concrete policies. In fact, there's quite clear evidence that this is more of a "learned divisiveness" phenomenon. The current way we're sharing data and information, as well as debating over policies, has turned into a distorted view of the world and each other.
A 'learned divisiveness'. I like that. Great reply.
Also, living on a small island of Ireland / N.Ireland it will be something of a foreign concept to me just how large the U.S. is (I've only been to Texas a couple times.)
True, there are so many factors, social media is deeply divisive and there is a whole media machine just grinding along trying to survive no matter what damage it does in the process. Plus Trump is far from ideal. I wonder how future generation will look back at this period in history.
I enjoyed reading that, some really interesting points. One thought it prompted was when you quoted Nathan Heller ("Trump seemed to think that much of the voting public couldn't be bothered with details—couldn't be bothered to fact-check, or deal with fact checkers. [...] Detail, even when it's available, doesn't travel widely after all. Big, sloppy notions do. […]"). It made me think of a post that Enrico Bertini wrote on Substack a week or so ago (https://filwd.substack.com/p/titles-in-data-visualization-empirical) when he was alerting us to research on how people look at the titles of charts more than the actual content of charts. Looking at a chart's title and not the chart itself is a bit like not bothering with the details, not bothering to fact-check...
Interesting read, such a massive divide in perception between the population. As a non American giving my 2 cents, I think you are ignoring the disastrous performance of the Democrat party while in power. One adminstration put forth control, efficiency, prosperity, peace and stability. One party put forth incompetence, Wokism gone crazy, economic hardship, blatant deception in the ability of the president, judicial persecution of a political opponent, running a campaign on hatred of Trump rather than any actual policy, or so it seemed.
How any American could have much faith in the democrats to take the lead for another four years is beyond me and this played out in the election results. Pointing to data predicting the country would be better off with Kamala feels like grasping at straws. Though Trump's administration now has to put its money where its mouth is and quickly. (Hope this doesn't come across as abrasive, not meant so. As I said, I can't grasp the massive divide in perception between 'Left' and 'Conservative'. Perhaps the Democrats need to discard the extreme left that has seemingly captured the party.)
Hi Tim! Thank you for sharing your opinion. While I hear your interpretation of the Democrats' failures (which I partly agree with), that's just one piece of the puzzle.
The U.S. landscape is much more complex than this.
The real issue is that neither party has succeeded in elevating policies and data to the forefront. Instead, we've turned American politics into a personality contest, fueled by misinformation. The role of media and social media algorithms in spreading false narratives and creating division for engagement can't be ignored. Hate, rage and disgust are powerful emotions that are promoted on most of those platforms.
Also - I don't know if you live here, but to me it's important to understand that the U.S. political landscape is deeply shaped by historical redlining, ongoing voter suppression, and legalized corporate influence through Citizens United, among other things. It'd also be hard to ignore the size of the country itself and how little populations across the country interact (if ever). These systemic issues are crucial context for understanding American democracy's current state.
As someone who lives here and interacts with people across different backgrounds, I can tell you that most political conflicts I witness stem from hearsay and media narratives rather than actual disagreements over concrete policies. In fact, there's quite clear evidence that this is more of a "learned divisiveness" phenomenon. The current way we're sharing data and information, as well as debating over policies, has turned into a distorted view of the world and each other.
A 'learned divisiveness'. I like that. Great reply.
Also, living on a small island of Ireland / N.Ireland it will be something of a foreign concept to me just how large the U.S. is (I've only been to Texas a couple times.)
True, there are so many factors, social media is deeply divisive and there is a whole media machine just grinding along trying to survive no matter what damage it does in the process. Plus Trump is far from ideal. I wonder how future generation will look back at this period in history.