timelets | (no subject)

I've got a crazy hypothesis that modern political polarization is caused by information overload. That is, people's cognitive abilities are so strained that they can't handle political complexity and resort to a primitive two-value system "us vs them." Furthermore, since politics for the vast majority of us is a rare, low-priority, low-skill activity with no real-life consequences, rational cognitive allocation should be equal to zero (as "investors" we are in no position to gain political capital at all). Therefore, the only return on politics is social (e.g. group cohesion) and/or emotional (e.g. BIRG) capital.

How would I test it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I more or less agree, but would add that an important factor is the modern capability of efficiently exchanging information, coming up with your own opinions and being heard by many.

A new entity is growing, a multicell meme-based creature. Whether it will start mass murders, we will see.