No Suspension of Disbelief

William Davies wrote about why we can’t seem to agree on what’s true anymore. And no, he doesn’t agree the problem is mainly due to fake news and filter bubbles. Left or right, he says there’s one thing everybody agrees on:

“The news and information we receive is biased.”

And everyone tends to blame the mainstream media and the independent expert:

“Both the left and the right feel misrepresented and misunderstood by political institutions and the media.”

Which is why it’s fair to say:

“Outrage with “mainstream” institutions has become a mass sentiment.”

Thanks to the Internet:

“Everyone can point to evidence that justifies their outrage. This arms race in cultural analysis is unwinnable.”

The following points are true for both sides:

•      Those Internet searches begin with “legitimate curiosity about what motivates a given media story”;
•       Every utterance is scrutinized for an ulterior motive;
•       And with so many perspectives that could be true, one is never sure of anything. And so we pick the perspective that aligns with our own leanings.

And so, as the article says:

“Public life has become like a play whose audience is unwilling to suspend disbelief.”

Conversely, with so much data and information on the Net, one has to pick and choose what one reads, what one reports, what one shares. By definition:

“Editing is largely a question of what to throw away. This necessitates value judgements, that readers and audiences once had little option but to trust. Now, however, the question of which image or sentence is truly significant opens irresolvable arguments.”

In case of the media, this editing then becomes a lightning rod for suspicion:

“Every time a mainstream media agency reports the news, they can instantly be met with the retort: but what about this other event, in another time and another place, that you failed to report? What about the bits you left out?”

No wonder then that:

“Our ability to agree on the nature of reality seems to be declining.”

And the word “bias” has begun to mean something else altogether:

“All too often, the charge of “bias” means “that’s not my perspective”.

It’s a good assessment, but unfortunately, Davies doesn’t have any solutions. Then again, understanding what’s happening (instead of the over-simplified rants against the other side) may be the first step to a solution.