post-factualism is a big danger, for sure. i have a friend who recently told me that the aim of modern russian propaganda is not to present one monolithic viewpoint that no one is allowed to disagree with- but rather to promote so many different theories, of varying degrees of truth, that the average person eventually just throws his or her hands up and decides to focus on private life. maybe the internet age is doing something similar, on a larger scale- this is admittedly anecdotal, but i keep hearing from people that 'you can't believe anything you hear, you can't believe anything you read.' It's good to be skeptical of course, but it seems to me that when you truly believe that all journalism and all sources of information are bullshit, and that truth is inaccessible, you're going to have some problems.

We've got some great political satire in the US, but it does seem like a lot of it is about patting ourselves on the back. I watched the daily show last night with my brother, and for sure it was funny, but I know that if I did happen to support Trump, for example, nothing on the show would have changed my mind. It's basically an attitude of 'we're liberals, we're smart, let's enjoy ourselves.'

Mike wrote: "post-factualism is a big danger, for sure. i have a friend who recently told me that the aim of modern russian propaganda is not to present one monolithic viewpoint that no one is allowed to disagr..."

Interesting, Mike. I do occasionally watch The Daily Show but find myself thinking, yes, very funny, but he's preaching to the choir. I tried in that post to suggest how people could try and get out of their mental silos, but one doubts if they'll do it. Either they will reinforce each other's beliefs, or - I think you are right about this - decide they can't be bothered to hold an opinion. Cynicism is dangerous too.