Just as Ignorant

I have differing political views from most of my family. Whenever the political party I prefer is in power, I listen to my family's conspiracy theories and outlandish claims. I think about how gullible they are and how they are in a bubble designed by an algorithm to feed them the same old nonsense. But when the tides shift, I don't think about the bubble I'm in. I don't think about the algorithm's influence on me. What I read is true and not biased, at least that's what I ignorantly tell myself.

For some reason, I feel like I'm immune to it all. I think it's because I tend to avoid the major social media platforms, and I try to browse privately. Of course, I'll notice the same old stuff everyone notices. Ads that are a bit too on the nose, small bits of outrage leaking into my YouTube feed, or even just the blogging community I surround myself with. I hear the same opinions and outrage bits over and over again, even millions of virtual miles away from Facebook and X.

It's humbling at times when I'm able to stop and recognize how I'm being manipulated just like everyone else. Yesterday, I was reading a news article that really connected with me. I won't bore you with the details, but my local government is "thinking" about doing something about an issue that really annoys me. I felt my heart rate increase while reading the article, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a few hours. I wasn't so much thinking about the solution they are offering (because it is just as useless as most government decisions), but about the actions that my fellow humans take with no consequence.

This thought lingered for hours, and it even popped up again this morning. Then I realized, I read a local news article written to upset me, and it did just that. The world seemed darker, humanity looked grim, and my own personal calm was damaged. Why? Was this article even relevant? No. It's something they are "thinking" about doing, so there was no news here. Just some political posturing to pretend to care about an issue that was then turned into a doom-and-gloom article to upset the reader. So, again, I ask why? Well... we know why. It's because that's what makes people click. It's what makes folks tell their friends, and then they click to read. It's what generates money while damaging our psyches.

I realize this is the same behavior my family engages in when reading articles that are fed to them. They allow the fear in, and it affects how they vote, react, and behave and, despite my arrogance, I'm not immune to it. I fall for the same pitfalls and traps as they do, as we all do.

Everything and everyone has an agenda, even me. I think it's important to remember that when consuming content. We're all a bunch of ignorant primates who think our ideas and our ways are the right ideas and the right ways.