The rise of Social Media and our ability to select the content we are exposed to, means we no longer have to listen to, or tolerate alternative points of view. We can simply block or filter out what we do not want to hear, not follow the proponents of the alternative concept, or “unfollow” the offenders as the case may be. This lends itself well to the human condition that is the desire for affirmation. As most consultants know, people who ask for your opinion do so for affirmation and not challenge or contradiction.
Social Media is providing a dangerous and unprecedented tool to human society. The self-affirmation of our personal views, however well or ill informed, has created a new kind of intolerance that used to be the domain of dictatorships. The social media bullying and berating of anyone with any opinion that we do not agree with is creating “Mob Dictatorships” and “Collective Censorship”.
The personal attacks and unrelenting treatment meted out to those who step out of “our personal red lines” is not only unacceptable in a civilised society, but also runs completely against the ethos of Democracy that we all beat our collective chest about. Social Media trolls are doing a much more effective job of silencing decent or alternative views than Gestapo, Stasi, or KGB ever managed to do with 1000s of people on their payroll. Even more worrying is this trend has become the political tool of choice for some; normalising Racism, Prejudice, Misogyny as well as other politically extreme ideas and concepts.
Yuval Noah Harari in his book “Sapiens, A brief history of Humankind”, simply and brilliantly explains the state of human mind and behaviour by distinguishing between “Natural Order” and “Imagined Order”.
“Natural Orders” are those that are set in nature such as Day-and-Night, Seasons, Rotation of the planets, etc. We can observe them, record them, and even explain them using mathematical equations.
“Imagined Orders” are created by humans through story telling. Human story telling started in the caves using simple paintings, until we discovered much more powerful means namely language. Humans started “Imagined Order” by creating the essence of US-and-THEM. “If you are not from my Cave, then you are not to be trusted.”
Later this translated into “If you are not from my tribe” with tribe being an imagined order of belonging to a larger group. Once human grouping became larger settlements such as first cities, we needed something larger to believe in. Hence we invented religion which was a larger Imagined Order that we could rally around regardless of our tribes because by then we lived in mixed cities. Then came the concept of Nationhood which was greater than a single city, combining number of cities, territories and tribes. Nationhood mixed with religion provided a potent force of “Imagined Order” which transcended tribes and cities, binding large groups of human societies into a single social order.
Social Media and selective consumption of news has enabled many of us to live in a bubble of our own make-belief reality and “Imagined Order”. We see this in debates, whether in critical issues such as the UK’s EU referendum, US Presidential election, or less critical matters such as planning application for a grocery shop. We constantly hear the ultimate isolationists self-justification with the words of “Everyone that I know agrees ….”.
People are failing to recognise the human tendency for affirmation and selective nature of our current exposure to news and information. We read newspapers that match our beliefs, we make friends with people who are of the same mind (Our Kind of People), and now we can live in our joyous Social Media bubble as the evidential proof that everyone agrees with us. However we fail to acknowledge that if everyone that we know agrees with us, it is only because we chose people like ourself to associate with to begin with.
Within this isolated bubble, statistics and data are used by the untrained and out of context that give comfort and false credence to faulty hypothesis. This reliance on statistics or data that are not well understood to support our arguments comes from selective nature of our information gathering practice. This does not mean we should ignore statistics or data, but that we should not take them blindly and as “True and Fit for Purpose”. Many people use statistics and reports to justify their point of view, whilst they do not posses the basic understanding of the concepts they are referring to. From LIBOR scandal to economic effects of Brexit, most Social Media commentators have little grasp of subjects they debate. Most cannot manage their own credit card and personal finances but have an opinion on how the nation’s economy should be run!
Aristotle called Demagoguery as the worst type of democracy, where mob rule is supreme. In demagoguery, everyone’s voice is equal, and the rule of the majority has greater authority than the law. As a result, the will of the people supersedes law. Invariably, a charismatic leader, or demagogue, takes control and becomes a tyrant. Because he speaks with the voice of the people, and because the voice of the people is sovereign, the demagogue is free to do what he wants. We have seen this happen in history before, and despite attempts and desires of “Never Again”, we are witnessing it happen again and history will not forgive us for our inaction.
We need to break out of the bubble we live in and explore alternative points of view. We must have the courage to read, follow, and pay attention to opposing views. Life is not as black-and-white, good-and-evil, right-and-wrong as some like to make it. Life is shades of grey. Humans did not achieve their best by living in a vacuum, but by striking out of their comfort zone, learning new concepts, and accepting new ways of doing things. Living like mushrooms in the dark room of our own self-created reality and Imagined Order will lead only to one thing. Remember how you grow mushrooms!
About the Author:
Ali Zartash-Lloyd is Managing Partner at Cognisant Associates a business consulting partnership. He is a management graduate from the University of Leicester. He held Senior Management positions at a number of Multinationals for over a decade including Director of Global SME Products at Avaya Inc. and European Sales & Marketing Director at Samsung Telecom.
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