First a confession: there are certain times in any given day when I have no desire to work, so I take a short break. We all do it. Many people sneak a peak at facebook. I look at the real-time overviews of web traffic on POLITUSIC.
The Best post today is about a moment in time witnessed during such a work break. A time during which two searching souls were on this website with two very different outlooks on life and times:
Visitor One (we’ll call him R for short) arrived on this website using the search phrase, “Why do democrats want to destroy America?”
Visitor Two (We’ll call him D for short) found this website by searching, “Why are republicans so paranoid?”
D arrived on the site about 30 seconds after R (landing on two very different articles as you can see from the links).
The timing of their staggered arrival on this website is what earns their shared moment a Best on POLITUSIC. Even on this ranting website, we have two politically-interested American citizens falling into the void of the Internet in hopes of understanding “The Other” who sits (and usually chides) on the opposite side of the aisle. Two ships passing in the night on the same domain in the vast black sea of online political commentary, rants, and satire.
While their search phrases somewhat imply they might seek insight into the inner workings of the politically opposite… we all know that both were merely looking for support from like-minded people. Most of the time we search online for articles, posts and pictures that show us what we already believe is true and morally superior. We don’t often search to educate or change our minds. Very, very few people actually seek intellectual opposition on the Internet. They seek support. (and cute kittens)
R and D probably didn’t really want to find answers. Not deep down. They wanted their biases to be buttressed by people who think as they do. That human quirk about Belief is what has contributed to so much polarization in America. (It didn’t exist remotely to its current high degree until the advent of… “The Blog”: a short movie similar to the cult horror classic, “The Blob”, but with better special effects and much worse writing.) There are so many information bubbles on the Internet that I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people who truly believe that the world is flat – search online long enough and any belief system can find support and camaraderie.
Alas, embrace the moment and try to find humor. Back to work…
(…Google search suggestions having republicans followed by reptiles, and democrats followed by demographics… that’s too perfect … I don’t care what your political affiliation, that’s just funny.)
Published: by | Updated: 04-21-2015 17:40:32
