What is clickbait? Some people define clickbait as any headline, thumbnail, or similar (let's call them teasers) that is factually incorrect. I don't agree. I don't think correctness is the point. I think clickbait is any teaser that is psychologically manipulative, that uses our minds and our emotions against us to win engagement.
“It doesn't seem to conventional-minded people that they're conventional-minded. It just seems to them that they're right. Indeed, they tend to be particularly sure of it.”
—Paul Graham in Orthodox Privilege
“You can't deal logically with an illogical person.”
My dad developed this phrase after working in a psychiatric hospital, and it's always stuck with me. As usual, there’s no subtext here. I’m not trying to be mysterious or send someone a message. It's just something I think about often.
I'd like to see a grassroots campaign to ignore daylight saving time. If enough people participated, maybe we could finally force the issue.
After that, let's switch to the metric system!
I subscribe to the daily Mutts comic by email. A recent message included a quote by Marc Bekoff which resembles something I wrote in Saying goodbye to Taggy.
I wrote the following:
All animals are conscious. All animals feel comfort and pain. In that way, we are equal.
Bekoff put it differently:
Although other animals may be different from us, this does not make them less than us.
I dreamed about Taggy last night. Taggy was a beloved cat who passed away recently. It feels wrong to call her a cat, really. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call her a friend or a non-human person. In any case, I shared the longer story earlier.
I don't remember much about the dream, except that I was so relieved to see her again. I also remember other black cats approaching me, to my annoyance. I find it beautiful that, even in my dream, I was able to tell the real Taggy from the impostors.
Do we really connect with other souls in our dreams? I don't personally think we do. I would like to believe it, though. I'd like if Taggy had really been there with me, making her true self known.
How do things change? Slowly, then all at once.
This paraphrases Ernest Hemingway and Cory Doctorow.
Being wrong doesn't always feel like being wrong.
As usual, there's no subtext here. I'm not trying to be mysterious or send someone a message. I just think some truths are best summarized concisely. They may also be easier to remember that way.
What's wrong with hyperpartisan media? Pick your favorite example of a one-sided TV channel, YouTube channel, website, radio show, podcast, or magazine. If the problem is that these outlets promote overly simplistic, slanted perspectives, never reporting the other side of the story or only reporting half-truths, then why are we not equally worried about social media filter bubbles, given that they are designed to do exactly the same thing?
TikTok, Facebook, and other social media platforms show us what we want to see. They reinforce our existing worldviews. One doesn’t need to think hard to understand why; anything else would be bad for business! Nobody signs in to be told they’re wrong. Nobody enjoys having their reality challenged. Validation is more fun, even when it's unjustified.
I’m concerned about old-style hyperpartisan media, but this new, “social” version is much worse. Many of us walk around with personalized, digital propagandists in our pockets. They push our buttons and beg for our limited attention—buzz, buzz! Sometimes, we spend more time with them than with real human beings, with their nuanced and thoughtful perspectives.
Is it any surprise the world is so divided?