Humans are hard-wired to look for information that we agree with (regardless of the information’s veracity), avoid information that makes us uncomfortable (even if that information is true), and interpret information in a manner that is most favorable to our sense of self.
We all have these tendencies—Republican or Democrat, young or old, rich or poor, Black or White, male or female, it doesn't matter.
The damage these cognitive tendencies cause to one’s perception of reality depends in part upon the information that a person surrounds himself/herself with. Unfortunately, in the U.S. today, both liberals and conservatives are regularly bombarded with misleading information as well as lies from people they believe to be trustworthy and authoritative sources.
While there are several factors one could plausibly blame for this predicament, the decline in the quality of the sources of information that the right and left rely on over the last few decades plays a primary role. As a result of this decline, we are faced with an epistemic crisis that is poisoning the American mind and threatening our democracy.
This documentary explores some of the epistemic problems in both the right-wing and left-wing ideological silos in the U.S.
The film is based on a forthcoming book from Lawrence M. Eppard, Jacob L. Mackey, and Lee Jussim, which is also titled "The Poisoning of the American Mind." Read an excerpt from the book here: https://connorsinstitute.org/poison
Film written and produced by Allyson Ritchey and Lawrence M. Eppard.
