Face-to-face interaction historically countered cognitive bias by forcing diverse viewpoints

Evidence

In the past, perhaps our cognitive biases were ameliorated by our interactions with others. It is ironic to think that in today’s media deluge, we could perhaps be more isolated from contrary opinion than when our ancestors were forced to live and work among other members of their tribe, village, or community, who had to interact with one another to get information. When we are talking to one another, we can’t help but be exposed to a diversity of views. And there is even empirical work that shows the value that this can have for our reasoning. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 118

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the filter-bubble and echo-chamber thesis familiar from Sunstein and Pariser, and the tradeoff between online curation and pre-modern enforced contact. — connects to: Exposing people to opposing viewpoints increases rather than reduces polarization — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 453

Broader Connections

• Exposing people to opposing viewpoints increases rather than reduces polarization #complicates (0.85) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 453