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I don’t like to discuss religion or politics in polite company. It’s pointless. Both subjects provoke passionate lectures espousing personal worldviews, and minds are seldom, if ever, changed. But … after watching some of the speeches at the Republican National Convention last week, and switching between pundit commentary on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, I started to wonder what one has to do to find the facts upon which to base independent thinking. The red and blue filters are so good, and the sheer online mass and social media noise levels of the pridefully ignorant are so high, it is almost impossible to find a verified fact. Again, not to be political, but just trying to fact check some of the speeches proved incredibly hard. This kind of filter success – the ability for each of us to comfort ourselves in the blanket of the information we want to hear makes us feel good, but is it good for social discourse?
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.