Reading this article about being an American conservative abroad reminded me of a town-hall in my neighborhood that I attended some time back. The majority booed every-time a voice of dissent was heard and shut it down. In today's world, it matters little the political persuasion of the majority, they will aggressively drown out the other side.
I saw that happen here too. In our situation, there was a bipartisan panel of experts who were taking questions from the audience. In the next couple of hours, people mostly heard what they wanted to hear - it was show tailored to their taste by their elected representative.
None of us gained perspectives of the world we did not already have. We did not come out of there edified and possessed of any novel insights - multiple experts notwithstanding. Questions were answered with biases baked into the answers dressed in subject matter authority. So we accepted what was said as it were the only version of the truth.
I saw that happen here too. In our situation, there was a bipartisan panel of experts who were taking questions from the audience. In the next couple of hours, people mostly heard what they wanted to hear - it was show tailored to their taste by their elected representative.
None of us gained perspectives of the world we did not already have. We did not come out of there edified and possessed of any novel insights - multiple experts notwithstanding. Questions were answered with biases baked into the answers dressed in subject matter authority. So we accepted what was said as it were the only version of the truth.
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