• Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    They think that because news media all runs on the adage, “If it bleeds, it leads.” 24/7 coverage of every murder in the nation just might make people think murders are on the rise.

    • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Yeah but why does it lead? I think it’s because fear, uncertainty, and doubt, play at our most basic instincts for survival, and evoke in us neurochemical responses identical to those of actual fight or flight. The ready availability of anonymous validation on the internet allows us now more than ever as a species to justify our first instincts and act on them, regardless of whether we’ve evaluated the facts and logic free from emotion and passion.

      By compartmenting and outsourcing our social interactions and we attack our own emotional well-being. We leaned into likes, follows, porn and video game addiction, substance abuse, quick hits of dopamine, evocative of neurochemical states we are supposed to get from hugging a loved one, helping someone, finding something shiney, or from a successful hunt. We’re wiring our reward centers for instant gratification and losing the ability to be rational. My two cents.