“Nothing will make us so charitable and tender to the faults of others, as, by self-examination, thoroughly to know our own.” ~ Francois Fenelon
A common trait that qualifies a person to be a member of good standing in an echo chamber is self delusion… the state of having a false idea about yourself or the situation you are in. The lure of echo chambers is the reinforcement and validation of an opinion or belief that we deem to be true.
In the face of relentless and increasing volume of confirmation for our opinion/belief, we become more and more convinced of our rightness. Correspondingly, we become less and less willing/able to entertain the possibility that we could be wrong and consequently we reject any dissenting voice.
Ultimately, we become self-deluded, a self-delusion that is a two-sided coin. One side is the delusion that we are omniscient and the other side is the delusion that we are infallible. Unfortunately, whichever side comes up, we lose.
Despite rational consensus that human beings are neither omniscient nor infallible, we inexplicably persist in the delusion that we are an exception. A convenient argument for resisting warnings about echo chambers and mitigating any peril they may present comes in the form of, “ Yes, but since my opinion/belief is TRUE, I have no reason for concern.”
The negative impact of echo chambers is indiscriminate. Relative to negative outcomes, it does not matter whether we are right or wrong. If we are absolutely certain of our opinion/belief, the reverberations within our echo chamber, which confirm our certainty, will deafen and blind us to any dissenting voices. In our self-deluded infallibility, we are able to justify responses, that we would never otherwise consider, toward any and all dissenting voices.
The first step toward overcoming self-delusion is to become self-aware. Self-awareness is a learned skill that requires courage and resolve to develop. Self-awareness involves, self-examination, introspection. “Know Thyself” is an aphorism from antiquity.
Socrates says …, that people make themselves appear ridiculous when they are trying to know obscure things before they know themselves.
Self-awareness is essential to overcoming negative outcomes of echo chambers, which intensifies the challenge we face.
…even though most people believe they are self-aware, self-awareness is a truly rare quality: We estimate that only 10%–15% of the people we studied actually fit the criteria.
“For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching has become a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong. – Bill W.”
Faced with disturbing conclusions that,
- the default condition for those who reside in an echo chamber is self-delusion, and,
- the first step toward surviving and thriving in echo chambers is the necessity of self-awareness and,
- there is an innate resistance to any form of self-examination and
- there are prevailing, relentless narratives that engender fear and promote judgement on any dissenting voice and eschew self-awareness.
…further emphasize the magnitude and complexity of echo chambers and diminishes optimism for a society characterized by our most virtuous human values.
Accepting the premise that self-awareness is essential to surviving and thriving in echo chambers, the immediate question to be addressed is, “How do I become self-aware?”
The next post will address that question.