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The "net" has always been a place of hope and hell. Since it's dirt road beginnings in x.25 nets with dial up, porn has always been the most used consumer "app".

Getting wisdom comes from age and attention. Cognitive basis is sugar to the brain. Very hard to see but easy to enjoy.

Being open to change is something that most people are averse to. We can learn things from everyone we interact with.

Same here! I transitioned slowly over the last 10 years from a hard-core Republican pro-life person to now voting straight blue. People can change and what folks post and share does matter!

Nobody learns against their will, in spite of that basically being my job description.

Unfortunately too many people need someone else to think for them. Totally agree with your post.

Yes, thank you for this! I learn a lot from others in the same way and hope to help teach in my areas of expertise. It's so nice to have an app that allows us to have real conversations and stop engaging with those who are not doing so in good faith.

Come on... That's almost like cheating

Teaching is sending light out into the darkness. Learning is absorbing light from that darkness.

That's almost like being human.

I respect them, so read what they said, thought about it and modified my own beliefs. No, I didn't change 180. I gained a greater appreciation of the issue and was able to modify my beliefs, open them, I would say. And for that, I am grateful.

I have had my mind changed on social media many times; always when someone has data ready and is willing to engage.

This is how changing one’s mind should work!

Same here! Opening our ears and minds are the best way to learn!

Great question, looking forward to the answer!

It seems nowadays that not many people are willing to change their minds. That’s truly the most important skill to have if you want to learn though.

Learning from other people and their perspectives. It's a subtle change that just builds our own knowledge of a particular subject.

Because SM is so trustworthy 😂😂😂

What a beautiful, thought through, and accurate post about learning 😍

I think we are using the Socratic method. Taking time to understand our own thoughts, and what has influenced them and sharing in conversation that can alter perceptions. Shared dialogues as opposed to just each others beliefs. It’s wonderful to engage at this level. I have missed this.

Haven’t we all. Well, the reps can’t learn more.

but at least you are growing - that is the most important thing.

Imaging time traveling and telling people that we are “learning through skeets and reskeeting”

The accretion of knowledge.

I am grateful to learn a new thing every day.

The number of randoms who think they can change other people's minds by "teaching" are a testment to the shonky state of learning in the USA. Those who refused to learn cannot teach.

My own motto on this lovely platform is, "Lurk and Learn." 😀

Such a great point!!!

Well said, it is important to seek knowledge and make our own decisions based off what we encounter.

Which brings me to, How Republicans became ready for Civil War against the Communist Jewish Liberal Democrats. (Not actually a thing) They have been consuming hate for decades and are in too deep to quit now.

Yes!

Yeah, over time you start to see not just the pointlessness of arguing with anonyms but the sheer corrosiveness. The value of social media is building a kind of community, the rest is just conflict for conflict's sake.

Good to run across an account of yours again, Scalzi. As often, I agree with you in principle, but don't always *behave* like you. Still arguing at times, but it's more of an energy sink than it used to be.

Your grandfather was very wise - happy you were able to know him and learn from him.

Yes, it sure is. 😁

John, you are willing to learn, half of the country is not willing. That is the difference.

Smart people update their opinions when they receive new information. They don't double down.

Yes. But I've even changed my mind by sort of "arguing with randoms" though I'd call it "discussions with thoughtful strangers". Such discussions have exposed me to things I didn't know, and have led me to checking them out via consulting reliable sources. It's what makes social media useful to me.

I'm being prodded by socialists AND conservatives since BS's growth exploded. And you don't realize how toxic that is until you've lived without it a while. Anger doesn't improve you. I hate blocking people. Goes against my nature. But peaceful dialogue grows you while anger reduces you.

give an example of such change

It’s part of growing to keep an open mind.

And I have learned that, just because I agree with someone on one matter, doesn't mean they are not monumentally stupid about other things.

I've had my mind changed by randoms. Not always in the direction they intended 😂

Be curious…of people and the things around you. Learning is not linear, it is a curving path to consciousness

Wisdom: UNLOCKED! Grats.

Big fan of learning! Wish more humans would do it. Just watched this Ted on curiosity this morning so it's on my mind. www.ted.com/talks/scott_...

Absolutely spectacular perspective right here, bravo!

I have had my mind changed by someone hostile to my perspective... when they had hard cold facts, which inspired me to research the topic and find support for those facts.

Yep. And seeing you here brings me back! Once upon a time you. responded to me on Twitter. It was a definite highlight of my day :)

I'm *trying* to follow a new social media strategy which I'd recommend it to people: "We've disagreed on a point. Before we come back to that disagreement, can we discover what common ground we do agree on? Because then we'll be able to disagree more civilly"

Some random on twitter suggested that me following more people than I was followed by was suspicious and smacked of not being a real person. I was very confused. I follow to LEARN

I call my education...learning by osmosis. Totally grateful for all the smart people here. 🙏

learning something new is an epiphany...it makes you feel good

Speaking of...Have you challenged your own beliefs on economics? Not everyone is interested in the topic, but we (as a society) tend to have some pretty strong beliefs on the subject that don't necessarily align with reality. stephaniekelton.com/book/

💯💯🎯🎯

Nice

Great observation. My sincere belief is that social media and the Internet are a double edged blade: most of the world's info is at your fingertips but any idiot with a connection and an account can get a soapbox to spread trash; and the problem is not everyone takes the time to fact check!

This is why MAGA won’t learn anything. How can they learn anything when they only listen to Trump?

Yes, it is important to keep an open mind and search out the truth.

I feel like a lot of people leave school deeply scarred and 'never want to learn anything ever again'. From now on they want to 'just know stuff' and tell everyone what is what.

Sounds Liberal

Totally agree! My motto has always been learn something new everyday. The best thing about social media is definitely learning from experts who share their knowledge for those willing to take it.

Learning is a gift that lasts forever Thx for sharing

That's why we're all here. To learn.

A mind open to all possibilities has no limits, opinions, and beliefs, should be open to change when presented with hard facts.

Such a awesome mindset, to grow is to change as they say. I wish more people were unafraid of change.

Musk and the other oligarchs promote the noise because that's all they are. Noise that they use to manipulate people.

Of course. But you can’t trust that they’re the only people on blocklists.

Anyone can make a block list, so they're going to vary in quality. Some of them are curated with care, blocking only obviously abusive users, and some go overboard. Moderation and curation is hard to do well.

Game changer for me was adding classical painter accounts (Van Gogh, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, etc.) which then interleaves beautiful, thought-provoking art into the discourse I seek. It's even better on Bluesky.

It is almost as if new information is supposed to challenge your previous notions, i think right? 🤔

If two experts disagree who is right? If two PhDs disagree who is right?

Brazil police report: Bolsonaro planned and participated in a 2022 coup plot. He’s in trouble. Trump, not so much. Are we the new banana republic?

It's the best! I'm so grateful for all the people patiently educating others, often at cost to themselves. I'm a better person because of people sharing their experiences and perspectives on social media.

If you start with an open mind it will recognize truth If you come looking to have your ignorance reinforced that will be all that your have ignorance

The key is to balance, an open mind with a modicum of healthy skepticism.

I can’t say I have had my mind changed, however I find a lot of posts I agree with and I like reading what people with experience on complex issues have to say about them. I find that I learn from them. 🙋‍♀️

It allows the conclusion to become THEIR conclusion, and not someone else's, and that's the kind of information people will hold on to and retain. Conflict doesn't change minds. It hardens hearts and cements wills. Expose people to info and ideas and let them do the rest. That let's people change.

👆This!👆

I got sick of doomscrolling on reddit last night and switched over here to clear my mind and read about resistance.

Isn't it amazing what happens when you listen/follow folks that are actually well read, think before they speak or even, just know their field and are happy to share?

grade and a surprising ability to do these basic functions, i.e. add, subtract, divide and multiply, up to 12 in my head. To this day, the needed product is calculated in almost zero time with little effort. I amaze me so much with this. you too can learn things by trying. we all can.

That is the perfect argument to throwing g the “echo chamber” BS at Bluesky.

Same.

Learning? You just made up that word. Never seen it before on social media. 😄

What a concept, right?! Gotta love learning new stuff IMO.

I call it the Long Conversation. And the key is that there needs to be some kind of relationship in place OR the willingness to listen. Preferably both.

I think we are badly undermined by the desire for "gotcha" moments and shocking twists. Somehow people decided that understanding and communication are "win" and "lose" scenarios.

I wish more people held this mindset, I’m so glad you posted this

You mean that one should take in new information and facts and then adjust their thinking based on that? That's not weakness but progress? It's funny that something that just used to be a part of normal life needs to be expressed.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but you're right in pointing out that identifying expertise requires a level of skill/expertise, and if you're already down a rabbit hole, the "experts" you trust are going to point you at other "experts."

I have been in arguments on social media about substantive issues (specific policy, data driven) and changed my mind based on what was presented. It happens. It takes the right mindset on both sides of the conversation. SM arguing is bad but not useless. And for propaganda purposes it can't be beat

John, Do you have any recommendations for SEC football experts? Best, Rick

I have, too. It's been a challenge coming to grips with the fact that the number of people who are open to constructive discussion is vanishingly small compared to the number of people who are looking for birds of a feather to +1 their gripe-stream.

This "learning" of which you speak: it sounds very dangerous! :)

I've always said that I believe the best evolution of the Internet is the "Nets" from Enders Game. I want to watch experts debate in a moderated forum, not read 150 word treatises on complex economic concepts by someone with a 6th grade reading level.

At 65, I’ve changed my thinking on various topics many times. It’s not being wishy-washy or indecisive; it’s learning, growing and evolving. “Sticking to your guns” is the sign of an atrophied mind.

This! I have an educated reason for what I believe.

Is this an atonement for your cranberry sauce take?

Perfect description of how change happens with humans.

Bluesky is about sharing idea. Not who is right or wrong. This what Twitter used to be like when I join in 2009. Now it just full of sewer rats that have to be right all the time. I am only keeping an X account to follow my sporting teams.

Sometimes it blows off steam to "argue with randoms" 🙂 that's what x is for ! I agree with you I have learned tons by following people I trust. I don't even watch the news anymore

Well that must be nice. I, for one, forged my name in blood upon the stone and my soul is now bound to battle for the rest of my days.

Love what you are mentioning here. 🌝 So I will follow. I wonder if intellectual thinking and understanding can be a new normal?

One of the best ideas I've heard lately is that truth is constructed, from an assortment of facts and details, not just an expression of belief. It's work.

💯

I have my mind changed all the time, even from random arguments. Probably because I tend to go off first and check the facts later. I mean, the venting is really the most important part of social media for me; Plus, the wrong answer often gets you the right answer...

Yes. You hear from and about all the morons here, but there are also great, thoughtful, intelligent people who have something to say that is worth listening to.

I would tend to agree on the economic issues sides for sure.

I literally became more and more liberal and then leftist, and you can follow this timeline, starting with my reading the Jezebel comment section on topics through to Twitter and now here 😊

I’m not good enough to make your cut? Your loss.

I just fact check everything, including my own posts. Sometimes, people are correct, other times they are plainly wrong. I don't get into emotional engagement, usually.